I need help picking an amp and wire gauge

i have installed several car stereos, and I am looking to upgrade what I have in my 1997 Honda Civic LX.  I am looking into one 12" Kicker Solo-Baric L7 sub, with a sealed box.  I Believe the RMS on these is around 750, and the peak over 1000.  I have looked into several amps, including the new Memphis class D amps, which are pretty pricey.  Any ideas on what I should use for an amp? I am on a limited budget. Also, I was planning on using 4 guage for the install but I'm not sure if I should go down to 2 guage. Any input would be great, and any inpout about the solo-barics would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again guys

Hey, If you have a 12' Kicker Solo L7, which is a really nice Sub, you should get an amplifier with the same amount of RMS. One could be the Audiobahn A12001DT Class D

1 x 400 Watts RMS @ 4 Ohm

1 x 750 Watts RMS @ 2 Ohm

1 x 1200 Watts RMS @ 1 Ohm


At 2 ohm You would be getting the 750 rms. ALso depends on how much are you planning to spend on the amplifier.
Use 2 gauge for your installation

hope this helps/

Sebastian

You said you're on a budget?  You can't get much better value than the JBL BP1200.1.  It's 1 ohm stable and puts out 1200 watts RMS at 1 or 2 ohms.

You used to be able to find it all over ebay for under $300 on a regular basis, but I think they've stopped making them and came out with a newer model very recently, so it may be hard to find it on ebay (at least it was for when i tried looking just now).  I did find one place that had it for $211 or so.

Also a lot of times you can find them at discount online sellers' web sites, just make sure you know who you're buying from and that you get the manufacturer's warranty.

Technically you could probably get away with just using 4-gauge power and ground cables, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to step up to 2-gauge.  Whichever gauge you decide to use, make sure the ground is at least as big as the power.

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Ethan
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"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
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You beat me again Ethan

The 12" Kicker Solo-Baric L7's are 750RMS 1500Peak. Amp choices would depend on which model S12L7 you get, they come in 2 and 4 ohm DVC models. With only (1) 2ohm DVC you want to find an amp that is 1ohm stable (wire the voice coils in parallel for the 1ohm total load). With only (1) 4ohm DVC you would need an amp that was at least 2ohm stable (wire the voice coils in parallel for the 2ohm total load).

One amp suggestion would be the JBL BP1200.1 It's rated 1200 x 1 at both 1 and 2 ohms (meaning it is 1ohm stable) based on a 14.4volt electrical system. Real word 12volt system, it should be around 1000 x 1. It would provide more then enough power for you regardless of the ohm model L7 you choose, and it is fairly inexpensive. Just turn the gains down a little and you would be set.

Concerning the wire gauge, I usually recommend 2 gauge for amps above 500 watts.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
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Thanks for your help guys I appreciate it.  Has anyone heard anything good  about the Memphis MC1000D? I was told this was a great mono amp, and its 1 ohm stable, if anyone has any experience with it let me know.  I was also looking into getting a Clarion a new head unit.  I was looking at the Alpine cda-9811 and the Clarion dxz735mp.  I noticed that the Clarion had only 17 watts rms per channel compared to the alpine's 23.  Also the Alpine had 4 volt RCA'S versus the Clarion's 1.8 volts.  I can't decide which one to get, and I'm not sure if I will even noticed much of a difference.