Need help with AMP decission.. NEW TO CAR AUDIO

[stanza 10+ year member]

hey guys so like the title says im new to car audios and i know very little about them.. so heres what i got..

Rockford Fosgate Prime 12" R/2 subwoofers X2

All Rockford Fosgate speakers

JL Audio JX500/1 Amplifier

Dual Head Unit

When i really crank my system for a while my amp gets extremly hot. It even turned itself off after a good 30 minutes of pretty hard use.. now i was thinking that my problem is that the amp is not powerful enough to keep up with the subs i have.. so what do you guys recomend as far as a better amp? any advice would be great thanks.

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[hispls 5,000+ posts]

What kind of money do you have to spend? Is size an issue? What impedence are your subs?

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

sounds more like your amp is getting ready to take a dump ,so you need a new oneView attachment 26527093

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

hey guys so like the title says im new to car audios and i know very little about them.. so heres what i got..
Rockford Fosgate Prime 12" R/2 subwoofers X2

All Rockford Fosgate speakers

JL Audio JX500/1 Amplifier

Dual Head Unit

When i really crank my system for a while my amp gets extremly hot. It even turned itself off after a good 30 minutes of pretty hard use.. now i was thinking that my problem is that the amp is not powerful enough to keep up with the subs i have.. so what do you guys recomend as far as a better amp? any advice would be great thanks.

What impedance are those subwoofers? Who installed the amp?

Too low of an impedance or a poor amp install (skinny power wire and/or poor ground) will show the same symptoms. I've also seen some cheap speaker terminals on boxes do some weird things to amps b/c the terminals were melting inside the box.

If your amp is too small, you just won't sound that great or you just won't get loud enough. The heat given off by the amp has no relationship with the size of the amp. If anything, bigger amps get hotter.

What is the bass set at on your head unit? What's the bass boost set at on the amp?

If the amp is overheating b/c you're overdriving it to get more output; you need different subs and not a different amp.

Lastly, where is the amp mounted? If it's covered up or shoved under a seat; that will cause similar problems. Amps need a little air around them so they can adequately cool themselves.

 

[Fiendstolemyamp 10+ year member]

Sounds like user error.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

pushing it hard then it shuts off cause its getting hot sounds like you are running it at 1 ohm and the amp will only go down to 2 ohms .theres you problem.your subs are dual 4 ohm so either they are wired at 4 ohms and you just are not getting enough power so you are turning it up too loud and getting a clipping signal which is bad for the amp and woofers or the woofers are wired to 1 ohm which is bad for the amp . so again like i said the first , get a different amp ,one that is 1 ohm stable,like the one i showed in the earlier post in the pic

 

[stanza 10+ year member]

I have about 600$ I can spend on an amp.. sound of tristate installed my whole system and I'm not sure wat impedence they r

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

yupp youre probably at 1 ohm on a 2 ohm stable amp.

get the amp shown above.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

I would sell what you have an start over IMO...

 

[Florida Rep 10+ year member]

The subwoofers only come in 12" SVC (Single Voice Coil) to you are running it correctly. As far as it getting hot & shutting down...Could be several things. I would first check the ground & make sure it's secure, bare metal & it's not too long. If this is ok, check the power wire at the fuse holder under the hood. Look for melted plastic, discolored wire.

Another thing you can relocate the amp for better circulation to cool the amplifier. Also check your voltage at the amplifier with the car running & off. Report back to us with the number.

A bigger, stronger amp will not help. You subwoofers are already at the max RMS & increasing power will not yield more output.

Are the subwoofers in a ported or sealed enclosure?

 

[05trailblazer 10+ year member]

i'd say just the hu^^ for now to change too