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Old Feb 2, 2003
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Newb to car audio, requesting amp help

I just bought 2 12" JL w3s which are already enclosed in a box and wired down to 1 ohm.

the 12" w3 is rated 250watts RMS, and i'd prefer not to go over that. so do I want a 500/1 amp? if so, what can handle 1 ohm? I'm sure the JL one will work, but are there any others? I also hear that I need to replace the stock HU or else i may end up blowing the subs... does that make sense?

thanks for your patience [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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heres the thing... if the gain is set correctly, you wont have to change your headunit, AND they wont blow, even if you give the pair 1000 watts... power doesnt blow speakers, crappy installs do...
As far as an amp, whats your budget look like? you could always rewire the subs into other loads...
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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I can afford the JL one.. I just wanna spend my money wisely. I'm told the lower the ohms, the better, so i don't wanna rewire them [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: Mex
I can afford the JL one.. I just wanna spend my money wisely. I'm told the lower the ohms, the better, so i don't wanna rewire them [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG][hr]
that depend on the amp, if it the amp is 1ohm stable it would be better
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: DizWikedCivic
if it the amp is 1ohm stable it would be better[hr]
yeah, that's my problem, I can't find an amp like that rated at like 500-600 watts.. beh
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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JBL bp 600.1 is in that price range and is one ohm stable... umm... ill search for other stuff, but a gut feeling tells me that the JL amp is only 1.5 ohm stable...
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: LudlamTheory
JBL bp 600.1 is in that price range and is one ohm stable... umm... ill search for other stuff, but a gut feeling tells me that the JL amp is only 1.5 ohm stable...[hr]
yep, the JL 500/1 is 500watts from 1.5ohms to 4 ohms, not 1 ohm stable apparently.

i have a diamond audio D5 600.1 thats 1 ohm stable ( 600watts ), but its pretty pricey.

the JBL bp 600.1 is a great amp for the price, seems to be a favorite amp amongst car audio people, you might want to save money and go with the JBL, and get a good headunit with the left over money.
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: slick
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[hr]Originally posted by: LudlamTheory
JBL bp 600.1 is in that price range and is one ohm stable... umm... ill search for other stuff, but a gut feeling tells me that the JL amp is only 1.5 ohm stable...[hr]
yep, the JL 500/1 is 500watts from 1.5ohms to 4 ohms, not 1 ohm stable apparently.

i have a diamond audio D5 600.1 thats 1 ohm stable ( 600watts ), but its pretty pricey.

the JBL bp 600.1 is a great amp for the price, seems to be a favorite amp amongst car audio people, you might want to save money and go with the JBL, and get a good headunit with the left over money.[hr]
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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I was looking at the JBL amp, but I don't see the whole 1ohm steady thing [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

http://www.jbl.com/car/product.asp?p...er=POS&cat=AMP
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: Mex
I was looking at the JBL amp, but I don't see the whole 1ohm steady thing [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

http://www.jbl.com/car/product.asp?p...er=POS&cat=AMP[hr]
look in the owners manual PDF...
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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ah, thanks for pointing that out. I see that little asterisk there, I guess that means whether I have the subs wired at 2ohms or 1, it'll still sound the same?

the price is only $200, so I think I'll try out that JBL. thanks for your help
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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that what sick about JL amps, for example some amps are rated 1000watts at 1 ohm, but it like 700 watts at 2 ohm, but for JL amp it rated 500 watts at 1 ohm, 2 ohm and 4 ohm, same watts for each ohms
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Old Feb 2, 2003
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the only problem with the JBL amps is that there is no subsonic filter. so dont run a ported box.
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Old Feb 3, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: LudlamTheory
heres the thing... if the gain is set correctly, you wont have to change your headunit, AND they wont blow, even if you give the pair 1000 watts... power doesnt blow speakers, crappy installs do...[hr]
I just want to make sure I understand this. If I have the gain set to a minimum, I will be fine with the stock HU? is there any way I'd know if it's set too high? I mean, at what point would I know the gain is not right? [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG] or is that something an audio dealer should take care of?
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Old Feb 3, 2003
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Ok, not at the minimum, but set correctly. Theres dozens of websites on the internet telling you how to do this, but if you're not comfortable doing it yourself, then take it to a shop. Regardless though, changing your headunit yould give you a world of improvement, not only in the bass... It also makes the install easier
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Old Feb 3, 2003
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Especially since a "good" line level converter is like 60-80 bucks, and you still wont get the sound quality that you would from a nice set of 4v preouts.... Plus you'll have more controll over your system with a decent HU. I ran my two JL 500/1's at 1 ohm for about 3 months with no problems....amps didnt go into protection at all. The amp is 1 ohm stable, it just reduces the damping quite a bit when you run it that low. BTW, is there a way to get my W3v2's to run a 4ohm load? They are dual 4 ohm VC's....and Ihave one running to each amp. THe 500/1 has a damping factor of 250 at 2 OHM, and 500 at 4 OHM.....so I really want to run at 4 OHM. Just curious....i'm getting the 13.5W6's soon, but I just wanted to know if I could up the OHM's in the intrim.....I havent found any way to do it as of yet....seems like I can only run them at 2 OHM and 8 OHM....but if one of you knows something I dont...
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Old Feb 3, 2003
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a pair of subs with dual 4 ohm coils... each can only be run at 2 or 8 ohms, unless you ditch the pair of 500/1's and buy a 1000/1... then you can run the pair as a single 4 ohm load...
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Old Feb 3, 2003
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Thats what I thought....but was just checking Call my crazy, but I like having two 500/1's....I donno....I guess i'm weird like that. Plus, I get a better price on 500/1's anyway....$420 new, at an authorized dealer The 1000/1 will cost me $1,000 even.....wish I could do the 1000/1 though.....it's supposed to put out around 1100 I think....but then again, I wish I could afford the Zapco Comp series 9.0....2200 watts x1 baby!!!!!!!!!
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Old Feb 3, 2003
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you can wire both v2's for a 4 ohm load. series/parrallel

have you tried running at 8 ohms? is there a volume difference? (after gain compensation, of course)
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Old Feb 4, 2003
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the lower ohm system you run, the more shitty it will sound. but it costs more money to run a higher ohm system as im sure youve seen.
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Old Feb 4, 2003
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[hr]Originally posted by: JAG609
the lower ohm system you run, the more shitty it will sound. but it costs more money to run a higher ohm system as im sure youve seen.[hr]
are you basing this on the number of THD, the one that you cant hear?

there is no audible difference, with the gains properly set.
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Old Feb 5, 2003
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I havent tried yet no, I will one of these days when I get some free time to open the box up. It would probably sound better....double the damping, and the amps would put out about 250 watts...which is my subs exact rating. I'll check it out, maybe it'll stop my subs from popping at full volume...[IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] (Yes, my gains are set correctly, even my audio shop checked it....500 watts seems to be the absolute max for the W3v2...I cant wait for my W6's )

Hey, if you get lead slap, does it usually intensify with volume, or is it the same at all times? I'm just curious, i've never actually heard it (I dont think). Can anyone describe what it sounds like?
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Old Feb 5, 2003
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it sounds like a metal wire slapping agasint the cone [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

sorry i dont really know how else to describe it.....
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Old Feb 5, 2003
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Yeah, it intesifies with volume, and it sounds like something is rattling in your sub box.
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