xtant

I just purchased 2 !2'' xtant x series subs and i find that my amp really dosent push them at all seeing as how there are 1000rms i was just wondering any opinion on what kind of amp i should get for these and if it would be better to run them at 1 ohm or 4 ohm's i was looking at getting a x1001 but there a little pricey but i know with the xtant name comes quality i would really appreciate some input on this thanks

you cant go wrong with xtant, but if you want something differnt why not look around on ebay and pick out a few in your price range and take it from there  or try woofersect.com

I strongly suggest purchasing an amp that is known for hefty design and using an adjustable subsonic filter in conjunction with it. Using a subsonic filter correctly and taking your sub boxes efficiency characteristics into consideration you can easily obtain very similar results using a fraction of the power. Saving you money. The fact is that purchasing one or more amps that will give you 2000W RMS is going to cost you a chunk and a half of change. There is no way around that! But it might be more reasonable for you to obtain one well built amp set up correctly to get what you are looking for. Don’t get me wrong. There is no true replacement for raw power, but keep in mind what 2000W RMS gets you. The ability to reach your subs thermal limitations. That’s it! I suggest A Zapco Reference 750.2 or 1100.1 in conjunction with an Audiocontrol EQS. The amp comes with a high voltage balanced line driver that will force your amp to work harder for you and the EQS has an onboard subsonic filter and Bass specific equalization section that will work hand in hand with your power issues. As a bonus this setup is extremely tweakable so you can get that heart stopping sound that you are looking for.

Power consumption increases exponentially with the decrease of frequency. A surplus of power given the decreased RMS value of power consumption due to the subsonic filter = higher output ability of the sub. How exactly dose that not equate higher output?

Sorry to the mods and admins, but I have to say this one! I agree with the subsonic filter thing, to an extent, but you are mostly correct with it, so I'll let it go... (Just to let you know, James, I also agree with you, and understand your possible confusion... A subsonic filter can, and does, do both of those things. By reducing the amount of power being applied to the "subsonics", (both electrical and mechanical) two things happen: 1: Excursion is limited, increasing mechanical power handling, not exactly necessary in a sealed enclosure, and in fact, I recommend NOT using one in a sealed application. and B: By reducing the power the amp is making AND the speaker is receiving at frequencies below the tuning point of the enclosure, the amp can work more efficiently, due to not producing power that can't be effectively used, AND the woofer can use the power the amplifier IS producing for increased output.) speakermakers and sedate are both right, in this one. However I DO take issue with this portion of your post:

speakermakers wrote: The amp comes with a high voltage balanced line driver that will force your amp to work harder for you

Brutal truth time... That is the most incorrect "information" I have heard come from you yet. Dude, you are smart... I know that... I have read some of your other "Hints and Technical Information" posts, but some of your information and ideas are COMPLETELY wrong. This one, for example. We try to actually provide accurate information here, and that is NOT accurate. At all. Please stop saying it, and things like it. The balanced portion of the Zapco amps have nothing, and I do mean *N-O-O-O-O-O-T-H-I-I-I-I-I-N-G* to do with "forcing your amp to work harder". How do you do that? You CAN'T. A 1000 watt amp will ONLY MAKE 1000 WATTS! Making a 1000 watt amp "work harder" means it can make more than 1000 watts, right? Balanced lines are for noise rejection. Period. End of story. No more discussion. That's what they are for. That is why they are used in long runs in pro sound. NOISE REJECTION. Ever hear hum on a microphone using a balanced cable? Nope... It can't happen, unless something is broken. If the amplifier is rated for 16V balanced in, for 1000 watts out, and the line driver is 16V balanced, then HOW does this "force the amp to work harder"? You are going to get 1000 watts out of the amp. I know, your argument now is "If the amp is rated 8V balanced in, you will make it work harder." Wrong. It will get to it's 1000 watt output FASTER (or sooner) ON THE VOLUME KNOB, but it will still ONLY BE MAKING 1000 watts. Anything further on the volume knob ONLY results in overdriving the amplifier, increasing distortion dramatically, and (even more dangerously) logarithmically. You are telling this guy that he is going to get more power out of the amplifier than the amplifier is rated for, and you, of all people, should know that can't happen.It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

Here we go again with haemphyst stating that I am saying things that I am not. I believe that I stated that Zapco amps ship with a balanced line driver. Did I say that this in its self increases power? What thread did you read? I said that you can make your amp work harder. I can see how you might think that I meant harder than it is rated for but that is not what I said or meant (learn to read). That would be assuming that I don’t know what I am talking about witch I know you think but you really need to review my past posts and give up on this fantasy. I was stating that you can make your amp work harder than it currently is. Up to its potential. I know that you think that low signal voltage is the ticket but have you ever wondered what would happen if there was no noise floor. If you ran 1/100th of a volt of signal into an amp and did not have to worry about a noise floor, would that amp make the same power as it would if you fed it 2 volts? So what is the golden range for signal voltage? Its different for every amp design. Low gain amplifiers are becoming increasingly more popular due to their versatility and performance. 15 years ago 2 volts was a lot to send to an amp but now we have these wonderful amps from eclipse and zapco and even most flee market brands now that will accept very high voltage and will not produce full power without a minimum input. The real problem occurs when you listen to decent quality recordings with a high crest factor. This yields a small RMS value that will not let the amp perform. I am talking about normal but good quality recordings such as Nirvana. Nirvana recordings have an average RMS value that is nearly half the RMS value of recordings like Evanecence recordings. The RMS value that you think that you are getting out of your head unit is based on the RMS of a pure sine wave. In reality I am getting between 2 and 4 volts RMS and your are getting a fraction of a fraction of that and missing out in the process. Most likely. But I don’t know do I? Line drivers are not for every system. They are advantageous in the vast majority of today’s systems. You can quote me on that. Quit making stuff up! For those of you wondering why it’s a bad thing that a crap recording like Evanecence will yield a higher RMS signal and consequently higher RMS power from the amp, just keep in mind what you are giving up. That wonderful dynamic range that we all enjoyed when we switched over to CDs from cassettes. The crap recording sounds more impressive on a crap system and horrible on a great system. The better recordings keep sounding better as your system gets better. This is why so many people spend thousands of dollars on the latest equipment only to be disappointed by the ear piercing sound of their latest MP3. Even if you are skeptical about the performance gains of higher available signal voltage, simple math will quickly lead you to the conclusion that the available signal strength gives you versatility amongst a wider range of recordings.

hehe...I have owned these subs and have run them to their potential, blown them, and started over after warranty... first things first, these subs are NOT 1000W RMS, they are 500...dont believe me? check out the stats: http://www.xtant.com/html/products/X12.cfm secondly, these subs arent really designed for spl...they are more of an SQ sub...I dont care who told who what about them, Ive tried...in the right box you are lucky to hit anything over 145...I think my best score was 148 or 149, with alot of work and experimentation... now, all this being said, these subs will handle more than 500W, but I wouldnt try them on 1000...not without warranty...the X1001 would be an adequate amp to drive 2 of these subs, and it is aesthetically appealing to have the same brand showing in your trunk like that. I blew mine up though, hehe...I like mitek, but they dont like me at warranty time :) I seem to get more than my money's worth out of them when I go shopping ;) what size of enclosure are you running for these subs? vented or sealed? what is your overall goal? like I said, these arent really spl subs, and if you want them to hit their spl potential you are going to suffer sq loss...