Rep Power: 280

dont understand too well, but im wondering what the RMS wattage is on this amp. its an MTX thunder 302.

here are the ratings according to MTX:

RMS Power measured at 12.5 Volts DC:
75 Watts x 2 into a 4 Ohm load with less than 0.05% Thd+N
150 Watts x 2 into a 2 Ohm load with less than 0.1% Thd+N
300 Watts bridged into a 4 Ohm load with less than 0.1% Thd+N

Dynamic Power (IHF-202 Standard) measured at 14.4 Volts DC
120 Watts x 2 into a 4 Ohm load
212 Watts x 2 into a 2 Ohm load
425 Watts bridged into a 4 Ohm load

Signal to Noise Ratio:
110dB A-Weighted


so is it a 150 watt rms per channel? or 75?

is this a decent amp to power 2 kenwood 12" subs?

 
Rep Power: 328

Its both. Depends on the resistance you have the sub wired to.

 
Rep Power: 280

the resistance? sorry for the noob question but can you explain that? how do i control the resistance?

 
Rep Power: 282

i dont think you control it, just get the type of speakers you want.

 
Rep Power: 0

Ya, it all depends on what the specs on the subs are. What model subs are they?

 
Rep Power: 786

You get the higher power ratings out of that amp (or any amp for that matter) by wiring your subs down to a certain "ohm load".

Your ohm load is the resistance that your subwoofers are presneting to your amp, and with a lower ohm load, you are showing your amp a lower resistance, and with less resistance it will put out more power.

For example, if you are stepping on a water hose and only 1 gallon of water a minute is coming out, and then you take your foot off and 10 gallons a minute start coming out, that is because there was less resistance in the hose.

Make sense?

You control the resistance by wiring your subs a certain way. If you have single voice coil 4 ohm speakers (the most common kind), you can wire them one way to get 2 ohms and another way to get 8 ohms.

 
Rep Power: 280

the subs are a pair of 12" Kenwood KFC-3005

not too sure about the specs

 
Rep Power: 786

Check the Kenwood site if they are a current model

Otherwise use www.google.com

 
Rep Power: 786

Where in Canada are you at?

 
Rep Power: 280

ok...makes sense. how can i wire my subs to get max ohm load?

 
Rep Power: 280

im just outside of toronto mang

but i used to llive in vancouver

moved away about a year and a half ago. i miss it out there

 
Rep Power: 786

Well if you want more power you want a lower ohm load

Use this site to help you figure out your wiring:

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftech/wiringwizard.asp

Long story short though, if you want a 2 ohm load, you need to go from + on one sub to + on the other and from that + go to to your amp

Same goes for negative

+ ==== + ===== amp

- ==== - ===== amp

^^ half-assed wiring diagram but hopefully you get the idea

 
Rep Power: 280

this looks like the specs on the sub:

Frequency Response: 25Hz - 800Hz
Impedance: 4 ohms
One-Piece Cone Design
Pearl Mica Injection-Molded Polypropylene Cone: 12"
Tornado-Type
Power Handling: 700 Watts


so after reading that...does the MTX look like a good amp for those subs? im still kinda lost on all this **** lol. im a total noob :S

 
Rep Power: 786

I think that MTX amp is a little small... if Kenwood is claiming 700w of power handling, that appears to be peak, so the RMS is likely around 300-350, so try to maybe find something 6-700 watts

 
Rep Power: 280

nice one...thanks for all the help mang.

man, im havin a hard time finding a good deal on an amp thats good for my subs :S

 
Rep Power: 786

Ya high powered amps are costly..

 
Rep Power: 300

if you want bass but not neccessarily the loudest of the loud, you can save a lot of money if you buy a cheaper amp...ie...one that outputs 300watts rms instead of 600watts

3db louder is barely noticeably louder. to raise the spl by 3db, you're doubling the power. note that ported boxes are aprox 3db louder than sealed, and having a 2nd sub is also 3db louder than only one sub. doubling the power or subwoofers will not make your setup sound twice as loud.

 
Rep Power: 786

Naw you'll need roughly 8x the power to get twice as loud (as you know, +10db = twice as loud )

I don't think this guy wants to go that extreme

 
Rep Power: 280

so you think that that mtx will give me decent bass. not the best amp for those subs, but should be ok?

or is it a waste of money, and i should wait till i find a good deal on one that will give me more power?

 
Rep Power: 280

your right, i dont want to go crazy...i just want some nice loud bass

 
Rep Power: 786

I say wait until you can afford more power, you don't want to under power your subs that much, that's bad for them and the amp

 
Rep Power: 280

hmm...alright...cheers man

 
Rep Power: 300

you wont hurt the subs if you dont run them at their maximum power capability

it wont hurt the amp either unless you try to push the amp beyond what it is able to handle..

 
Rep Power: 0

Underpowering subs can cause them to blow, trying to draw too much power from an amp will cause it to clip.

 
Rep Power: 300

clipping is not the same as underpowering.....

underpowering is like only putting 20watts into subs that can handle 300watts. it will not damage the sub at all. if subs blew everytime you put less power into them than their rated maximum rms, you'll be blowing subs everytime you turn down the volume..lol...as everytime you turn the volume down, you are decreasing the power output.

clipping is different than underpowering. you get clipped signals from trying to produce a voltage higher than the souce voltage of the amp. this can happen in a deck's amp or the external amp. when you are trying to produce more power than what the amp is capable, you get a distorted output signal that is "clipped" at the top and bottom of the sine wave.

 
Rep Power: 786

He was saying that underpowering causes clipping, not that it is the same as clipping

 
Rep Power: 300

there are lots of ways to cause clipping. you cant say it's just trying to push the amp beyond what it is capable of producing.

lets say you had a cheap to middle of the line deck with a volume **** that goes to 40. if you turn the deck up all the way up to anywhere near 40, chances are you'll be sending a clipped signal to the subs even if the amp is not outputing maximum power.

there are lots of things that can cause clipping. ie. the deck's volume **** turned too high, gain settings, the tone settings, music source, etc.

to minimize the chances of clipping, you can calibrate the gain of the amp to match it with when the volume of the deck is all the way up. you can also use your ears. minor clipping wont be obvious(nor will it do major damage right away) but some people turn their systems up so high that it's obviously distorting.

 
Rep Power: 280

well after looking into the subs a little further, it looks like they have a max rms rating of 175

so i guess that mtx amp is an alright amp for them afterall?

 
Rep Power: 786

The only way you can wire them is to 2 ohms, which would be too low for that amp. It is 2 ohm stable which means you are only able to bring it down to 4 ohms in mono mode otherwise it will go into protection and possbily destroy the amp.

You need to look for an amp that does 175-200wrms @ 4 ohms, OR find a 1 ohm stable amp that puts out around 350-400 watts at 2 ohm mono, OR your best option is to find a monoblock (one channel) amp that puts out 350-400 watts RMS @ 2 ohms