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1 Ohm or 4 Ohm???

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Old 12-13-2006, 06:09 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by SQ Civic
ok, do some reading then...

Mark
euuuu..... right...

I think you are confusing volts with amps. The amplifier has no control over its input voltage and it cannot take more or less voltage. the amplifier takes whatever the cars charging system gives it. If you buy a 16volt alternator, your amps will get 16 volts.
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Old 12-13-2006, 06:12 PM
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Originally Posted by AAAAAAA
euuuu..... right...

I think you are confusing volts with amps. The amplifier has no control over its input voltage and it cannot take more or less voltage. the amplifier takes whatever the cars charging system gives it. If you buy a 16volt alternator, your amps will get 16 volts.
Not confusing volt with amps... not going to argue with you though.

Mark
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:21 PM
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Originally Posted by SQ Civic
Not confusing volt with amps... not going to argue with you though.

Mark

Please explain. The voltage drop across the amp will be consistant with the voltage drop of every electrical device in the vehicle that draws from positive to ground. Some amps carry ratings at 12v and 14.4v, the power output at 14.4v is obviously higher, but the amp doesn't decide the voltage, the alternator/battery does.
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Old 12-13-2006, 09:48 PM
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Originally Posted by 20Sunfire05
Please explain. The voltage drop across the amp will be consistant with the voltage drop of every electrical device in the vehicle that draws from positive to ground. Some amps carry ratings at 12v and 14.4v, the power output at 14.4v is obviously higher, but the amp doesn't decide the voltage, the alternator/battery does.
my statement came from my own testing..
on a friends vehicle with 2 JL 500/1's; one wired to 2 ohm, and the other wired to 4 ohm.
Amp A, wired to a 4ohm load obviously required less amperage to produce the 500w, than Amp B wired to a 2 ohm load, but I had significant voltage drop at the battery occuring on Amp A, wired to 4 phm, whereas I didn't have the problem with Amp B. (these amps weren't running at the same time)

I even switched them amps, so that Amp A was wired to 2 ohm, and Amp B wired to 4 ohm, just to dispell and manufacturing differences.. the outcome was the same.

So I will ammend my statement to, read, that more amperage would be needed from the charging system running at 1 ohm, opposed to running at 4 ohm... in the end I would still rahter run my amps at a higher impedance, as long as I could get the power I needed at said load.

regards, Mark
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Old 12-14-2006, 08:21 AM
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Originally Posted by SQ Civic
So I will ammend my statement to, read, that more amperage would be needed from the charging system running at 1 ohm, opposed to running at 4 ohm... in the end I would still rahter run my amps at a higher impedance, as long as I could get the power I needed at said load.
regards, Mark
But would you pay more (almost twice the price) to run at 4 ohm rather than 1 ohm?

Phoenix Gold X600.1 - Phoenix Gold Xenon 600 Watt Mono Amplifier $249.99
Hifonics BXi 606 - Hifonics 1 Ch 600 Watt Brutus Amplifier $189.99
or
Phoenix Gold Ti600.2 - Phoenix Gold Titanium 2 Ch 600 Watt Amplifier $499.99
Hifonics ZXi 6006 - Hifonics 2 Ch 600 Watt Zeus Amplifier $250.99
Just a couple examples, pick your own make and models to compare.
And besides that, a mono class D will draw less than a bridged 2 channel A/B, both at 600 wrms.

IF!, you are really concerned about power consumption, you'd need to buy a much bigger amp to run at 4 ohm.
Hifonics BXi 1606D - HiFonics 1 Ch 1600 Watt RMS Amplifier $279.99
RMS @ 4-Ohm: 1 x 550-Watt
RMS @ 2-Ohm: 1 x 1100-Watt
RMS @ 1-Ohm: 1 x 1600-Watt
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Old 12-14-2006, 08:35 AM
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I see nobody answered markhamJohn's question about the JL Audio 500/1 - JL Audio 1 Ch 500 Watt Amplifier $409.99
Yes, it looks like a good amp. I find the ratings hard to believe, the same RMS output, 1.5-4 ohm? In therory, these new technology amps run a constant voltage out, independant of load (within limits). I suspect these amps are better for SQ at the higher impedence.
Rated Power: 500 W RMS @ 1.5 ohm-4 ohm (11V-14.5V)
THD at Rated Power: <0.05% @ 4 ohm
S/N Ratio*: >95dB below rated power
Frequency Response:
5 Hz-500 Hz (+0, -1dB)
Damping Factor:
>500 @ 4 ohm/50 Hz
Input Range:
switchable from 200mV-2V RMS
to 800mV-8V RMS
Dimensions:
13.4"L x 9.25"W x 2.36"H
Features:
Differential-Balanced Input Topology:
(1 pair of inputs)
On-board Crossover:
fully-variable (40-200 Hz),
selectable-slope LP (12 or 24 dB per octave)
Preamp Output:
2-channel (independent active filter, parallel with amp filter or full-range)
Bass EQ:
parametric with variable boost up to 15dB and Remote Bass Control (optional)
Infrasonic Filter:
fully-variable 24dB/octave from 15-60 Hz
Signal-Sensing Turn-On:
permits operation without remote lead
Dual mono speaker output connections:
accept up to 8ga. wire
+12V and Ground connections:
accept up to 4ga. Wire

I wouldn't pay more for that amp than a whole lot of other choices, but if someone is giving it to you, these's nothing wrong with using it.
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Old 12-14-2006, 09:05 AM
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^ You pay premium for that added feature indeed. I wouldnt pay for it for a sub since it is easy to get your subs configured to run at whatever load, its just a matter of planning your system out.

However, it is a different story when it comes to components. And I suppose if I had the component amp like that I would paye extra for the sub amp just so they match visually.
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Old 12-14-2006, 05:31 PM
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Actully the Phoenix Gold X600.1 should put out full power at 1-4ohms i believe
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Old 12-14-2006, 08:42 PM
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Thanks a lot for the info guys, it was really helpful
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Old 12-19-2006, 02:51 PM
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I've personally discussed this same power requirement with Steve Mantz of Zed Audio and for the $$$ I would buy the Zed Audio Minilith. It will do 600x1 @ 1 ohm. He quoted me $34 USD to ship to Alberta but just shoot him off an e-mail and he'll get back to you. If I remember correctly, the amp is only around 240 USD and they are strappable!!! You then have an option to go to 1200 w RMS for another $240 us. www.zedaudio.com

One major cautionary note!!! Before running an amp at what you THINK is 1 ohm, make sure that the subs are really dual 4 ohm and not actually 3.5 or something. This is how most of these amps get fried!!!

Either than or I would buy a used HCCA 225 or Soundstream Reference 500 ole school off ebay. Either one will (in my opinion only) beat the tar out of the new stuff and be cheaper doing it. 225's are going for around $150 US and refence 500's are in the 160 range right now I think.

The Zed, HCCA and Reference are all rated conservatively at 12 volts while I believe most of the new stuff is really @ 14.4 volts. To make a fair comparison, add around 20% to the 12 volt numbers as well.
Just my 2 cents.
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