JBL 1200.1

yup, just hook both + from each sub to the positive on the amp, ,and both - on the subs to the - on the amp, , that will get you a 2 ohm load.

Keep in mind that if your head unit has 4 volt outputs, the gain should be turned all the way down.  It will produce full power at that point, and you will be clipping the signal if you have it turned up any.  Also note that the amp has tested over 1400 watts in the magazines, so they are under rated.  I think that amp is responsible for the death of more Brahma's than any other amp just because the customers didn't understand how to set it up right.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

You are probably thinking of the gain as a "volume"control, which it is not. The one and only function of a gain control is to match the amplifiers input sensitivity to the headunits output voltage. It should be set (correctly) and never touched again. Check out this link - https://www.jlaudio.com/tutorials/index.html  and click on Interactive Input Sensitivity "gain" setting tutorial.    I don't think that a 1200 watt 2 ohm amp is listed on their chart so you can use the formula (P*R)^.5.  This will give you a voltage of 48.99 VAC. (you'll see what I mean)

I don't know this amp, but if it is mono and has two sets of speaker terminals, it is probably internally bridged, meaning that the 2 sets are just for wiring flexability (i.e. if you hook up a 4 ohm woofer to eack terminal the amp will see a 2 ohm mono load.) Like I said - I don't know this amp, so do NOT hook it up like this untill you find out for sure.  I'm just trying to point you in the right direction in your quest for knowledge...although I am pretty tired right now, might be just typing in my sleep, lol.

Listen to the words of brother Chevyman!  He speaks the holy word of sound audio advice!  Praise the 12volt gods!

*Congregation:  "Amen!"*

I agree that this amp is quite underrated...be careful!!..and yes it is a mono amp w/ only one channel

Personally, i think you could go with a JBL 600.1 and be happy, That should easily get your subs to full excursion and like I and others have said..its a powerful amp..very underrated..If I were you i'd go with the 600.1 off www.soundomain.com i believe it's 150ish plus shipping.

Go for the 1200.1  , , and just DONT CRANK it, , you don't have to use all the power the amp is capable of.  Set the gain properly, set the bass settings properly on your deck, and learn to listen for distortion, or sub bottoming out if too much power were applied.

You wont have a problem if you can learn to pay attention to the sound of the bass.

ampman wrote:

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You said with the gain turned all the way down it would be at full power, if my preamp output is 4 volts, right?

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True, but I'm guessing that a Sanyo deck, even if it is advertised as 4 volt pre-out, it probably is not ever actually at 4 volts untill the signal is clipped all to hell, and overpowering is the least of your worries at that point. As Alpine said - just set it up correctly and learn the system's limits and you should be ok. But, if you want to be safe, the 600.1 should satisfy your needs, as previously stated.  But if it were me, I'd go with the 1200 for the bragging rights that go along with it, lol.

ampman wrote:

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If I have to have the gain turned all the way down, and that gives me the full 1200 watts, then would I be able to turn up my cd player? Wouldn't that be to much power?

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Just kind of forget about the saying "turn the gain all the way down" and set it up properly according to the JL tutorial. This is done with the cd player turned up, so that will be taken into account. If you set it up properly and can see your voltage on a DMM before you ever hook up the subs, there should be no problems. If you want the amp to only put out 900 watts at 2 ohms, set the gain to 42.43 VAC instead of 48.99 VAC   [(900*2)^.5=42.43 ].

Also, when you do get a new headunit, don't forget to reset the gain BEFORE you test it out. If you jump from say 0.7V pre out to 3.2V without resetting the gain...well let's just say that it would be a good way to see how much abuse (clipping) an Eclipse can really take.

This is what Steven Kephart said, "Keep in mind that if your head unit has 4 volt outputs, the gain should be turned all the way down.  It will produce full power at that point, and you will be clipping the signal if you have it turned up any.  Also note that the amp has tested over 1400 watts in the magazines, so they are under rated.  I think that amp is responsible for the death of more Brahma's than any other amp just because the customers didn't understand how to set it up right."

If this is true, I don't want to turn up the gain at all, bacause I don't want to damage my speakers. But even with the gain turned all the way down it seems that 1200 watts would still be to much power.

there no such thing as too much power as long as you know how to control it.   When professionals test subwoofers, , they usually end up testing a 250 wrms sub hooked up to a 5000wrms amp.   They can achieve much cleaner bass with a more powerful amp and by only turning it up a little bit to the subs max.   That way there sending a clean signal.

If you fed each sub 300 wrms , you probably wont be able to get the most out of those subs, , and chances are, you will want more out of them, so your will turn it up so loud that the amp will start clipping << not good.     Plus, , for only $50 more you get a 1200.1, , ,i really can't see how your possibly argueing this.

JUST BUY IT! Get it set up properly, if that means paying a shop, so be it.

ampman wrote:

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  I think that amp is responsible for the death of more Brahma's than any other amp just because the customers didn't understand how to set it up right."

If this is true, I don't want to turn up the gain at all, bacause I don't want to damage my speakers. But even with the gain turned all the way down it seems that 1200 watts would still be to much power.

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Like he said - "because the customer didn't understand how to set it up right" - if you are setting it up with a DMM or any digital voltmeter, you will know exactly how much power the amp is putting out before the speakers are ever even hooked up.  I think that maybe Steven left his post a little vague. I'm not saying he's wrong, (I would never try to challenge something he says - he's got more knowledge in his little finger...)just that a little more info could have been included.

Also, this (and any) amp is capable of producing full power at any gain setting - it just depends on the input signal voltage.  The gain is not adjusted to vary the output power level, it is used to match the incoming voltage to prevent clipping, the real speaker killer.

ampman wrote:

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This is what Steven Kephart said, "Keep in mind that if your head unit has 4 volt outputs, the gain should be turned all the way down.  It will produce full power at that point, and you will be clipping the signal if you have it turned up any.  Also note that the amp has tested over 1400 watts in the magazines, so they are under rated.  I think that amp is responsible for the death of more Brahma's than any other amp just because the customers didn't understand how to set it up right."

If this is true, I don't want to turn up the gain at all, bacause I don't want to damage my speakers. But even with the gain turned all the way down it seems that 1200 watts would still be to much power.

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I was just using that as an example.  The best thing to do is set the gains properly.  What you want is for the head unit and amplifier to clip at the same time.  If one clips the signal early, then you won't maximize the power available.

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio

Ravendarat wrote:

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And steven, you mean the Brahma's arent completly bullet proof, I am disapointed :)

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Aha!  I found the file.  Even though the cone's do have Kevlar in them, no they aren't bullet proof.  Here's one of our dealers proving this fact: https://www.adireaudio.com/Files/BrahmasArentBulletproof.WMV 

Steven Kephart

Adire Audio