Which Amp? Please help the new guy...

[BEAVER.989 10+ year member]

Hi all. This is my first post, although I have been lurking in the shaddows and using the search feature for quite some time. I'm torn between two amps and could use a little advice. The amp will be used to power a set of components and a single 12" sub, yet to be determined. I'm looking at the following:

Memphis MCA-5004... will give me 125W X 2 up front and 500W @ 4ohm for sub.

Memphis "Baby Belle"... 150W X 2(bridged) and 400 to the sub at 1ohm.

The 1st offers me the ability to run the Diyma 12 or an IDQ 12 (not sure which way to go here)

The second will power an IDQ 12 and give me the ability to go active later on, if I decide to go that route... but will it have enough power at 55W X4 for an active set-up?

Any advice you guys can give will be greatly appreciated.

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[BEAVER.989 10+ year member]

...Anyone?

 

[blimblam 10+ year member]

you can't do that....i suggest getting 2 amps. one for your sub and one for your comps.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

you can't do that....i suggest getting 2 amps. one for your sub and one for your comps.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

Care to explain why not???

To the OP ~

I'd go with the Baby Belle if going active in the future is a real possibility to you.

55w X 4 is plenty to go active if you choose efficient drivers //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[BEAVER.989 10+ year member]

Thanks Prowler. I'm not sure if I will go active, but I may be talked into it if I hang aroung here long enough.

 

[blimblam 10+ year member]

you can run them at different wattages at the same time? if so, i didnt know.. >.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

you can run them at different ohms at the same time? if so, i didnt know.. >.Yep.

So long as you haven't gone beyond what the amp can handle in any given configuration there's no reason not to if that suits your needs. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

And if you're talking about the Baby Belle option the OP was talking about it is the same as most any 5ch amp - it essentially has a 4ch amp and a mono amp in the same chassis. The Belles' twist on the 5ch solution is that the mono sub output on them is 1 Ohm stable.

The Big Belle does 75w X 4 @ 4 Ohm and 1,100w @ 1 Ohm from the sub output. It's a beast...

 

[blimblam 10+ year member]

ohh, thanks for clearing that up.

 

[BEAVER.989 10+ year member]

Should I let the sub I choose determine which amp I purchase... or should I choose the amp first, and then the corresponding sub?

 

[blimblam 10+ year member]

it doesnt really matter. as long as in the end they both match up. but in order to get the sound you like, i would say sub then amp.

 

[BEAVER.989 10+ year member]

Thanks... I guess I'm also torn between the Diyma 12 and an IDQ 12... The IDQ will work in either application, but the Diyma would rule out the possibility of the Baby Belle... and going active in the near future.

 

[BEAVER.989 10+ year member]

I think I'm going to order the MCA-5004 tomorrow unless somone chimes in advising I go the other way. It has more power, is a few bucks cheaper and will allow me more options as to which sub I can run... If I decide to go active later on I'll try to run the tweeters off the head-unit... if that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to pick up another amp...