Audiobahn A2801T for morels

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

if i act quick, i can get a pretty ridiculous deal on an Audiobahn A2801T. its a 2 channel, class A/B that would be much better suited to power the high end morel components that i am running than the kicker 4 channel (only 2 chan are being used).

the amp puts out 200 x 2 into 4 ohms, and 280 x 2 into 2 ohms. the overall RMS rating for the morel components when amping them passively is 160W RMS, but i have heard that not only can they handle much more than 160, but it is wise to give them much more if your going to go passive.

here's the question: the specs given by audiobahn assume a voltage of only 12.5V.

according to my HU's voltage meter (which i have double checked at the amp with a DMM to make sure it was the actual voltage the amps were receiving), when my headlights are on i get ~13.5 V. this is an average, and doesnt account for peaks and valleys that usually coincide with hard sub hits.

with my headlights off, i get ~13.8 V.

is there any way to approximate/calculate what the actual output at both 4 ohms and 2 ohms would be at 1.0-1.3 V above what Audiobahn rates their amps at?

i am going to call but they are in cali, and i am in NYC, and they wont be open for several hours, by which pt this deal could explode.

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[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

I wouldn't buy an audiobahn amp. I'd stick with the kicker- much more reliable.

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

I wouldn't buy an audiobahn amp. I'd stick with the kicker- much more reliable.

really? bc right now i am running a 4 channel leftover from when i had a pair of components in the front and back seat.

it puts out 120 x 2 @ 4 ohms, but it does so at 14.4 V.

at 12.5 V, it puts out 70 W, so if i am in the middle of those two specs in terms of actual voltage, im probably not getting more than 100 W continuously, if that.

also, i know u have a lot more experience than i do, but wouldnt a much more powerful audiobahn that has many more features and audio controls be better than a 4 channel kicker that has no real crossover settings or phase shift control be better?

question: when i am not running a signal to the 4 channel's 'amp 2' (channels 3 and 4), and i am not running speaker wire from those terminals, is there still power being wasted internally by the amp by having a 4 channel in the first place?

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

... If I were you, I'd just bridge that amp and you'll get a ton more power than that audiobahn could ever dream of putting out....

 

[adam007 10+ year member]

He wasnt saying that the kicker puts out more watts, he was saying that the kicker is much more reliable than audiobahn. I have had experience with both and i prefer kicker over audiobahn any day. So i would say just stick with the kicker, or buy the bahn and see which one you like more and sell the other.

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

... If I were you, I'd just bridge that amp and you'll get a ton more power than that audiobahn could ever dream of putting out....

i was very close to bridging it, until i spoke to bob morrow, who is in charge of tech support at morel. i went thru the specs of my kicker 4 channel very carefully with him, and its too powerful. its 380 x 2 at 4 ohms bridged, and then no spec is given for what it is at 2 ohms bridged. he said it would be a very very unwise decision to bridge. i am looking to get a solid 2 channel right now to run passively, then for christmas from my girl, i was going to ask for an audiocontrol digital crossover, and then find a good 2 channel to power the tweets.

i would love an arc audio, but everything they have is either too powerful for the morel components, or not a significant enough increase in power to justify the high price (in my opinion).

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

You could bridge it no problem. Just because it's rated at 380w doesn't mean you must utilize all 380w. Set your gains with a DMM to the appropriate power level and you're golden.

and why / how would you run it at 2 ohms bridged?

 

[frankiebones 10+ year member]

could i split the speaker wire i am using to use just 2 of the channels so that it is wired into all 4 channels? i know it wouldnt be optimal, but i have law school exams in less than a month and i am not in any position to be taking the doors apart (in terms of that being a good use of time), especially since the car is german.

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

You could bridge it no problem. Just because it's rated at 380w doesn't mean you must utilize all 380w. Set your gains with a DMM to the appropriate power level and you're golden.

x2

 

[96GTIVR6 10+ year member]

If you put an audiobahn amp on your Morel's somewhere in the world a whole flock of kittens will die...

Just bridge the Kicker you already have. You really only have too much power if you literally cause the speaker to tear itself apart from exeding it's mechanical limits.