Amp to go with Kicker S10L5?

[dragonsho 10+ year member]

Hi,

I'm new here and have looked through about 15 pages of threads but have not found an answer.

As of right now I have a Kicker S10L5 in a ported enclosure tuned at 38hz and it's hooked up to a Kicker zx 300.1. I know that Kicker underrates their products so I thought I'd be ok with a 300.1, but I'm not. Basically I think I have a bum amp. It overheats all the time (probably because it's class A/B) and sound quality isn't that good.

What I'm looking for is a new amp that will properly drive my sub and produce a better sound quality. The deck I have is a kenwood x891 and before this I had some shitty VR3 from walmart. After switching decks I noticed a huge improvement so I'm positive that it's not my deck.

So I don't know much about these things so my questions are:

1. Is it my amp or my sub or both that are not producing good sound quality?

2. What amp and/or sub would you recommend instead that would produce better sound quality? Is the sound quality lacking because the amp can't drive the sub?

3. I want to spend about $200 at max, maybe a little more.

Thanks

Edit:

Also, the amp is 2ohm DVC

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[geowick07 10+ year member]

1. Hard to say. Double-check your wiring. Also, I assume that your 2-channel amp is only running at 2ohm, possibly even 4 ohm. Your amp my be going into protect, or you are clipping the signal, depending on what load you are showing the amp. (i.e. wired parallel @ 1 ohm, or wired series @ 4 ohm.)

2. Class D, 500-1000 watts RMS (Go high, so you have room in the future for upgrades.) Find an amp that will do 500-1000 watts RMS @ 1 ohm. Something along the lines of this: http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=18417

3. Decent amps can be found between $2-300. Do some looking!

edit: If you go with a higher RMS amp, be sure to set your gains accordingly.

 

[dragonsho 10+ year member]

Thanks alot.

I'm pretty sure the wiring is fine and the sound quality has gotten much better since I changed it from 12db to 0db, although there are a few songs that don't sound that good.

That amp is basically exactly what I was looking for. The only questions I have about it is that it says 4-Gauge Power Connectors. Does this mean that I have to use 4 awg wires?

 

[geowick07 10+ year member]

You could probably get away with 8 gauge, but since you're gonna have to redo them anyway, may as well use 4 gauge.

My first system, I was only running 500 RMS, and I went with 1/0 from the battery to the trunk, then distro down to 8 gauge. But, when the upgrade bug bit, I was set with what I had used in the first setup. Your choice, but I would recommend using the largest you can afford, for future-proofing purposes.

What I would do: Run 1/0 from the battery to the trunk/cab (not sure what vehicle you have), into a distro. Then, 4 gauge power to the amp, and 4 gauge ground from amp to wherever your ground is now.

 

[dragonsho 10+ year member]

Well, I have an 87 RX-7 and the battery is in the back well/storage compartment and the amp is in the one next to it so it's not that big of a deal.

What amp kit would you recommend? I have some cheap one from target now.

 

[geowick07 10+ year member]

Check out KnuKonceptz 4 gauge kit: http://knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KFX-AK4

or this one: http://knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KOL-AK4

The difference between the two (besides the price) is the first one has more flexible cable, while the second one isn't as flexible. Both are good kits.

Second thing to think about: If you want to do 1/0 from battery to distro, there isn't any 1/0 in that kit. But, if you are that close to the amp, as you stated, you should be fine with 4 gauge.