AMP Output >>>>> Sub Output

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

Ok long story short ... I bought two 15" subs and a 2000rms Amp to power them ... decided that I didn't want that much bump in my car so I'm looking to only use one of the 15's ...

Can I use the same HO amp to power the one 1000rms sub? Basically, I don't know if the "dormant power" will hurt or help my system ... And will the amp drain my alternator the same as having two 15's hooked up or no? Thanks in advance

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[Demi 10+ year member]

If im understanding the qusetion correctly, having a larger alt will not hurt anything because amperage is pulled not pushed, your alt will only put out what the system demands from it. Secondly, if you are running less power from the amp, 2000w @ 2omhs compaired to 1500w @ 4 omhs, yes the lower output will require less current from the alt.

 

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

^^^ Thank you for the reply ... So in theory, a 50,00000000 watt amp hooked to one 15" 1000rms sub will only pull the power needed for that sub and the rest of the system? Instead of pulling 50,00000000 watts from the alternator and then using that to power the system, it will only pull what is needed ...

So I shouldn't worry about purchasing a smaller amp?

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

It all depends on the gain settings and the impedance of the sub.

 

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

^^^^ Ok I have no idea what that means so just tell me this ... I have a 2000rms amp and I want to hook up one 15" 1000rms sub ... are there any problems with this? Will the bigger amp drain my alternator more than if I had a smaller amp running the same system?

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

What amp and what sub? What is the impedance of the coils? It's hard to tell you exactly what you need to do unless you give me some info.

 

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

It's one L7 Kicker solobaric with a hercules from hifonix

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

I'm running my L7 on 2kw daily and it loves it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

What's the voice coil configuration? Dual 2 ohm? Dual 4 ohm?

 

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

dual 4ohm

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

ok, so you could wire the sub to 2 ohms and theoretically give it half of the amp's potential power, thus reducing the strain on your electrical system. Should be just fine.

 

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

^^^^ sounds good ... do you think i will need a cap for this install? i have stock alt for my 04 monte carlo

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

no capacitor. get a good battery and do the big 3. if you dont know what that is, look at the big 3 thread in the wiring section.

 

[igotthatjuice20 10+ year member]

^^^ thanks for the input man ... gonna get it installed once i finish my box

 

[Demi 10+ year member]

ok, so you could wire the sub to 2 ohms and theoretically give it half of the amp's potential power, thus reducing the strain on your electrical system. Should be just fine.

Right, because as omhs go down output will go up on the amp (by how much depends on the amp). So for instance you have a four omh DVC sub wired to 2 omhs and your amp puts out 1500W at 2 omhs, you will be getting 1500w. If your amp puts out 2000W at 2 omhs, you will be getting 2000W. If your amp puts out 3000W at 1 omh and you wire two 4 omh subs down to 1 omh you will be getting 3000W. (1500w to each sub, because you divide your output by the number of subs you have) You have to match you sub, amp, and wiring to the output you want from the amp. The more output from the amp the more current that will be drawn from you electical system. If you have a 50,000W @ 2 omh amp hooked to a single 4 omh sub wired to 2 ohms, you will send 50,000w to that single sub, so you have to be careful when you are picking your impedence and setting your gains to make sure you dont damage your sub. If you havent read it yet there all of your wiring options are here.

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31984

And information on the effects of ho alts on electical systems is here.

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63883

Good luck with your build let us know how it turns out!