I need amplifier help

Hello casual discourse my name is red spyder.

Recently I have purchased 2 12" Kenwood subs that I am hoping to put in my car. Here is a link so you can check them out for yourself: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_113W301...c-w3011&tp=111

I got a great deal on these, 2 for $76 as opposed to $100 each. But now I am having a little trouble deciding on an amp to go with them. I don't know anything about this stuff but somehow I have narrowed the choices down to 2 amps.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1170289781245

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1197678618543

Now I have a $100 Best Buy gift card that I won from a raffle at work the other day, so the price of either of these doesn't really concern me much. However I am wondering which of these you think would perform the best with the subs that I bought. Help me casual discourse, you're my only hope.

I'm not the greatest at this kind of thing, but I would look for a 2 channel amp that supports 400w RMS per channel, since your subs support up to 400w continuous at 4 ohms.

The Xplod is kind of a middle of the road setup I suppose, but I never heard anyone recommend anything Sony-related for car audio. The Rockford you showed us doesn't really fit your setup.

My advice is talk to a tech over at Crutchfield. Find a decent make and model of an amp that they suggest for your setup, and look it up on ebay and Google shopping. I did a lot of planning when it came to the setup in my Trans Am. I started buying more and more performance parts, and ended up cheaping out on a lot of things, including amps. No regrets, though. Good luck!

I'm pretty sure you can wire your two 4 ohm subs in parallel for a 2 ohm load, then find a single channel amp up to 800 RMS watts at 2 ohm load.


To be honest, I wanted to buy my stuff from Best Buy too so I could go in-store and buy it, but they didn't really have anything for me. Crutchfield is really helpful, but they are kind of expensive (even with free shipping). In the long run, I ended up looking around on ebay at the stores: I found a Kicker 750 watt amp for $190 with shipping. Crutchfield has the same item for $500. Hopefully I don't have to warranty anything since I'm not sure if they are an 'authorized dealer'...

I took a quick look on Crutchfield, and found this amp. I'm pretty sure MTX is a relatively well known brand for subs/amps. This kenwood amp is rated for 900 RMS watts at 2 ohm, and is on sale for $280. Over powering your amps a little should be alright as long as you set your gains right/don't blast it.


Also, what are you doing about wiring?

That Kenwood amp doesn't look too bad. As far as wiring, I have a guy who can set everything up including installing a switch in/around my dashboard to power everything on and off.

You don't want the stereo to go on/off with the car via key?

I guess if you have someone helping you out, you can blame them if something goes wrong. ;)

I want the stereo to power on and off via the key, but not necessarily the amp. There are some shady neighborhoods around here and I'd rather not make a target out of myself by bumping my system as I'm driving through there late at night.

Ah, makes sense.

What are you doing for the box?

Buying some shit from Home Depot and making one myself.

Buy the xplod I have those same subs.

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Originally Posted by red_spyder

Buying some shit from Home Depot and making one myself.

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Specs? Better post pics.

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Originally Posted by clownsocs

Buy the xplod I have those same subs.

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A general consensus is that Sony isn't really that great in car audio. Also, I think that amplifier isn't exactly made for subwoofers. From what I understand, class AB amps have better sound quality than class D amps, but at the cost of efficiency. So generally, class D amps are for amps, AB are for regular speakers. Also, I would expect an amp to have 'bass boost' as a marketing gimmick for a subwoofer amp (although you shouldn't use that much 'bass boost' because it can lead to sub damage).

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Originally Posted by wanabedriver

A general consensus is that Sony isn't really that great in car audio. Also, I think that amplifier isn't exactly made for subwoofers. From what I understand, class AB amps have better sound quality than class D amps, but at the cost of efficiency. So generally, class D amps are for amps, AB are for regular speakers. Also, I would expect an amp to have 'bass boost' as a marketing gimmick for a subwoofer amp (although you shouldn't use that much 'bass boost' because it can lead to sub damage).

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This is what I would have normally thought but I have my subs hooked up to a way under-rated AB amp (250w for 1200w max subs) And they push as hard as my friends subs hooked up to a 1200w mono amp.

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Originally Posted by clownsocs

This is what I would have normally thought but I have my subs hooked up to a way under-rated AB amp (250w for 1200w max subs) And they push as hard as my friends subs hooked up to a 1200w mono amp.

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I thought your subs were rated for 400w each, not 1200w.

Also, there are so many different variables in comparing your setup to your friends. It can depend on car, sub/amp specifics, box design... even down to the wiring. Maybe if you two swapped amps and had both setups dB measured and found your amp to be louder in both cars, then it'd be easier to say they're equivalent.