Audible difference between 500 & 1500 watts?

[MegaHurtz 10+ year member]

I'm looking at making some changes to my system, including new amps, and one of the possibilities is 2 3 channel amps, with 250w on the sub out. I like the idea of running a 2 amp system, but right now my sub amp puts out about 1500 watts. Am I going to notice a huge difference if I give up the extra thousand watts?

One thing to keep in mind is that I'm an active SQ competitor, and my average listening habits are not those of somebody who wants huge amounts of power, but I like to have the headroom for when I do turn the bass up. Rap playing in my car comes only on very rare occasions, so for the most part I think I'll be okay, but I'd like a bit of power to be there for when I want it.

Thoughts?

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[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

You'll loose 6db on paper, right?? How much will it cost or how much will you save by making the change is what I would be asking myself.

 

[MegaHurtz 10+ year member]

Yeah theoretically 6db, hard to say if that much of a difference is really noticable, that's why I'm kinda of on the fence.

As far as money goes... that's not really an issue. My sole focus is improving my system. The new amps I am looking at are far superior to my current amps. My only concern is whether or not I will be satisfied with the end result (the front stage I'm sure will be very pleasing, just worried about low end ATM). I don't want to go through the effort of modifying my install to accomodate the new amps if I won't be happy with the result. I don't change the equipment in my trunk often (current install hasn't been touched at all for more than a year), so I need to do the research and make sure that I am going to be satisfied //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif.

 

[Mark_ab 5,000+ posts]

As long as you hit 130 to get your points I wouldn't worry about it. What are your crossover points? What are you looking to achieve in downgrading your power, from a practical standpoint? Will it benefit you in a competition?

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

it depends on the sup. For my cvr the difference between 500 and 1100 is a hell of a difference

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

i would say trippling the power will make an extreme difference in any setup as long as the equipment can handle it.

 

[MegaHurtz 10+ year member]

In all the SQ competitions that I've done, I've only done SPL once, so that much doesn't concern me. Also, it's 135dB in IASCA //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Xover right now is at 80hz/18db.

I'm not specifically looking to downgrade my power. What I'm looking at is upgrading my amplifiers. Right now I am running a mono amp, so tons of power is no problem. The configuration I am considering is a pair of 3 channel amps, using the 2 lower powered channels on each for a 2 way active front stage, and using the third channel on each for one of the subs. I'm running dual 2 ohm woofers, so that would work out nicely.

Another alternative that I was considering was running the 2 3 channel amps, and 2 mono 350w amps. I was thinking I could replace my woofers with a dual 4 ohm model, and I'd get quite a bit of power that way. In that scenario, the third channel on the amps would be unused. You might be thinking just use a pair of 2 channels or a single 4 channel amp instead, but these amps are already in my possession so I wanted to use what I have if possible.

Anyway, the other configuration in the 4 amp scenario would be on each sub, run the third channel from one of the amps to one coil, and one of the mono amps to the other coil. That would give me boatloads of power, but to me it seems kinda Macgyver-ish.

 

[MegaHurtz 10+ year member]

bump, any other opinions?