Do i need the "big 3"

[stay_high 10+ year member]

Just installed the mb quart onyx 1.1500d. It replaced my 250 watt rms kenwood amp that was powering my 2 12 inch audioques. However they didnt get much louder at all. Like its barley noticeable. The amp puts out 1500 rms to 1 ohm and there wired down to 1 ohm. I mean 250 watts to 1500 watts should definatly make subs noticibly louder right?? Does this mean i need to upgrade the battery and alternator and all that? I drive a 2008 ford focus and yes i set the gains.

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[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Most definitely do the big 3. What gauge power/ground wire are you using for the onyx? Are you sure your subs are wired right?

 

[Falcons 5,000+ posts]

*facepalm

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

Most definitely do the big 3. What gauge power/ground wire are you using for the onyx? Are you sure your subs are wired right?

Im using 4 gauge power and ground. Yea i actually made a post asking how my subs were wired cuz i coudnt figure it out. Everone told me they are wired to 1 ohm.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

Im using 4 gauge power and ground. Yea i actually made a post asking how my subs were wired cuz i coudnt figure it out. Everone told me they are wired to 1 ohm.

Are you sure the settings on your headunit aren't messed up? When you set your gain what voltage did you set it to? (sqrt(1500w * 1Ω) = 38.72 ACv)

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

Redirect Notice I left the sub sonic at 15 hz. Put the low pass like inbetween a quarter and half way up. I left the bass eq the same. bass eq is like bass boost right? So i shoudnt touch that? I put the level a little past half way. HU seetings are all on 0 (bass mid's and high's) sub setting is on 10 (highest it will go.)

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

Just installed the mb quart onyx 1.1500d. It replaced my 250 watt rms kenwood amp that was powering my 2 12 inch audioques. However they didnt get much louder at all. Like its barley noticeable. The amp puts out 1500 rms to 1 ohm and there wired down to 1 ohm. I mean 250 watts to 1500 watts should definatly make subs noticibly louder right?? Does this mean i need to upgrade the battery and alternator and all that? I drive a 2008 ford focus and yes i set the gains.

You do not need to upgrade the battery or alternator and the 'big 3' is usually a waste of time and money. In your situation, it will not make a lick of difference as far as output goes b/c it's a regulated amp. That means the amp will make the same power over a range of voltages and adding 'the big 3' will net somewhere below 1v if your factory wiring was poor (which it isn't).

If you want more output, throwing power at subs is the wrong way to go about things. Sure, power is cheap but all the additional accessories (big 3, fire hose power wire, etc) adds up quickly. Additionally, throwing more power at a speaker does not always mean it will be louder. If, say, 250w is all that is needed to reach the mechanical limits of your subwoofer adding more power will not make them move more air. Things don't work that way. You'll sound a little better, but not louder.

It seems like you're not satisfied with those subwoofers. If you have a garden variety sealed box, I'd look into replacing those woofers with something that can either move more air -or- does more with less power (efficiency). A proper vented box for a pair of 12's is HUGE and that puts a lot of people off.

 

[CAT MAN 5,000+ posts]

You do not need to upgrade the battery or alternator and the 'big 3' is usually a waste of time and money. In your situation, it will not make a lick of difference as far as output goes b/c it's a regulated amp. That means the amp will make the same power over a range of voltages and adding 'the big 3' will net somewhere below 1v if your factory wiring was poor (which it isn't).
If you want more output, throwing power at subs is the wrong way to go about things. Sure, power is cheap but all the additional accessories (big 3, fire hose power wire, etc) adds up quickly. Additionally, throwing more power at a speaker does not always mean it will be louder. If, say, 250w is all that is needed to reach the mechanical limits of your subwoofer adding more power will not make them move more air. Things don't work that way. You'll sound a little better, but not louder.

It seems like you're not satisfied with those subwoofers. If you have a garden variety sealed box, I'd look into replacing those woofers with something that can either move more air -or- does more with less power (efficiency). A proper vented box for a pair of 12's is HUGE and that puts a lot of people off.

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

My 12's are audioque sdc. There rated at 600 rms. SO 250 watts to 1500 should be a huge difference. Also my 12's are in a huuuggee custom ported box so thats not the isue

 

[stay_high 10+ year member]

Ok i really need help with this amp you guys. It isnt one bit louder than it was with the kenwood kac-7205 running at 250rms. Well i have been working on the gains and all that. I finally got it sounding good kinda... No louder but the low and mid range notes sound clearer and good and all but once a higher up bass note hits its soo loud and distorted im scared my subs are about to blow so i turn it down. But lower notes sound awsome.

An example would be on the song called hypnotize the first few notes sound good (lower bass note) then later on in the song when it starts hitting that high bass it sounds suuppeer distorted and stuff. Im starting to think my subs mabey arnt wired to 1 ohm. My friend tryed to bridge it to his amp once that does 500 rms at 4 ohms and the amp blew a fuse right away. So its not wired to 4 ohms. Also the Kenwood kac-7205 only puts out 250 watts at 2 ohms, 170 watts at 4 ohms, and 500 at 4 ohms bridged. So woudnt the amp have not worked if the subs were wired to 1 ohms?? Also audioque only makes d4 subs so they cant be wired to 2 ohm correct? I posted pics of how the subs were wired a few days ago and everyone said 1 ohm. I can post them again if you guys wana see. Lol hope some one can make some sense of this.

 

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

You do not need to upgrade the battery or alternator and the 'big 3' is usually a waste of time and money. In your situation, it will not make a lick of difference as far as output goes b/c it's a regulated amp. That means the amp will make the same power over a range of voltages and adding 'the big 3' will net somewhere below 1v if your factory wiring was poor (which it isn't).
If you want more output, throwing power at subs is the wrong way to go about things. Sure, power is cheap but all the additional accessories (big 3, fire hose power wire, etc) adds up quickly. Additionally, throwing more power at a speaker does not always mean it will be louder. If, say, 250w is all that is needed to reach the mechanical limits of your subwoofer adding more power will not make them move more air. Things don't work that way. You'll sound a little better, but not louder.

It seems like you're not satisfied with those subwoofers. If you have a garden variety sealed box, I'd look into replacing those woofers with something that can either move more air -or- does more with less power (efficiency). A proper vented box for a pair of 12's is HUGE and that puts a lot of people off.

Please dont ever post on this forum again.

I think you didn't wire your subs right or gains are messed up. You should definitely hear a difference between 250 and 1500 watts. Use a dmm and set the gain on your amp.

 

[ahole-ic]

The the OP. Turn your low pass filter up to the highest number possible. Come back and tell us if you have more output.

 

[Robert 2001 10+ year member]

Got a coil or sub out of phase maybe? 1500 should b a noticable gain from 250 to the pair. Check your impedance/ ohm load to the amp. 1ohm? Recheck ground. As said bfore a more efficient sub say 300rms 91% eff will outsound a sub with lower efficeiny that accepts a higher wattage rating.

 

[ace_800 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like ones out of phase to me....

 

[ahole-ic]

Got a coil or sub out of phase maybe? 1500 should b a noticable gain from 250 to the pair. Check your impedance/ ohm load to the amp. 1ohm? Recheck ground. As said bfore a more efficient sub say 300rms 91% eff will outsound a sub with lower efficeiny that accepts a higher wattage rating.

There is no sub 91% efficient. There is no sub 5% efficient.