Extracting Maximum Power from Orion 225HCCA Competition Amp

[ObiNev 10+ year member]

Hello,

I have a pair of 1995 Gen2 Orion 225HCCA Competition Amps which are rated (I believe) at:

2 x 25 watts rms @ 4 ohms

2 x 50 watts rms @ 2 ohms

2 x 100 watts rms @ 1 ohms

2 x 200 watts rms @ 0.5 ohms

1 x 400 watt rms @ 1 ohm bridged

800 watts peak power output at 12V

I want to use one of the amps to power a pair of JL Audio 10W3v2-D2 subs and the other for the splits. The subs are duel 2ohm voice coils rated for 300W continuous power.

The problem I am sitting with is that if I parallel all the coils I will have a 0.5 ohm bridged load on the amp and am then likely to fry it. On the other hand, if I parallel the coils on each sub and then series the subs, I come out with a 2ohm bridged load. This will not allow me to extract maximum power from the amp. I have heard that it is possible to extract maximum power from these amps from a 2 ohm bridged load but am not sure how to do this. If anyone here knows how, please let me know.

My alternative is to use 1 225HCCA per sub for a bridged 1 ohm load and get another amp for the splits. I have also been toying with the idea of getting a Soundstream Reference Class A 10.0 to drive the subs at a 0.5 ohm bridged load.

Opinions on these options would be appreciated, thanx

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[soundstreamer 10+ year member]

Your speakers will not receive as much power at 2 ohms as they would at 1 or .5 ohms.

 

[ObiNev 10+ year member]

Your speakers will not receive as much power at 2 ohms as they would at 1 or .5 ohms.

I know, that's why I want to run the amp at maximum power. Is it possible to do this with a bridged 2 ohm load on this amp?

 

[t-money 10+ year member]

those amps are stable down to 0.5 ohm bridged. so you can run one amp on both subs with no problems

 

[The HACKER 10+ year member]

those amps are stable down to 0.5 ohm bridged. so you can run one amp on both subs with no problems

This but if you dont have the electrical to back it up, its gonna put a beating on those amps and possibly fry them.

 

[mossberg385t 10+ year member]

Its .5 ohm stable but like he said make sure you have the electrical not to mention they are underrated at 12V, mine benchmarked at 1443rms at .5 bridged @14.4 so you might not want to so that

 

[The HACKER 10+ year member]

Its .5 ohm stable but like he said make sure you have the electrical not to mention they are underrated at 12V, mine benchmarked at 1443rms at .5 bridged @14.4 so you might not want to so that

.5 bridged is a .25 load from either side lul. That might be why you were getting such great power out of it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Either way thats impresive. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[ObiNev 10+ year member]

Its .5 ohm stable but like he said make sure you have the electrical not to mention they are underrated at 12V, mine benchmarked at 1443rms at .5 bridged @14.4 so you might not want to so that

OK guys, thanx for the super feedback. I've always known these amps were impressive but until now, I just didn't realise how impressive they actually are. I guess I'm gonna stick with these and not look for the Soundstream Ref Class A 10.0

Anyway, in terms of sorting out the electricals. what am I gonna need?. The stuff is going into a '91 Honda CRX with a JDM Spec Intergra Type R engine & Alternator. I take it that the alternator will not suffice and that it should be upgraded. How many amps should the alternator push to satisfy this beast's thirst for power? I intended running a 4 guage power cable to the distribution block and then 8 guage cables to the amps + a 1.5 Farad cap in the mix. After reading this, somehow I feel that this is not going to be enough. Any suggestions?

Finally, I've heard from another source that this amp actually develops max power at 1 ohm per channel but is stable to 0.5 ohm although it does not develop more power because by that time the power supply is already saturated. This is achieved by adjusting the gains (and, I suppose, a very beefy electrical system as you guys have advised).

The other source advises that the amp is .5 ohm stable but you don't need to run it down that far to get full power. You simply need to adjust the gain properly. Those specs are at a specified input. If you change the input, you change the output. Those specs are true if you do not adjust the gain for the new load.

Any comments? An once again thanx for the super feedback.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/respekt.gif.b162d148236010609fe523122efe3729.gif

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

I was able to run 1,500 watts of class AB power in my 97 Civic off of a 175 amp HO alternator and a Kinetik HC1400 battery. The only time I experienced dimming was at idle with the AC on.

Also, I happen to own a couple of HCCA 225s myself:

I am currently using one in my wife's vehicle powering her Memphis MS124d bridged at 2 ohms.

While I remember some running their HCCA 225s bridged at .25 ohms, I couldn't recommend a daily .5 ohm load unless you have a good bit of impedance rise bringing it closer to 1 ohm. Even then, I still don't like the idea of running a class ab amplifier at 1 ohm with the availability of class d amplifiers.

Before running your amplifiers at uber low impedances, I'd highly recommend changing out the amplifier's power supply capacitors, unless they have been changed in recent years. The reason why I recommend it is that you are approaching the end of an electrolytic capacitor's useful life and you wouldn't want one of them to let loose and take a whole set of FETs with it.

Lastly, I'd recommend an additional battery before I would recommend a capacitor in order to beef up your electrical system. That 1.5 farad capacitor will drain in the blink of an eye and do more harm than good over the long haul.

 

[kmanian 5,000+ posts]

OK guys, thanx for the super feedback. I've always known these amps were impressive but until now, I just didn't realise how impressive they actually are. I guess I'm gonna stick with these and not look for the Soundstream Ref Class A 10.0
Anyway, in terms of sorting out the electricals. what am I gonna need?. The stuff is going into a '91 Honda CRX with a JDM Spec Intergra Type R engine & Alternator. I take it that the alternator will not suffice and that it should be upgraded. How many amps should the alternator push to satisfy this beast's thirst for power? I intended running a 4 guage power cable to the distribution block and then 8 guage cables to the amps + a 1.5 Farad cap in the mix. After reading this, somehow I feel that this is not going to be enough. Any suggestions?

Finally, I've heard from another source that this amp actually develops max power at 1 ohm per channel but is stable to 0.5 ohm although it does not develop more power because by that time the power supply is already saturated. This is achieved by adjusting the gains (and, I suppose, a very beefy electrical system as you guys have advised).

The other source advises that the amp is .5 ohm stable but you don't need to run it down that far to get full power. You simply need to adjust the gain properly. Those specs are at a specified input. If you change the input, you change the output. Those specs are true if you do not adjust the gain for the new load.

Any comments? An once again thanx for the super feedback.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/respekt.gif.b162d148236010609fe523122efe3729.gif

I was able to run 1,500 watts of class AB power in my 97 Civic off of a 175 amp HO alternator and a Kinetik HC1400 battery. The only time I experienced dimming was at idle with the AC on.
Also, I happen to own a couple of HCCA 225s myself:

I am currently using one in my wife's vehicle powering her Memphis MS124d bridged at 2 ohms.

While I remember some running their HCCA 225s bridged at .25 ohms, I couldn't recommend a daily .5 ohm load unless you have a good bit of impedance rise bringing it closer to 1 ohm. Even then, I still don't like the idea of running a class ab amplifier at 1 ohm with the availability of class d amplifiers.

Before running your amplifiers at uber low impedances, I'd highly recommend changing out the amplifier's power supply capacitors, unless they have been changed in recent years. The reason why I recommend it is that you are approaching the end of an electrolytic capacitor's useful life and you wouldn't want one of them to let loose and take a whole set of FETs with it.

Lastly, I'd recommend an additional battery before I would recommend a capacitor in order to beef up your electrical system. That 1.5 farad capacitor will drain in the blink of an eye and do more harm than good over the long haul.

This. Get rid of the cap, I would supply the amp with 0ga wire if you can get some, if not do another run of 4ga, and do the same for the grounds, do the big 3 and get a good second battery! These HCCA amps are little beasts!

The thing with droping to 0.5ohm mono is that you will see more power, however your efficiency will drop, as it does every time you lower the resistance from the 4 ohm rating of 2x25. I would expect ~60 efficiency from the amp. Now with that being said, unless you are playing tones the resistance will swing alot and more time than not be well above the 0.5ohms that you wire the subs to. So with that being said your amp will not be constantly be running a 0.5ohm load and will be 1ohm and above ~90% of the time.

Good luck and post up some pictures

 

[Rodek 10+ year member]

Run it at .5 Ohms bridged and it'll eventually turn into an O'Fryin'. When they were introduced, they were rated stable at 1 ohm mono. Do what you want to though....

 

[ObiNev 10+ year member]

Hi All,

Thanx once again for the input. I recon I'm gonna run it at a two ohm bridged load and hear what that sounds like. As an experiment, I'll also run 1 amp per sub at a 1ohm bridged load and compare the performance / sound. But I will have to beef up the electricals big time before doing any of this.