Too Much Power?

[B94Sport]

I noticed that the zeb has the Audiobahn A2200HC on sale for $349, which is cheaper than I would get the Orion 275G4 for. It is rated at 1600 watts @ 1 ohm mono, so I could use it. However, my concern is that these amps are underrated and it will actually produce nearly 1900 watts to power my two subs that handle 500 watts RMS - 1000 watts max. Should I be worried about blowing the subs with that much power? Everyone claims that the Eclipses can take much more power than they are rated for, but I'd rather not risk blowing a sub.

 

[burtonsnow]

hey man...max number mean absolutly nothing. look only at the rms ratings. with that amp and those subs youd be feeding them almost twice as much power as they should have....which would be bad. if the rms rating on the sub is 500 watts id stay as close to that as possible.....not going over or under too much. underpowering with clean power will not hurt the subs...but overpowering will

 

[B94Sport]

Actually I have found that plenty of people seem to be giving the subs 700-1000 watts each, so I might be okay... I'll wait for an answer from leenjen for sure though.

 

[burtonsnow]

alright. how long have they been feeding them so much power??? i know the subs are underrated....but not that much. id like to know how they sound

 

[TarHeel085]

like burtonsnow said you wanna stay right around the recomended RMS. thats what im doin, my sub is 700 watts RMS, and my amp is 606 watts RMS 74% of the time. so its pretty close. thats way i dont have to worry about puttin to much power to the subs.

 

[burtonsnow]

my setup right now is like 400 watts hittin 2 subs that require 250 each.....they are a bit underpowered...but its a new mtx amp, so since the power is clean it will not damage the subs

hopefully in the future i will get a mtx thunder 6500d amp(about 800 watts) and 2 mtx 8000 subs(400 watts each)

 

[leenjen]

that's too much power. it migh be ok few a little while, but after a few songs the voice coils will start to melt.
the Audiobahn A2150HCX will give them plenty of power.

 

[B94Sport]

Thanks leenjen!
I will stick in the 1200 watt range then... I like the looks of the Audiobahn over the Orion, and since it is shorter it will fit better in my setup. With the 8 inches I save in length I will be able to mount a cap next to the amp and have it look pretty good...

Now, anyone have recommendations on caps or are they all pretty much the same? I'm thinking 1 farad with an LED readout.

 

[beavis195]

Audiobahn amps draw A lOT of current. They are awesome looking and sounding amps though. IF you want to save $70, get the JBL bp1200.1 off ebay for $270. Scala1 and others sell it. it's actual output at 1-2 ohms (it puts out the same power from 1-2 ohms) is 1348 watts. At 4 ohms, underrated 600 watts. It's more like 740. That might be better suited for your subs, just a suggestion. It is much better looking in person and when it's powered up to. The lights are kind of cool.

 

[B94Sport]

About capacitors... Will I need one if I have a 200 amp alternator?

 

[beavis195]

doubt it, but it won't hurt anything. Just find the cheapest one. A few car audio shops I trust told me that With a few exceptions, caps are all pretty much made by the same company, just covered in a companies brand logo. This is the only product I bought (or would buy for that matter) that is from Lightning audio's bolt line ($55 for a 1 farad 20v surge). I wouldn't buy one with a digital readout though. Seems like it would add more resistance. And as for the 16v and 20v, if I understand correctly, this is the surge power, so your cap will never see 20 volts, so I would go with the 16. Correct me if I'm wrong people.

 

[nosaj122081]

Go with the highest surge rating you can... If they do surge, it makes a TREMENDOUS mess, the best you can hope for is it pukes the goop inside it out all over the place, the worst being it explodes and shorts out. Better safe than sorry!

I've heard that they were only a few manufacturers too, don't know for sure though... Not like it makes much a difference, its not a real complex item.

 

[leenjen]

my audiobahn capactior is a 24 volt cap with 30 volt surge.