Help me out. 1st post, total n00b, but serious q's...

[yellowltd]

Awright, here we go:

Me: All I want is decent SQL, and even frequency response. This is a guy who thought the stock stereo in the 2000 Passat was really well done (never heard 6's go that low), even though it didn't go that loud.

Car: '86 Mustang SVO, interior torn to ****. Speakers sound like they're talking through water when it's up loud, 'cause there's nothing dividing the air in front from in back. Oh, and 'cause they're old crap. I got some newer crap in a box.

Setup: Clarion BD216 HU, holy ****ing way too bright display. Pair of old ass Clarion coaxials in the dash (3 1/2"), Ford "premium" 5x7"s in the rear q panels. Got cheapie Clarion coax 6 1/2"s, Jensen coax 4"s, and a Fosgate RFP-1810 chillin in my room. I'm building a box for the 10" right now, used winISD thanks to reading up on here, got the box tuned for som'n like 36-38 Hz, slot port. Hopefully I'll get the other speaks in the car soon. Right now, I gots no bass. Like, nothin under 200Hz. Baaaaad sh** man. I don't need boom, but I need something.

QUESTIONS: I'm looking for an amp. I'm stingy. Been looking on ebay an such, finding some okay stuff. Thing is, I don't know my audio. All my friends think Kenwood is top o the line. I know it ain't nothin to soil your panties over. I know MTX isn't too good anymore. I know Jensen isn't quality, but it isn't that bad either, and I am wondering if I really need good THD #'s for an 8 ohm single sub. I could save some serious money if I stopped caring about THD. The sub is rated at 200w RMS and 400w peak, I want an amp that will stay well within that, and I'm having trouble finding one used that isn't ten years old. I want a built in crossover, with a KNOB not a switch. I want to set it above 80Hz, dammit, I don't want a big hole in my sound. I'd prefer 2ch bridgeable, so I can use it for something else later, but I won't sneeze at a mono amp for a good price. I'm on a really tight budget, I'm hoping I can find something around 100-150wRMS for

Q#2: Everything I see is rated at 2 or 4 ohms. Looking at a used Alpine, manual says: Speaker Impedance ............................................. 4 or 2 ohms (stereo), 4 ohms (bridged). What is going to happen if I bridge it into a single 8 ohm sub? Is this a no-no? Or am I just going to lose some power? Since the bridged 4 ohm ratings are usually around double the rating for each channel into 2 ohms, am I sane assuming that when bridged into 8 ohms, it will push about double what it does for each ch. into 4? If I use an amp rated at, say, 250w RMS bridged into 4 ohms, will hooking it to an 8 ohm load maybe bring the power down below the 200w rating of the sub? And, did I just ask the same question three different ways? We may never know. Oh, and will pushing an 8 ohm load with an amp rated for 4 ohms cause the amp or sub or both to overheat?

Okay, I think that's it. I really appreciate you guys reading all that crap I just wrote. Let me know what you think.

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[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

first off when you increase the ohms your output on your amp will go down. so when you go from 4 ohms to 8 ohms you are actually decreasing power not increasing. for an amp maybe a us acoustics 4085? they are 4 channel but bridgeable down to 2 and would put out 170 watts rms x2 @ 4ohms. they are excellent amps that put out over rms power. at the most they go for $180 new so you might find some deals on used ones. i hope any of this helped

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Well you are running an up hill race, using a single 8ohm sub. Most car audio amps are rated for at very least 4ohm mono, usually lower. You wont find a car audio amp that maxes its power at 8ohms. What this means is, your amp is going to be running at best half of its potential. IMO you need to get another 8hm sub to wire them down to 4ohms mono, or buy a different single 4ohm sub altogether.