Which is better for 1 10" Sundown SA-10D4 in small sealed box?

[Usualsuspect 10+ year member]

Hey guys...any help would be appreciated.

I'm trying to pick between these 2 amps for the Sundown 600w rms 4-0hm DVC I just bought.

Rockford Fosgate R500X1D Prime

or

Rockford Fosgate P400X1 Punch

I listened to the Prime at a local store and it seemed to pump out some good power and sound. (at least better than the competing mono amps in that price range at that store)

I guess I'm wondering if 400w of "Punch" power is going to be better than 500w of "Prime" power. The prime includes the remote level control which is nice.

Sundown recommends a .5 sealed box (which seems small, but apparently that sub works well in small sealed boxes according to the company)...so in the end I picked up a .6 sealed box trying to account for displacement.

Anyways, I know some of you aren't fans of RF, but those are the choices I'm dealing with at this point.

Thanks for your help.

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[jasonbillnelson 10+ year member]

I like Rockford amps. Go with the prime. I've got one of them sitting in my random car audio collection I've aquired.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

The prime amps are ok at best. Low line amp. But if its what you can afford the go for it. The punch is a better amp tho. Mid level and usually does a little more than rated. ALS that sealed box I'd take back and just build one prefabs aren't usually very good and not built well usually Partical board not Mdf and too thin

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Yea the box really needs to be a bit bigger IMHO in the compact box sundown recommends I had problems multiple times getting the subs to play low bass, I played around a bi an have found .75-.8 to be better with the e, sd, and sa lines

The Rockford amp is ok nothing special I would've recommended the MTX Thunder Elite 601D Mono subwoofer amplifier 600 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms at Crutchfield.com

If u are paying full price for that Rockford if its the new version last years model is a little cheaper in which I would pick the Alpine MRV-M500 Mono subwoofer amplifier — 500 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms at Crutchfield.com

 

[Usualsuspect 10+ year member]

Thanks for the input. @mylows - I know what you are saying about the prime amps, but like you said "if its what you can afford"....I also know the prefab boxes have bad reputations, but they want $200 to build me a custom box (I paid $80 for the prefab...Bassworx RS10 [it looks pretty **** good though]). I know $200 is probably a respectable price, but when you start adding everything up it gets really expensive. I have no box building skillz or I would do it myself. I'm also concerned about the size of the box. It just seems so small, but it's bigger than the size they recommend?