Best amp combination to power 3 12s

[Hartman]

I'm redoing my system in the next few months, and I'm in the market for a new amp, or amps. I have 3 12" Kicker Comp VRs, and I want to know the best way to power all three of these to their full potential. I don't really want to buy a mono amp for each of the subs. Preferrably, I want one large amp to power all three, perhaps a mono amp.

I need some suggestions on what amp I should get in terms of channels and wattage. I'm thinking the Kicker KX1200, but I'm not sure if there's a way to hook up 3 subs to a mono amp.

Help me out here.

 

[Nate1]

Do you know if they are dual 2 ohm or dual 4 ohm coils?

Some good options are a tsunami db 1800, hifonic brutus bx1500d, mabey a jbl 1200.1, or, if you have huge balls and a big wallet, an Orion 2500d. Basically, your voice coil setup is going to determine the best amp...

 

[Hartman]

They are 4 OHM subs.

 

[Just Startin]

For your subs I would either go with the Kicker 1200.1 or the JBL 1200.1 mono amp. Anything bigger than that and your prolly gonna blow the speakers. It is easy to wire them all to one amp. Here is a diagram on how to hook up different combinations of speakers to amps.

http://jlaudio.com/tutorials/wiring/index.html#4dvcsp

 

[Bobby Locs]

If you run all three in series you can use a Rockford Punch 800.2..... It has more then enogh power for 3 12's.... I had one run 4 15's for 2 years, and the amp still works as good as new...

 

[Nate1]

Run two subs in parallel - parallel to get a 1 ohm load then wire that in series to the other to get a 3 ohm load...
http://www.avionixxusa.com/ep/db1800.htm = $350 and so much headroom for any future upgrading

Run two subs in series-parallel (for one 4 ohm load) and then parallel to the other in parallel (2 ohm load) for a 1.33 ohm load and get
http://www.avionixxusa.com/ep/db1100.htm = $220 and little headroom for upgrading or a hifonics bx1500d (you can get it pricematched at sounddomain for $250) which would overpower your subs a little but give you more headroom than the db1100.

Either way, you can do it for $350 or less... instead of $800 for the kicker... and all of those amps are underrated and will deliver more power than they say

Solid choices... pick what fits your needs

 

[terdrocket]

Use this to determine the wiring and what kind of load will be placed on the amp.http://www.duncanamps.com/zips/speaker5.xls

 

[Nate1]

Use these formulas:

For series wiring:
R1 + R2 [ ... + Rn ] = Rt

For parallel wiring:
1/R1 + 1/R2 [... + 1/Rn] = 1/Rt

If you take two subs, wire their voice coils in series, each sub is effectively 8 ohms (4 + 4 = 8)

If you take those two subs and wire them in parallel, the total impedance is 4 ohms for the pair (1/8 + 1/8 = 1/4)

If you take the last sub, wire its coils in parallel, you get (1/4 + 1/4 = 1/2) so it is at two ohms, the wire the last sub at two ohms in with the other pair at 4 ohms so you get (1/4 + 1/2 = 1/(3/2)) or 1.3333 ohms

 

[Hartman]

Thanks for the great info guys. I will be shopping around for amps in the next few days.

 

[Cartman]

The kicker 1200.1 won't work - it is not stable at .666 ohms and would be doing less then 600 watts at 2.666 ohms which underpowers the subs.

What you need is an amp that can do 1500 watts at 2ohms, that would be about 1200 at 2.666 ohms

Take a look at the RF 1501d would work or the MTX 1501D.

 

[Nate1]

Why? He can run the subs at 1.33 ohms and run something like a HiFonics Brutus BX1500D which does over 1500watts RMS at 1 ohm, which is MORE than ample power for those 300w RMS kicker comp VRs, and it is a stable, full featured amp for $300 or less!

 

[mhn3773]

the CVR 12s are 400rms the 10s are 300rms..just incase that changes anything

 

[Nate1]

Okay, 400w rms x 3 = 1200w rms needed. A hifonics does (according to my Ti89) about 1325+ watts RMS at 1.33 ohms... so he has plenty of wattage... and room for another sub

 

[mhn3773]

i have 2 kicker CVR 15s and i was told to be careful of the power i give them...to make sure i didnt give them to much just a warning i recived when i bought them

 

[karl_burns]

amp opines

The JL 500/1 is stable down to an ohm. But I think they're still $500+.
HiFonics sounds like your best option.
The Precision Power amps (do they still make them) are stable for that load as well, but the $350 target price is tough to beat.
Kenwood makes a good, relaible, powerful product too. Check them out as well. They've got some monoblock amps for $300 or so that send a ton of power.
Best of luck and keep us posted.
Karl

 

[Hartman]

I'm looking into the RF 1501D, The Hifonics BX1500D, and the Xtant X1001 right now.

 

[airkevin23]

Stay away from Rockford, over priced heat boxes. Out of those I would say the Hifonics would be great for what you want.

 

[karl_burns]

Rockford quality has been decreasing

I would blame it on the decision to become a publicly traded company. Just doesn't work for some types of products.
Anyway, HiFonics is best bang for your buck, but Xtant makes AWESOME gear.
Can't go wrong with either.
Karl

 

[Hartman]

Guys I'm seriously considering an Xtant X1001 right now. Here are the specs:

XTANT X1001 1000 WATTS
1x 500watts @ 4 ohms
1x 1000watts @ 2 or 1 ohm

It seems that it would deliever a good amount of power to the subs and it looks great as well. Would this be a good choice?

 

[mhn3773]

thats not a whole lot of power for the 3 kickers heartman..i mean it will sounds awesome but u will not be giving the 3 subs the power they wany