Enough watts going to my subs???

[CantGetEnufBASS 10+ year member]

Hey guys im VERY new to the whole car audio scene so please help me, where i live all the local owned shops are full of scum bag assholes trying to scam me and get me to buy anything they can. So here is my question i currently have a 800 watt sony xplod amp and 2 10" 1000watt kenwood sub (300watts rms). My question is, is this amp enough to sufficently power my subs? all the guys at the car audio store are telling me that my subs are not being fully powered and will hit harder if i..... 1. i buy a more powerfull amp. ...... 2. get a ported/bandpass box. so my question for you guys is do you think a more powerfull amp with make my subs hit harder??? and if you were going to go with a bandpass box or a porter wich one would you choose? im trying to make my car bang as loud as possible so i understand to do so i need to get better subs. I am currently trying to decide if i want to get Alpine subs or Rockford subs. so some feed back on wich one of the subs i should get would be greatly appreciated!! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ANYONE WHO READ THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND I AM AWATING YOUR RESPONSE!!!! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME!

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[tapout383 10+ year member]

People on this forum are going to bash you left and right but before this goes down let me try to help you

1. Choose Alpine Type R....12s or 15s

2. Get you a decent mono amp 1000-1500rms

3. Get your max dems. on a box and have someone on here build it (http://www.fishercustoms.com)

that will KILL your current set-up hands down

 

[CantGetEnufBASS 10+ year member]

yeah i know i dont know anything about anything when it comes to this stuff but everyone has to start somewhere and since i dont have any freinds that are into this stuff this is where i have to come to talk about it and learn new things. So please be patient with me. When you are reffering to "get your max dem" can you go a little bit more into detail on what that meens please?? ALSO 1500 rms so that meens i would have to get a 2000++ watt amp right??? and your saying that i have to get rid of my 10" box? i cant find a badass Alpine 10" that would compare to a 12???? the only reason i ask is becuase i have already invested a little bit of money into a few "10 boxes and id hate to have to go buy 12"s but i am willing to do so if that is what is needed to make a huge diff. Also you didnt really go into much detail on the boxes im still interested in finding out what you think is better bandpass or ported boxs. Thanks again for your time!!!

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

You don't have to run the RMS power to a sub. You can "fully power" most subs with considerably less. The RMS rating simply tells you how much power the speaker can handle, not how much it needs to work well.

That Sony amp is a total POS though. It won't come close to the 900w it's rated for

 

[JediMentality 10+ year member]

What helotaxi said is true for the most part. Do you have any model numbers for your amp and subs? I can give you a better idea if you have that.

 

[CantGetEnufBASS 10+ year member]

Yeah the amp i have is a SONY XM-1252GTR (XM1252GTR) 2-Channel 800W AMPLIFIER.

Max Outputs :

280W x 2 @ 4 ohm

400W x 2 @ 2 ohm

800W (monaural) @ 4 ohm

Rated Outputs :

125W x 2 @ 4 ohm (20 - 20kHz, 0.1% THD)

170W x 2 @ 2 ohm (20 - 20kHz, 0.15% THD)

340W (monaural) @ 4 ohm (20 - 20kHz, 0.15% THD)

And i have (2) KENWOOD KFC-W2511 (KFCW2511) 10" Single 4-Ohm 1000W SUBWOOFER

Peak Power : 1000 Watts

Maximum Power : 600 Watts

Rated Power : 300 Watts

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, I am actually trying to take some of yous guys ideas and go get some stuff today. once again thanks for your time!

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

First thing, ignore all the "MAX" numbers. They mean exactly nothing. The RMS numbers are all that matter.

With that said, you're not running much power to those subs at all. About 250w to the pair. A mono amp (one channel) that will do 5-600w into 2 ohms would be ideal. Addressing the design of your box for the subs is probably in order as well. The enclosure is as, if not more, important than the amp for getting the most out of the subs.

 

[CantGetEnufBASS 10+ year member]

yeah thats what some people have told me, i got a 2000 century buick wich has a HUGE TRUNK and they said since i have so much trunk space most of my bass that im producing is just making my trunk rattle and not the inside of my car, going back to the question do you guys prefer ported or bandpass?

I ALSO HAVE A 3RD 1000WATT KENWOOD SUB ( THE SAME KIND OF SUB) COULD I HOOK UP 3 SUBS TO A MONO CHANNEL AMP?

i am thinking about buying a PHOENIX GOLD V8001 MONO-Channel 1600W RYVAL Series AMPLIFIER

can i get some feedback on what you guys think about buying this amp.. will it be enough if i was to upgrade to rockfords or alpines in the future?

 

[shpatb 10+ year member]

try building your own box, and get one amp, only need something that makes 1000 RMS or so considering each sub is 300 rms, so you'll have some head room, and while you're at it sound dented the trunk. It should sound decent after that... make sure your power wire is large enough also, im betting you had 8 awg installed.

 

[JediMentality 10+ year member]

If you are interested in using three of the same subs I will suggest you get a 1000rms amp like shpatb said. Since your subs are 4ohm SVC, you will have to wire them in parallel to get a final impedance of 1.33 ohm. Therefore, you have to make sure you have an amp that is stable down to 1ohm. Also those subs have a high sensitivity (i.e. more efficient), so if they get less power (say in the neighborhood of 150-200w rms) than what they are rated, they will still get plenty loud. Box design is important as well, no matter if you are going sealed, ported, or bandpass. Just so you know, bandpass boxes can be tricky to get to sound right if you are not sure what you are doing. So it is up to you to decide what your space, time, and budget constraints are. Once you make your decision, make sure you deaden that trunk.