Volts?

My mtx amp was rated at like 775 watts at 14volts and 500 at 12.5 volts, I have a 95 mercury sable I can't find whether my car is 12 or 14 volts does anyone know?

The regulator on most vehicles is set to 13.8V but you have to figure in voltage drops.  It's an estimate but figure the amplifier will see around 13V or so.

-------------

is there any way to up the voltage

Short and simple.  Yes, but advising not to. Shortens the life of some other electronics in the car.

-------------

DEFINATELY DO NOT try and "up" your voltage unless you are building a show/competition car that you do not intend to drive (AKA "Trailer Queen.")  Definately DO upgrade your alternator to a higher current capacity than your system will require, and then the normal voltage for your system will not dip too far under full load.  A sitffening capacitor will NOT increase your system voltage, contrary to popular belief (and popular salesmen lines.)

12 volt ratings are generally much closer to the actual performance you will see from a car audio system, as this is the nominal system design voltage for autos.  Normal car electrical system voltage varies from 10.5 to 14.4 volts, and this is why you see audio manufacturers advertising 14.4 volt performance.  Since it is POSSIBLE for a car to get this high, and since those numbers look better to most people, they are the ones to get advrtised.

Believe the 12 volt ratings and go by those.

-------------
Support the12volt.com

So when an amp says 800 watts, but does not specify whether at 12 or 14, should one understand that to be accurate in real applications?

kngflp wrote:

---

So when an amp says 800 watts, but does not specify whether at 12 or 14, should one understand that to be accurate in real applications?

---

In all honesty it depends on the manufacturer.  If it's a reputable brand name, you can generally trust the numbers.  But if the literature sold with the amp does not have detailed ratings listing the voltage used to test the product, then you can bet it is a 14.4 volt peak rating and will mean nothing in daily operation.  It is not exactly a lie since the amp will probably produce the number, but only for a very short time and only under special conditions.

I posted a long explaination of how power ratings are determined for loudspeakers a while back.  It might help you understand the terminology.  HERE's the link.

-------------
Support the12volt.com

Why are you worried about the worst case of getting 500 watts? 500 watts is plenty of power! I have known one person who broke his rear windshield of his Toyota 4runner by playing his 500 watt amp/sub while he was testing the remote control on his amp. 500 is a lot of power. Of course some people will say even 1000 watts is not enough :)

I'm not worried about having enough power I had the 500d amp on two MTX 8000s behind the seat in a standard cab fullsize chevy and it would flex the back winshield if i didn't crack the windows, so i know what that amp will do. However now that amp has been sent back to the company via circuit city and from what they say they will most likely just give me store credit, like they did when i got fed up with my mtx subs crapping out on me. The only decent brand they have is audiobahn so by default I am now outfitting my car with audiobahn components, don't worry i have a 4 year warranty on the subs. So what i am trying to determine is whatamp Ishould get for they two AW121Ts i now have, im leaning towords the 8000T but since I don't have it yet and have not seen the numbers broken down into specifics I was just wondering if I should look a little more. It also may seem silly and stupid but i was thinking of building a box for 3 12s and have dividers in the box so I could wire the subs through a switch box to were i could possible run 1 12 at 4 ohms, or 2 12s a 2 ohms or even possible run 3 12s at 1.3 ohms. Even though this amp doesn't say it is stable at <2ohms people have told me the run them at 1.3 and even 1 with no problems, but the again people say a lot of stupid and inacurate things.

A person, especially the uneducated and misinformed, can tell you whatever they like, it is you that must choose to believe them or not. Dyohn has given you some very good info and advice, I recommend that you follow it. If a amp or subs are continually failing in your vehicle, then it is how the system is set up and used. I would recommend that you give the install much more scrutiny. This amp that was recommended is not a proper match to these subs. Yes it will work, be it for a limited time. You are asking the amp to do something that it is not designed to do, thus is NOT RECOMMENDED. A better choice of an amp would be the A1500HCT or A12001DQ. Should these amps be a little too hard on the pocketbook, a A1801T would also work, howver it will present only about 50% of the power handling of the subs, thus if the gain is set incorrectly or the system is not used properly, you will again be running the risk of blowing subs.

-------------
Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

So the bottom line really is
a) if your sub can handle more power than your amp can deliver, its ok (teh best being a matching power) and
b) if your amp's output power is more than your sub can handle, you can blow up the subs by feeding them too much wattage (volts times amps)
And the choice of a good amp and sub has been given in the above few posts.

On another note, I've heard some people's subs so "loud" that I wonder if they will not have a heart attack some day with extreme the low+loud vibrations. I wonder if it is really for enjoyment or to show everyone on the road who has the loudest sub.


Mark