A few Sub/amp questions...

[chevyin]

Im not an audio expereither but have some electronic and electrical experience.

I agree and disagreeon the max current draw. Under normal operation withing the specs of the amp you are correct. but if you push an amp too far the output transistors get to a point they can no longer cunduct any more electricity called saturation, this causes the sound to flatten out the wave , called clipping . at that point the amp is drawing maximum current. That is why you blow an amp or sub when you use too small of an amp. you are better off buying an amp rated about 10 or 15 % above the rated continious wattage rating of the speakers and then back off the gain on the amp so as not to blow the speakers. as far as the speakers them selves; go with what sounds good to you , everyone hears differently and has thier own tastes. find what you like sound wise and if it fits in your given air space then size the amp to that sub.

You do not blow equipment by running too small of an amplifier, you do it by setting your gains incorrectly. So the problem is not the amplifier size, it is the improper gain setting.

The idea that a smaller amp will make someone more likely to adjust the gains higher simply doesn't match up with what really happens most times (unfortunately). If the person is ignorant of the proper way to set their gains and the possible problems that come from setting them too sensitive, this will apply to him setting the gains on the small amp and larger amp like. In other words, if he buys the larger amp, he's still likely to crank the gains in order to get every watt he paid for.

If the idea is to get someone to buy too large of an amp, in the hopes they will then realize this means leave the gains low, imo that's asking them to spend more money rather than educate them and purchase the correct sized amp. Its just an input sensitivity adjustment, its not rocket science.

You do bring up a good point I did not mention. My comments on wiring size were assuming the amplifier(s) was set up to not allow clipping. Clipping is fairly easy to avoid, there are mutliple ways of detecting it and/or preventing it.

 

[cdoggwsu]

Do keep in mind that the majority of the bass you can "feel" in a vehicle is directly contingent on the airspace being contained in the cabin. As soon as you take the top off it's a whole different deal. I build a system with a friend a few years ago for his K5 with no top and it took 4 Diamond Audio 12's and almost 2000 watts to keep the boom he was looking for without the aid of a contained cabin.

We also alleviated some strain on the alternator by running all the amps off of a second isolated Optima yellow top behind the rear seat (red top up front). This worked for the short term (as in the few months the system was in the truck) but I would imagine that took quite a few years off the life of that stock alternator.