Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio How many watts do I need?

I am looking to get an amp to power a 12" pioneer sub that I have. The sub specs are 160w RMS and 400w MAX. I have be looking at a Kenwood amp that makes 150w RMS and 300w MAX, but I'm not sure if it will give me the sound and volume that I want. I have also looked at a 300w RMS - 600w MAX Kenwood, but I think that might be too much. I would like some suggestions on other amps that are availible and if you think 150w is enough for one 12.

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Chris
'99 Tropic Green SVT
KKM, No-res, TH-Fix
B&M Edge Short-Shifter
New style cupholders
Rev. lockout disabled
Pioneer sound system
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=974837&a=7152412

There is no magic number for how many watts you "need" to drive a 12" sub. The 150 watts with the pioneer will be fine. The 300 watts will not damage the speaker unless you are listening to very high levels for an extended period of time. If your goal is to reach 130 dB, then you will want to add subs and a bigger amp.

Amount of power and type of sub depend on the type and size of enclosure you use. A large ported enclosure can give a lot of bass, with less power, but sacrifices accuracy. If you want tight, accurate bass, go for more power and a sealed enclosure. It's a matter of taste. I would personally use a sealed enclosure, but it's my listening style.

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98.5 Tour SE Sport ATX
No Mods ... that I know of ... yet!!

FYI - I had 1 12" Alpine hooked to a 70W Sony amp several (6+) years ago. LARGE (2+ Cu Ft) ported box and it rattled the rust off my car. So, yes, 150W will power that sub just fine. Sorry, no recommendations though..I've been listening to factory too long. :-(

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98.5 Tour SE Sport ATX
No Mods ... that I know of ... yet!!

Good point Ratten,

I forgot to mention that. I would disagree with you on the accuracy of a sealed enclosure being better. In most cases, you will be right. Sealed enclosures are very forgiving if built incorrectly. Vented boxes if tuned correctly can be every bit as accurate as a sealed enclosure.

Ported boxes will give you more output to the tuning freq, then they roll off quickly. Sealed boxes will have lower output but more extended bass. Ported boxes also generally take up considerably more space.

[This message has been edited by dnewma04 (edited October 25, 2000).]

Amp reccomendations? How about a PPI A200? You should be able to find them on ebay for under 150.00 and it will be tough to beat. They do everything well, from lows to highs so if you wanted to add subs and a bigger amp later, you could power your front speakers with it.

What is the model number of your pioneer?

Thanks for the info guys. The model number is TS-W31C for the sub.

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Chris
'99 Tropic Green SVT
KKM, No-res, TH-Fix
B&M Edge Short-Shifter
New style cupholders
Rev. lockout disabled
Pioneer sound system
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=974837&a=7152412

Yeah the PPI is nice, but I had a friend who got Alpine (can remember the model number) amp for his front speakers off of e-bay and the thing was already blown when he got it. So I am a little leary about getting stuff off of ebay. I have another question though, if you had a choice between a kenwood amp and a pioneer which one would you choose to run a sub.

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Chris
'99 Tropic Green SVT
KKM, No-res, TH-Fix
B&M Edge Short-Shifter
New style cupholders
Rev. lockout disabled
Pioneer sound system
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=974837&a=7152412

You definitely need to be careful with who you buy from. Check the feedback closely. I've made numerous purchases w/o any problems but have heard some horror stories too.

About the amps. I think the kenwood will be better than the standard pioneer but the premier stuff will be the equivalent to kenwood's stuff.

To be honest, with a sub, you will probably not notice a difference.

[This message has been edited by dnewma04 (edited October 25, 2000).]

Actually the only difference between the kenwood and pioneer amps that I am looking at, is that the Pioneer has bass boost and a high and low pass filter where as the kenwood is only low pass and with out bass boost. Does bass boost make a big difference?

Thanks for you responses.


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Chris
'99 Tropic Green SVT
KKM, No-res, TH-Fix
B&M Edge Short-Shifter
New style cupholders
Rev. lockout disabled
Pioneer sound system
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=974837&a=7152412