Amp advice

[ebumdude]

Alrighty, so I have posted this thread in the proper Audio section. 20 people looked at it, and only TouringCamry replied (thx buddy )....

I have this question plus a few more....

I just bought a Phoenix Gold ZX475 amp. It is a 4/3/2 channel amp running 75 watts rms to each channel.

1. Would I have a problem pushing 2 10" dual 4 ohm dual voice coil subs with 1200 watts for the pair? The brand of the subs is also Phoenix Gold. I am not looking to push max power...just enough to sound great when I turn it up.

2. If I ever decide to go this route here, what is a good sized (small enough) amp to fit under the px side seat to push my stock speakers?

3. If I DO decide to have to separate amps, how can I ensure that my battery or my alternator wont die on my after about a week?

I am trying to educate myself a little before all my audio parts start flooding my mailbox this week.

I also don't want to fry anything....that would suck big balls.

Thanks for all the replies in advance.

[moky-tron]

you might have a harder time getting the true sound from the subs seeing that if you use the 4x75 wrms amp, you're going to fall short since your subs will be underpowered. i recall when i used to run 2x12 solobaric L7 dual 4 ohms, those suckers took minimum of 750 watts each. i powered them with rockford fosgate mono amps to make sure they had enough juice. better to have an over powered amp because you can be sure you are feeding your subs the right amount or at least, enough wattage. over time, the voice coils are going to suffer if the sub is underpowered and the amps cant supply enough power.

i am not very up-to-date on car audio stuff anymore, but you can look at maybe audison or u-dimension for amps.

you can run a capacitor to regulate the power travelling in your system.

[ebumdude]

^^ so for this particular setup, this amp I have will more than likely under-power the subs as a pair but not as a single sub setup. the two together push out 1200 watts.....which means I need to go bigger for the amp?

thanks for your reply moky.

[Trojan]

what exact model are those PG subs? and what amp are you going to use to power them? is the amp that you are referring to rated at 1200watts@1ohm?

[ebumdude]

Originally Posted by Trojan

what exact model are those PG subs? and what amp are you going to use to power them? is the amp that you are referring to rated at 1200watts@1ohm?

The link for the pdf instructions set-up for the amp is here:

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/att...4&d=1196559458

and the link to the subs is here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=003&sspagename=STRK%3AME WN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=130200053008&rd=1

Sorry if all I can provide is links. Not a lot of people are familiar with Phoenix Gold. I've always liked them growing up.

[ebumdude]

Originally Posted by Trojan

is the amp that you are referring to rated at 1200watts@1ohm?

the pdf says "250x2 into 4ohms bridged @ 14.4 Vdc"....

I guess this is only a 500 watt amp? I thought it would be more since it retails around 500 bucks.

I didn't spend nearly that much on it though.

[Trojan]

PG is not what they used to be ever since they went through an ownership change. That being said, you actually picked up one of their best lines of amplifiers before that change.

IMHO, that amp would be best suited to run a nice sound quality component set up front.

But if you are going to use it and bridge to run that pair of 10's you should be fine assuming that you wire those subs in series/parallel because I doubt those subs will be able to really take 600 watts apiece. It also depends on your sub enclosure setup as well.

[ebumdude]

Originally Posted by Trojan

PG is not what they used to be ever since they went through an ownership change. That being said, you actually picked up one of their best lines of amplifiers before that change.

IMHO, that amp would be best suited to run a nice sound quality component set up front.

But if you are going to use it and bridge to run that pair of 10's you should be fine assuming that you wire those subs in series/parallel because I doubt those subs will be able to really take 600 watts apiece. It also depends on your sub enclosure setup as well.

Whew! You had me sweating there for a second. I thought I wasted my $$.

I think I will do all the grunt work as far as running all the wires, then just pay for the amp install.

The sub box, I am making myself.

It will be very very similar to this here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2007-...em300200726288

If it is indeed a success....I will provide ALL with the measurements. I want to make sure it works before I hook people up with info.

Thanks Trojan for you help buddy. I appreciate it.

[Trojan]

np. do you happen to have a pdf file for those subs as well? PG usually has a manual for sealed and ported box spec recommendations.

[krouchchocolate]

The phoenix gold amp u bought could be used to run your front speakers, and rear speakers if you are looking to upgrade them.

For the sub's amp, it really depends what the subwoofer's voice coil's are. Are they Dual 4 ohms, dual 2 ohms, etc etc. This will determine the final load, and then will determine what amplifier u need to buy.

There would be no need for a cap, since it will put a more strain on your alternator. It is a waste of money to buy a cap. I would recommend doing the big 3 if you are having dimming problems. If you still have it, then upgrade the hood battery.

[Trojan]

Originally Posted by krouchchocolate

The phoenix gold amp u bought could be used to run your front speakers, and rear speakers if you are looking to upgrade them.

For the sub's amp, it really depends what the subwoofer's voice coil's are. Are they Dual 4 ohms, dual 2 ohms, etc etc. This will determine the final load, and then will determine what amplifier u need to buy.

There would be no need for a cap, since it will put a more strain on your alternator. It is a waste of money to buy a cap. I would recommend doing the big 3 if you are having dimming problems. If you still have it, then upgrade the hood battery.

+1

I believe the subs he purchased are dvc 4ohm

and krouch also makes some awesome sub boxes

[krouchchocolate]

Just noticed from the ebay link that the subs were dual 4 ohms. If you run it parallel, then this will give u a final 1 ohm load. This is what you are looking for when you are purchasing a mono amp. 1000 x 1 @ 1 ohm. etc etc.

You can also run it in series to give u a final 4 ohm load, so you have 2 choices on how to run it, and will let you determine what amp to buy.

What is your budget for the sub's amp?

[krouchchocolate]

Originally Posted by Trojan

+1

I believe the subs he purchased are dvc 4ohm

and krouch also makes some awesome sub boxes

Thanks! Yes let me know if you are interested in purchasing a ported box. From what it seems, the box you are building seems to be sealed. You will notice a huge improvement from ported versus sealed.

[lostsignal]

Originally Posted by moky

you might have a harder time getting the true sound from the subs seeing that if you use the 4x75 wrms amp, you're going to fall short since your subs will be underpowered. i recall when i used to run 2x12 solobaric L7 dual 4 ohms, those suckers took minimum of 750 watts each. i powered them with rockford fosgate mono amps to make sure they had enough juice. better to have an over powered amp because you can be sure you are feeding your subs the right amount or at least, enough wattage. over time, the voice coils are going to suffer if the sub is underpowered and the amps cant supply enough power.

i am not very up-to-date on car audio stuff anymore, but you can look at maybe audison or u-dimension for amps.

you can run a capacitor to regulate the power travelling in your system.

Nothing will happen to your speakers if they are underpowered, that is a complete myth. Capacitors are only good for a stereo that is already supplied with enoughpower. Caps are only for a quick surge in power for parts of songs where the amp needs more power to drive the speaker. This surge will last for a few seconds, then the cap must recharge. If the alternator can't keep the battery charged, then the cap is worthless. Caps are not an alternative for a better alternator and/or battery.

These subs are 600 watts MAX each, but are 150 watts RMS. If you plan on using the amplifier only for the subs then I would recommend using a 300 watt class D amp such as the JBL BP300.1 They haven't made the BP series in a few years, but you might still be able to find a new one somewhere on the internet. These are very nice reliable amps with an affordable price. They are also stable at 1 or 2 ohm.

[ebumdude]

Originally Posted by krouchchocolate

Thanks! Yes let me know if you are interested in purchasing a ported box. From what it seems, the box you are building seems to be sealed. You will notice a huge improvement from ported versus sealed.

To answer your previous question; subs and amp have already been purchased. I just wanted to see if I got the right setup going on here to just push the two subs with the amp I got. If I needed to go bigger for the amp (which I am hoping I am not), then I will buy bigger, and just use the amp I have now for component setup.

For the box, I wanted to go with something similar to the link I provided above. I don't want to take up too much trunk space, and I also dont want to pay 400+ for fiberglass sub enclosures.