How to match amplifer to subwoofers?

Question

I'm fairly new to car audio, although I've installed a few decks and component speakers in my time, I've never installed subwoofers and an amplifer before. I bought two 10" woofers and a box from a buddy, but I'm not sure what kind of amp to get. The subs are 4 Ohm, single voice coil, 300 Watt RMS each. What would be the ideal type of subwoofer to get? Should I get a mono or a double channel? How much power should it have and should I install a capacator? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

You can:

Get a 600 watt RMS X 1 @ 2 ohm amp and wire the subs like this http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j230/sparky3489/PARALLEL.jpg

OR

Get a 300 watts RMS X 2 @ 4ohm amp and wire each sub to each channel. (Recommended).

Amplifiers that are CEA-2006 compliant are more desirable. The lower the THD the better.

You're alternator should be fine, just avoid having unnecessary accessories to be on.

How you load an amp determines the amount of power out.

There is a trade off though, the lower the impedance (ohms) the more power is pushed as well as higher distortion and more heat is generated. The excessive heat will shorten the life of the amp.

For best overall performance, it's far better to get a higher powered amp and load it with 4 ohms than a lower powered amp and force it to push more power with a lower impedance (2 or less ohms) load.

More info here http://spkrbox1.spaces.live.com

How to match amplifer to subwoofers?

1 Answer