Amp, Sub? power related

This is something I was thinking about and wondering if I'm on the right track here. Say, someone wants 600 watts rms of sub power. So he gets himself a 600 wrms amp. Now, does the sub must be also 600 wrms or can it be lets say 500? The amp is what feeds power to the sub, so I think the 500 should sound as if it was a 600 watt sub. I'm not sure if it will sound sloppy or not after 500 watt mark, but it should still work as a "600 wrms sub system"? Am I correct?

You are correct, but for short periods of time at high power!  The 500 watt rating of the sub is there for a reason.  All in all, your listening enjoyment will usually consist of no more than 300 watts going to the sub no matter what power output the amplifier is...that's going to be loud.  It is when you get to the highest marks on the volume knob that those extra 2 or 3 hundred watts are going to come into play.  It is at these highest levels that you would want to limit the time that the sub is receiving the over-power.  It won't sound sloppy until it smokes.  SSS! Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

couldent have said it betterWant to know some good equipment- JL,Adire Audio,Mcintosh,Brax,Helix,Eclipse,JBL,RE,Dimoand Audio,Zapco, pritty much anything DYhon,Forbidden recommend

On the12volt you give some info and you get in

exactly.  but also properly adjust your gains to match your head units preamp output...good luck!

I have to disagree with Stevdart... Im running 3)KSW10" with a 1800w amp,rms @ 1 ohm. Each sub is rated at 250 rms, which are over powered by 350w. Have not had a problem(knock on wood) yet  3mths strong. Instead of max volume @ say 30 on h/u, clarity and power is on10-15 on volume Uncle Gumby

tcbturbosux, you can disagree with me all you want.  But at least back it up with something halfway intelligeable.  If you're saying you keep the volume at 10 - 15 out of a possible 30...then you're wasting both your and my time by disagreeing.  Because you obviously didn't get what I said. Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

you are runing them close to there rms because you arent useing the full power of the amp.your useing half of the power from the amp, your not giveing it the signale power to output the max that your amp is capeble of and i suggest that you dont turn it up enymore or you will be disipinted. so ya id have to go with stev on that. AaronWant to know some good equipment- JL,Adire Audio,Mcintosh,Brax,Helix,Eclipse,JBL,RE,Dimoand Audio,Zapco, pritty much anything DYhon,Forbidden recommend

On the12volt you give some info and you get in

youngone wrote: you arent useing the full power of the amp.your useing half of the power from the amp

No, not quite.  What I'm getting at is that power output is on a curve.  The curve rises very sharply at the very highest end, so it's really the last slight tweak of the volume knob (set correctly with the amp input or gain) that propels the next few hundred watts.  So if an amp's output was, say, 1800 watts....and the above illustration of 30 max is used...15 on the volume knob would be nowhere near 900...but quite a bit below.  You dial that volume up to the highest levels, the output increases exponentially on that sharp upwards curve.  From 29 to 30 would probably be at least 200 watts alone.

Test for yourself this way:  set your amp gains by using the recommended method of using qualified test tones and listening for clipping.  Then, use a DMM and read the AC voltage output at the speaker terminals.  Turn the gain down very slightly while reading the display.  See the sudden big drop in voltage?  As you turn the amp gain down further, you'll notice the voltage is reduced at a gradually slower pace.  Turn it slowly back up to where you started and you'll see the exponential increase in power as I described.

So for the purposes of this thread's question, sure it's okay to over-power your sub.  You just have to realize that you're not overpowering it while you're listening to it at normal levels.  You have to purposely TRY to overpower it when the difference is as close as in this case:  500 watts vs. 600 watts.

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.