idmax w/ 601s
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idmax w/ 601s I know the IDMAX 12 says 1000w rms, but would it still sound good if it was powered by a 601S? (600w rms)
and also, what kind of break in period does idmax have?
and also, what kind of break in period does idmax have?
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From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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600wrms will be good.
From what I've heard, they're efficient subs.
As far as break in, I personally would play it at medium to low volume for about a week. After that jusk crank it.
From what I've heard, they're efficient subs.
As far as break in, I personally would play it at medium to low volume for about a week. After that jusk crank it.
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From: IL
Rep Power: 320 yea, im sure it'll have something in the instructions/warning about break in.. but thats usually wut i do is just run it safe for a while b4 i crank it 
especially if underpowering it by 400rms, i wont have any probs cranking it once its broken in.. my amp could never blow it :P or atleast i dont think it could.. :P
especially if underpowering it by 400rms, i wont have any probs cranking it once its broken in.. my amp could never blow it :P or atleast i dont think it could.. :P 
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Rep Power: 320 that does anwser my question, but mystic was talking about underpowering it can blow it, and i usually run my 601s about 1/2 or 3/4 on the remote bass and my deck settings arent up really loud (bass wise) so its possibly putting out what maybe 350-400rms?
so if i did get an idmax and i used the 601s, i have my amp same settings as i do now and it'd b fine then if i wanna turn remote bass up all the way it'd be fine after 1 week, correct?
so do you guys think the 601S would be ok w/ a single idmax or not?
im pretty much thinking im'a go w/ either idmax or HX2, and HX2 is 500 rms so either way it would probably b ok, but w/ an idmax everyone says the quality is GREAT, and im willing to spend more for quality. plus once the idmax is broken in, my amp could never blow it, correct? since its only 600w rms.
so if i did get an idmax and i used the 601s, i have my amp same settings as i do now and it'd b fine then if i wanna turn remote bass up all the way it'd be fine after 1 week, correct?
so do you guys think the 601S would be ok w/ a single idmax or not?
im pretty much thinking im'a go w/ either idmax or HX2, and HX2 is 500 rms so either way it would probably b ok, but w/ an idmax everyone says the quality is GREAT, and im willing to spend more for quality. plus once the idmax is broken in, my amp could never blow it, correct? since its only 600w rms.
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Rep Power: 0 Your all over the place. Makes it hard to answer the question. You really need to learn more about systems and you'll have a better idea what you can and can't do.
First issue is power ratings. Your getting all hooked on exact numbers when its more of a ballpark figure.
Stuff has two ratings rms and max. RMS is the amount of power it CAN take (speaker) or CAN output (amp) all day long w/o any issues. Max is the amount of power it CAN take (speaker) or CAN output (amp) in short bursts. RMS doesn't mean thats what the amp puts out all the time, its a measure of what it COULD put out all the time. Most times an amp is putting out far below its rms wattage.
Power vs volume is an exponential relationship. To get 3db more of volume it takes double the power. Speaker sensitivity is handy since it gives an idea of what a speaker can do. The IDMaxx has a sensetivity rating of 93.1db according to the specs. What that means is in perfect conditions, w/ 1 watt of power, that sub should be 93.1db loud @ 1 meter away.
watts = volume (db)
1 = 93
2 = 96
4 = 99
8 = 102
16 = 105
32 = 108
64 = 111
128 = 114
256 = 117
512 = 120
etc .....
Of course w/ cabin gain it will most likely be louder too. So most likely average driving you would only be putting under 100 watts of power to it.
Now the problems come when your really cranking it. At some point the amp starts to distort and begins clipping. For your amp this is around the 1200 watt mark I would assume. When an amp clips it puts out distorted power, and this can be easily 2x the max rating of the amp. So your 1200 watts can turn into 2k+ watts of ugly power. Keeping this up is what can damage a sub.
So yes, even though your amp is small it can still possibly blow the sub.
Why people say its easier to blow a sub w/ a smaller amp is that the smaller amp goes into clipping far before a larger amp will. Say a bass note comes up that needs 1500 watts for the volume your at. A smaller amp can't do it, so it clips, and puts out ugly distorted power. On the other hand if you had a larger amp then it could just output that power w/ no distortion. And remember its the cliping and distortion stuff that can kill subs.
In the end your amp will be fine w/ that sub. Stupidity w/ the volume & gain is what kills subs. Otherwise almost any amp can run any sub within reason.
First issue is power ratings. Your getting all hooked on exact numbers when its more of a ballpark figure.
Stuff has two ratings rms and max. RMS is the amount of power it CAN take (speaker) or CAN output (amp) all day long w/o any issues. Max is the amount of power it CAN take (speaker) or CAN output (amp) in short bursts. RMS doesn't mean thats what the amp puts out all the time, its a measure of what it COULD put out all the time. Most times an amp is putting out far below its rms wattage.
Power vs volume is an exponential relationship. To get 3db more of volume it takes double the power. Speaker sensitivity is handy since it gives an idea of what a speaker can do. The IDMaxx has a sensetivity rating of 93.1db according to the specs. What that means is in perfect conditions, w/ 1 watt of power, that sub should be 93.1db loud @ 1 meter away.
watts = volume (db)
1 = 93
2 = 96
4 = 99
8 = 102
16 = 105
32 = 108
64 = 111
128 = 114
256 = 117
512 = 120
etc .....
Of course w/ cabin gain it will most likely be louder too. So most likely average driving you would only be putting under 100 watts of power to it.
Now the problems come when your really cranking it. At some point the amp starts to distort and begins clipping. For your amp this is around the 1200 watt mark I would assume. When an amp clips it puts out distorted power, and this can be easily 2x the max rating of the amp. So your 1200 watts can turn into 2k+ watts of ugly power. Keeping this up is what can damage a sub.
So yes, even though your amp is small it can still possibly blow the sub.
Why people say its easier to blow a sub w/ a smaller amp is that the smaller amp goes into clipping far before a larger amp will. Say a bass note comes up that needs 1500 watts for the volume your at. A smaller amp can't do it, so it clips, and puts out ugly distorted power. On the other hand if you had a larger amp then it could just output that power w/ no distortion. And remember its the cliping and distortion stuff that can kill subs.
In the end your amp will be fine w/ that sub. Stupidity w/ the volume & gain is what kills subs. Otherwise almost any amp can run any sub within reason.
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Rep Power: 320 so.. what about a box for the idmax, I want to go with a sealed box, it says 1.30cu ft - 1.52cu ft. I've found 1.25cu ft boxes and also 1.75 cu ft boxes.. how much does it matter if the box is slightly off? or should i get a 1.25 and put polyfill in it?
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Rep Power: 320 Regularjoe ..another question the remote bass **** im talking about isnt the gain itself the amp has gain settings on the side and the remote bass is an additional thing, so just to make sure i understand what your saying is, the GAIN being up all the way is what will blow subs correct? because i've set the gain on the amp itself, a long time ago and i didnt go over 3/4... so if i understand how RF has set this up, the remote bass is just an in cabin way to take power away from the amp and w/ the remote bass up ALL the way, the gain is actually at what its set? but when the remote bass is down it just takes power away? if that is even phrased correctly, is my understand correct?
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From: New York, US
Rep Power: 0 The gain is for helping to match the amp to a specific speaker, the rest of the system, and for different HU voltages.
Most amps today handle up to 8v. But old amps were usually 2v or so. Many new HU are 4v, 4.8v, 5v, etc. So first the gain needs to compensate for that difference. Put the gain to the voltage that matches the HU output voltage. I would say this is a great starting point. You probably won't wanna set the gain higher than that, so any tweaking from this point on is most likely turning the gain down only.
Next you adjust it for the sub. If you put the HU at 85% of max volume and the sub is distorting then you need to turn the gain down further. Turn it down just until the distortion stops. What you have now is a situation where the sub shouldn't distort as long as the volume is under 85% of the max. If not then you can try turning the gain up some until you hear distortion, but I wouldn't push it.
Last you tweak again based on the rest of the system. There might be a little too much bass compared to the highs. If so turn the gain down some so that the subs and highs are nicely balanced. If you don't have enough bass there is nothing you can do. Its already set to the max at 85%. Anything more and your asking for trouble.
As far as the bass **** I assume it modifies the signal down not up. That way you can never overdo it and get a signal higher than the gain is set at.
As for the gain, anywhere you have it can blow the sub if the HU driving it gives it enough signal. Like say you throw a 8v deck on a 2v amp. Max gain should probably be at 1/4 or so. Realistically though it probably wouldn't happen.
Most amps today handle up to 8v. But old amps were usually 2v or so. Many new HU are 4v, 4.8v, 5v, etc. So first the gain needs to compensate for that difference. Put the gain to the voltage that matches the HU output voltage. I would say this is a great starting point. You probably won't wanna set the gain higher than that, so any tweaking from this point on is most likely turning the gain down only.
Next you adjust it for the sub. If you put the HU at 85% of max volume and the sub is distorting then you need to turn the gain down further. Turn it down just until the distortion stops. What you have now is a situation where the sub shouldn't distort as long as the volume is under 85% of the max. If not then you can try turning the gain up some until you hear distortion, but I wouldn't push it.
Last you tweak again based on the rest of the system. There might be a little too much bass compared to the highs. If so turn the gain down some so that the subs and highs are nicely balanced. If you don't have enough bass there is nothing you can do. Its already set to the max at 85%. Anything more and your asking for trouble.
As far as the bass **** I assume it modifies the signal down not up. That way you can never overdo it and get a signal higher than the gain is set at.
As for the gain, anywhere you have it can blow the sub if the HU driving it gives it enough signal. Like say you throw a 8v deck on a 2v amp. Max gain should probably be at 1/4 or so. Realistically though it probably wouldn't happen.
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Rep Power: 328 The remote bass **** is probably boosting a certain frequency. Sometimes it is user adjustable, or set by the amp manufacturer. It could be anywhere from 40hz-60hz or so if set by the manufacturer. So, if your gain is set properly, not just by "turning it 3/4 of the way up" then it will not cause a problem, however if your gain is set so that when you turn the bass **** up it causes the amp to clip, you will start breaking things.
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Rep Power: 0 If memory serves, the bass boost **** in an RF amp is tuned to 45HZ. The bass boost **** basicly acts like an equilizer boosting that frequency and only that frequency.
Last edited by tbaleno; Apr 16, 2004 at 09:00 AM.
