Inexpensive but Underrated Subwoofer Amplifers

[CTGT2005 10+ year member]

Trying to find a really inexpensive subwoofer amp for my girlfriend, as she doesnt care how it sounds as long as it goes "boom". The amp could produce the dirtiest, muddiest bass known to mankind and she wouldnt be able to tell the difference.

Currently she has an Alpine Type E in a sealed box powered by an RE audio XT800.2 which sounds OK but lacks reinforcement, and is easily drowned out by highway noise.

I picked up an Aura RPM 2300 that I was thinking about using in my own car to power a set of midbass drivers, however I might just give that to her instead. The only issue is the size of the RPM2300 is slightly larger than space would allow for.

Are there any amps that really stand out as representing good price to power output in the 65-100 dollar range? Better price/performance than the Aura 2300? I need an amp that at minimum produces an actual 400-500w RMS into a 4 ohm load. More power would be better.

I have looked at many alternatives, but budget components is like throwing darts, particularly with brands that do not comply with CEA-2006 ratings.

I've looked at the budget stuff from Hifonics, MB Quart, Soundstream, Planet Audio, Arc Audio, Audiopipe and so on. Has anyone clamp tested any of the budget offerings from these companies to see how well they perform?

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[kramer_212 10+ year member]

Think you would see greater gain from a new woofer and enclosure over amplifier

 

[brynm 10+ year member]

I know a couple people with the MB Quart Onyx amps, they seem happy with them. No idea on if they've been clamped though.

MB Quart ONX1.1500D - ONYX Class D Monoblock Car Amplifier/Amp

 

[CTGT2005 10+ year member]

I dont know if the enclosure should be to blame, its a run of the mill .75 cuft sealed, primarly done to maintain trunk space. Going with a ported enclosure would likely double the space requirement. I am running the exact same enclosure with a JL 10W3v3/Soundstream STL1.600D and have been very satisfied with the bass.

On the other hand, I am suspect of her old Type E subwoofer, although at high volumes it does not appear to be reaching its mechanical limits with her current setup. I was looking at JL W0 or WX woofers some time ago for her.

 

[CTGT2005 10+ year member]

Double Post

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

Think you would see greater gain from a new woofer and enclosure over amplifier

This. The amp isn't going to make hardly any difference if you're already pushing the sub pretty hard.

 

[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

Need a bigger sealed box.

 

[CTGT2005 10+ year member]

This. The amp isn't going to make hardly any difference if you're already pushing the sub pretty hard.

I dont feel like the thats the case, the woofer barely moves even at higher input levels. When setting the gain to maximum the subwoofer is still almost inaudible over the speakers on most tracks. When I get a chance I will hook the AURA RPM2300 amp up to her sub and see if it improves the bass output, which I am almost certain it will. I know going from about 200W RMS to 600W RMS is only good for about 4db of headroom.

Perhaps the 2V preout on her headunit is not delivering a strong enough signal to the amplifier.

Need a bigger sealed box.

The .75 Sealed box is about all there is room for in the trunk. She's one of those people who like to cart half of their belongings around in the trunk. Maybe its just all her **** that is muffling the sound.

 

[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

How do you only have 200 watts going to the sub right now? I assume the sub is a SVC4ohm coil and you're bridging the XT800.2 to it?

 

[CTGT2005 10+ year member]

How do you only have 200 watts going to the sub right now? I assume the sub is a SVC4ohm coil and you're bridging the XT800.2 to it?

Its an XT800.2v3, which is indeed rated at 400w RMS @ 4ohms Bridged according to RE's website. I am very skeptical if it can actually do those ratings. In the spec sheet provided with the amplifier IIRC, the amplifier was only stated to be 200w RMS 4ohm bridged, which also conflicts the specs published on the back of the packaging that state 400w. Even the layout of the adjustments and inputs are different than what is shown on RE's website. It's like they did a mid-year model revision and never bothered to update the literature.

I bought her this amplifier a while ago as a cheap upgrade to an archaeic Kicker 75.2, hoping it would be better, but the only thing gained from the switch was the addition of a low pass. It would be a stretch to say its any louder.

 

[CTGT2005 10+ year member]

One thought I had was that she is still using the factory 2ohm rated speakers, which probably have an efficiency of above 90db 1w/1m coupled with the 2 ohm impedance, they are very efficient and the Alpine headunit is not putting out enough preout voltage until very fatiguing volume levels. We have tried bumping the subwoofer output level which makes the sub seem louder, but at significant loss of SQ.

So perhaps the best plan of action is:

1. Better Subwoofer (Open to suggestions anything decent but cheap) was thinking JL WX or W0.

2. Aftermarket components (also open to suggestions)

 

[Wattser93 10+ year member]

One thought I had was that she is still using the factory 2ohm rated speakers, which probably have an efficiency of above 90db 1w/1m coupled with the 2 ohm impedance, they are very efficient and the Alpine headunit is not putting out enough preout voltage until very fatiguing volume levels. We have tried bumping the subwoofer output level which makes the sub seem louder, but at significant loss of SQ.
So perhaps the best plan of action is:

1. Better Subwoofer (Open to suggestions anything decent but cheap) was thinking JL WX or W0.

2. Aftermarket components (also open to suggestions)

That's probably clipping. If your Alpine is anything like my Kenwood, the sub level is only an attenuation knob. I have to set my sub level to +15db to get full pre-out voltage. Turn off all of the bass boost features, turn the sub level to max, turn down the gain all of the way, and reset the gains from there.

I had a similar issue when I first got a sub in my last car, and after turning the sub level up and reseting gains, everything was much better.

 

[brodeisel 10+ year member]

^ if that dont work i would get an under ground subwoofer for here. Like a single dcon or a skar audio 10 inch. Make a sealed box out of 3/4 inch mdf to spec. Then run an amp that does about what the spec's say.