Suggest an Amplifier

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Ello guys and gals!

I'm new 'round these parts, know a little bit about speakers. I am into a whole lot of things but at the time am unemployed, so most of the hobbies are on hold. I need some quick help picking the proper amplifier to adequately power my subwoofer and overall integrate into my setup nicely. Here is what I got:

4x Alpine Type-S (SPS-17C2)

• Sensitivity: 92dB / W(1m)
  
• Impedence: 4 Ohms
  
• Frequency Response: 35Hz - 30kHz
  

Clarion DXZ545MP

2-band parametric EQ

17 watts RMS/52 peak x 4 channels

AudioBahn AW1571T [sealed enclosure]

15" Diameter

60oz magnet

500W RMS Power Handling

21-1000hZ Response Band

93.4db Efficiency (

2" dual 4Ohm voice coils

2 or 8 Ohm operation

Right now, the above woofer is being inadequately powered by some shitty Ultra Linear amplifier and whenever I crank the volume up high enough the punchline bassparts make the amp cut out. My car's got an 80Amp alternator and has the genuine Honda battery. Lights dim a little bit when I make it scream but nothing too strenuous on the electrical system.

Today my friend picked up a used DB Crossfire 15" subwoofer, also in a sealed enclosure. We hooked it up to my setup to test and it was able to go much louder before ******* enough power to cripple the amp. We know its power handling is less than mine and sensitivity is most likely higher. Additionally, it may have different Ohm ratings.

After hearing the difference I know my subwoofer and amplifier are horribly mismatched. So please, granted I do not know the electrical theaory well enough, explain what I should be looking for in a replacement amplifier.

What Ohm rating, how much power, I am guessing it should be mono (my current one is a bridged two channel) and so on. I am very price conscious and seeing as how the rest of my system isn't all that amazing, I am not looking to buy anything astronomically accurate. I just need something priced reasonably to power this thing properly.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: For those interested, I am attaching some random pictures of my car, home loudspeakers and other stuff, enjoy. The custom brush paintjob is my good friend's.

Click to read more...

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

read and learn,

http://www.bcae1.com/

 

[visible]

Thank for the link. I suppose I will also ask what are good price-conscious brands and which ones to steer clear from.

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

first of all get rid of that Audiobahn subwoofer. Audiobahn is blinged-out garbage.

also you can do a lot better than Type S coaxials for the money. Look into Pheonix Gold RSD components for the fronts, and then if you feel the need to have rear speakers get some RSD coaxials. A Profile AP1000 will power those comps up front very well. set the gains to about 120 rms or so.

For a sub if you want to go cheap you can go with a Pheonix Gold RSD 12" in a sealed box. if you want to spend more money and want sound quality you can get an Fi Q or an RE SE or there are several other choices. match the amp to the sub you choose

 

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I am really not looking to spend money outside of the amplifier at the moment. I will take these suggestions into account when planning out my next project. I am a college student, most of the stuff I simply cannot afford.

So needless to say I am not looking to throw away my current subwoofer. I got the enclosure, the sub and the shitty amplifier for $50. If you heard it in my car, I am sure you would agree that is a deal.

Thanks though.

 

[mapolley07 10+ year member]

you can probably sell it for more than what you paid. I too am a poor college student, and I would try to sell it to some other unsuspecting newb.

the other stuff i suggested was pretty reasonable as far as price goes, with everything brand new you are looking at less than $400, which i know is tough on a college budget. you can buy a little at a time, though and also a summer job will buy it for you in 2 weeks

 

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Summer job? I work year-round to pay my insurance bill, gas, car maintenance and desperately trying to pay off some of the school as well. Let me try again, I will not be spending money on my setup, I am no audiophile and I like the way it sounds. The subwoofer could use a little more power though, and that's as far as I'll go.

Even that will have to wait a while before I get my hands on anything worthwhile.

EDIT: I failed to mention something very important. The subwoofer suits my purposes perfectly because my crossover is set at 40-50hz. I only need this thing to drive the lowest of frequencies and it handles the task just fine.

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

kicker 5 channel...might not be the most powerful but it will be easy to hook up and power all of your speakers to get the most out of the whole set up.

 

[dadydolas 10+ year member]

my opinion is buy this and call it a day

hifonics is one of the best budget amps you can buy, or you could spend a little more and get an amp with more power that you will not have to replace if you get more speakers. or look for used amps just be careful and know your seller

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-HIFONICS-TXI5006-Car-Amplifier-1000w-Mono-Ch-Amp_W0QQitemZ200184447495QQihZ010QQcategoryZ64570QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

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The Root Mean Square output at 2 Ohms is only 375Watts RMS. My current amplifier does 600W-RMS per stereo channel on the non-bridged 2Ohm setup.

But that is an excellent suggestion if the quality is indeed alright! Thanks //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

This woofer is DVC and each coil is 4Ohms. I am stuck running it at 2 or 8 ohms. Right now I decided not to strain the system excessively and only hooked up one coil since my amp's bridged output is @ 4Ohms.

Here is a new quation though: if I hook up my sub to one of the channel, non-bridged. Will the thing work? Or do both the channels need to be connected and circuitry completed that way for it to work at the impedance and power levels specified.

Basically, my amplifier is stereo: 2 x 600 watts Rms @ 2 ohms. If I only connect one channel, will it still be 600 Watts and 2 Ohms?