first timer help

[Atwell]

Alright guys, I'm new to car audio, just got a 1999 toyota corolla, and wanted to throw a system in it, but when I bought my amp/subs through a private sale, he said he wasn't sure the wattage on the amp, or subs, so he has the amp turned down, because he didn't want to blow subs that weren't his. Understandable, except now I'm sitting here with subs that aren't producing as well as they could, and I'm staring at this amp, not knowing what the hell I'm supposed to do. I will list my components here, and hopefully someone can help.

Amp- Legacy LA1990

Subs- Alpine Type R

Head unit- Kenwood KDC- 448U

And some 40 dollar wire kit from the Walmart..

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[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

What are your subs??Several Size,and 2 and 4 dvc ohm subs of type r.You may have them wired wrong.You can go to sonic electronics and find your subs and what ohmsthey are/ the amp is, and print out wiring diagram to take to the car with you to check your wiring configuration first??Check see if you have connected the rca to low out from head unit,and switch all selectors to lpf/mono on the amp as well??,and on radio,check the settings for low/bass???May have something within one of these suggestions wrong??Check those out,and let everyone know what you found out on here to get some help.Thanks

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

psh, if those type R's are of considerable size like 10 or 12, you are going to have a HARD time blowing them with any amp, your vehicles electrical system will probabli bottle neck you first. What I would do is set your amp sensativity to 2 volts and if you dont get any clipping then its running pretty good, I think that kenwoods preout is 2v... but ill check on that amp just to be certain but I know for two type R is they are 10 or 12 your going to need around 1200-1400 watts RMS to hit their full potential

EDIT...

Apparently that amp is rated for 1000RMS per channel, 2 channel. Maybe just don't turn it up to loud on the off chance that a it can actually produce that or b your electrical system can actually produce that...plz dont take offence I dont mean to be sarcastic, I just wanted to mention that average car electrical system dont support more than 1000 watts (debatable)

 

[Atwell]

Sorry it took so long guys, but I finally pulled the subs out of my box, and they are the alpine type r Swr-1041D. And I just read that they have like 300 wat rms. Correct me if im wrong, but isn't that complete trash?

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

The sub or the 300rms rating? Subs rated at a low wattage aren't trash by any means. The type r's aren't bad subs either, you definitely could have done a lot worse.