My Single 10 sounds like garbage! Please help!!

[ancorp 10+ year member]

You best bet is a 2 channel amp that's rated to do between 100 and 200w RMS per channel at 2 ohms. You bridge it into a single 4 ohm load.

Any of these should be fine:

MB Quart RA400.2 Reference Series 400W 2-Channel Amplifier

Soundstream TA2.400 Tarantula Series 400W 2-Channel Amplifier

Soundstream RUB2.250 Rubicon Series 250W 2-Channel Amplifier

Precision Power PPI BA800.2 2-Channel Black Ice Series Class A/B Amplifier

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

1200W into 1ohm, yeah. That amp would then do 300W into 4ohms.

Well what about 600 at 2ohm amps or 500 at 2 and 4ohm amps? or Bridged 2 channels?

 

[fly_marlin]

You best bet is a 2 channel amp that's rated to do between 100 and 200w RMS per channel at 2 ohms. You bridge it into a single 4 ohm load.
Any of these should be fine:

MB Quart RA400.2 Reference Series 400W 2-Channel Amplifier

Soundstream TA2.400 Tarantula Series 400W 2-Channel Amplifier

Soundstream RUB2.250 Rubicon Series 250W 2-Channel Amplifier

Precision Power PPI BA800.2 2-Channel Black Ice Series Class A/B Amplifier

I don't know about all that. He already has a class AB amp. He needs a solid sub amp that does 300W at 4 ohms.

 

[fly_marlin]

Well what about 600 at 2ohm amps or 500 at 2 and 4ohm amps? or Bridged 2 channels?

Yeah, all the same. As long as it does 300W or so at 4 ohms. Right now he's seeing like 50W, if that.

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

Yeah, all the same. As long as it does 300W or so at 4 ohms. Right now he's seeing like 50W, if that.

Its not the same, its about a $100 cost difference if we are talking quality amps.

 

[fly_marlin]

Its not the same, its about a $100 cost difference if we are talking quality amps.

Not sure what you mean or what costs more.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

I think we're slowly accumulating all the shortcomings for you.

Primarily -- that sub's a turd.

It WOULDN'T be such a turd if it wasn't ~$100 a few years ago, but it was, and that's BS.

Crutchfield sold it for $130 which would probably have made it one of the biggest turds out there at the time.

With an xmax of 5.3mm it simply isn't going to play low at ALL.

I took the time to model it in a sealed box -- yours is .65-.70 I believe. Output peaks at about 85hz and is down 3db by about 53hz, and basically useless at about 40hz. Essentially, in that box, it's a mid-bass.

A bigger box would flatten it out a little (not that bigger is an option), but it would still lack output nearing 40hz.

A few people have suggested it needs to be ported, which would help, but again, at 5.3mm it would bottom out before it produced anything that could be considered respectable bass.

So for starters, you need a better sub. You need to do some research for a GOOD small sealed box sub. Large and/or ported really isn't an option in the space you're working with.

The amp - as mentioned - has a 25A fuse. So it's not helping the cause either.

Logically you could expect something around 200w rms out of it at optimal impedance which is 2 ohms, but you're running at 4 and probably getting 125-150 -- 50-70 mentioned by others is extremely pessimistic.

So you can tune the amp and mess with the box all day long. You're not going to get much out of it.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

I don't know about all that. He already has a class AB amp. He needs a solid sub amp that does 300W at 4 ohms.

A lot of affordable class ab 2 ch's will do that.

No need in paying for a sub amp that will do 1000-700 at 1 or 2 ohms just to get a few hundred out of it at 4.

I did a similar install for a friend a while back under the seat of an F150 crew cab. Used a $60 mbquart 12 (dual 2) and a $60 Autotek amp (2 ch bridged). It's nothing special, but it least it performs like an actual subwoofer, and he's been really happy with it.

 

[fly_marlin]

A lot of affordable class ab 2 ch's will do that.
No need in paying for a sub amp that will do 1000-700 at 1 or 2 ohms just to get a few hundred out of it at 4.

I did a similar install for a friend a while back under the seat of an F150 crew cab. Used a $60 mbquart 12 (dual 2) and a $60 Autotek amp (2 ch bridged). It's nothing special, but it least it performs like an actual subwoofer, and he's been really happy with it.

No matter how you slice it or dice it, he needs true 300W at 4ohms.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

No matter how you slice it or dice it, he needs true 300W at 4ohms.

IMO he needs to not worry about the amp and find a quality sub that performs well in small/sealed.

Unfortunately, good amp or not, that sub's always going to be an oversized mid-bass.

 

[fly_marlin]

IMO he needs to not worry about the amp and find a quality sub that performs well in small/sealed.Unfortunately, good amp or not, that sub's always going to be an oversized mid-bass.

He needs a better sub and a better amp. That amp may struggle pushing a tweeter lol jk

 

[ancorp 10+ year member]

No matter how you slice it or dice it, he needs true 300W at 4ohms.

You're the one slicing and dicing it. A decent class AB 2 channel amp rated at 300w RMS at 4 ohms bridged will perform the same as a class D amp that's rated for the same power at the same impedance. Might be slightly less efficient on the electrical, but at this power level, it's negligible. A 1 ohm stable 1200w RMS class D amp as you suggested is a complete waste of money on the subwoofer he has now.

That being said, I would look into perhaps spending some extra money, and getting a new amplifier and a new subwoofer. Perhaps a SSA DCON 10 and a decent 500w RMS amplifier that matches in impedance. Would make a world of a difference in performance.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

I honestly think he has other underlying issues rather than gear choices here guys. Basically sounds like he's getting less output than door speakers which dumb because I've heard that sub IRL on a 50 x 2 legacy crap 2 channel and they do make bass and sound like a cheap 10 thats definitely louder than a stock sub. Judging from his woofer/amp choices, it doesn't seem like he will put out the money for something that WE consider decent. He should just find out what his problem actually is. From the symptoms its most likely a signal issue either being cut out from stock head unit crossover points or weak signal/improper gain settings or even enclosure/subwoofer loading.

 

[fly_marlin]

There's a reason there are class D amps. I think you're telling me that the amps you listed REALLY do 400W into 4ohms for $80? Let's not be naive. You're suggesting something almost on par with what he already has.

 

[ancorp 10+ year member]

Class D vs Class AB has nothing to do with being over rated or producing proper rated power. Let's not be foolish. None of the amps I linked come close to how poor quality and over rated the original posters amp is. I would expect all those amps to produce at least 90% of what they're rated for, which is more then enough for his Kenwood sub.