choice between a few sub-$115 amps to power a nice 10

[senaudio 10+ year member]

Hello everyone!

I am new to the forums, but there seems to be a lot of good info here.

I need to power a Powerbass ES 10DS in a custom built, smallish sealed box

its a 2 ohm DVC, and i have it wired in series, so 4 ohm impedance, but could wire it parallel for 1 ohm if necessary, 500W RMS/1000W Peak power handling

Nowadays, I only have the one sub in my car, (used to have 10 years ago two 12" L7's with a good 1500W RMS Hifonics amp), and really have it so that that I can hear the bass guitar in rock songs and listen to some rap the way it is supposed to be listened to from time to time.

I am a poor graduate student, and unexpectedly replacing a 4 year old POS amp that worked ok for a while, and consequently, only have about $100-115 max to spend.

I am skittish about buying used amplifiers, and so have limited my search to new

I want to push it at between 300-500 watts if possible

I found 2 amps that are within the price range, and push that amount, and are brands i have heard of and/or that have some credibility (i.e. no boss, pyle, pyramid, lanzar, etc.)

Crunch GPV1000.2 $70

500Wx1@4ohms RMS/1000W peak

Hifonics Hfi100.2 $90

400Wx1@4ohms RMS/800W peak (so 340x1 then)

according to maxxsonics tech support crunch rms is 1/2 of Max power, and the hfi line (the only non-CEA rated Hifonics line) is listed as rms on the hifonics pages, but overrated by 18%

any suggestions/advice would be appreciated. THANKS!

Click to read more...

 

[Boomsday 10+ year member]

Audiopipe 15001D

 

[Magnus 10+ year member]

Shopping Cart : VMInnovations.com

Use the VMsave10 coupon. Thread/

 

[bugflipper 10+ year member]

HIFONICS BXi608 1200 WATT MONOBLOCK AMP CAR AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 230561415255 end time Feb-06-11 22:20:02 PST)

NEW! AUDIOPIPE 1500W 2 Channel Car Audio Amplifier/Amp - eBay (item 350241232505 end time Feb-08-11 08:49:46 PST)

 

[bugflipper 10+ year member]

HIFONICS BXi608 1200 WATT MONOBLOCK AMP CAR AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 230561415255 end time Feb-06-11 22:20:02 PST)

NEW! AUDIOPIPE 1500W 2 Channel Car Audio Amplifier/Amp - eBay (item 350241232505 end time Feb-08-11 08:49:46 PST)

 

[senaudio 10+ year member]

thanks for the feedback, it is really helpful. I have 3 more quick questions

1. is audiopipe similar quality to soundstream, sony, and kenwood, as I have found a soundtream trx2.440 for $80 (440@4ohms), a kenwood KAC-7205 for 120 (500@4ohms), and a soundstream stl2.560 and a sony xm gtr-2202 for about 135 (540/560@4ohms).

2. is there an easy way to not worry about my sub being blown if i run either the audiopipe (640 RMS @ 4ohms) or the hifonics (600 RMS @ 1 ohm)

3. is running the amp at 1 ohm more taxing on my car's electrical system, i.e. will the brutus last a shorter time or cut out more often than the audiopipe at 4 ohms

 

[senaudio 10+ year member]

Deleted-duplicate

 

[Slayerx 10+ year member]

thanks for the feedback, it is really helpful. I have 3 more quick questions1. is audiopipe similar quality to soundstream, sony, and kenwood, as I have found a soundtream trx2.440 for $80 (440@4ohms), a kenwood KAC-7205 for 120 (500@4ohms), and a soundstream stl2.560 and a sony xm gtr-2202 for about 135 (540/560@4ohms).

2. is there an easy way to not worry about my sub being blown if i run either the audiopipe (640 RMS @ 4ohms) or the hifonics (600 RMS @ 1 ohm)

3. is running the amp at 1 ohm more taxing on my car's electrical system, i.e. will the brutus last a shorter time or cut out more often than the audiopipe at 4 ohms

1. Sorry, I'm not familiar with audiopipe.

2. Yes, set your gains properly.

3. Amps do become less efficient at lower ohms. I'm not sure what you mean cut out. But no, shouldn't make a significant difference as long as it doesn't see any major voltage drops

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

No the audiopipe is not as good quality as sundown

 

[chevyaddict83 10+ year member]

If we keep it to pm's and you don't mind used, I might be able to help.

 

[senaudio 10+ year member]

thanks for the help, all of you. The guy at the shop told me that a voice coil was bad on my sub and a channel was bad on my amp, so I will be focusing on a new search for amp+sub. I will do a little research, then post if I need any more assistance.

 

[ChevyRidinLow]

did not know there were l7s 10 yrs ago lol

 

[bugflipper 10+ year member]

As for the question about cutting out, and the blown vc and bad channel. Your gain is/was set to high sending a clipped signal to the sub. Effectually burning it up as well as the amp over time. There are stickies on the amp forum about how to set your gain properly. I realize it will probably be a little longer for you to save up more money for a sub as well. But research a bit so you wont go down the same path again. I run quite a bit of 15-20 year old gear. As long as your electrical can support it and it is set up right, gear should last until you get tired if it, if it was good to begin with.

Good luck.

 

[senaudio 10+ year member]

actually, the amp was an spl z2x-820 that the installer wired wrong. he had it bridged (supposed to be 4 ohms) into ONLY ONE ******* VOICE COIL of the DVC 2 ohm speaker. I suspect this had something to do with one of the channels burning out and one of the voice coils on the speaker going bad. I don't know why he did this. I found this out when I took the speaker out of the box 3 days ago, he installed it 5 years ago, ran for about 2 years. Also, a rca was bad.

I was wondering about the cutting out due to my previous experience with the hifonics (and the 2 l7's) that would overheat every once in a while, then cut out for a while, then come back. I was wondering if the 1 ohm load would overheat the amp more often, causing it to cut out more frequently than running it at 4 ohms.

 

[bugflipper 10+ year member]

The ohm load really wouldn't be the cause as long as it was rated to run there, which the hf are. They will definitely put off more heat when putting out more power. But most of the time if it builds enough heat to put the amp into protect mode the gain is set too high. There could also be a voltage problem due to the vehicle not supplying the needed amperage. But generally most amps will burn out with low voltage and not go into protect mode. Those that will generally just shut down momentarily and come right back on when voltage is back up. If the hf would take a few minutes to cool back down then start working again that is clipping producing excess heat in most cases.

No worries though you can start a thread on subwoofer recommendations and get much better gear than you had at a much better price than you invested previously. And brushing up on setting up your own system will ensure it will actually last this time. Instead of a dumb *** screwing you over from the get go.

Good Luck