olliecampbell

iTrader: (3)

I bought a second hand boxed earthquake sub a while back from a mate, but he couldnt remember how powerful it was.

Im now after buying an amp to power it, but dont want to blow the thing up.

Any ideas?

willy

Its a subjective thing,
Its easy to wreck a sub by putting a distorted signal through it rather than using to much power.
Buy the most powerful amp you can afford... It will always be able to be control the speaker cone.
I`m running 900w rms through a 500w rms sub with no problems at all.

*****

DJNafey

Hmmm, yes, there are a few different opinions on this. Personally, I would want to get a model number for the subs, find out what they're rated at and then buy an amp that was an exact match for the power rating on the subs.

Hoppy

I have two subs that were a so-called perfect match for my old amp. One blew a coil surprisingly easily when I was setting it up and fed it a clipped, distorted signal. It was replaced FOC as being faulty, but I don't think it was.

I now have a Genesis Profile Sub amp, rated much higher than the speakers. It makes the earth shake with masses more sub volume, but still sounds as sweet as you like. I recently ran it flat out for almost three hours non stop (as you do) just pootling about the back roads, listening to some old favourites, enjoying the bass musicality that has transformed the sound. Amps (fan cooled) almost too hot to touch - subs still ready for more.

I also have the new 4 x 100w Genesis Profile Ultra (I think that's what it's called - new jobbie) which theoretically should also over-power the twets/mids, but they just pump out phenominal sound of lovely quality.

My conclusion is obvious: buy the biggest amps you can and if the sounds starts to break up, just turn it down. The only thing that seems likely to bust on my car is he brake light on the rear spoiler which is going to shake itself to death soon

Richard.

DJNafey

OK, so it's 2 against 1 so far. Anyone want to tell us the amp should be smaller?

Incidentally, I used to run a pair of 400w Longmill subs. Ran them for several years with 300w through each one to start with and then 240w through each one off of a dirt cheap Boss amp. Always sounded great.

Hoppy

Comparing power output/handling is a nightmare. Seems to me, the cheaper the kit, the more watts it puts out, which has got to be bollx.

Others here will know more, but you need to compare wattage at the same ohms and distortion levels (I think). Tricky.

DJNafey

Yeah, I know what you mean. When you go into Les Smith's and see a pair of £19.99 5" speakers that claim to handle 300 watts, you really have to question it. I don't think it's quite so bad on subs though.

In my experience, I've had a pair of cheap Longmill 12" subs and a pair of expensive 12" Rockford Fosgate Punch subs. The Rockfords cost twice as much but they're definitely not twice as good!

Same goes for the amps - I used to run a single Longmill sub on a cheap 240w Boss amp. Then I got a pair of Longmill subs on a cheap 360w Boss amp. I'm now running the Rockfords off of a pair of Alpine amps, which cost me three times as much. They are better but not that much better. If I was running them into full-range speakers, that would be a different matter entirely but quality isn't so perceivable when it's low-down rumbly stuff. The Alpines do LOOK much nicer though!

DJNafey

Incidentally, the true measurement of power is RMS watts. Go into a professional place like Huets in Sussex and they'll never even mention 'peak' or 'max' ratings.

BigRed

The thing is DJNafey, you pay 3 times as much for gear which will untimately last longer than the cheapo stuff. I've destroyed a rockford sub that was so called 'quality' gear with a Viper(Directed)amp, REAL quality,this amp is only supposed to kick out 600watts RMS into 1 ohm, the sub was ment to handle that - did it heck - blown the **** off it. Anyway I've spent a little more on a quality sub now in the form of an RE SX12. Oh and yes you can tell the different between 'cheap' gear and expensive gear when it comes to as you call it,low rumbly stuff, I think you will find expensive gear sounds MUCH cleaner and crisper and it can REALLY develop true bass, not distorted flabby stuff. I've been installing and listening to good ICE for around 15 years I've seen plenty of sub/amps come and go, some of the upto date stuff in the quality market is frightening when it comes to power output and sound quality.

DJNafey

I don't disagree with you BigRed - all I was saying was that, from my experience, my Longmill subs did a very impressive job for such cheap kit.

I was also saying that cheap amps aren't so bad on subs as they are on full-range speakers because the lower quality isn't as perceivable at low frequencies. I wouldn't even consider putting a Boss amp on mids or tweeters because I'd be irritated by the harshness straight away.

My point was that I'd still spend my money on more expensive subs and amps but those that haven't got the budget can still be happy with what they'll find at the cheap end of the market.

I think we're telling the same story mate, just in different words

BigRed

DJNafey, think we are mate.

I started with some really crap gear, names that I don't want to mention and yes its been a damn hard trip getting my ICE into something I really can enjoy when I'm on the road. We all have to start somewhere and the cheap gear is of reasonable quality now, that I agree with. If your on a tight budget , then fine buy to that budget, but if you save a little more cash,and wait a little longer, then you could spend that bit more on something a little special. I should know this ,I must have spent a fortune on 'budget' gear because I wanted it there & then, wish I'd have waited and saved up then gone out and bought 'good' gear first time around.

Lea