amp/sub question

hey guys,ive been thinking about this for the last day or two.this is probably one of those dumb questions that i should already know or should'nt even ask.but here goes.is it better or worse to buy an amp that has a rated rms rating considerably higher than the sub your planning on using?for example i have a jl-wo 12" sub.i plan on getting an amp that is rated at 450 watts rmsX1.i could just get a smaller amp,but price wise the bigger amp is only a few dollars more.the thing is this,im never gonna max the sub out to its max power handling.but my thinking is that if i get a higher rated amp,it wont have to work as hard as the lower watted amp.which inturn will mean less heat and a longer life expectancy from the amp.does this make sense?thanks

That's a lot of power to feed a 12W0. But remember, the W0 is either a 4 or 8ohm SVC. So whatever amp you are looking at you need to look at the "??? x 1 @ 4ohm" rating (most amps don't give 8ohm specs). Just a guess, but if your 450 x 1 is the 2ohm rating of the amp, then it should only be producing apx. 225 x 1 @ 4ohms. If that's the case, then just don't crank the gains and you should be ok. Which amp are you considering?Squirrel

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According to JL, 250 watts is the beginning of the "Warranty Void" zone. The Zapco Studio 150 is rated at 300 x 1 @ 4ohms (mono bridged). Do you have the gains turned down all the way on the Zapco? I'm not quite sure why the amp is getting so hot, I've never personally dealt with Zapco amps. Since you only have one SVC sub, there's really no other way to wire it other than parallel and bridge it between the 2 channels for a 4ohm load. All I can say about the USB-2150 is be careful with the gains. I've never used that amp either (I'm not a professional installer so I don't have access to alot of equipement!). But at 450 x 1 @ 4ohms (mono bridged) you run a serious risk of blowing the W0.Squirrel

"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"

If its too loud, then you're too old

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