Good 500 - 650 RMS amp

[Dmac1991]

Right now, I have a 500 watt RMS at 2 ohm Kenwood KAC-8105D amp. It's a good amp, only thing is, the **** thing is so power hungry. Using 8 gauge wiring in my 2012 Focus and it dims the lights. It's not that noticeable, but it can't be good for electrical purposes. Especially my car being as new as it is.

So my question to y'all is, what is a good amp that will effectively push an Audio Technix Strato 12 D4 but also not eat up alot of power, causing my lights to dim and whatnot. I know The Big 3 can be performed aswell but if there's an amp out there that would allow me to somewhat bypass doing that, it would be great.

Budget is around $160

edit: 500 - 650 rms at 2 ohms please.

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[NIHL8ION]

Not for $160 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif - I'd take that $160 and invest in better wiring & do your big 3

 

[Josef344]

Not for $160 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif - I'd take that $160 and invest in better wiring & do your big 3

I agree with him.

Upgrading the electrical is essential.

 

[Dmac1991]

I just was looking at the Precision Power Ion series 650watt amp too lol

would that work?

I probably will just upgrade wiring

 

[NIHL8ION]

I just was looking at the Precision Power Ion series 650watt amp too lol
would that work?

I probably will just upgrade wiring

A PPI is probably around the same efficiency, if not worse than your kenwood is... I do not really think that it will matter what amp you use with insufficient wiring / electrical to back it up... It takes power to make power //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[black05alti]

Precision Power PPI BK650.1D (BK6501D) 650W RMS Mono Class D Black Ice Car Amp

and you should use 4 gauge wiring with this amp..

 

[redrider 10+ year member]

I agree with him.Upgrading the electrical is essential.

agree with them..... do it now since im sure you will get bass hungry and eventually have to do it to help with the load so why not save yourself some money and time and do the big 3 and run biger ground and power wires.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Yea 4gauge amp kit and 1/0 big 3 before you look at another amp. And efficiency doesn't come that cheap maybe the ia 5.1 but it's still 260ish

 

[naughtyca 10+ year member]

I dont think the issue is your amp, either get a 2nd small battery like a 35ah or a bigger capacitor, if you are planning to go bigger than 500 watts i will suggest a 2nd battery

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

I dont think the issue is your amp, either get a 2nd small battery like a 35ah or a bigger capacitor, if you are planning to go bigger than 500 watts i will suggest a 2nd battery

Capacitors and bass amps don't really add up to much more than a waste of money. Capacitors work greak for high amps because the current draw of a high amp is minimal so during high draw caps are large enought to handle the small draws of current.

A batt would work better for subs because they store a substantial bit more juice. The 35ah bat you are suggesting would be comparable to a 400farad cap. It would also prolly be cheaper than a quality 1farad cap.

Overall on such low power I think he will benifit from a larger gauge wire and the big three than anything else.

Op 50amps is pretty much the max for 8awg and you are pulling really close to that much current. This results in the wire heating up and gaining resistance. Which causes voltage differences front to back. Since the voltage is now lower in the back the amp must work harder to produce the same power, this results with an amp usually drawing 50amps trying to draw 60amps gutter straining the system. A larger wire has less beginning resistance and since it is not at it's maximum capacity it hears up alot slower if at all. And having the current avalible during peaks will help as well.

The main purpose for the big 3 I to mitigate the effects of what I was taking about above. It also eliminates the constricting small factory wires. Yes they should remain hooked up but you are adding to it eliminating the chokehold

This of a busy one lane road only so many cars can pass at one time now add another lane and you've just double that number.

Check your ground, make sure it is metal to metal not metal to paint. Be sure you are connected to the main chassis and be careful drilling holes, alway look before you drill, a gas tank is a pain to replace it is much easier to lay on the ground and look for it before drilling

Another option if your voltage drop isn't bad is to add a capacitor on your light power line I don't recommend this if your voltage is dropping below 12v as it will not help your system, by if you are only dropping .5-1.5v it should eliminate th dimming.

And lastly the first thing you should do is to check your gains and make sure you are not clipping the amp. Clipping results in larger current draws that can ruin an amp and most definitely a sub

 

[Dmac1991]

Thanks for that lengthy response. Really helped. And yeah my gains are pretty much all the way to the left so Im pretty sure Im not clipping.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Here's another suggestion for fixing the wiring before buying a new amp. You should not have headlight dimming with such a small amplifier. Your grounds under the hood are probably undersized. There's no need to do 1/0 ga wire for the Big 3 with this level of power and the stock alternator, so don't think you have to go to that level right away.

 

[plugger 10+ year member]

thats what i was gonna say is it must be clipping or you would be fine. how big is your alternator? if its bigger than a 70 amp you should be aight as long as ur not clippin

-all day clippin

voltage be dippin

but you dont give a dam

cuz your music be hittin?

 

---------- Post added at 10:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:54 AM ----------

 

yeah def check ur grounds

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

Thanks for that lengthy response. Really helped. And yeah my gains are pretty much all the way to the left so Im pretty sure Im not clipping.

Thats not quite how it works. You want to set your gain to match your HU output voltage, and to give your sub the proper amount of rms watts.

I've owned that same amp and it is plenty efficient, the amp is not your limiting factor right now, as other have pointed out you need to upgrade your wire. That amp should only need 4gauge wire. If I were you I'd do the big 3 and upgrade your current wiring to good 4gauge wire.

If you are down the road going to be considering getting a bigger amp or using more power, You might want to look into upgrading your wire to 1/0. This way you will be all set electrical wise for the upgrade. Headlights can be very temperamental when it comes to voltage, sometimes a little light dimming is to be expected and is perfectly ok. Look at your voltage currently and see what your voltage reads when you are playing hard bass. If you are not dropping below 12.6volts you are probably ok.

 

[mclerico83 5,000+ posts]

I have a cadence dca1000 daytona super efficient 120 shipped to you 1000rms at 1 ohm (great for future upgrade), 750rms at 2ohm I ran this amp at 1 ohm in my daewoo on a cheap cca 4awg kit and it never dimmed. made in the usa amazing amp and a steal

DCA1000 - Cadence Sound Store

it was cadence's top model

WoofersEtc.com - DCA-4100 - Cadence 1000 Watt 4 Ch Daytona Competition Amplifier

you can see how much the matching 4 channel is