An Interesting Dilema...

[exploreraudio]

Hey, guys

So, I have two amps...both Zapco...a Studio 204 (50x2), and a 300X (150x2). I have two a/d/s RS10 dual 6-ohm voice-coil subs, some boston acoustics front seperates, and the factory rear speakers. My head unit has no speaker outputs, only RCA. I also have an RCA based sub-level control, that needs to go between the crossover and the amp. There are two ways I can wire this, and (this means you, leenjen *grin*) I am looking for some opinions.

- The sub amp has the built-in crossover, with a set of high-pass outputs (designed to go to the front). This can be switched to make the 300x the high pass, with low-pass outputs.

1) Wire the more obvious way, 50x2 to the front, 50x2 to the rear, and 150x2 to the subs. This would mean more power (about 200ish watts each, assuming I parallel wire the VCs for 3ohms) for the subs. This also means I can't use my front-mounted sub level control, as it needs to go between the crossover and the amp.

2) Wire the 300x to my front speakers, forget about the rear speakers (or get a really small amp for them), and bridge the 204x to make 150x2, and use that on the subs. This lets me use the sub level control, but it also means I am using the less-beefy amp for my fairly power hungry subs.

Any ideas, guys?

 

[exploreraudio]

Errr...correction. The 204 is actually a 50x4, in case you hadn't figured that out already.

 

[leenjen]

out of the two ways you mentioned, i like the first setup (you have really good subs, why not use them to their potential?). how important is the sub level control to you? since you mentioned not using the rear speakers in the second setup, the rear obviously isn't very important to you. so if you need to control the sub volume, why not just use the fader? you'll still get some sound from the rear.

if you decide to go with the second setup, you can power all four (front &rear) speakers with the 2 channel amp. just wire them @2ohms stereo. even though i recommend the first setup, this one will work. the a/d/s/ subs aren't as power hungry as you would think. they have a very high sensitivity rating of 93db. that makes them very efficient subs that will perform well, even without tons of power. it's all up to you, but i prefer the first setup. be sure to post the results.

 

[exploreraudio]

There's another way I can do this....I just thought of it.

I own an alpine 3672 Active Crossover. It's an extra box, which I am trying to stay away from, but it will let me use my remote sub level control (which IS fairly important to me). The next hurtle will be finding a place to mount all this gear, but still have it (pretty much) stealth.

 

[JTang]

I agree with leenjen. Use the first setup, cause in reality, 50 watts extra really isn't that much of a difference. By the time you're in that range, you'd be lucky to pull on extra decibel if that for 50 watts. The power needs in comparison to speaker output is exponential, so crazy diminishing returns...