nursethistib

hey y'all
I got some questions for the ICE Gods...
I got a Clarion deck and 6X9 speakers.. I need to get front speakers, amps, and subs... I'd rather have it all Clarion.. any recommendations?
Also, I am a newbie, and i know i should post this in the newbie section..b ut i don't care about amnesty... how do you know if an amp is strong enough, or not strong enough to power your subs?
thanks for your help

TibOne

ok here is how it works... lets say you have two subs that have an RMS rating of 350w at 2 ohms... and you buy an amp that can do 175w at 2 ohms RMS, your subs will sound like shit... they will kick but not nearly as hard as they should... now if you buy an amp that can give both subs 350w RMS, or in around there... mine does 345 RMS per sub, then they will be one HELL of a setup...

also make sure you buy a monoblock amp if you are going to run sub(s) since you will have sound quality with the Clarion speakers, take the bass out of them and give it all to the subs... your car will kick hard...

also welcome to the site... if i got anything wrong which i dont think i did, REDZ will be along promptly to correct it

REDZMAN

Sounds good to me man, I dont' know much about all this stuff, but I'm learnin.

nexuz

main question is, how much you looking to spend? Take your time, Research, and Test.. This is how I test my stuff before buying.. Classical for Mids/Tweets.. and Something VERY bass(y, ey, ie, iey.. meh).. for the Subs..

Some stores.. (the ones i go too..) will do a mock setup for me.. I tell them, i want to test this in my car.. so they grab the sub/amp and have it wired from 1 car to my trunk..

I would go APX640.2 amp running mono going to XW1200 12" sub

" " APX640.4 amp running your other compnents..

that is just my opioniononionn..

But, if you want to go something extreme.. and kick some arse <satanic grin> .. my audio installer at maximumthreshold(in kitchener here).. wanted me to install a insain 2x10 sub system.. you may think .. BAH 2 10s.. He wanted to install 2 10" Audiobahn immortals (1500RMS.. each!) .. and 2 Audiobahn A12001DTs.. total price.. 3500cdn without installation..

nursethistib

Jebus man.. i'm a starving student.. keep in mind i'm sacrificing food and beer fir these subs...
Tibone.. thanks for the welcome.. I've actually been part of this site for a while.. i just don't post very much laugh.gif

so what is the rms rating for a decent sub?
All i have to do is get the monoblock amp to pump out as much to the subs max rms and it'll be cool? I assume that the subs and the amp should have the same ohms?

As you can tell I didn't pay very much attention in high school physics... although a couple people and me formed a fake vocal band (this was in the time of sugar jones and pop idol and stuff) called OHMS LAW.. thats about all i remember from that class...

nexuz.. i think i've seen you riding around the mean streets of kw... I've been wanting to get an up close look at your ride for a while now... you ever come down by the college on homer watson?

nursethistib

oh.. whats the difference between a single voice and a dual voice coil?

TibOne

svc = use a monoblock amp, dvc = get a 2-channel

a good sub should have at LEAST 300w RMS

majik

mmmmmm........college student.........
let me put it this way

Subs are like alcohol.

The first time, 2 small 300w 10's sound good (2 or 3 beers feel good)

after a while, you're wanting 2 12" Kicker L7 subs (that would blow your mother's ear drums - comparable to 2 bottles of Jagermeister)

At first, you'll probably be happy with any setup, but after time, you'll want more and more... so save up your money, and get the best you can so you have to spend less money upgrading later wink.gif

TibOne

i agree... i have spent WAY too much on my setup so far

MADTIB

SVC means just that.It has only one voice coil.DVC........2voice coils.A DVC can usually handle more power and have a better linear cone travel.Not always,though.There are SVC's that do things just as well if not better then DVC.Also,it's not recommended to amplify each coil of a DVC individually.If you do not have the gains of the 2 different amp channels set exactly,you can easily damage the sub.It's best to wire the coils together in series or parallel and wire that combination to the amp.

As for size and power of subs,that depends mostly on your preferance.If you want to hear nothing but bass,go with a 12 or a couple 12's or larger and put tons of power on it.If you are like me and want things to sound just right,go with 8's or 10's, or even the JL Audio 6's.Another thing you have to be aware of is that the enclosure type and quality has as much say in the way the bass will sound as the sub itself.Lots of subwoofer parameters change once placed in an enclosure,for better or worse.I have built enclosures in the past,using bottom of the barrel subs and turned out sounding like a million bucks.I'm not saying to use cheap subs because that can bite you in the ass at some point.But what I am getting at is that the enclosure can't be overlooked.