amp for 3 12" JL W6
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04-11-2002, 12:00 PM
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#2
04-11-2002, 11:21 PM
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W6 subs have dual 6ohm voicecoils if I remember correctly. You'll need to wire each sub's coils in series for 12 ohms each driver. Then connect each driver in parallel for 12/3=4 ohms total. Most amplifiers that are bridgeable will run into 4ohms nicely.
On the other hand one of the newer class-d or class-t high efficiency amplifiers that can run into 1ohm mono will work great too. In this case parallel all 6 voicecoils for 1ohm.
If you can afford it try to find an amp with 1000 watts rms into 1ohm or 4ohms depending on your setup. Anything over 200 watts will sound ok but you need more power to really "thump".
www.audiobahninc.com or www.bassmekanik.com/carstereo/amps/ or anything else decent will work great. Shop around. One thing I don't like much on Audiobahn's amps is their giant size. Don't know where you'd hide it.
If you are unsure of wiring the subs go to the www.jlaudio.com site and read up on their wiring tutorials. They have excellent diagrams too.
For more info on class-t amplifiers check out www.tripath.com
Have fun.
On the other hand one of the newer class-d or class-t high efficiency amplifiers that can run into 1ohm mono will work great too. In this case parallel all 6 voicecoils for 1ohm.
If you can afford it try to find an amp with 1000 watts rms into 1ohm or 4ohms depending on your setup. Anything over 200 watts will sound ok but you need more power to really "thump".
www.audiobahninc.com or www.bassmekanik.com/carstereo/amps/ or anything else decent will work great. Shop around. One thing I don't like much on Audiobahn's amps is their giant size. Don't know where you'd hide it.
If you are unsure of wiring the subs go to the www.jlaudio.com site and read up on their wiring tutorials. They have excellent diagrams too.
For more info on class-t amplifiers check out www.tripath.com
Have fun.
#3
04-15-2002, 01:43 PM
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p_ferlow,
Thanks for the thorough reply! One more question though: Do you think a Fosgate bd1000 amp would be suffice?
Actually, since you seem to know a lot about audio stuff, maybe you can answer a few more ?'s for me. I am planning on running 2 sets of MB Quart PSD 216 6.5"components in the front (1 in the doors and the other in the kick panels) and a set of MB KSD 5x7" coaxials in the rear doors. What would be the best way to power all these speakers. I could use a good amp to power both of the front sets of components and then use the power from my Alpine IVA-C800 headunit to run the rear coaxials. Or should I just use another amp for these? I am just trying to minimize the equipment that I will have to "hide" in my Expedition. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
Robert
Thanks for the thorough reply! One more question though: Do you think a Fosgate bd1000 amp would be suffice?
Actually, since you seem to know a lot about audio stuff, maybe you can answer a few more ?'s for me. I am planning on running 2 sets of MB Quart PSD 216 6.5"components in the front (1 in the doors and the other in the kick panels) and a set of MB KSD 5x7" coaxials in the rear doors. What would be the best way to power all these speakers. I could use a good amp to power both of the front sets of components and then use the power from my Alpine IVA-C800 headunit to run the rear coaxials. Or should I just use another amp for these? I am just trying to minimize the equipment that I will have to "hide" in my Expedition. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
Robert
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04-15-2002, 02:02 PM
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Robert,
If you're using two pairs of front there are two choices. You can run them with a 4 channel amp and have one channel for each woofer/tweeter. Or get a better quality 2 channel amp that can go down to 2ohms each channel, then run 2 woofers/tweeters in parallel. Look for an amp with 4x50wrms into 4 ohms or 2x100wrms (parallel configuration) into 2ohms each channel. You can use more power too. If you're running the front speakers through a hi-pass crossover before your amplifier you can get away with less power of course. Bass takes the most power.
HU to power rear speakers is fine.
The Fosgate amp you pointed out has 500wrms X 1 into 4 ohms. Sure, it puts out 1kw at 2ohms but with your 3 w6 subs you'll either have 4 ohms (each speaker's voicecoils in series which is 6 + 6 = 12ohms) then all three series sets in parallel for 12/3=4ohms total. Or all voicecoils in parallel for 6/6=1 ohm.
So you need a sub amp that will put maximum power into either 4 ohms or 1 ohm. For 1 ohm many of the class-d or class-t amplifiers will work. And for bridged 4 ohms any decent stereo 2 channel amplifier that can do 2 ohm stereo will work great into 4 ohms provided it's bridgeable.
If you want to get freaky you can always run 3 of the 6 voicecoils in parallel for 2 ohms and run it with a 2 channel amp capable of 2 ohms. The only negative is that one sub will be powered by both right and left channels. It's really better to stick with either 4 or 1 ohms total.
Don't get me wrong... 500wrms will sound pretty darn good but you can pump 800-1000wrms into those w6's.
Front stage imaging seems to be a problem with the F150. Think about mounting tweeters in the pods at the front of each door or mounted in the dash. I'm having my dash perforated so I can mount my MBQuart tweeters hidden under there. The factory door location is terrible. Big sound difference if you have your leg up against the door. Tweeters in the kick panels should give good staging sound too.
If you're using two pairs of front there are two choices. You can run them with a 4 channel amp and have one channel for each woofer/tweeter. Or get a better quality 2 channel amp that can go down to 2ohms each channel, then run 2 woofers/tweeters in parallel. Look for an amp with 4x50wrms into 4 ohms or 2x100wrms (parallel configuration) into 2ohms each channel. You can use more power too. If you're running the front speakers through a hi-pass crossover before your amplifier you can get away with less power of course. Bass takes the most power.
HU to power rear speakers is fine.
The Fosgate amp you pointed out has 500wrms X 1 into 4 ohms. Sure, it puts out 1kw at 2ohms but with your 3 w6 subs you'll either have 4 ohms (each speaker's voicecoils in series which is 6 + 6 = 12ohms) then all three series sets in parallel for 12/3=4ohms total. Or all voicecoils in parallel for 6/6=1 ohm.
So you need a sub amp that will put maximum power into either 4 ohms or 1 ohm. For 1 ohm many of the class-d or class-t amplifiers will work. And for bridged 4 ohms any decent stereo 2 channel amplifier that can do 2 ohm stereo will work great into 4 ohms provided it's bridgeable.
If you want to get freaky you can always run 3 of the 6 voicecoils in parallel for 2 ohms and run it with a 2 channel amp capable of 2 ohms. The only negative is that one sub will be powered by both right and left channels. It's really better to stick with either 4 or 1 ohms total.
Don't get me wrong... 500wrms will sound pretty darn good but you can pump 800-1000wrms into those w6's.
Front stage imaging seems to be a problem with the F150. Think about mounting tweeters in the pods at the front of each door or mounted in the dash. I'm having my dash perforated so I can mount my MBQuart tweeters hidden under there. The factory door location is terrible. Big sound difference if you have your leg up against the door. Tweeters in the kick panels should give good staging sound too.
Last edited by p_ferlow; 04-15-2002 at 02:08 PM.
#5
04-15-2002, 02:40 PM
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p_ferlow,
You are the man! Thanks. Few more things:
I am planning to put the tweeters on the pillar by the windshield. My friend has this setup in his F150 and it sounds awesome. The only thing is that the sound needs to bounce off the windshield. What do you think? I could also try to mount the tweeters in the door pod adjacent to the side mirrors.
Do you think you could tell me exactly which amps would work best of me? I don't want any cheap ones or the most expensive ones, but some moderate ones (ie. if you were to go with my setup, what would you do?). I may be able to get some amazing deals, but I need to know what equipment I want.
Do you think the kick panel speakers really make that drastic of a difference? Or could I just do without them? I also have an Alpine digital signal processor to fine tune the time correction for the staging and other tweaks and I don't know how I could incorporate this into my system if I have 2 sets of components for the front.
So I would appreciate your input. Thanks.
Robert
You are the man! Thanks. Few more things:
I am planning to put the tweeters on the pillar by the windshield. My friend has this setup in his F150 and it sounds awesome. The only thing is that the sound needs to bounce off the windshield. What do you think? I could also try to mount the tweeters in the door pod adjacent to the side mirrors.
Do you think you could tell me exactly which amps would work best of me? I don't want any cheap ones or the most expensive ones, but some moderate ones (ie. if you were to go with my setup, what would you do?). I may be able to get some amazing deals, but I need to know what equipment I want.
Do you think the kick panel speakers really make that drastic of a difference? Or could I just do without them? I also have an Alpine digital signal processor to fine tune the time correction for the staging and other tweaks and I don't know how I could incorporate this into my system if I have 2 sets of components for the front.
So I would appreciate your input. Thanks.
Robert
#6
04-15-2002, 10:52 PM
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Some amplifier choices:
Autotek SC-1700, 1200wrms into 1 ohm mono $599
Autotek Stealth XS-1500.1, 1500wrms into 1ohm mono $649
Hercules Gen XI, 1500wrms into 1 ohm mono $569
DEI Directed 1100d, 1100wrms into 1 ohm mono $599
US Acoustics USX-1000D, 1250w into 1 ohm $449
Fosgate Power Punch 800.2, 800+wrms into 4ohms (I think 4 ohms, not listed) $429
more affordable but good:
Lanzar OPTI 1000.1D, 1000+wrms 1 ohm mono $379
Ultimate DD1-1200, 1200wrms into 1ohm $359 (class-T, a bargain!)
bargains:
Lanzar Vibe 1200D, supposedly 1200wrms into 1ohm $259
Ultimate DT2-800, 800wrms into 4ohms bridged $229
----------------------
I got that off www.sounddomain.com
Last week I did a lot of reading about class-t amplifiers. Read up on it at www.tripath.com .
For the money I think the power monster bargain is the Ultimate DD1-1200 for $359. You can probably find all the amps cheaper elsewhere. Go class-d or class-t for efficiency. Consider exterior heatsink size too for your application if you're out of room to hide stuff.
If your tweeters will be mounted on the pillar facing the windshield there may be some phase distortion because by the time the highs reach you, you'll have heard the door woofer sound a fraction of a second earlier. Somehow facing you or mounted facing up in the dash bouncing off the windshield or the mirror pods would be best I think. It's up to you of course.
You could definitely do without the kickpanel speakers but then consider larger door speakers, perhaps with an 8inch woofer. It all depends on how much you want to spend.
For front speakers something like a:
Hifonics Apollo Son of Thor 2x75wrms or 2x220wrms bridged $179
Hifonics Zeus 2x100wrms $199
Fosgate Punch 360.2, 2x90wrms $249
Autotek SX-2100, 2x74wrms $229
You want something with smooth clean sounding class-A/B circuitry. The Hifonics Apollo seems like a good deal for the money. Compare damping, signal to noise ratio and distortion of each that you are considering, plus the usual considerations like size, etc.
Not too sure how you'd hook up your Alpine signal processing unit to multiple front pairs. Possible if you mounted both woofer pairs in the door and both tweeters in same locations (like 2 in each pod, etc).
Autotek SC-1700, 1200wrms into 1 ohm mono $599
Autotek Stealth XS-1500.1, 1500wrms into 1ohm mono $649
Hercules Gen XI, 1500wrms into 1 ohm mono $569
DEI Directed 1100d, 1100wrms into 1 ohm mono $599
US Acoustics USX-1000D, 1250w into 1 ohm $449
Fosgate Power Punch 800.2, 800+wrms into 4ohms (I think 4 ohms, not listed) $429
more affordable but good:
Lanzar OPTI 1000.1D, 1000+wrms 1 ohm mono $379
Ultimate DD1-1200, 1200wrms into 1ohm $359 (class-T, a bargain!)
bargains:
Lanzar Vibe 1200D, supposedly 1200wrms into 1ohm $259
Ultimate DT2-800, 800wrms into 4ohms bridged $229
----------------------
I got that off www.sounddomain.com
Last week I did a lot of reading about class-t amplifiers. Read up on it at www.tripath.com .
For the money I think the power monster bargain is the Ultimate DD1-1200 for $359. You can probably find all the amps cheaper elsewhere. Go class-d or class-t for efficiency. Consider exterior heatsink size too for your application if you're out of room to hide stuff.
If your tweeters will be mounted on the pillar facing the windshield there may be some phase distortion because by the time the highs reach you, you'll have heard the door woofer sound a fraction of a second earlier. Somehow facing you or mounted facing up in the dash bouncing off the windshield or the mirror pods would be best I think. It's up to you of course.
You could definitely do without the kickpanel speakers but then consider larger door speakers, perhaps with an 8inch woofer. It all depends on how much you want to spend.
For front speakers something like a:
Hifonics Apollo Son of Thor 2x75wrms or 2x220wrms bridged $179
Hifonics Zeus 2x100wrms $199
Fosgate Punch 360.2, 2x90wrms $249
Autotek SX-2100, 2x74wrms $229
You want something with smooth clean sounding class-A/B circuitry. The Hifonics Apollo seems like a good deal for the money. Compare damping, signal to noise ratio and distortion of each that you are considering, plus the usual considerations like size, etc.
Not too sure how you'd hook up your Alpine signal processing unit to multiple front pairs. Possible if you mounted both woofer pairs in the door and both tweeters in same locations (like 2 in each pod, etc).