Which sub to use with orion hcca 250?
 

Hello everyone, new to this forum but not to the internet... i've got an orion hcca 250 and a 225, and am keeping one of them, and selling the other (probably the 225). It runs 200w at 4 ohms, 400w at 2 ohms, and 800w at 1 ohm (at 12v) and put them about 25% higher at 14.4v...
What im looking for, is a sub with great sq and spl that is a good match for this amp.
I've been looking at a 12" IDMAX. Also heard of ARC Audio Flat Line.
Dont really want to do 2 subs.
Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Greg

Eclipse SW8200 is a amazing sub that will also deliver exactly what you are after.

People still use those things on subs?

Lol... do you think i shouldnt? And why not? (i actually want to know why).

Don't get me wrong, they were great amplifiers for their time and the low loads they ran at were unheard of in those days and I think that even today they are great amplifiers if you want to run a crap load of mids. As far as using them on subwoofers their efficiency is really piss poor and they don’t give you great ampere to wattage mileage like today's class D amplifiers do. If your car has an average charging system and you plan on pushing this amplifier a little to get those subs moving, I think that you'll be less then impressed with it compared to some of the newer amplifiers out there.

hrm, so you're saying i should sell these amps and pick something up like a jl 1000/1 or similar? I've already got amps for my mids (xtant 2200 (100wrmsx2 at 4ohm) and orion cobalt 150.2cs (90wrmsx2 at 4 ohm) speaks are kicker ss 56.5 up front and infinity 6.5 reference components in the back.
Sub right now is a mtx mzs1204 (12" 300wrms max at 4 ohm) and amp is a mtx 4001 (200wrms at 4 ohm, 400wrms at 2 ohm)... and i want to upgrade the sub to match the mids.
What do you think? get a jl12 or 13w7 and 1000/1?

Greg

13w7 and a 1000/1 will kick some ass. Another plus with this setup is that if for some reason you end up not wanting it no more, they have a great resale value. But yeah I personally wouldn't run subs with a class a/b amplifier.

Why not? A class AB amplifer running subs worked perfectly fine for me for the first 14 years I was in this industry.

I want to hear some more opinions before i get rid of them.... i know they are some nice amps i just dont know too much about them...
everyone's opinion is welcome...

And for the last 6 they have continued to work just fine as well. It is only in the last 6 that class D amps have come to the market.

I'd take that Orion any day.

Let's see where a 800 - 1,000 watt JL is in 16 years from now.

That amp is one of my first choices any day of the week.

So maybe they draw 5-10 amps more than a class D... if the success or failure of your charging system depends on that, you're far closer to the edge of failure than you should be in my opinion.

The build quality of that amp is absolutely unrivalled by 99% of the amps made today.

Hook that baby up and let 'er rip.

I like the Eclipse subs as well.

No one said that class A/B amps dont work or wouldnt work. The orion hcca amps are not very efficient space heaters ( they were painted red so people wouldnt notice them glow) and unlike 16 years ago there are better options out there today for amplifiers and subwoofers.

5-10 amps more than a class D? hcca 250 at one ohm can eat 100amp fuses all day long. The hcca 2100 wasnt even fuseable in it's day. I ran gx and sx amps back in the day that were only two ohm stable and they were bad enough on a pair of 150watt subwoofers.

I suppose we've had different experiences with these amps....

I had one bridged @ 1 ohm and never popped an 80 amp fuse and if an amp is designed to run hot... then does it matter if it gets hot?

Suppose this is an old school vs. new school debate....

Lets see, the amp is designed and engineered to get hot, it gets hot, it stays hot and does not shut down, I don't see the problem here. It does exactly what it was designed to do.

Yes that is right you just said it, the amp is designed and engineered to be inefficient and this is why I would not use it for driving subwoofers, just as I wouldnt use a electric heater to heat my home.

I agree MR2NR...

The old HCCA amps are unbelievable and will run a sub or two subs with ease. Do not sell it.

If you sell it, make sure it's to me. :)

I love them and if it gets too hot I'll use it to sear my steaks while providing blurred vision.

^^ Agreed LOL

OK, so what do people suggest for subs for it then?

I'll let you know what im looking at

RE SX 12" 2ohm dvc
Image Dynamics IDMAX 12" DVC 2 ohm
ARC Flat line 2 ohm dvc
all are rated for 1000wrms (what i hear the hcca 250 can push at 14.4v)...

Does anyone have any other suggestions?


Also, i have a 4 gauge wire run, should i go to smartass's 0 gauge? (looks like a great price). I'm also running a 100wrmsx2 xtant amp for my front kicks and a 90x2 orion cobalt amp for the rears if that matters...

Cheers,
Greg

Definitely would suggest the 0 guage.

4 guage is supposed to be OK but you're getting close if you ask me.

I'm not an expert with the subs but IDMax is universally recognized as a very nice sub to the best of my knowledge.

Actually a local IASCA judge here in town is running HCCA's like yourself and he's running IDMax subs in a sealed enclosure with a 250 powering them and a 225 running his front stage. Sounds VERY nice. He was helping me out with my front stage when I had a listen. Quite impressive.

Another good sub for the price and American Bass VFL Extreme 12" Dual 2 ohm. Lots of subs to choose from I could suggest a pile of them. Get something with a higher efficency rating.