85maro

ok lets say i were to get 2 sub,900 watts or 450 X 2. would i get a 600 watt amp or a 1000 watt amp? i would greatly apreciate it, since i hardly know anything bout subs and amps.

91firebirdG4

In my opinion, 600 watts would be plenty of power. I have a Sony amp that is 90W/ channel with 4 channels and it powers 4 speakers and 2 subs fine! Don't forget to add the wattage on the head unit too though. Especially since in our cars the trunk is open to the rest of the car, the bass travels well, rather than having them locked up in the trunk like most other cars.

I would recommend going to Circuit City, or wherever audio is sold by you, and they will put a sub in your car to test it out to see if you think it sounds good. Let us know what you decide.

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My 1991 Firebird

cbpldc

Whoa, common misconception here. If you are running your speakers off of your external amp and not using your head unit, you only count the watts from the amp. In this case, your 45 watts max (roughly 20 or so RMS watts) plus your 1000 watt amp doesn't equal 1045 watts. What subs are you getting that can take 450 watts? My guess is that that is the max rating and is only like 200 watts. Either way, the more power you have, the better and louder it will be, if we are talking about a high quality amp. Even if the speakers can't handle that much power, you can always turn the gain down on the amps. There are more speakers blown due to lack of power and distortion, than there are those that have been fed too much power. If you are looking for good sounding equipment on a budget, start small. Those Pyramid and other cheap, high power amps are unreliable and don't put out thier advertised power. A good reference for amp prices would be anywhere from $.50 to $1.00 per watt (retail of course). If this is your first system, go with a proven, mid level combo. Rockford or Audiobahn amp pushing a couple of 12 inch JL's or PPI's. They will tide you over till you get the bigger budget. Also, buy from a shop that service the warranties, or can at least send them back for repair and not charge you for it. Sorry so long winded. If you have any other questions, just let us know.

Chris

Jim85IROC

iTrader: (2)

You don't "add the wattage from the head unit" for anything. If you're using an external amp, the head unit's internal amp will not be used, so it's power rating (which is completely bogus and inflated to begin with) is meaningless.

Power is a very relative and also a very shady issue. Nobody rates their amps the same way, so it's nearly impossible to say that you need X many watts until it's a little better defined. A 1000 watt Pyramid amp is a raging piece of crap and can't hold a candle to a 300 watt Rockford or Kicker amp. It also matters how loud you need to go. a good 600 watt amp (such as a Kicker ZR600) will provide enough power to make your spleen hurt so long as your subs can handle it (that's a whole other issue). An amp like that is also rated very conservatively. My Kicker ZR600 benched at almost 900 watts bridged into a 4 ohm load. A more modest amp would be something like a Kicker ZR240 or a Rockford 360a2. Both make killer sub amps, and are in the $300-$400 range. Maybe not as loud as the ZR600, but not real far behind either. For 1000 watts of power, you would be looking at something like the Rockford BD1000 or a Kicker ZR1000. You're looking at over $1000 in most cases. Most of the time, a QUALITY amp will cost you about a buck a watt. Don't get sucked into these cheap amps that claim huge power ratings, like Profile, Jensen, Rockwood, Kenford, Boss, Legacy, and 5 dozen others. Somebody here will like each one of those brands, but the fact is, you get what you pay for, and by going with a quality amp, your entire system will come alive.

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91firebirdG4

Sorry about that wrong information. I had asked that same question before around audio stores, and it sounded like you do add the wattage, but I guess I mis-understood or something.

cbpldc

Looks like Jim and I posted at the same time, and had the same things on our minds.

Scary, huh?


Chris

85maro

thanks to all that posted. i think im goin to go to car-fi or somthin, thanks