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Ok guy's,

I know everyone has their own opinions in regards to the best amps on the market but, I would like some opinions from the guy's that have been in the car audio scene for a while. I currently have 2 MTX 8104's and am in need of a decent amp to drive them as they are power hungry and they have a decent amount of space to fill with bass. Anyone?

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

The Hifonics Brutus BX1000D does 700W rms X 1 @ 2-ohms...Sounds like a pretty good match to me...Each sub will get 350W rms...That's just about what they need.

See it HERE

If u got the dual 4-ohm version of those subs that's cool, u can wire in parallel/parallel and get em down to 1-ohm and that amp will put out 1000W rms, since u say they r power hungry that extra 100W rms per sub won't hurt em, be careful with the gain...But the Brutus amps are good, i have some experience with them, and they put out good clean power and it's nice that they have a subsonic filter (good if ur gonna use a ported box)...Remote bass knob (lame to me, so be careful with it), 1-ohm stability, great price, they look good....etc...there's ur amp.

How about a MTX 8001. Usually tests at around 900 watts rms at 2 ohms.

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

I was gonna say the 801D but since it's rated at 500w rms @ 2-ohms on 12.5DVC i figured he wouldn't want it...The 8001 is an older model huh? Wonder if u can find those still.

The 8001 is an older model and I am not sure if you can get your hands on it anymore. If I go MTX, I think ot would be a 1501D. Good amp?

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

This is my current set-up.

posted_image

Good amp, but may be a bit too much for ur 8104s...be careful with the gain :)

Well, the 8104's are rated at 400 watts rms each. So, I do beleive to drive them efficiently I would need an amp the puts out at least 800 watts rms at 12.5volts. Right?

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

Right, and the 1501D does 1000W rms at that voltage at 2-ohms...and i beilieve 1500W rms peack at 14.4V...So it may be too much...but u say they r power hungry (i've never heard that about the thunder 8000 subs) but if u say so.

I am currently running a 500 watt mono amp to the and the seem like they want more. everyone that I have talked to about these subs tell me to run a minimum of 800 watts to them.

a minimum of 800 to each or 800 to both, 800W rms to both is about right, since they are 400w rms subs...

U might want to look into that hifonics brutus bx1000d, it's a good amp, strong and has a lot of features for about $200...Can't beat that for the money, 700W rms is pretty close, 350W rms to each is no slouch, think about it.

Well, it is always better to have more power than you need. Underpowering will kill them and it will make the amp work harder so, a 1000 watt RMS amp would be perfect for them in my opinion.

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

Well ok...never heard of underpowering subs by 50W rms will kill them, but ok...And it's definitely not "always" good to have more power than what u need...But if u know for sure they can take more than their rms rating and be fine go with that... and who told u that underpowering a sub by 50W rms will make the amp work harder, that's ridiculous, the amp puts out what it outs out at a certain load, period...Not like the sub can physically draw more wattage from the amp cuz the rms sheet says it can take more...The hifonics will do 1000W rms @ 1-ohm but u would need the 80144As to get that load and u got 8014As so that's out, good luck.

Ummm, the MTX 8001 is a brand new model for this year that is CES rated to do about 850-900 watts RMS at 2 ohms at 12.5 volts. Thats why I said it would work out perfect for you.

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Ravedarat,

Your right, it is the MXA 8001. I was thinking in regards to the thunder 8001. In regards to powering the 8104's with a rms of 400 and a max of 800watts, what is your opinion. More power than you need or less?

I routinly pumped 400watts RMS through each sub on a regualr basis when I sold them (They are clearence now) and never had a problem. They are power hungry and can handle quite a bit more than their rated 400 watts. I did one customers car using the DVC version and ran a 8100d to each one and those things just loved it so in my opinion, in you case more is better.

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

So, in your opinion, a MTX 1501D would be almost perfect for these subs, right? Wrong? If so, I think tht I will go with it.

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

A 1501 would be a good choice in my opinion

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

I powered my old 8000 10's with nearley 1000 a piece Need very very clean power but they will take it I was using soundstream amps

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2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

racer427 wrote:

Well, it is always better to have more power than you need. Underpowering will kill them and it will make the amp work harder.

cough cough cough... err, here we go again. NO, this is a myth, it is dead wrong. "Underpowering" will NOT, repeat NOT harm a speaker. Clipping, well now that is a different story and lower powered or cheaper amps are more prone to clipping in the hands of the inexperienced. But the amp will NOT "work harder" nor will low power "kill" the speaker. Impossible. It just won't be as loud as it would be with a larger amp.

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I think I am going to put the whole explanation for underpower argument into a file so whenever this comes up I can just cut and paste. Seems to be the best sloution.

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Dyhon,

I am with you there but, to get the spl you want out of a lower powered amp you would have to work it or clip it. That is why I was trying to state that You should have an amp that will supply a little more than the rms rating of the speaker. thus, lower gain settings and not chance of clipping the amp.

My current situation is a Bazooka 500 watt mono amp pushing these 2 8104's. They, to me, are crying for more power. With the amp at 3/4 gain I actually have to turn down the gains to half on my cadence amp to balance the sound. Otherwise, the mids and Highs drownd out the bass. So, if I run a 1000 watt rms amp and the subs need 800 watts for the pair, all should be good.

Well see, i didn't know that the MTX thunder 8000 subs were power hungry, that's why i said it several times that if he knew, then go ahead...

As far as the mtx 8001, i thought it was the thunder amp as well....

But i did know that underpowering subs would not "kill" them, and make the amp work harder...

Good luck with ur amp dude.

DYhon, refer to the first page of this post, there is a picture of the set-up there.

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

That thing u said about having to work it or clip it on a lower output amp to get the full potential out an rms rating on a sub is entirely not true...

There are amps that put out more than what the rms rating says...Also for most subs, u don't need to meet or exceed rms ratings to get full potential out the sub...I dunno where u got that from.

Dude, I have to ask, do you understand that the gains are not a volume control and that there is a proper technique to setting them and it is not just go by your ear. If you dont know how ot do this right check outsome previous post on setting gains with a dmm. The only thing that kinda alarmed me is that you said you have to turn down your cadence amp to half way or else it drowns out your subs, this begs the question, What is the proper level to have your cadence set at?

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

I am only refering to the mtx 8000 series subs. As stated earlier, they are very power hungry, especialy when in a small enclosure as mine are in .63cf per sub. I have been told by many that you need to run these subs at rms or higher. I am only stating what I have been told. I have run subs in the past well below their rms and have not ran into too much trouble. There are just a handfull of subs that need to be run at or above RMS rating to get the full potential out of the sub as I am told.

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Alpine CDA-9833 HU
Diamond Audio M661 Components
MTX Thunder T6.6 Components:rear fill:
Cadence Q400 4 Channel Mains + rears
Thunder 801D Subs
MTX 1004 10's
Dual 4g wire to rear
4g grounds

Ravendarat wrote:

Dude, I have to ask, do you understand that the gains are not a volume control and that there is a proper technique to setting them and it is not just go by your ear. If you dont know how ot do this right check outsome previous post on setting gains with a dmm. The only thing that kinda alarmed me is that you said you have to turn down your cadence amp to half way or else it drowns out your subs, this begs the question, What is the proper level to have your cadence set at?

I know that the gains are not ment as a volume control. The way that I was taught to set the gains is to turn up the deck 3/4 volume then set the gain untill the amp starts clipping then back it off 1/8 turn or so. That is how I came up with 3/4 gain on the sub amp. As far as the cadence amp, I have not been able to clip it as of yet. I also had the gains set at 3/4 on it.

As far as balancing the power between the front rear and sub channels goes the gains are my only adjustment. I have a 6 channel line driver installed but, it is running off of one set of rca's right now as the second set out of my head unit are fried.

Ya, check the previous post about using a DMM to set your gains, you will probally find it pretty informative and it is definatly gonna help out if you get a big beast like a 1501

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Ravendarat wrote:

Ya, check the previous post about using a DMM to set your gains, you will probally find it pretty informative and it is definatly gonna help out if you get a big beast like a 1501

I will check it out for sure. I am always looking for good information regarding installs. Thanks for the info Ravendarat.

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