stereo/amp set up

iv never touched stereo's really so im after some advice!!
my little sis has just passed her test and iv been roped into fitting her stereo stuff in to her car :rolleyes:
it all fitted but she needs an amp, but im not sure what size amp she needs so thought someone might b able to help??

shes going to be using the amp for two subs in the boot, they are 500w rms each
(1200w max but iv been told to ignore this)

seeing as there is 1000w rms total does she need a 1000w amp??

iv read that if the amps too big it can blow the subs but if its too small it can just burn out and sound poo??

also do i need to be wiring these in series or giving them a channel each from the amp??

any audio guru's out there??

Ive always been led to belive that the amp should be at least half the max power of the subs. ie your sub is 1200w so you need a 600w amp obviously 2x1200w subs so you will either need 2x600w amps or 1x1200w amp.
The amp can be over 600w as you can turn the power down so they dont blow the subs.
but any less you may not get the full potential of the subs.

Well thats how i always done it back in the day and it worked for me ;)

what subs are going to be used. my self i have 2 10" 1200watt vibe subs in my 5 and i use a 1200 watt vibe monoblock amp and sounds awesome :cool:

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Originally Posted by modfather

what subs are going to be used. my self i have 2 10" 1200watt vibe subs in my 5 and i use a 1200 watt vibe monoblock amp and sounds awesome :cool:

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the subs are 12" infinity kappa's.they are 1200w max but iv been told to ignore this as the 500w rms is the important number??

also iv been doing some reading and a lot of people talk about 2 ohms or 4 ohms systems???does it make a diff or can i only use this with certain systems??

ohms are probably the most important part, it affects how you wire the subs, ie in series, if you have two 4 ohm subs the amp will see 8 ohms and shat it pants, parallel it will see 4. (better but still not ideal for bass)

in an ideal word you'd want each sub to have it's own amp as one sub will always be working harder than the other if you're running two off one, so therefore you're not getting the best you can get from both subs.

if you were to run 2 off 1 amp the best set up would be if both subs ran 1 ohm stable running in series so the amps sees 2 ohms.

ohms determine the max power say 1 ohm = 1000w, 4 ohms =250w

my advice (which means nothing ) would be to buy 1 good sub for the price you'd pay for the 2 as it will sound better and be less hassle as you have other facts to consider when running two subs

Edit: you've already got and fitted them so any decent monoblock around 600-1000w, just remember the gain isn't a volume control!

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Originally Posted by TNT Tricky Nicky

my advice (which means nothing ) would be to buy 1 good sub for the price you'd pay for the 2 as it will sound better and be less hassle as you have other facts to consider when running two subs

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sounds like a good idea!!i might see if i can tempt her into putting the two she has on fleebay and just buying one good one with an amp, would also mean some of the boot is left!!

Personally i love my vibe active (sub and amp combined) works well even tho its well over 6 years old... the fli brand is made by vibe aswell :-)

Id personally go for between a 800w to 1000w amp to run both the subs :)

for ease of install and removal i would go for one of the pre amped subs also but just one
as most small cars 1 sub is plenty and less hassle trying to match an amp up
you want to match the rms from the subs to the rms to amp
you could also match the peak power from the subs there is amps at 1000w peak that could run them at 1ohm
eg vibe <are ok for the price you pay and can certainly bush the bass out

its like anything else these days you get the quality you pay for