Printer Friendly Forum Posts - Brutus 1605D vs. Crossfire VR1000D

I've already bought two BMF 15's rated at 750 watts max. So the question is, should I buy the Crossfire amp rated at 250W x 1 RMS at 4 ohm, 1000W x 1 at 1 ohm
• Tested Power: 1332 Watts RMS at 14.4V

or should i get the Brutus 1605D rated at

1 x 550 Watts @ 4 Ohms
• 1 x 1100 Watts @ 2 Ohms
• 1 x 1600 Watts @ 1 Ohms

I really don't know too much about the Hifonics amp, but it looks to be much more powerful. Which would be better for the subs I've chosen?

so the subs are rated at 750 peak or 750 RMS

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

it says 750 watts max on the acaraudio website. I've already bought one and if I remember correctly it is 350 RMS, 700 peak, and then 1400 somethin, which didnt make much sense to me. I thought that there was only RMS and peak, but it said somethin else on the box. Im bout to go home, so I can tell you in bout 15 minutes

ok ive got the real specs here:

nominal power handling (RMS): 375 watts

maximum power handling (PE): 750 watts

dynamic power handling: 1400 watts

RMS is the real number here, so 375.

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ok so does anybody have a preference one way or the other? I can save about $250 if I get the Hifonics amp, but I don't know if it is high-quality or anything like that.

how are you going to wire the subs? what are the subs ohm ratings? single or dual vc's.

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umm the subs can be switched to either 8 or 2 ohms...and they are single voice coil. It says that the actual resistive load (I don't know what that is) is 6.6

if you wire the subs at a total of 4 ohms the 1605D would be ok i think @ 1 ohm it will be to much i think the crossfire amp will work well @ 1 ohm you can also look into other amps and if you want to save some money check out www.ikesound.com i think you should look for something thats 800 rms

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

ok so wiring the subs at a total of 4 ohms would mean wiring them both to 2 ohms, for a total of 4? is there anything you would suggest? im open to anything really

to get a total of 4 ohms you would wire both the subs at 8ohms i will get back to you on other amps that will work better for those subs

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

ok man i appreciate it.

the MA audio HK800D will do the job its 800 RMS @ 1 ohm and you can get 3 ohm loads with those subs 1 4 and 16 that amp is $189 i here that MA audio is good stuff i had two 10"s like 4 years ago they were alright

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

that amp is at www.ikesound.com

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

The crossfire amp is much better than anything MA audio will ever make... Hifonics amps have been found to be overrated also. Go with the crossfire.

ok thats what i was thinkin too. its gonna be $459 as compared to bout $230 for the brutus, but i'd prefer better quality. i'd also like to keep my whole system being crossfire, just for looks. hopefully this system is gonna be as loud and sound as good as i think it will, cause i dont wanna spend $1200 for crappy stuff

Crossfire amsp are really nice and high quality. But I would go with the Brutus, my friend just got one to run a L7 and it is a sick amp!! It is a huge improvement over last years brutus line (which was known to be a little overrated) I dont think there is a big enough quality differance between the crossfire and brutus to justify the more than $200 price differance.

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well the price doesnt matter too much. i just want to know which one of these amps will run my subs better forreal. i dont care too much about the price, i just want to push these subs as hard as i can (but not blow them obviously)

I think that if you're running two 15's in a ported box, it's really not worth all the extra money for a Crossfire amp. In my opinion, the Brutus would work perfectly, and be a lot more practical.

aight thanks everyone. i'll be out of town the next couple days, and wont have any internet access, so i appreciate all the help

these subs are rated at 375 RMS you are going to run 2 of them and what ever amp you get is gonna run at 1 or 4 ohms i take it these subs are under rated with crossfires quality the crossfire is the best amp out of what has been spoke of if the subs can take 500 rms go with the crossfire amp and run it at 1ohm and also if there is an in store warranty for the subs get it

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

yeh thats what i want to do. i want to run the subs at 1 ohm and get 500 rms to each one, and that should be VERY loud. i'll ask the guy at the audio place if the subs can handle it, if not i guess i'll have to put them at 4 ohms and see what happens

they *may* in a ported box, but if you put too much power to them below the frequency the box is tuned to, they are toast...

well i wonder if there is anyway to wire them to 2 ohms total? cause i think that would give each sub 250 rms watts, which wouldnt blow them, but should be pretty loud. the only options i see are wiring to 1 ohm total or 4 ohms total, and 4 ohms prolly wouldnt be much louder than the system ive already got

ok following up on this i went up to the audio place a little while ago and found out that the 1000D amp is rated at 12.5 volts, so it actually pushes more like 1300 watts at 14 volts. The guy up there said that the 2 15's should definitely be able to handle all the power at 1 ohm, which he said would be around 650 or 700 watts apiece. I don't see how that is possible though because the RMS ratings of the subs are only 375 watts. Granted, they will be in a ported box which should let them handle more, but not 700 i dont think. Any ideas?

i am running about 300rms to each of my subs and they are rated at 200rms some highend stuff is under rated and can handle more power

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

well hopefully thats whats gonna happen with the crossfires. the guy said that the 12" BMFs could handle the 1000 watt amp, so he said my 15's should be fine. im hopin so

ported box will drop the power handling vs. a sealed box...

-Drew

oh i thought it was the other way around. my bad

You should set the gain control on your amp using a digital multimeter. since you are using an amp that is going to put out so much more power than the subs are rated for. Just do a search on this forum for "setting gain."

ok. im still not quite understanding the power ratings right on these subs. the manual gives 3 different ones, from 375 all the way up to 1400. Also, the amp was rated at 12.5 volts, so it actually pushes 1332 watts at 14 volts. So i dont know if the subs might be the same way? The guy up at the audio place said that the subs would be able to handle the amp, but I just don't see how that is gonna be possible. I'm going back up there tomorrow to pick another sub up and I'll ask him about it again.

ok i didnt explain that very well. the crossfires are probably underrated, so they should handle more than 375 watts. the guy at the audio place made it sound like 750 was the RMS number though, not 375 like the manual says. The manual gives 375 as RMS, 750 as peak, and then 1400 as dynamic power handling. The 1400 number is what confuses me. I've only ever seen two numbers for power ratings, RMS and peak. I'd never seen a third number before. Can anyone explain that?

its for sales reasons its just like peak power

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

the dynamic is just like peak power? so if thats peak power, then what is the 750? it would be nice if the 750 were actually the RMS number, but i dont think so.

what i was saying was its like peak power as far as it really doesn't mean anything i have some ??'s what is the size of the voice coils and what is the weight of the magnet i'm thinking that those subs can handle that amp at 1 ohm and did you find out if you can get an warranty like the extra warranty at best buy were if you blow the subs you can bring them in and get new ones no ??'s

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

ok the voice coil is 2.5" and it is 4 layer. The magnet is 85 ounces, and I think the guy said that if I ever blow one of the subs I can take it back up to the audio place and they would send it back in for a new one. As far as something other than that, I don't know.

i think you can run the VR1000D but not for to long i think the subs will blow if you play them for a long period of time we are talking about running 650 RMS to each sub you can try it just make sure you set your gain correctly

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

ok i will definitely try it. i'll have the guy up there set the gains, and i'll check out some past threads on properly setting the gains and get that set up right. i think i'll be able to get it set right to where i wont blow the subs

you want to set the gain to match your preout power you are going to start with the factory H/U still right and you or the guy at that shop are going to have to put a meter on the H/U outputs that go to the factory amp the thing is with that factory H/U you dont use a line out converter you have to tap into the outputs on the H/U so you can A . cut your new RCA's or B. get some male to female RCA's plug's and cut the male ends and us those to kinda make preouts on the back of your factory H/U so when you upgrade you don't have to replace your RCA's

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

ok yeh i think i'll have the guy at the shop do it. the thing is, i dont know if this makes any difference or not, but the 2003 Explorer has a factory sub in it, and it has a separate connection on the back of the head unit. i had the install people up at best buy install the subs i have in there now, and they originally just unhooked the factory sub and tried to hook my subs up to something different, but it wasnt loud at all. then they went back and hooked my subs up to the bass output that did have the factory sub on it. that was what they had to do to get it loud. again, i dont know if that matters at all, but i thought i would let you know anyway.

that could make things easier so you could just use that for your output to your amp and not use the factory sub your set up will be loud and when you upgrade your H/U it will be even louder you should think about this geting a /H/U that plays dvds then you can still use your screen there is a soundstream H/U that has all the outputs to do that and you can get that for like $260 from a dealer i know and that will save you some cash what you would spend on an alpine H/U and a sperate dvd would be well over that

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

well im glad to know that that will work ok...i know my system will be louder if i get an aftermarket head unit, but i just dont have the money for that right now. and i kind of like the 6 disc in-dash changer. i think this system should be loud enough that i wont even want it any louder, but if it isnt then i will definitely look into an aftermarket head unit. i'll be sure to check out that soundstream as well...i didnt even know that they made head units

soundstream has a very nice product line this year check it out www.soundstream.com and i think staying with the stock H/U is a good idea you may want to upgrade your front mains if you find when everything is hooked up and tuned that the bass over powers everthing else i put to 2 15" punch HE's with a amp thats about 600rms in an explorer with al the stock stuff and i had to turn the bass all the way down and the volume al the way up to hear the words you can get some front speakers at www.ikesound.com for like 20 to 60 bucks

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

would you happen to know off the top of your head what size speakers the explorer has? i can check, but im at work right now.

their 5x7's you can get the alpine type S 5x7's for $50 or the type R 's for $78 at that web site

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

would you recommend the alpines? or something else? keep in mind i still have the stock head unit...dont know if that makes a difference or not

your stock H/U is going to a factory amp for the price i would go with the type R 5x7s i think alpine H/U are crap for the money but i like the amps subs and speakers their is other 5x7's starting at $45 a set at ikesound

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

alright sounds good. ive always been a fan of alpine myself. i will definitely look into the 5x7's if i need to

don't forget to check that web site before you buy retail and i found this site for alternaters www.highoutputalternaters.com if you need one i think you can get buy with a kinetik battery but you never know untel it's installed did you look at www.ikesound.com its so cheep it's like it's stolen ??

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

yeh that kinda worries me. im always kinda suspicious when stuff is so cheap and the website doesnt look professional, but people have used it before and not had any problems, so i think i'll trust it haha

I'd buy from a local dealer. If you ever need some help with your system they can always help you and you get the manufactures warranty. The reason some of these online stores have such low prices is because they dont give you any kind of warranty. so you are basically paying the dealer price for the products.

I would really suggest you go listen to some different speakers instead of just buying a pair reccomended by someone on the forum. Take a CD with you and demo some speakers and then buy the ones you like the sound of.

well i prolly should do that. we just dont have anywhere here in town where i can really do that, so i was trying to avoid the drive. but it makes sense to get the warranty for sure. im just trying to find the cheapest way to do all of this stuff because i dont have too much money to spend

Three good online car audio sellers are

www.thezeb.com

www.sounddomain.com

www.crutchfield.com

All of their products come with a warranty. I'm pretty sure crutchfield has a 30 day money back guarantee, so if you ordered some speakers from them and didnt like the sound of them you could return them. If you arn't close to any dealers that would be the thing to do probobly.

ok man i appreciate it. i will check that stuff out right now. any comments on acaraudio.com?

there is warrantys at ikesound and i have ordered from them and had no problems i also recommend that people demo gear with there own music but if you can't do that your taking a risk thats just how it go's if your in a small town what i do my self is demo everything that's a possablity then i order online

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

Pretty much the only thing their warranty covers is if a product comes DOA.

thats true sam18 is buying his subs and amp from a local dealer the only thing he is going to order online is front mains if he needs them

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1974 ford pinto 4 15" punch Z power punch bd 1001 pioneer DEH-6700

yeh i hope i wont need the front mains, but if i do then i will prolly order them online. i will go sample some at best buy or somethin like that though. before i had this explorer i used to have a benz and the speakers werent great and i bought some rockford-fosgate speakers without listenin to em first and i couldnt really even tell a difference between the rockfords and my old factory speakers. i will definitely sample before i buy now