What are the important things to consider when buying 2 12" subwoofers?

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

I currently have 1 12" memphis audio sub that I am looking to sell along with it's Orion 8001 amp in exchange for dual 12" subs. I have some questions about this.

1. In most cases, is it practical to buy a 2 channel amp and power both subs, or get an amp for each sub?

2. What are some of the best brands to focus on?

3. What is all the talk about dual vs. single coil and ohms? I don't understand this part the most.

4. I have another 300 watt amp powering my 4 speakers, If I get 2 subs and an amp (or 2 amps if needed) what upgrades will I need to do (if any) regarding my battery and alternator?

5. Is it easy to install subs into a sub box? For example, would it be a good idea to buy 2 subwoofers and then separately buy a sub box to enclose them in myself?

Any answers very appreciated. Thanks!

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[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

I currently have 1 12" memphis audio sub that I am looking to sell along with it's Orion 8001 amp in exchange for dual 12" subs. I have some questions about this.
1. In most cases, is it practical to buy a 2 channel amp and power both subs, or get an amp for each sub? A mono block amp is the way to go here...

2. What are some of the best brands to focus on? That depends on your goals for your system...

3. What is all the talk about dual vs. single coil and ohms? I don't understand this part the most. In a nut shell single and dual vc subs are simply Giving you different options as to how they will wire.. A single 4 ohm sub will wire down to 4 ohms only where as a D4 sub will wire to either 2 or .5 ohms depending on how you connect the +\- to the amp...

4. I have another 300 watt amp powering my 4 speakers, If I get 2 subs and an amp (or 2 amps if needed) what upgrades will I need to do (if any) regarding my battery and alternator? That depends on how you much power you decide to run or how much money you want to spend ultimately...

5. Is it easy to install subs into a sub box? For example, would it be a good idea to buy 2 subwoofers and then separately buy a sub box to enclose them in myself? Box is everything for subs which is where most make the biggest mistake of putting subs in a prefab box and not one custom built for their subs...

Any answers very appreciated. Thanks!

I hope that helps a little?

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

I hope that helps a little?

a D4 is gonna wire to 2 or 8ohms bro.

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

i have a feeling he was thinking of a d1, but anywho...

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

i have a feeling he was thinking of a d1, but anywho...

i have a feeling youre right. all the cool kids run below 1 ohm //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/suave.gif.858fc102f7646e678ee8af7e1fbc41d1.gif

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Hahaha Ya sorry OP didnt mean to give you wrong info it was late when I wrote all that on my phone...

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

"Box is everything for subs which is where most make the biggest mistake of putting subs in a prefab box and not one custom built for their subs..." I don't understand what you mean by this. What is a prefab box? How do I get a box custom built for whichever subs I end up choosing? I don't know how to make boxes lol.

"A mono block amp is the way to go here..." Isn't a mono amp something that powers only 1 speaker/sub? How could that work for 2 subs together? Please detail instructions if possible. Thanks a lot!

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

"Box is everything for subs which is where most make the biggest mistake of putting subs in a prefab box and not one custom built for their subs..." I don't understand what you mean by this. What is a prefab box? How do I get a box custom built for whichever subs I end up choosing? I don't know how to make boxes lol.
"A mono block amp is the way to go here..." Isn't a mono amp something that powers only 1 speaker/sub? How could that work for 2 subs together? Please detail instructions if possible. Thanks a lot!

well mono means one channel you can put as manny speakers on it as you want as long as the amp accepts the final impedance load.

prefab boxes are usually wrong internal airspace, and tuned to the wrong frequency you want a costum built box built to both how, and what type of music you listen to. this also ensures you are getting the best possible sound out of your woofer (for what you want it to do).

hope this helps im on my phone

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

Thanks for the response! I am really not understanding the whole mono to multiple speakers thing though, I've always thought that mono means you can hook up one sub/speaker to the amp. How does the "impedance load" relate to the amp, and how do I know when they are matched with impedance? This is a major grey area for me lol.

Do you like hook up the amp to a sub, then from that sub connect speaker wire to the next sub?

 

[splwj47 10+ year member]

most mono amps have 4 speaker outputs but they are bridged internally. here is a link to show you how to wire subs.

Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams, Two 4 ohm Dual Voice Coil (DVC) Speakers

all amps give out different power at different ohms and are only stable to a certain load

for example= if you have a amp that is 1 ohm stable and puts out:

1000x1 at 1 ohm

800X1 at 2 ohm

400x1 at 4 ohm

then you can get certian dvc subs to get the wiring you want for the power of your amp. so say you have 2 dvc 4 ohm subs then you can wire them to 1 ohm for 1000 watts rms split between the subs so 500 a piece. if you wire below what the amp is stable then you are asking for trouble.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

how far are you from cali.i could help you out with all you need.woofers ,amp ,and box.i'm in the monterey bay area

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

most mono amps have 4 speaker outputs but they are bridged internally. here is a link to show you how to wire subs.Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams, Two 4 ohm Dual Voice Coil (DVC) Speakers

all amps give out different power at different ohms and are only stable to a certain load

for example= if you have a amp that is 1 ohm stable and puts out:

1000x1 at 1 ohm

800X1 at 2 ohm

400x1 at 4 ohm

then you can get certian dvc subs to get the wiring you want for the power of your amp. so say you have 2 dvc 4 ohm subs then you can wire them to 1 ohm for 1000 watts rms split between the subs so 500 a piece. if you wire below what the amp is stable then you are asking for trouble.

I still cannot understand this impedance/ohm issue at all. None of it makes any sense to me. Do any of you know of any links or articles that explain these terms in depth and how they relate to choosing amps and speakers and subs and matching them?

 

[ckunke002 10+ year member]

"all amps give out different power at different ohms and are only stable to a certain load

for example= if you have a amp that is 1 ohm stable and puts out:

1000x1 at 1 ohm

800X1 at 2 ohm

400x1 at 4 ohm"

What do you mean by "stable" exactly? They are only meant to power subs that are at a certain "ohm"? If I want 2 4 ohm subs then which ohm amp do I need?

 

---------- Post added at 12:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 AM ----------

 

And I live about 20 hours from Cali lol

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

well, to answer quickly, you should google the ohms, impeedance, etc, you will most liley be reading wikipedia articles about ohms law and how it works. when stable to x ohm, that means if you go below that total resistance on the speaker terminal, then it is basically like short circuiting the amp. same thing that happens when you cross a power and ground in your car, or touch 2 lamp, etc wires together when plugged into something in your house, or sticking a paperclip in both slots of an outlet. the lack of resistance or restriction of power will let it just pass more power than it can handle, and poof. also, when wiring, there is 2 different ways, series, which is where the path of power goes through one, and then through the other(you add the resistance of both to find the ohm load), and parallel. parallel is where positive, and negative of both are connected and using power from the same point. the resistance here, would be like having both 4ohm feeding from the same terminal, and then that would make it half of one @ 2ohm, kind of opposite of series wiring.

 

[DoesDad 10+ year member]

I think what he's not understanding is how to actually get 2 positives and 2 negatives into a mono amp (although a lot of them have 2 speaker terminals). If it doesn't, wite both negatives from the box together and both positives from the box together and into the amp. Resulting in 2 negatives in one negative terminal and 2 positives in one positive terminal. Understanding though that this is going to lower your ohm load as you're now running parallel. If you have 2 single voice coil 4 ohm subs in a box and wired them to two terminals on the box and then did the above out to the amp you'd be pulling a 2 ohm load, confused yet? This is probably the most difficult thing to understand and once you start researching it and doing it you'll get it. And all stable means is the amp can run and run well running at 1 ohm or 2 ohm. Most commonly amps are 2 ohm stable and the least expensive. One ohm stable amps are usually capable of putting out more watts and running cooler doing it. Nicer amp in a nutshell.