Switching to Class A/B for Subs?

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

well I know a S/N of 100+ dbs is better than one of 70dbs....

 

[jjski78 10+ year member]

I would only recommend running class A/B to your subs if you are running a relatively low power system. I run A/B to my sub, but it only requires 280 watts RMS at 4 ohms, so it's really not too hard to find an amp that will do that in A/B. If you need lots of power, Class D is what you should be running. Unless you really want to do serious upgrades to your electrical system.

 

[00poop6x 10+ year member]

A big change would be damping factor.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

I know I would need a high ouput alt, which is why I was asking if it was worth while. I like the DLS amps, they arent not Huge, but like 14 inches and 4 inches tall if I remember without looking up specs... They are going undermy seat but would stick out one inch.
Otherwise small and good clean output would probably do the trick.

Why are ARC amps so highloy recomended over others? I'm thinking that if I get new amps it would be nice to have a matching set for Comps and Subs. Still working on getting subs as well since I doubt I will find another Assassin 10" anytime soon I'll probably have to buy 2...

If you go with arc the 1500xxk is a class T amp. Similar to a D in effeciency, but has the "SQ" of an A/B.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Similar but not quite the same in either case. It is more efficient than a Class A/B but its efficiency is frequency dependant. At low freqs it is the same as a Class D as the frequency goes up the efficiency goes down. They are also only kinda linear at any frequency. Not to the point it becomes audible but non-linear nonetheless.

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

I'd like to get some matching amps but I can't fit somethign 16 inches long under my seat, around 14 inches would probably work though. I don't really have 1000 to spend on amps right now either //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

So is Class T better than Class D for SQ purposes? I may end up with a single 10" sub it I can find something that gets loud enough and still sounds good. The Assassin is just not cutting it, maybe 2 of them would be enough but I will probably never know since I can't find another one.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

For the 2nd (or 3rd) time...any differences won't be audible for subbass.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

For the 2nd (or 3rd) time...any differences won't be audible for subbass.

x4:laugh:

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

A big change would be damping factor.

Unless either of them have a very unreasonbly low damping factor (less than ~20)...then DF doesn't matter either.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

well I know a S/N of 100+ dbs is better than one of 70dbs....

And .0001% THD is better than 1% THD.

Doesn't mean you'll hear a difference //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

For the 2nd (or 3rd) time...any differences won't be audible for subbass.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

Ok Ok, thing is I have heard some audiable differences before switching from Class A/B POS to Class D Hifonics where the Class A/B sounded better...

I just want to make sure I get something that will sound better than my current setup vs the getting something that will sound even worse...

 

[PowerNaudio 10+ year member]

as long as you stick with a quality build and designed amp brand you should be fine when it comes to the sound quality of the class D amp todays technology is to the point that even the low end brand are putting out amps that dont start distorting till a certain point in power. so im sure you dont have to spend $1K on a sub woofer amp to get a decent amplifier. like stated before there wont be an audible difference when comparing the THD of a class d and a class A/B amp as long as your comparing quality amps. the class A/B most of the time will be bigger then the class A amp that produces the same power. the class A/B will be less efficient, produce more heat and be bigger, but will sound just as good.

Class D for subwoofer duty and class A/B for midbass and up.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Ok Ok, thing is I have heard some audiable differences before switching from Class A/B POS to Class D Hifonics where the Class A/B sounded better...

And in these types of situations the "difference in sound" is almost always a result of setup differences and NOT related in any way to the "sound characteristics" of the amp.

People mistakenly believe that just because they started with amp A, then installed amp B and heard a difference, that the difference was a result of the amplifier itself.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Class D for subwoofer duty and class A/B for midbass and up.

Myth.

There are many quality class D full range amplifiers that are sonically indistinguishable from any other class of amp.

Though full range class D amps aren't many in number for car audio, there are a substantial amount of them for home audio and has been for decades.

the class A/B most of the time will be bigger then the class A amp that produces the same power. the class A/B will be less efficient, produce more heat and be bigger, but will sound just as good.

Was that supposed to be class A or class D ?