Audison Amp question
 

Amp is the 1.400 model.

In the manual I found a paragraph that states "the connections are in parallel" when referring to the A&B subwoofer speaker wire connectors. I am hoping this means that if I set my subs (Kappa 122.7 X 2) to 4ohms (which they are set at now) and hook up one to each of the connections provided, the amp will knock that down to 2 ohms.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I am understanding things correctly because firstly, I want the amp to see 2ohms and secondly it would save me pulling the subs out of the box and fooling with them.

The manual also mentions something about "If you bypass the subsonic filter only the right connection will be amplified". Does that make any sense to anyone?

Eventually I would like to get 1ohm out of the amp, but I'm unsure how to do that with my current subs. Maybe set the subs to 1 ohm, wire them together to get 2 ohms, and hook them up to the right connector only? Possibly the amp would knock that down to 1 ohm?

I'm holding off installing it for the moment because obviously I need to read the manual over a few more times. Dont want to hurt the amp by doing something stupid.

This is about the highest end amp I've owned and it has a lot of configuration options that I will have to learn.

Thanks!

John what is the impedance of the subs? dual 4ohm's, single 4ohm?

They are DVC subs, BUT they have an "idiot switch" on them. The switch can be set at either 1ohm or 4ohm.

I didnt even know that (or care) when I purchased them. Was more interested in the quality and power handling capacity.

Thanks!

Are the they dual 4's? I'm not getting this switch you mentioned?

Can you supply us with Name and Model?

j

ok from reading the manual - it looks like a dual 2ohm coil setup!

With two dual 2ohms sub - the outcome can either me this:

Rockford Fosgate® - Woofer WiringWizard

First, thank you for taking the time to reply. appreciate it.

My question still remains on the amp though.What does the manual mean when it says "wired parallel internally". I THINK it means if i hook up one sub, to each speaker connection on the amp, and the subs are set to 4 ohms, the amp will "SEE" a 2ohm load total because the amp itself is wired parallel internally.

Let me explain. The Infinity Kappa 122.7 subwoofers have an impedence switch on them. A real switch, similar to a light switch. Slide the switch one way and the sub is set for 1 ohm impedence. Slide the switch the other way, and the sub is set for 4 ohm impedence. The sub has ONE set of connectors only, the switch saves you the trouble of wiring up the 2 voice4 coils.

I have already had these subs hooked up to another amp (parallel & bridged) so I get that part pretty well.

Its the amp I am unsure of.

My friend has the same amp, and he operates it as just another amp. Nothing tricky to it. Whatever impedance your subs are wired to, thats what the amp will see. All you have to do is wire subs to 1 ohm, and plug them into the amp.

On the other hand, I dont know what that "idiot switch" is, cause I never saw it before. Bottom line, do not worry about amp's internal bridging or whatever, if your subs show 1 - 2 -3 -4 ohms, whatever, thats what the amp will see, you plug in 2 ohms, you will get 2 ohms, tha amp will not half that impedance.

And I know what you mean about this amp. Audisons has unarthodox set of settings on the top, you just press buttons in and out. But after a little while everything starts to make sense. I looked at it, and I did not see anythying different in terms of connecting the subs. Just plug and play - really. You'll get a hang of it.

btw, this amp has decent output only at 1 ohm. At 2 ohms, it is barely pushing, and you'd have to jack up the gains higher, but it doesnt like it, and starts to distort a bit. What I am saying, that this amp and your sub combo is not a really good match. Other than that, awesome amp!!!

Sasha, that pretty much is what I wanted to know, thanks. I can live with the 600 or so the amp will put out at 2 ohms for now.

The plan is to pick up another 2 Kappa subs, one more Audison, strap the amps together and wire the 4 subs into 1 ohm. That will give me 1800 rms divided between 4 subs. The 4 subs are capable of taking about 1400 rms so as long as I dont go insane with the gain, I should be OK.

Why you ask? Well, I have the room in the car, I want to design a 4 sub enclosure, and lastly because you HAVE to stop upgrading somewhere and for me, this would be enough.

I am really looking forward to playing with this amp. When it comes to car audio, I am only beginning to understand things, however I know quality when I stumble across it :)

Thanks again!

John

Idiot switch: http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/pro...8K1227W-o.jpeg

Also, if the Audison "sees" whatever I give it, then I will set the subs to 1 ohm, connect one to each connection and that way the amp will be driving at 1ohm which is what it likes correct?

Just means I have to pull the subs again and flick the switch.

Yay :) :)

that would be wrong there john, the amp would see a 0.5 ohm load(1.400 means mono block, not a 2 channel), I would recommend switching the subs to a 4ohm load, and then one to each, leaving you with a 2ohm final(in theory) The amp just makes it a lil more easy to wire up 2 subs!! (it will take some guess work out for a newb thats all). At least this is what im gathering!

Ok, so we're back to what I sort of suspected in the first post, the amp is going to split the load if I use both of the connections on it. Makes perfect sense now I think about it, single channel, but 2 connections.

Well, hooking it up at 4 ohms per sub cant hurt the amp, so I guess its time to go play.

Should only take 2 or 3 weeks to get all the settings right on this thing ;)

Thanks to everybody who responded!

Yeah Audison is FULL of tons of neat lil things!! If you can keep the power up im am sure the 0.5ohm load would do alright(might blow it up too) I ran my 1.400 @ 0.35ohms and it took it well!! (not daily driven though, just effin around). Yes, 1 load, 2 connections!! it auto determines etc...

Yes. You have two options how to connect the subs. Either way, you can run it at 2 ohms final load. Switch subs to 4 ohms each. If you just connect each sub in each own speaker terminal, you will get 2 ohms final load. If you bridge the subs inside the box, for example, and use one speaker terminal, you will still have a 2 ohm final load.

Option two is more popular, cause it is easier to have one output on the box, so you have plug and play sort of speak. Also, less visible wires on the outside.

I would double check, if you can strap the amps together, and still run them at 1 ohm final load, because I have a feeling, if you do daisy-chain them, you can only use them a 2 ohms final load to get the full power.

...you can only use them at 2 ohms final load to get the full power, cause that is the general consensus with amp manufacturers, cause now you have double the power coming from one set of terminals.

Now, I am pretty sure if you use one set of speaker terminals on the one amp of the two strapped amps, the final load has to be 2 ohms, but if you can use both terminals on the one amp, then I think it may be possible to plug in 2 ohms into each terminal, and this way get 1 ohm final load by using two sets of terminals, therefore dividing the power between the two.

I would make sure, all this is possible with the given set-up.

Now that both of you have educated me enough to at least be able to speak to Audison, I will call or email when I am ready for the other subs.

Right now it is running at 2ohms and sounds wonderful. Manual is in the car (:)) right now, but I think 2ohm is 650rms, so 325 per sub.

I will be trying different things with it all night.

Excellent information, thanks a million!

John

Yes, well, bad form to reply to ones own posts, but I must say that now I've had a taste of Audison......no going back. I know its "only" a sub amp, but even so, I can hear a huge difference (LP at 125). I guess the A/B design helps as well.

It does get a bit warm, but not bad, no worse than the TC4004. To be honest, I turned everything up to "painful" and let it run for 15 minutes to break it in. I was outside the truck having a pop of course.....

Hmm...MONEY MAKING IDEA...I think I will design an amp enclosure with an integrated 12v peltier cooler. Would have to incorporate a drip tray, but that could be solved by offsetting the unit. They are good for 30 degrees or so below ambiant.

Cheers

John

I am pretty sure the amp is a D-class not AB. And 125 on LP is waaay too high. I am sure at this frequency the bass is very directional, and you can hear it slamming from the rear. If you keep the LP below 80hz, you wont know where the bass comes from, and that sounds a million times better. And keep your front stage below 80gz HP for best SQ, if possible, I hope you have at least 6.5" components in there. I cross everything around 60hz, and it sounds incredible, but not many mids can take crossing this low, and still slam loud and clear when needed. You also will need a nice amp for the front stage. For components, 2.500 Audison will not dissapoint.

I think user Carfi4ever, or something, has some nice Audisons for sale along with high end Focal components. As you may know, Focal and Audison had been a marriage made in heaven for years now. He is in Scarborough. Excellent guy to deal with.

I had a massive answer typed up Sasha, but the darn site logged me out and I lost it.

I will adjust the LP on Audison
Fronts and rear doors are JL, 150rms each
Amp is MTX 4004, 72rms per channel at 4ohm, 519rms total at 2ohm
HP set to 80 on fronts and rears, but MTX sett to full range with some boost. I know one is deafeating the other, but it sounds good.

I want to try Boston Pro 60's in the front. I will go down to Michegan at the end of September and buy them. $259.00. I doubt anyone up here can match that, but I would be willing to pay up to $350.00 MAX if someone could.

Thank You so, so much for your input. You have no idea how much "simple" stuff to you, helps me.

Yes, he is a fantastic fellow to deal with ;) ;) ;)

Cheers

John

Good. That MTX amp has to go :) Get an Audison, and set it correctly to match with your other Audison. If those Pro's are the newest version, they are extremely nice. The tweeters on the previous versions were just harsh crap. It looks like you're building a nice system this time.

If I understand correctly, you're crossing front and rears with your head unit HP. If so, the amp SHOULD be in full range, so your settings are correct. You should either use your deck or the amps to cross - not both at the same time. If you have a subwoofer xover feature on your deck too, you can cross everything from the deck, which is convenient. Do u have a nice deck?

Quote
"Hmm...MONEY MAKING IDEA...I think I will design an amp enclosure with an integrated 12v peltier cooler. Would have to incorporate a drip tray, but that could be solved by offsetting the unit. They are good for 30 degrees or so below ambiant."

Not a good idea im afraid. nor very effecient for car use. they produce more heat than they can disipate in this setting, and use way too much current to do it.. this is the reason that we techs stopped using them for our computers years ago. water cooling is the way to go and very cheap today. go visit ur local computer store and take a look. the water cooling used for computers can easily be used to cool ur amps and do it effeciently to.

gl

btw how do you like the kappas??

They sound very nice, better than the other Infinity's I had (1250 iirc?). The other ones were the next model down and used a polypropaline cone material I think. These ones use some type of woven fiber. It sort of looks like uncured fiberglass cloth really. Same texture and a completely different sound. I have a "feeling" they like more power. Right now they are getting 325 each I think from the Audison, and they are rated for 350, but I have read some reviews where people are feeding them 500 (without being stupid about it) and they love it.

If it makes any sense to you, they sound "softer" than my previous ones. A bass drum beat SOUNDS like a bass drum now, not just some deep bass note. I'm probably not explaining myself correctly, but hopefully you get what I mean.

Peltier coolers suck bad for efficiency, 100% correct. However with the right size heatsink, correct ducting, and a 4" 12v fan for airflow, they work ok for things like portable coolers (I have 2 of them). They are certainly not as good as a real fridge (compressor) but still, 25 to 30 degrees below ambient is not too bad, but I'm not disagreeing with you.

My overclocking days go back pretty much to the Celeron 300 and liquid was used even back then, but nothing like the neat turn key soloutions around today.

Ever seen a case full of cooking oil? Every component immersed in liquid :). Computer boots and runs as normal.

Sorry, I missed this one last night. No, its not that nice. Pioneer DEh6000 I think (have to go look).

I pretty much was looking for these features, in order of importance:

1) 3 pre outs
2) Highest voltage I could get in price range
3) USB
4) Sirius capability
5) Everything else just standard stuff.

I am trying to control most everything from the deck, except the Audison subsonic has to stay on and is fixed (sort of). Oh, and that "Q" setting on the Audison is on, but thats getting into the black magic area for me, dont know what it does or why I should use it.

HP is set to 80 for the doors with the MTX set for full range, i get just the tiniest bit of bass from the doors that way.

Sub LP is set to 80 now (from the deck) and in rev mode because it sounds better that way.

SInce I have it sounding fairly good (at least to me) I havent futzed much with the equalizers any more. One setting I have is "powerful" and the actual numbers are all maybe +1 or flat on the other parameters.

HOWEVER, the Audison has both HP & LP filters set to ON from the factory, with both knobs set to 500 which is max. Not sure if that is doing anything or not since the subs only do 350hz anyway according to spec sheet.

Looks like a good deck. I would turn the Q off for more natural sound. I would also leave deck EQ on flat, but I guess it is your choice, whatever sounds better to you. On Audison, I would set both HP and LP filters to full range, check your manual, I think it is simply to have the buttons unpressed. With current setting, LP at 500 would work, but HP at 500 is sooo wrong. Slowly, you will understand the basics, for now, too bad I guess :), you seem to be a bit confused how these things work.

LP means, frequencies below the setting are being passed through, HP means, freqs above the setting are being passed through.

And I really dont think you need to worry about your cooling that much. Even SPL guys do not give such a damn, and they really work those amps.

Well, yes and no. I do understand the low and high pass functions, but where I made my stupid mistake was thinking I was controlling things through the deck, not realizing of course that the deck cant do anything if the amp is set incorrectly.

Obviously I will now kill the HP on the amp, and drop the LP down to 300 or so which is all the sub can do anyway.

Thanks for the tip on the Q factor.

As for the cooling, sure, a bit overboard there, but its fun to go from design to build to fully functional. I may do it just for the Hell of it anyway. Not for the amps sake, because as you say, I'm sure others push them much harder than I do without problems, but just for fun.

Cheers

John

Kill LP as well on the amp, if possible. No need. Deck does everything. That 300hz on the amp idea is pointless, and has nothing to do with how much your sub can do. Makes sense? :)

You can probably set your sub amp and deck xover to full range and still have zero problems with the sub. Point of that rating is, that the sub will not produce those higher freqs well, due to the design and materials used, as it will be phusically impossible for rugged material to produce high freqs, where light material should be used. Freq response on any subwoofer rolls off after around 150hz and up. On the opposite end, you will however blow the tweeter with full range settings, and the sound will be harsh.

Yep, I got it, thanks. Just I have to read the manual a bit more. The translation is pretty funny actually ;).

I dont think I can kill the LP on the amp. I read something about only ONE of the sub connections on the amp being powered if you kill the LP. Sounds weird, but it may just be me misuderstanding the translation.

150, ok, I'll remember that. The cones on these subs are pretty darn stiff, thats for sure. Thick as well, so based on what you are saying there isnt a hope in Hell they will even do 250 as per the spec sheet, heh.

Ok, if you cant kill the sub amp LP, no problem. Just jack it up to high freq, and your deck will cut it at proper freq. 150HZ was an estimate just for the arguement sake to get the point across. The subs may very well do 250hz, but at a very low volume, as efficiency of the sub starts to drop sort of speak at higher freqs. It may very well be rated at 5db SPL at around 500hz, if there is an available freq response graph in the manual. The sub freq just rolls off naturally, as if you had crossed it as a certain slope like 12/24db for example.