Subs

[PinkBitz]

If i had 2 10inch subs, how many amps would i need and what sort.

[GasGem]

if that was the case you may need 1 amp

[maDGeMvAN]

It is possible to use one amp to run the two subs, but the amp must produce enough power to fully power both subs. Overpowering is better than underpowering.

As for what sort, depends on how much power the subs need and what your budget allows you.

[andy c]

u can EASILY power 2 10inch subs with 1 amp. im running 2 12 inch subs off one amp at the moment (although i must admit its a V12 alpine.. could prolly run bout 6 subs).
anyway all u need is an amp that can run about 50 watts RMS from each channel. so go to the shop, ask for that cause they will always try to sell u a bigger and better system. theres a good amp out at the moment. bout $300 its brand name is "saint" reckons 150watts per channel but its closer to bout 50-100 watts. also your amp depends on your head unit. what unit u running?

[maDGeMvAN]

With 50wrms you'll most likely be underpowering the subs by a substantial amount. Not a good thing.

Are those 'saint' amps from strathfield? If they are, I wouldn't touch them. They've been known to overheat etc.

For $300 you can get a Jaycar 2x150wrms (450wrms bridged) amp. These are quite good amps. That should be more than enough power to get 2 10's moving a lot of air

[andy c]

no actually i saw them at precision. theres no way they overheat or do they underpower two 10's as i was running 2 12's off it for about 8months and had no problem. 2x150wrms i reckon is heaps of power i agree but i dont belive he was askingto be over powered. 2x 150 wrms to run 2 12's EASY!

but thats just my opinion. thats what mine are running as they go bloody hard.

[PinkBitz]

so its ok to overpower but not ok to underpower

[Racegem]

Over powering subs is not always a good thing.
Let me elaborate... too much power is not good for anything, that's what "too much" means. However, having an amp that has a greater power output than your subs can handle IS a good thing because you can turn your amps gain down.
For starters, what subs are you running? No matter what the quality of the amp, you will not get long term satisfaction from cheap-shit subs.
What's the power handling limits of your subs? The most cost effective way of running two subs is a good quality 4 channel BRIDGEABLE amplifier. Bridging is when you use a left and a right channel to run a sub in mono. This then becomes a 2 ohm load on the amp rather than the 4 ohms that speakers run off each channel. This means the amp must be 2 ohm stable. Also bear in mind that a 4 X 100W RMS amp becomes approx. 2 X 200W RMS when bridged. Alternatively you could get a 2ch amp that's 1 ohm stable, and run the two subs in parallel, but that can get expensive.

Hope this helps,
Yonnee.

[maDGeMvAN]

That's correct. There's a common misconception that overpowering will cause damage and that underpowering is ok.

It's actually more likely that underpowering will cause damage and destroy the sub/speaker.

This is due to distortion created when turning the volume up louder than what the amp is capable of comfortably producing. When you push it past it's limit, distortion is produced at high levels. Distortion kills speakers! The amp will also be overheating because it is under heavy load and will eventually die or be damaged.

With more power on tap, the amp doesn't need to work as hard to produce the same volume. There will also be less distortion. The SQ will increase too, because by having more power there is greater control of the speaker, not to mention it'll be louder because the speaker will be capable of reaching full excursion.

As long as you don't try turning the volume up to max, there should be no problems.