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Ford Explorer Community - Maintenance - Modifications - Performance Upgrades - Problem Solving - Off-Road - Street
Explorer Forum Covers the Explorer ST, Explorer Sport, Explorer Sport Trac, Lincoln Aviator, Mercury Mountaineer, Mazda Navajo, Ford Ranger, Mazda Pickups, and the Ford Aerostar
Originally posted by rydinhigh For speaker wire I used 12 ga but you should be fine with 14. Just an fyi go to home depot to get the speaker wire its cheaper and audio places and you can get it by the foot.
Playing subwoofers at loud levels without enough power causes distortion which can blow a speaker faster than feeding it to much power.
you don't want to underpower or overpower... if you don't have enough power and you turn it up and it clips it can ruin your speaker/ if you have too much power and you turn it up to far for the speaker you are using it will also ruin your speaker...
the reasoning that your more likely to ruin it with too little power rather than with too much power doesn't make any sense to me.
all that said, imo having 50 watts more power to something than the rms is just fine 90% of the time. However, audiobahn is one of the rare situations i'd be careful with this. they don't rate their rms the same way most other manufacturers do. their rms ratings are for their speakers in the optimal conditions for longevity- e.g. perfect room temperature, box size (sealed of course) etc.. Be careful when overpowering anything made by audiobahn
hope that clears some things up-
The amp that has been recommended will work great though!
oh yeah, one more thing to think about- often amps make a little more power than they are rated or are rated at different voltages for so try to get an idea of how much power the amp your looking at actually will make in your explorer. Once again audiobahn (although the amps are pretty good) is a company that rates their stuff slightly higher than some of the other companies would rate the same amp.
-Thats a matter of opinion....did you ever use their equipment???
Underpowering does not kill speakers.......
Dont argue with me argue with EVERYONE else....
why not try an arguement with Dan Wiggins CEO of Adire Audio....... "underpowering isn't a problem. Overpowering or overexcursion are."
I'm gonna make my own stealth box to put this is, so I want the amp hidden too, will this amp get to hot to put in the back quarter panel (drivers side)?
stealth box is gonna be real tough to build for that just so you know. I've made one with mdf and its quite a job (fiberglass is actually probably easier- but i'm assuming you don't know how because of your newbie audio questions)
also, putting the amp in the drivers side is gonna be a ton of work also to do it right. I think you should plan on installing the amp under the seats (even though i don't usually advocate that) if you want it hidden.
good luck with everything, and make sure to post if you have any questions- heck i could maybe find the plans for the stealth box if you wanted.
oh yeah, one more thing- build the box to the manufacturers specs. Do not build it whatever size you can because fo the size contraints back there. If you can't make it big enough (and you may not be able to) just bit the bullet and build a regular box or get a different sub.
if i were you (again assuming your a newbie because of the questions you've been asking- i'd build a box with a quick disconnect terminal cup on it. Put that in the cargo area and just quick disconnect it whenever you need space. with that set-up the amp could go in the cargo pocket on the passengers side and you'd still have room when you needed it. that is what i did in my brothers escape since my mom drives it alot and they didn't want to lose too much space.
I would just get the box I showed you (which is in the correct parameters for the sub) and mount the amp to the box. The box is fairly small so you wont lose that much cargo room and it will make things alot easier on you.
Or you can make a 'false floor style setup and have the sub facing upwards with a grill, or facing downwards (downfiring) with a carpeted flat top. That will still allow you to throw crap in back when you need to.... I chose that route for my old Polk/MOMO system, and I had my sub downfire onto my amp under the box (figure it probably moved air over it to cool it) and it sounded great considering the sub was firing into carpet... and I had all the room I ever needed.
Thanks for the ideas guy, but I think I will stick with the stealth box. I'm pretty good with wood and building stuff so no worries there. And I like that quick disconnect idea.
