Why buy lots of watts?

Ok, so my setup is 2 Clarion PXW-1242 Dual 4 Ohm VC subs and an Alpine CDA-9853 HU. My box specs. as of currently are 3 cu.ft. with 2 ports, each 1"x8"x12"long tuned to 32Hz which gives me the best freq. response with my EQ and tuning around 40-50Hz and droping down the most around 100Hz or so. I like all music tastes and the system is mainly for daily driving so Im not looking for comp. SPL (as you can tell by the sub choice).

My question is, what are the advatages of buying a high power amp to run both my subs on DVC which would be approx. 380Wx2 instead of running the subs on single coils and only needing an amp that can run approx. 190wx2? I know I can raise the SPL a bit but I can do the same, safely and without reaching Xmax, by using the parametric EQ on my HU. Does it make sense for me to spend the big $ for big power or just get one that with run them just fine on SVC? Thanks.

If you already have DVC subs, then you need to run them as DVC and not just power a single coil.

You could wire the drivers to show a single 1 ohm load and find a 1 ohm stable amp to power them.

Well I just read the Sticky post on DVC subs and it was stated that it is not required to run both coils, the added coil is there to increase wiring options so I can run the sub as either 8, 4 or 2 ohms depending on how I wire them, either DVC or SVC. Is that post incorrect?

Just read the sticky and your set...there's no use to discuss this point any further...That is why it is a sticky.

With 4ohm DVC subs you have quite a few options as far as wiring and what amp to use. I don't see any reason why you would want to use only one voice coil if you have a choice.

Here's my question back at ya...Why drive around with the added weight of the additional enclosure and the inconvenience of the space it takes up in your car if all you want to do is power half of each sub?  My advice is this:  decide on the reasonable limit of SPL you want in your daily driver, then find the sub/amplifier/box matchup that will give you this.  Around here gasoline is $3.12 a gallon today, and excess weight uses it up faster.

BTW, the parametric EQ just rearranges the preamp signal.  Low sub bass signals still require much more power from the amp than higher tones.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

newguy_84 wrote:

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Ok, so my setup is 2 Clarion PXW-1242 Dual 4 Ohm VC subs and an Alpine CDA-9853 HU. My box specs. as of currently are 3 cu.ft. with 2 ports, each 1"x8"x12"long tuned to 32Hz which gives me the best freq. response with my EQ and tuning around 40-50Hz and droping down the most around 100Hz or so. I like all music tastes and the system is mainly for daily driving so Im not looking for comp. SPL (as you can tell by the sub choice).

My question is, what are the advatages of buying a high power amp to run both my subs on DVC which would be approx. 380Wx2 instead of running the subs on single coils and only needing an amp that can run approx. 190wx2? I know I can raise the SPL a bit but I can do the same, safely and without reaching Xmax, by using the parametric EQ on my HU. Does it make sense for me to spend the big $ for big power or just get one that with run them just fine on SVC? Thanks.

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First, amplifier power really has not much to do with a decision to power one or both voice coils.  I disagree with those who wire only one VC trying to maximize amplifier power output and think it is a cop-out approach.  Sure, if you are careful nothing will be damaged, but why only utilize 60% of a systems capability?  The power rating using one VC is about 60% or so of using both.  The reason you need more amplifier power is not to get louder but to handle the dynamic peaks of your music without clipping the amp.  If you are boosting your system using an EQ beware, as this is a very easy way to drive an amplifier into clipping and destroy your speakers.  Realize that a +3db boost from your EQ will demand twice the amplifier power at that frequency.  So if you are using, say, 100 watts nominal and then you boost 63Hz by +3db, any program material around 63Hz will suddenly demand 200 watts from your amp.  +6db will demand 4X the amplifier power.  If the amp is too small, you can clip it very easily by boosting with an EQ.  And lastly, I never recommend using only one VC of a DVC woofer unless you do so for a very specific reason (like trying to target a specific Q for the system.)  Wire all voice coils and simply setup your amplifier properly.  If you are using an EQ to "fix" a problem in output levels, you need a better probably larger amplifier and maybe different speakers too.  Sorry.

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Awesome, thanks for the help guys. I appreciate all of you help in straightening things out here. Thanks again.

So about buying "lots of watts"? Is that sold on the shelf with the boxes of ohms, not the red ones but the blue ones? Just curious ;)

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double-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

lol. Well after some research and math and such, I am wondering is the appropriate way to wire up my system? The subs are wired in parallel to show a 2 ohm load and each is then connected to the appropriate terminal, so will each sub see 300w of the amps power?


Thanks again.

No...That picture has them wired at 1 ohm...meaning the amp cannot handle that load. If you want to wire that amp at 2 ohms than get a pair of dual 2 ohm coil subs or a pair of single coil 4 ohm subs.

These are your options for wiring up 2 DVC 4 ohm subs:

Option 2 (series/parallel) = 4 ohm load Voice coils wired in series, speakers wired in parallel Recommended Amplifier: Stable at 4, 2, or 1 ohm mono

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA