Hrm... i checked the pdf again for this amp, and it employes a RUBI (hence RUBIcon i guess) internal psu-topology, which is effectively an impulse power supply circuit with a dynamic variable duty cycle, so a) power sags will simply not happen, b) my voltage range isn't that big power wise

Regarding the rca (or balanced din ) input, it has ss's "trident" protection which apparently protects the inputs as well.

*** Now the really interesting part that i just came across: the amp has an onboard 80a fuse. 80a. 14.4 x 80 = 1152w max. How in the world is it supposed to do 1000w output @ 1152 MAX input if it's class A/B ??? As i understand, the maximum theoretical efficiency of a/b is <78.5% ; 78.5% of 1152w = 904w, hence how can the amp output RMS higher then it's circuit breaker... something i'm not getting? How sensitive are these "maxi" breakers and how long can their max rating be passed through them? I'm smelling class D here... but in that case, how can it possibly do .05% THD at 400w?

Thanks!

 

Anyone mind answering this last one ?

 

an over-rated amp - like Sony's amps with 1000 watts on the heat sink with only 2 30amp fuses

The 50% rule, is a general guideline so you can get a rough estimate of what the out-put will be regardless of manufacturers specs. The only way to really know is to test it yourself.

I had an old legacy AB amp which claimed 400watts and it had a single 25 A fuse - do the math. @ 14.4 you're looking at 360watts. 50% would drop that down to 180watts. My actual test of the amp showed 210 watts (58%). So surprisingly enough even a crappo AB amp has potential to do more than 50%. Also, note that I didn't blow the fuse on that amp, so the question is how much current was I actually drawing? Close to 25 yes, but I don't think it was over 25A - so that would push the efficiency rating higher yet again.

The only way to truly find out what the amp is capable of is to test it yourself.

 

As for class D - check the specifications on the PDF.
If the frequency range of the amp is 20Hz - 250Hz (or similar numbers) then it could very well be a class D.
However, if the frequency response is 20Hz - 20,000Hz (20kHz) then it is not a class D and is likely A/B

 

Thank you very much yet again for the reply.
I've already checked the output they cite, and it's 20hz-20khz +/-0.5 db, and it clearly states Class-A drive boards are on the feature list. Right here's the pdf for reference...
http://www.soundstream.com/manuals/A...5027021002.pdf

People on carreview say this one amp drives 4 12" type-r's to unbearable levels :| that means it definitely has some bump... however how can it if this is a class A/B with an 80a fuse ???

Thanks!

 

Opinions are too subjective to take too seriously.

Also there are so many factors involved - box type & size, vehicle installed and the listener's previous experience. My wife thinks that my current set-up is unbearably loud - its a single 8" Elemental Designs sub getting 250WRMS. Granted, it is in a big box (1.2 cubes tuned to 30Hz), so it does well for its size and power, but by no means is it unbearable.
Increase the cone size to a 12" and with the same amp it will have significantly more impact. Add a second 12" - double the power (500wrms) and I will likely think say that it would be at my maximum comfort level (I am not an SPL guy). So on 500wrms, I can see how 4 type R 12"s in a large ported box in an SUV would likely be unbearable.

My guess is the max output of the amp is in the ballpark of 800watts.

 

Well, it's enough for my applications !

Thank you very much for the reply. To cheapen up the project, i think i'll use 2 or 3 25a psu's to give me 600 or 900w rms in.

 

It depends on what they used to test the amp for example the amps get more and less efficient depending on the frequency that there amplifing. For example my MXA 6001 makes 600rms but if you check it with a digital ocissiloscope, with a 37Hz test tone the amp is making over 1400 watts! That's the difference between rms power and max power. As the frequency goes down, the efficiency tends to go up. Is that amps ratings cea compliant? If the numbers seem to good to be true they usually are. The amps cannot make more power than their onboard fusing will allow. PERIOD!

 

The amp is over 10 years old, so i doubt CEA 2006 was around then
Regarding sine wave tests, they are never similar to actual music loads, and the duty cycle in them can get funny at times, white or pink noise wattage tests i think are best Well for speakers they are.... might not be so for woofers though, i'm not very educated on that topic

Thanks for replying though. I've decided to use 3 v-power psu's (unknown chinese brand) that somehow miraculously (hopefully) have 25a on the 12 rail each, and are brand new @ $20! 75a x 12v at $60 should fit into my project just fine.