Did i make the right choice?

i've been shoping around lately, i change my subs and power more than my soxs, everytime i take a step up. it came down to either 2 12" HX2 DVC's or 2 12" L5 DVC's, and 2 rf 351M amps, the new series. they are each rated 386 rms @ 2 ohms. the hx2s are in a ported box, while the L5's were going to be in a sealed box. the rockfords have aluminum frames, while the kickers dont have aluminum until you get into the L7's. just give me your opinions between the 2 subs given the power choice i've made. i was going to buy a 1000bd or something, but it was just alot cheaper to go with the 2 351's. thanks

Power HX2s or the Punch HX2s?

sorry, punch

personal experience has tought me that sealed gives you tighter cleaner bass while ported gives you deeper harder hitting bass. it all comes down to personal preferance. i'm still undecided, right now ive got the hx2's, but i can always trade them in. i just can't convince myself which are better.

I prefer sealed enclosures, only because ported boxes have a more limited range (even though they hit harder in that range than in a sealed box). I'm biased and like Rockford though, so if it were me I'd get the RFD2112's and put them in a sealed enclosure.

The Power 1000bd amp would have been an excellent choice for those RF subs. What you were asking was also one of my future considerations if I can ever get the green together. I'm either going with 2 RFD2212's (4ohm DVC Punch HX2 12's) and another Power 500bd (since I already have 1 running 2 RFP3412's) in a sealed enclosure, or 2 RFD2112's (2ohm DVC Punch HX2 12's) in a sealed enclosure and a Power 1000bd.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
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i realize the 1000 would obviously be better, but im not looking to pay 1200$ for an amp. do you think my choice to go with the 2 351M's was decent? visions retails the 1000 at $1800 i think, but sells it for $1100 - $1200. i paid $225 a piece for the 351's...

If you have the RFD2112's (2ohm DVC Punch HX2's) then you'll be underpowering them. They're actually rated at 500 RMS and 1000 Peak. The Power 351's will deliver a minimum of 350 RMS @ 2 ohms, but you should get closer to 400-425 RMS since the majority of Rockfords amps perform better then their minimum rating. Check your "Birth Certificate" that came with each amp for the actual tested output. If you're within 100 watts of the subs RMS rating then you should be ok, but the subs will perform a lot better if you fed them more juice.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
Donate to the12volt.com

That price of $1200 caught my eye, i know there is price differences based on where you live but gees, they sell the 1000bd where i live for about $700 to $750. Plus i've seen them on various sites on the net for around $500. May want to shop around and find some better deals.

Take a look at EBAY sometime. I just picked up a new 1000bd amp for $365.94 including the shipping. I'm going to drive an HX2 RFR3112 12" sub with it. The "Birth Cert" had the amp listed at 1085 watts. Watch out on what you bid on-some of what you see will be refurbs. Everyone I've asked about enclosures has told me to go custom for this sub though.   

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If you're getting old-turn it up so it still sounds the same-If you can't turn it up any higher -get a bigger amp.

I just paid $700 for my Power 1000bd, and $500 for 2 RFP2112 HX2's. I paid a little more because I went with an authorized RF dealer, so I get the full factory warrenty. My birth Certificate shows 1185, but the fine print says "at 15.1 volts". I know I won't see that since I'm still running a 12v setup.

Yeovil, for the RFR3112 You would want 1.0 cu. ft. in a sealed enclosure, and 2.5 cu. ft. in a ported enclosure with a 4"x12.65" port.

Are you running at 1 or 4 ohms? Your RFR3112 is a 2ohm DVC, so you can only wire into 1 or 4ohms, not 2 (at least not with just 1 2ohm DVC). If your running at a 4ohm total load, then you're only seeing around 500watts RMS, not 1000 (which you could get at a 2ohm total load). I've spoken with 4 Rockford Tech reps today when I was getting my HX2's, and they all said not to run the 1000bd at 1ohm.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
Donate to the12volt.com

Hi Squirrel,

I checked with the RF dealers as well. I 've rarely had to use the warranties on items that I've purchased, so I decided to go with the no warranty pay half as much route and if something does go wrong with the amp, either getting it repaired or buying another at half price still puts me no worse than even  $ wise. If nothing goes wrong as usual, I'm way ahead. Obviously it remains to be seen. I ended up with approximately $3500-$3600 list for $1850 on the equipment I bought. I also picked up an 851X for $397, an Alumapro Cap 5 for $225, FNQ3614 comp spkrs $250, the RFR3112 for $256, and SONY cd  WX4500x $192 and changer CDX757mx for $158.

I must have screwed up on the Sub setup-I didn't realize I would have to run at 4ohms with one sub. Will it affect the apparent volume or sound quality  I get that greatly running it at 4ohms. I'm loading this equip into a Miata trunk. I want it loud, but I'm more concerned with clarity of sound than vibrating a whole city block. The authorized RF dealer didn't clue me in on this. I told them what I was doing and they recommended the 1000bd with the ONE sub.

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If you're getting old-turn it up so it still sounds the same-If you can't turn it up any higher -get a bigger amp.

Sorry they did that to you. Here's what you can wire with one 2ohm DVC



You would deffinately notice a difference between 1 and 4ohms. At 1ohm, your single RFR3112 would be getting 1000watts (which is the RMS rating for that sub). At 4ohms, you would only be getting 500watts. That's seriously underpowering a sub rated at 1000RMS 2000Peak. RF amps are usually pretty good with their circuit protection, and since you already have the equipment give it a shot at 1ohm. If it goes into protect mode then you will know you have to switch to 4ohms, or get a different sub(s). Make sure to turn the gains down when you are in 1ohm mode.

I'm kinda contradicting myself from an earlier post, because I didn't want to run my old 500bd @ 1ohm without knowing it was stable first. But I had not already bought the replacement subs, and I didn't want to go through the hassel of returning them in a couple of days! So I went with a guarenteed 2ohm stable system (subs and amp)

It surprises me that 4 RF Techs advised me against running at 1ohm, but they told you to try. Maybe it was because I asked specifically about the Power 500bd, not the Power 1000bd. But, even the manual for the Power BD series (500bd, 1000bd, and 1500bd) does not rate any of those amps at 1ohm. There's nothing on RFTech about any of the BD's being 1ohm stable either.

I'd at least try the 4ohm setup first and see if you like it (especially since you said you were after more SQ then ground pounding SPL). Then try the 1ohm setup briefly, and with the gains turned way down. But without that factory warrenty you're stuck dealing with the company (or individual) that sold them to you if anything blows. And they may try and screw you out of a replacement if they find out that you tried to run a 1ohm load on an amp that has a minimun load of 2ohms.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
Donate to the12volt.com