need urgent help here about audio system
- Thread starter skatistic888
- Start date
we seem to be getting some confusion over power in relation to ohm ratings for resistence. The lower the ohm rating the more power you will make. Typically an amp wired up to speakers to run 8 ohm will make half the power it would wired for 4 ohmapearoner said:
SpenceyVTEC said:
not necessarily half.. depends on your amp.
My amp running at 4 ohms is 300w less than what I want to be running it at... 2 ohms, 1100w... if it were halved, I'd be pissed. But I love my amp... 
Just commenting.
exactly, yours is a mono block though right? Thats the major difference. Guessing with that amps ratings you don't have a walmart special. Thats the fun of mono blocks, ohm ratings affects the power drastically, not like a 2-4 channel where it is usually halved, typically, all amps are different though in that respect
heh.. definitely not wal-mart special.. although some idiots have thought it that, since there's only one stereo shop in town that carries this brand, and it's order only, they don't stock 'em. my mono block is a zapco 1100m.. I also have the matching 4-channel, but I don't have my damn 6x9s yet so we haven't installed mids, highs, and the amp, obviously. 
The only two channel I've had was the zapco AG1000 (the older, longer, black amp)... but that one was rated at 1000w at 4 ohms, not 2... I got a little volume happy when i got my subs and smoked 'em the first night with that amp... my car smelled like burnt voicecoil for a quite a while!
ya learn somethin' new everyday.
The only two channel I've had was the zapco AG1000 (the older, longer, black amp)... but that one was rated at 1000w at 4 ohms, not 2... I got a little volume happy when i got my subs and smoked 'em the first night with that amp... my car smelled like burnt voicecoil for a quite a while!
ya learn somethin' new everyday.
eeeek. I'm sure my AG1000 would have lasted a long time, but it got stolen... >.<
The 1100M hasn't had a single glitch. The only prob I had was with a bad symbilink.. but that wasn't the amps fault.
The 1100M hasn't had a single glitch. The only prob I had was with a bad symbilink.. but that wasn't the amps fault.
Sorry, I've been busy recently, haven't spent a lot of time on the site here.skatistic888 said:
1- The reason that I recommend coaxial speakers for your current setup is so you make the most of the power you do have. The passive crossover that component sets typically use can consume anywhere from 25-50% of the 12-15 W RMS that your deck actually produces. In fact, you may even get more output from a speaker with a lower power rating because the output IC in your deck doesn't have to move a stiffer motor structure in your speaker.
2- to achieve balanced output from your system, with ample headroom and dynamic range, I recommend approximately the same power amp for your speakers as for your subwoofers, possibly a little bit less. Because of the type of sub amp you described, this can be achieved by buying an amp with similar fusing. There are some assumptions I'm making here, PM me for more details if you want them. 60-80 Amps, with outputs for 4 speakers, is the type of amp I would recommend, Don't go less than 40A.
3- The first reason I recommend 2 Farads of capacitance is because in my experience, you can hear the difference with 1Farad for every 300W RMS. Your Sony Xplod amp, while rated at 1200W, is more likely about 500W rms, so 2Farads should give you the maximum audible benefit. This is regardles of industry standards, as those are a guidelineonly of what a system should have, and not necessarily what will achieve maximum results.
The second reason I recommend 2 farads is that even with the smallest speaker amp I described, your total system current requirements exceed 100Amps. 2 Farads is more likely to keep your headlamps operating at a safe level.
Again, sorry about the wait for a reply, I hope I'm not too late.
Resistance is not actually used much for audio because it is a static measurement(it doesn't change)apearoner said:
Your speakers have an impedance value, which is usually 4 ohms. The difference is that impedance is a reactive measurement - it changes with frequency. That is why when you actually measure a voice coil, it reads low, 3.7 or so. The rating on your speaker is the nominal, or average, impedance while the speaker is actually playing music.
RMS stands for Root, Mean, Square. This is the mathematical formula for deriving a positive, constant power rating. A music signal has both a positive and a negative side, and spends some time at zero. Taking the sqaure root of every point on the waveform gives us all positive values, but they are small and extremely varied. By averaging these values, we get a consistent number which is positive, but not representative of the actual power output. Squaring this value gives us an accurate representation of the continuous power output, without the fluctuations associated with a music signal.
Again PM me if you want more detail, I'll see what I can do.
Your amp likely has a regulated power supply, good for 800W at 4 ohms. It isn't really limiting your power loss at 4 ohms, it's limiting you power gains at 2 ohms. This isn't all bad, either. A regulated power supply usually has more consistent power delivery at lower voltages, so your amp will perform the same no matter what. It just won't realize the gains of an unregulated power supply in optimal circumstances.Akiahara96 said:not necessarily half.. depends on your amp.
Just commenting.
As far as gaining power at lower impedance, this is basic physics.
1- Half the resistance, twice the current.
2- Twice the current, at the same voltage = twice the power.
The problem with this is that not all amps are stable at 2 ohms. Some will blow up immediately, some will work for a while, some will remain stable with no power gain (this is a protection circuit), and some are optimized to run at lower impedance, limiting your performance at higher impedance.
Akiahara96 said:no, you don't need a cap for your 4-channel amp...
I hope you didn't buy this stuff already... 'cuz just glancing at the specs for the woofers and the amp that you were talking about... they don't exactly match up together. And you won't be getting 1200w from that amp, either... ever.
Also, 3-way components, if you were thinking of getting those, are uber expensive... I'd just recommend 2-ways... especially if you're not driving the car yourself all the time... but don't install them without an amp first.
i already have the amp and the subwoofers, what do u mean by 'not matching'?
what they should be to match? what rates?i found 3-ways just 10bucks more expensive than the 2-ways,they are also xplods too
thnx
that amp is only like 200w x 2 @ 4 ohms... something like 500 x 1 @ 4 ohms...
it's hard to explain, 'cuz it's not something I've had to do, but it's like tricking it to think there's only one woofer. :: can't find the words to explain it ::
it's hard to explain, 'cuz it's not something I've had to do, but it's like tricking it to think there's only one woofer. :: can't find the words to explain it ::
403 said:
I wasn't going all nuts trying to calculate that my amp will do 1100w at 2 ohms... that's what it's rated at, but I don't have the right woofers to do that anyways... hence the reason I want 4 ohm woofers.
I believe my amp is 1 ohm stable as well, but we'll never know until I have subs capable of doing that... which isn't likely. Tech-speak confuses me..
I should take some new pictures of my car... I hardly ever drive it anymore and I miss it.
FYI.i just checked the specs for the amp.Akiahara96 said:
200 watts RMS x 2 @ 4 ohms
250 watts RMS x 2 @ 2 ohms
i think i'll be running at 4ohms at first, then maybe 2ohms..dont you think that there's no way of preventing that RMS will be lower than peak power? i mean it seems to me peak power is just an advertisement trick..whatever i get would be like that i assume..or do u know a better amp that would fit nicer? if i get something else, i can use this one for rear speakers, right? i have 2 woofers by the way
and can someone tell me what 'bridged' and 'crossover' mean? what do u guys think of these amps
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=52795&m=0
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=76492&m=0
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=68670&m=0
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=90037&m=0
thnx
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=52795&m=0
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=76492&m=0
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=68670&m=0
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&u=c&catoid=-8865&qp=0&oid=90037&m=0
thnx
yea they look better than the others
that wouldnt make any compatibility problems, would it? cuz im gonna connect sony xplods to it
that wouldnt make any compatibility problems, would it? cuz im gonna connect sony xplods to it
skatistic888 said:
Not every company rates their stuff at 3859573w of peak power... just check specs before you buy and know that RMS is the important thing.
Bridging... turning 8 ohm woofers into a 4 ohm load for your amp... or 4 ohm woofers into a 2 ohm load. It's all in the wiring.
Crossovers... they're the little circuit boxes that come with component speakers... a lot of HUs have built-in electronic crossovers... and they block out certain frequencies depending on the crossover.
high-pass blocks lows, low-pass blocks highs... to put it simply.