Difference a few hundred watts makes?

[Do_ 10+ year member]

I am back from college right now and am trying to get my system together finally. I've had the 18 " RE SX since the group buy and have yet to get an amp for it. I was looking on the classifieds and saw a few viper 1200.1s and an RE 12.1 and thought those might be a pretty good match, however I've been told that you really want 1500W on the SX and even in the thread someone mentioned it might not be enough for the SX. The whole build SHOULD be going in a Chevy Astrovan/Safari if all goes well. I'm planning on going large on the box too. I don't know if my memory is just bad but I even remember the maximum recomended box size for the SX being 10 cubic feet. I don't know if there's room to go that huge, but I'm planning for a huge box. Anyhow I just wanted to know if I should spring for the extra 300w or if 1200w should be fine to push the SX? I also saw that the RE12.1 can supposedly put out 1400W birth? Is that true or just talk? I dunno if anyone has any better suggestions for amps too that'd be great. This is just stuff I'm wondering about.

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[PhatTonyDeMarco 5,000+ posts]

You wont hear an audible difference between 1200w and 1500w, so either of those amps will work fine. The SX will shine with 1200w, and the bigger the box the more efficient the driver becomes (to an extent.)

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

.1 of a decibal

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

huge different will come from that box.

 

[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

It's all in the setup //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[brandontw 10+ year member]

Wattage is overrated.

 

[Do_ 10+ year member]

So going for a 1200w amp versus a 1500w amp will have virtually no bearing on how loud it is.

My dad's a wood worker so we're hoping to put together a pretty nice box. Looks like its more important for me to start researching designs than finding deals on a 1500w amp eh? lol