Decent advise on a system setup

[Chief612]

Since now we understand impedance/resistance is measured in ohms. and watts are the rate of transfer of power, and rms stands for the continuous power something is rated at. Now you should be able to understand shoping for audio equipment a little better.
Amps are rated like this Amp 1: 1000 watt amplifier 1000wrmsx1@1ohm, 500wrmsx1@2ohms, and 250wrmsx1@4ohms.

first the rating itself

100wrms, means it is rated to do 100watts continuously.

x1 means it is doing that much power on 1 channel.

@1ohm means it is doing that much power on 1 channel with 1ohm resistance. As resistance lessens, power increases, however sound quality also decreases though not by a noticeable amount.

We'll go over another example amplifier.

2000watt max amplifier 1000wrms x1 (bridged) @ 1ohm, 500wrms x2 @ 1ohm, 250wrms x2 @ 2ohm

Notice there is an X2, this means this amplifier has 2 channels, and the (bridged) means you can bridge the 2 channels together and use just 1 channel. If you bridge the channels you are combining the power, showing why the bridged rating is more.

Amplifiers come in channels, mono or 1channel, 2channel, 4channel, 6channel and so on. The number of channels determines how many speakers you can hook up to the amp on different channels, IE. left channels right channel

thanks that helped out alot

sorry for some reason i thought you have the single 4 ohms, which model power acoustik do you have the mofo?

No, so does the subs that are DVC change anything besides more options with ohms?

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

No, dual voice coils are just for more wiring options, does not affect quality of sub whatsoever, except the rare occasion where one coil stops working and you still have 1 good coil. In that case it is nice to have, but the sub can only take half the power.

 

[Chief612]

No, dual voice coils are just for more wiring options, does not affect quality of sub whatsoever, except the rare occasion where one coil stops working and you still have 1 good coil. In that case it is nice to have, but the sub can only take half the power.

so a sub that does 1000RMS can be hooked up to a amp that does 1000RMS on either 4ohm, 2ohm, or 1ohm?

 

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

your amp is more powerful in 1 ohm, your subs cannot go down to 1 ohm, its either 2 ohms or .5 ohms (which might blow your amp)

there are only a couple of power acoustik subs that will get decently loud and one of them is the older mofo's which has a 3 inch voice coil.

inevitably you most likley will need to change your amp and subs. to match correctly. its easier to buy amps if your subs are dvc 4

it might not be worth changing the amps to match your subs then later on you want to change the sub then you will be stuck again in that 2 ohm load instead of the 1 ohm load

 

[Chief612]

your amp is more powerful in 1 ohm, your subs cannot go down to 1 ohm, its either 2 ohms or .5 ohms (which might blow your amp)
there are only a couple of power acoustik subs that will get decently loud and one of them is the older mofo's which has a 3 inch voice coil.

inevitably you most likley will need to change your amp and subs. to match correctly. its easier to buy amps if your subs are dvc 4

it might not be worth changing the amps to match your subs then later on you want to change the sub then you will be stuck again in that 2 ohm load instead of the 1 ohm load

So i need to find a sub that is DVC at 4 ohms and has the almost the same RMS as my amp, around 2100?

 

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

So i need to find a sub that is DVC at 4 ohms and has the almost the same RMS as my amp, around 2100?

just post what your budget for the subs and people here will give you suggestions on what subs are good for your budget. what you mentioned is supposed to be correct but there are a lot of 600 watt subs that can handle 1k wattage

 

[Chief612]

just post what your budget for the subs and people here will give you suggestions on what subs are good for your budget. what you mentioned is supposed to be correct but there are a lot of 600 watt subs that can handle 1k wattage

prob some good ones, cause then you'll be over powering that 600watt sub by almost double, isn't that bad? and that 1K wattage is at 4ohms correct?

 

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

these subs that can handle 800-1k have been tested to breaking point and how much they can handle. the 1k can be at any ohm load on the sub.

people wire their amp to the lowest ohm load to get the most power from the amp. there are only a few amps that will handle .5 ohm loads

 

[Chief612]

these subs that can handle 800-1k have been tested to breaking point and how much they can handle. the 1k can be at any ohm load on the sub.
people wire their amp to the lowest ohm load to get the most power from the amp. there are only a few amps that will handle .5 ohm loads

yeah the 1k can be at any ohm load but wouldnt you be overpowering it then?

 

[mclerico83 5,000+ posts]

so much fail in this thread its unbelievable

 

[Chief612]

so much fail in this thread its unbelievable

point out pls

 

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

yeah the 1k can be at any ohm load but wouldnt you be overpowering it then?

yes you are overpowering it. less expensive than buying true 1k subwoofers

example I have 2 skar vvx 15 inch 600 watt dvc 4 i am powering both of them with a brz 1700.1d @ 1 ohm

I most likley is giving these subs total of 1400 watts due to my electrical

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

Resistance-

Subs have a natural resistance, or impedance. What your sub's impedance and power handling are, determine what kind of power you need from an amplifier to get the most out of them safely.

Since less resistance is more power, the lower an ohm you can wire your subs to, the more power you will be able to give them with any amplifier.

Now less resistance also means more heat, strain, and lowered sound quality. (not very noticable though) Since it adds heat and other factors some amplifiers cannot perform at 1ohm.

Some amplifiers can perform at .5ohm, some amplifiers cannot run bridged less than 4 or 2 ohms. You really need to check the ratings on your amplifier to see what it can do, it it is not rated at 1ohm, it likely cannot output at 1ohm.

To answer your question. A subwoofer has a single, or dual voice coils.

2 or more voice coils may be wired together to use the same channel of an amplifier.

When wiring 2 voice coils together you must wire them in either series or parallel, the way you wire will determine the overall resistance/impedance.

So to shop for subs and amps.

step 1 consider your car's electrical, how much can it handle.

step 2 Determine a budget

step 3 shop for subwoofers, think about how much power your current car's electrical system can handle. We'll say 1000watts rms. determineing you have 1000watts rms to work with, find any combination of subs that will handle 1000watts rms. That may be 4 250watt rms, or 2 500watt rms subs, or 1 1000 watt rms sub.

Once you have found a sub you will need to check the voice coils of the sub(s), and how you will be wiring them.

It is generally cheaper to wire subs down to 1ohm and find an amp that is 1ohm stable, as 1ohm is low resistance and it is easier for amps to make that power, you will be able to save money and find an amp that does 1ohm stable. In general it will cost you more to get an amplifier that will do 2ohms or 4ohms at the same amount of power you would get from an amplifier that will do that same power in 1 ohm.

 

[Chief612]

yes you are overpowering it. less expensive than buying true 1k subwoofers
example I have 2 skar vvx 15 inch 600 watt dvc 4 i am powering both of them with a brz 1700.1d @ 1 ohm

I most likley is giving these subs total of 1400 watts due to my electrical

so are your subs at 600 watt max input or 600RMS? whats your electrical?

Resistance-
step 1 consider your car's electrical, how much can it handle.

How can i check to see how much my cars electrical system can handle?

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

How can i check to see how much my cars electrical system can handle?

Aha, now we've got you moving in the right direction. These are the kinds of questions to be asking.

First what kinda of vehicle is it?