Installing two 12"s soon - Need Amplifer Help

James_T

James_T

New member
Hey fellas,

I'm almost ready to jump the gun on buying two 12" subs, either the Rockford Fosgate P3D212's, JL Audio 12W3v3-2's, or the Orion XTRPRO122's. All the subs are 500wRMS 1000w peak, and 2 ohm impedance.

I haven't really taken a good look at amplifiers, since I'm not the most audio-technical person, but what would be required to run both of these subs? What do you fellas recommend?
 
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James_T said:
Hey fellas,

I'm almost ready to jump the gun on buying two 12" subs, either the Rockford Fosgate P3D212's, JL Audio 12W3v3-2's, or the Orion XTRPRO122's. All the subs are 500wRMS 1000w peak, and 2 ohm impedance.

I haven't really taken a good look at amplifiers, since I'm not the most audio-technical person, but what would be required to run both of these subs? What do you fellas recommend?
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Scratch Orion off the list!!!

1200 Watt Brutus - clean power good price. Will give both subs 450 watts at 2 ohms

Amazon.com: Hifonics Brutus BXI1210D 1200 Watt D-Class Mono Amplifier: Electronics

I'd go with the w3's if you're looking for SQ.


(You may want to look up FI Q subs, i think it's 245 for a 12, but people are ranting all over the web about it's SQ)
 
Yea, my friend recommended me both Orion and Kicker subs, but the more and more I research about this stuff, the worse and worse I hear! My research points me towards either JL Audio, Rockford, or high end MTX, so the cards are still in the hand. In the end, I might get the JL Audio, heard the most good stuff from them.

So even though that sub says 1 x 900 W @ 2 Ohms, it will power both subs, correct? And that's pretty much what I generally should be looking for?
 
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James_T said:
Yea, my friend recommended me both Orion and Kicker subs, but the more and more I research about this stuff, the worse and worse I hear! My research points me towards either JL Audio, Rockford, or high end MTX, so the cards are still in the hand. In the end, I might get the JL Audio, heard the most good stuff from them.

So even though that sub says 1 x 900 W @ 2 Ohms, it will power both subs, correct? And that's pretty much what I generally should be looking for?
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To choose an amp properly you need to first pick the subs you want and then choose how you plan to wire them (Well this is what I find is easiest). Things you should look for in an amp are the # of channels, channel impedance, RMS, and filters. You should understand that powering 2 subs off a single channel amp will require wiring the subs in parallel or series. 2 subs rated at 2 ohms could not be wired parallel into a single channel amp rated at 2 ohms. I don't know where you stand with system wiring, but I would recommend you make a decision on the subs and then seek advice on the amp. All the brands you mentioned above are good and I have known people that would swear by each one of those brands, so I would go with the one that meets your RMS performance and desired looks. Good Luck!
 
James_T said:
Yea, my friend recommended me both Orion and Kicker subs, but the more and more I research about this stuff, the worse and worse I hear! My research points me towards either JL Audio, Rockford, or high end MTX, so the cards are still in the hand. In the end, I might get the JL Audio, heard the most good stuff from them.

So even though that sub says 1 x 900 W @ 2 Ohms, it will power both subs, correct? And that's pretty much what I generally should be looking for?
Click to expand...

Yes, it will. It's going to send 450 watts to each sub. Wiring a sub without any practice/knowledge could potentially ruin your sub... so make sure to get some guidance on that aspect after the amp is installed.
 
i have two 12" memphis pr-15 and started out with a 1000 watt memphis amp and its too much power. it takes away from the car speakers. im bumping down to 500 watt
 
If you go with JL, they make amps as well.

There are so many options out there, I would take a look over in DIYMA, its a good forum for searching around and learning car audio. I would think about size as well, where will you mount the amp?
 
eskimochaos said:
Cant go wrong with Type-R's I have two 12s. Cheap, loud, and can take silly power for what their rated at.
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Agreed!

And if you choose to go that route - i have a friend who is looking to sell his two Type R's and Hifonics Amp - PM me if you're at all interested.
 
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Alrighty fellas, thanks for the feedback!

I think I'm almost set on getting the two 12" JL Audio 12W3v3's and the Brutus Hifonics amp. I have a friend that installs audio professionally, and has been for about 5 years, who has offered to help me install for free, so I should be perfect for a good, clean install.

I had two more questions though: I saw that some 4Runner owners with the JBL Premium systems in their car had problems with their speakers/factory amp after installing the new subs/amp, should that be of any concern to me? I have an aftermarket Pioneer headunit installed and working fine, if that helps.

And, what type of wires/wiring kit would I need for the setup? The subs are running 500rms, 2 ohms.
 
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James_T said:
Alrighty fellas, thanks for the feedback!

I think I'm almost set on getting the two 12" JL Audio 12W3v3's and the Brutus Hifonics amp. I have a friend that installs audio professionally, and has been for about 5 years, who has offered to help me install for free, so I should be perfect for a good, clean install.

I had two more questions though: I saw that some 4Runner owners with the JBL Premium systems in their car had problems with their speakers/factory amp after installing the new subs/amp, should that be of any concern to me? I have an aftermarket Pioneer headunit installed and working fine, if that helps.

And, what type of wires/wiring kit would I need for the setup? The subs are running 500rms, 2 ohms.
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I have talked a lot with audio shops about the JBL System and the problems it causes... I seriously think it's a myth. Whatever needs to be done, I'm sure your friend will be able to figure it out.

Get a 4 gauge wiring kit - that will be big enough to get you all the power you'd ever want.

If you want to add a 4 channel amp later, you get get a dual wiring kit, but those are pretty pricey, i got a pretty cheap one for my two amps, it did not come with RCA cables though.

Let us know how it goes! Post pics!
 
Picking two subs that have 2 ohm isn't the best idea. If you go that route you either have to pick wiring them at 2 ohm or .5 and there are not many amps that can handle .5 ohm.

What do you want out of the subs? Loud or good sound?

JL is a little over priced in my opinion.
 
Clemsonfan15 said:
Picking two subs that have 2 ohm isn't the best idea. If you go that route you either have to pick wiring them at 2 ohm or .5 and there are not many amps that can handle .5 ohm.

What do you want out of the subs? Loud or good sound?

JL is a little over priced in my opinion.
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Que? Two 2 ohm speakers wired in series is 4 ohms, and two 2 ohm speakers wired in parallel is 1 ohm.
 
Barnaby said:
Que? Two 2 ohm speakers wired in series is 4 ohms, and two 2 ohm speakers wired in parallel is 1 ohm.
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I think Clemson was quoting that wiring for a dual voice coil. I believe the JL's that James is referring to are single voice coils.

There are a lot of factors that come into play when picking a sub setup. Type of sound you want, what music you mostly listen to, how much room you are looking to give up in the rear and most importantly your budget.

I've had 2 12" Type R DVC's in a slot ported box and they are pretty damn good. I had them in my Runner for almost a year, underpowered, and they still flexed the roof. They are in my basement now collecting dust, as I decided to take the next step up.

Just make sure you do your homework on amps before you buy. Some companies have "tactics" to say their particular amp will push a certain amount of power, but most of the time it is a rated power on a high voltage test.
 
I was looking for subs that were not "loud," but high sound quality and have a good "hit" to them. They are on the expensive side, per se, but for the equivalent MTX, Rockford, or some other stuff I saw, it was approximately 10-20 dollars within the cost of the JL subs.

I've already gone ahead and ordered the 2 JL subs, a different amp this time, Power Acoustik BAMF 2000-something, 900w rms at 2 ohms, wiring kit, and a ported box. From what I've read/ researched, these JL's aren't the loudest by far on the market, but they have great sound quality and they "hit well," so to speak, which is what I'm looking for.

There was one concern however, I saw on JL's website that it said these subs run at 300w RMS, but on Sonic Electronix and other websites, they list it as either 500w RMS, or 300-500w RMS. I ordered the 3 year warranty with the subs, so I figure I can run it at 450w with no hassles if things happen to do go awry.
 
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James_T said:
I was looking for subs that were not "loud," but high sound quality and have a good "hit" to them. They are on the expensive side, per se, but for the equivalent MTX, Rockford, or some other stuff I saw, it was approximately 10-20 dollars within the cost of the JL subs.

I've already gone ahead and ordered the 2 JL subs, a different amp this time, Power Acoustik BAMF 2000-something, 900w rms at 2 ohms, wiring kit, and a ported box. From what I've read/ researched, these JL's aren't the loudest by far on the market, but they have great sound quality and they "hit well," so to speak, which is what I'm looking for.

There was one concern however, I saw on JL's website that it said these subs run at 300w RMS, but on Sonic Electronix and other websites, they list it as either 500w RMS, or 300-500w RMS. I ordered the 3 year warranty with the subs, so I figure I can run it at 450w with no hassles if things happen to do go awry.
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Unfortunately, that amp is one of the amps that does not do its rated power. I had that amp running my Alpine 12's. It probably only does about 1/2 the power that is stated, so each of those subs is only going to see about 200-250 watts.

Now don't take what I said above the wrong way. Again, amp shopping can be tricky. That amp was still good enough to push my Alpines and flex the roof of my Runner. Hopefully wherever you got the subs from recommended a box as you want to make sure you match up the amount of cubic feet that is needed.

Car audio can be a pain in the a**, but once you find the right setup, it is awesome. It can also be addicting as hell!

Good luck with the setup!
 
IMO, dont take offense to this - your going with decent subs. Dont get a POS amp to power them. Alpine's MRP line is great and does rated power.
 
Considering the amp I ordered, I agree, it seems to be one of those "cheapo" brands. The order is already shipped close to my location, so its quite impossible to cancel the order at this point. What I might do is return the amp if it turns out to be worse than I expected, and buy one like you recommended, eskimo.

Thanks by the way for all your help fellas, really appreciate it. Hopefully installing them soon, probably this weekend. I'll be sure to take pics.
 
James_T said:
Considering the amp I ordered, I agree, it seems to be one of those "cheapo" brands. The order is already shipped close to my location, so its quite impossible to cancel the order at this point. What I might do is return the amp if it turns out to be worse than I expected, and buy one like you recommended, eskimo.

Thanks by the way for all your help fellas, really appreciate it. Hopefully installing them soon, probably this weekend. I'll be sure to take pics.
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Power Acousticcccc????? :violin:


That alpine line is great, if you want to go in debt! hifonics one would of done you great things!
 
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