Need help tuning IDMax 12D4V3

[shredder2]

Is this the thunderdome?.. gettin' kinda tense in this thread...

 

[Bdozers]

@Cliff hopefully it is. Its CEA-2006 compliant so thats a good sign. I read through a rather hilarious heated debate when looking it up. I'll definitely wait for your review on the infinity amp before I decide.

@TAHOE My budget is 200 shipped for the amp. I really would prefer not to spend higher and I don't have a problem getting a used one. Preferably I'd like to stay around 100 bucks - that to me is the sweet spot and would qualify for my "low hanging fruit" approach. If I can get at least 80% of the benefits of a much more expensive amp at a significantly lower cost this is fine with me. Also, thank you for being a good sport.

@GRANDPA -- I actually don't want to go louder. When I saw the deal I initially only wanted the amp but they won't separate the set to sell to me. I did a little googling and some were saying 2 W3s would be comparable and may sound better (SQ wise) than a IDMax since they don't need to be driven as hard (per unit). Of course I won't know unless I try it out for myself which is why I'm open to buying it. Its relatively low risk. I can't possibly see not being able to get at least $200 back for the two W3s if I don't like them.


I almost forgot --- The reason my choices of subs were rather on the upper end of power handling is because my POS car does not come with fold down seats. I was not aware that it only came with the Premium package which I didn't get when I bought the car. It was one of the last white ones in the bay area and they actually had to ship it to the dealer I was at from another city. I was there from like 12 noon and finally drove off the lot at 9pm. Pile that on with the fact that Germans love to insulate and cover whatever they can the trunk is so well sealed that they well as far as stuffing the ENTIRE rear deck with insulation foam cut to dimension to block off every area. I did not want to be the idiot that followed up a weak powered sub with yet another weak 10 or 12 inch sub. On the plus side... I rewired the voice coils following the diagram I found here: https://knowledge.sonicelectronix.com/tools/subwoofer-wiring/ I have to say.. Its sounding rather good at around 50-70% with the bass set to -2 on my factory radio. I can finally feel the bass without having my volume cranked. Looking forward to rewiring the car to 4 gauge and running some clean power from a good amp.

 

[Boomin_tahoe 5,000+ posts]

Alright...lets do this. @bigblank69 has some mainstream amps that he's tested and might have a few avail to sell in your pricerange.

 

[Jcsaudio]

Op, there is a lot of good information here about box calculations and sub wiring. https://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxcalcs.asp

 

[kcr357 10+ year member]

Over 500 watts u def want 4 gauge. 8 gauge is to small for just about anything today. 20 years ago when 300 watts was a lot u could use it, today with power being so cheap the only use for it is wiring up subs to the amp.

If you were smart, run 0 gauge welding cable for 2ish bucks a foot to a distribution block. Then in the future if you get a desire to upgrade your mids and get a 4 channel, no addl work needed. Otherwise, you def need 4 gauge minimum for what youre trying to run

 

[youdoofus]

im also in the over x watts you want OFC 4 gauge camp. and x cand be a subject of debate, but there is a clear science to this. 8 gauge can only carry so many amperes, and not much more than 200 watts can draw the kind of power that puts you in that range. 4 gauge is pretty much the starting point nowadays, 8 gauge is used for speaker wire

 

[bigblank69 10+ year member]

im also in the over x watts you want OFC 4 gauge. and x cand be a subject of debate, but there is a clear science to this. 8 gauge can only carry so many amperes, and not much more than 200 watts can draw the kind of power that puts you in that range. 4 gauge is pretty much the starting point nowadays, 8 gauge is used for speaker wire

8 gauge ofc can handle 50-70 amps just fine. 4 gauge can handle 100-120 pretty good as well.

OP,

as mentioned I do have some amps available in your price range that would work fine for you... I can get you a list if you want... As for the Amps you mentioned... Since I believe you stated the Sub is a D4, The JBL GTR1001 is your best pick crutchfield is a good place to grab one, though Walmart is also selling them currently via Walmart.com (make sure you click them as a seller in the search) and you can grab a extended warranty from them for dirt cheap money as well...

 

[youdoofus]

8 gauge ofc can handle 50-70 amps just fine. 4 gauge can handle 100-120 pretty good as well.

thats not necessarily the case. amperage over distance determines the gauge required. you can carry tons of amperage over short distances on a thinner wire. this is based on physics

 

[bigblank69 10+ year member]

thats not necessarily the case. amperage over distance determines the gauge required. you can carry tons of amperage over short distances on a thinner wire. this is based on physics

Ok, typical car length of 15 feet you are fine. Also keep in mind typical "Car Audio" 8 gauge Ofc is not far off in size from 6 AWG Welding Wire. You do not need more 8 gauge wire for a typical install of 60 amps or less...

 

[youdoofus]

Ok, typical car length of 15 feet you are fine. Also keep in mind typical "Car Audio" 8 gauge Ofc is not far off in size from 6 AWG Welding Wire. You do not need more 8 gauge wire for a typical install of 60 amps or less...

yeah, but 4 gauge looks cooler

 

[bigblank69 10+ year member]

yeah, but 4 gauge looks cooler

That is true lol

 

[XaznKewLguyX 10+ year member]

PM me if you ever come down to Socal, I have a US Amps MD2D sitting in my closet that I’d let go for cheap. Had it running a pair of IDMax’s but I downgraded to using just one one a diff amp.

 

[Clifff150 10+ year member]

[quote name='Bdozers']@Cliff hopefully it is. Its CEA-2006 compliant so thats a good sign. I read through a rather hilarious heated debate when looking it up. I'll definitely wait for your review on the infinity amp before I decide.

@TAHOE My budget is 200 shipped for the amp. I really would prefer not to spend higher and I don't have a problem getting a used one. Preferably I'd like to stay around 100 bucks - that to me is the sweet spot and would qualify for my "low hanging fruit" approach. If I can get at least 80% of the benefits of a much more expensive amp at a significantly lower cost this is fine with me. Also, thank you for being a good sport.

@GRANDPA -- I actually don't want to go louder. When I saw the deal I initially only wanted the amp but they won't separate the set to sell to me. I did a little googling and some were saying 2 W3s would be comparable and may sound better (SQ wise) than a IDMax since they don't need to be driven as hard (per unit). Of course I won't know unless I try it out for myself which is why I'm open to buying it. Its relatively low risk. I can't possibly see not being able to get at least $200 back for the two W3s if I don't like them.


I almost forgot --- The reason my choices of subs were rather on the upper end of power handling is because my POS car does not come with fold down seats. I was not aware that it only came with the Premium package which I didn't get when I bought the car. It was one of the last white ones in the bay area and they actually had to ship it to the dealer I was at from another city. I was there from like 12 noon and finally drove off the lot at 9pm. Pile that on with the fact that Germans love to insulate and cover whatever they can the trunk is so well sealed that they well as far as stuffing the ENTIRE rear deck with insulation foam cut to dimension to block off every area. I did not want to be the idiot that followed up a weak powered sub with yet another weak 10 or 12 inch sub. On the plus side... I rewired the voice coils following the diagram I found here: https://knowledge.sonicelectronix.com/tools/subwoofer-wiring/ I have to say.. Its sounding rather good at around 50-70% with the bass set to -2 on my factory radio. I can finally feel the bass without having my volume cranked. Looking forward to rewiring the car to 4 gauge and running some clean power from a good amp.[/QUOTE]

I just got the JBL Gtr-1001 in this afternoon. It is definitely a compact amp. Reminds me of my IA 10.1 but thinner. Has a nice solid feel. Heatsink is a rough texture like my old Fusion 2500d. I plan on getting it hooked up this weekend and use it on my new IDQ's.

 

[Bdozers]

@XaznKewLguyX I'm gonna be down there 4th of July weekend but I'll probably have this sorted out by then although depending on how good of a deal I would probably be willing to wait.
@Clifff150 sounds good. I'll probably end up getting this if there's no good suggestion closer to 100. Wouldn't make sense to get something else for 20-30 bucks less, the JBLs signal to noise ratio looks really impressive compared to everything else.

 

[Clifff150 10+ year member]

[quote name='Bdozers']@XaznKewLguyX I'm gonna be down there 4th of July weekend but I'll probably have this sorted out by then although depending on how good of a deal I would probably be willing to wait.
@Clifff150 sounds good. I'll probably end up getting this if there's no good suggestion closer to 100. Wouldn't make sense to get something else for 20-30 bucks less, the JBLs signal to noise ratio looks really impressive compared to everything else.[/QUOTE]

I got the JBL hooked up yesterday and did some cruising around for about an hour and a half playing music the entire time at 3/4 and up volume. I have it mounted behind my back seat in the truck and it's **** near 100 degrees outside. I checked the amp and it was only warm. So far I'm really liking the amp.

The only dislike I have is the mounting screw setup. I like mounting feet for easy mounting but I will say, the jbl mounting does look better when finished. I had to pre drill and use an allen wrench by hand to mount it.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy this or the infinity amp.