Uneducated In Audio

[F22Chris]

I have never had a car with bump in the trunk. I have been looking into a simple set-up for my Dub.

I've been shopping around, and have found I can get an Alpine Type S 12" sub new for $70, but I don't have a clue as to what amp to use with it. What kind of amp should I be looking for?

Will am MRV-M500 work? Overkill? Not enough?

Alpine says the subs are rated at 500 rms with 1500w max if that helps.

I want reliable bass/SQ.

[sonikaccord]

I would run a 1kw amp. Too much amp is way better than not enough. Plus if/when you want to upgrade, you are in a much better spot.

If you can find the MRP-M1000 for cheap, it's a solid choice.

Also, you'll need a good box. A better box can easily give you more "power under the curve." You can have the same effect of doubling the output of your amp with a well designed box.

[F22Chris]

Should I stay away from certain amps? I'm not getting Dual or Sony, but I keep seeing good things about Kicker amps. I have a box that seems pretty good.

Edit: What type of amp should I really be looking for? Mono? 2 channel?

[lbus9168]

For just a sub you'd just want a mono channel amp as they're usually built specifically with subwoofers in mind.

Right now I'm actually using a cheap Sony 2 channel bridged with my type s haha.

[sonikaccord]

No kenwood or polk audio.

You'll be fine with the other mainstream brands and even some of the smaller brands are good. For sub duty, a mono amp is perfect as manufacturers typically make those to output more power vs the two-channel.

[lbus9168]

What's wrong with Polk amps? Heard great things about there speakers.

[sonikaccord]

*Disclaimer: Newer Polk Audio. The old stuff is great.

Reliability mainly. I've bought, fixed and sold a few for a small profit. They are dirt cheap when bought broken...like 30 bucks cheap. The performance actually isn't bad, I'd just be worried about performance over a long period of time.

Typically when so many of one brand of amps show up blown on eBay, I tend to shy away. I'm guessing it's more so because it's a lot of them out there so naturally more people will blow them up. Plus, I like my stuff a little on the overbuilt side.

[F22Chris]

Would this work well?

http://www.google.com/shopping/produ...&ref=212&loc=1

[lbus9168]

Overbuilt is always best!

Chris, that's not 1k RMS but it would work. I think the type s can take 400w rms @ 4 ohm, if I remember correctly, so you could go higher, but it would work.

I could be wrong about those specs this is just for memory.

[F22Chris]

Oooooh okay I gotcha. Thanks I'll keep looking.

Edit: so I've been reading more about this, and sites say to get something that can handle 75%-150% of the RMS. Sites being sonic and crutch field.

750 is 150% of the 500RMS the type s can deliver.

Remember I get this stuff at cost.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pioneer-...&skuId=7456388

This puts out 800 at 1ohms 500 at 2ohms and 300 at 4ohms.

If I ran this setup at 4ohms, would that be good? Since the type s says 4ohm DVC must I run it at only 4ohms?

[lbus9168]

Actually I did a quick Google, looks like power handling for two of them is 300wrms @4ohm and two of them is the same but @8ohm, if you have the 2+2 Dvc type s then than amp should be spot on!

[F22Chris]

This is the one I have.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/alpine-1...&skuId=4769785

Is this the 2+2?

[lbus9168]

Okay so that sub is 4ohm + 4ohm but here's the kicker:

Dual voice coil subwoofers can be wired two ways. 1: in series, 2: in parallel.

Series doubles to load, parallel halves it. If you wire that sub in parallel, it will result in a 2ohm load, as th amp you've shown outputs 500w rms at 2 ohm and the sub can handle 500w rms max I'd say it's spot on.

Here's a quick example of series vs parallel

[F22Chris]

Your pic didn't work, but I know what series and parallel are man. So it's safe to run the speaker at 500 all day everyday reliably?

[sonikaccord]

I have like 4 of those Kenwoods I need to fix lol

Some more quick tips:
Doubling power =/= doubling volume.
10x power = doubling in perceived volume(1 watt to 10 to 100 to 1000 etc.).

So in the real world, it's difficult to tell the difference between a 500w amp and a 1000w in acoustic output but the 1k amp will hit the peaks better. Like kicks and bass where they have hard and fast transients.

The speaker will be fine as long as it isn't clipped or distorted.