Amp & Sub have no idea

[Kenoconnor]

Amp & Sub have no idea

Hi guys , I know nothing about car audio and want to buy my son a subwoofer, he had this kicker 400.4 amp and wanting to know if this pioneer sub is   Compatible. 

Thanks ken

 

• 12 inch subwoofer
• 1300 watts max music power
• Sealed carpeted enclosure
• 350 watts RMS at 4 ohm
• Custom grille

[inmaniac]

Yes that will work fine mate. Bridge 2 of the channels on the amp to power the sub and job done.

[Kenoconnor]

Thanks for the quick reply inmaniac ?

[Robzilla32]

I have a Pioneer TS-WX305B (previous model I assume) for sale if you live close to Melbourne. It is BNIB. $125.00

[mikel]

is your son currently using the kicker amp for his car stereo?

if he is it may not have 2 spare channels to bridge for the sub.

If the amp has 2 channels spare then as @inmaniac says - bridge them

 

cheers

Mike

[mikel]

21 hours ago, Robzilla32 said:

 It is BNIB. $125.00

LOL, clearly I don't buy enough stuff off the internet - I had to look up BNIB! ("Brand New In Box" for those like me)

Mike

[Kenoconnor]

23 hours ago, Robzilla32 said:

I have a Pioneer TS-WX305B (previous model I assume) for sale if you live close to Melbourne. It is BNIB. $125.00

Up in Queensland rob bit far thanks 

2 hours ago, mikel said:

LOL, clearly I don't buy enough stuff off the internet - I had to look up BNIB! ("Brand New In Box" for those like me)

Mike

 

[Kenoconnor]

Hi mikel , I know it's a 4 channel amp and I have been reading some and come across this idea , the wiring looks straight forward but not sure about the other buttons and what to set them too , thanks kento 

[mikel]

in your diagram you're wiring 2 x 2ohm speakers in paralllel - that's a 1ohm load - my quick review of the amp says it can handle a 2 ohm load not 1 ohm.

Even at low volume, a 1ohm load could put the amp into protection mode due to the high current required with such a low impedance load

if the drivers were 4ohm each it would be ok

looks like you need 2 channel input, not 4, (your ? above) and get 3 channels out - left, right and bridged sub - left and right crossed to sub at 80Hz

 

cheers

Mike

[niZmO_Man]

As above, you have to check that your amp can handle the setup. Some channels aren't bridgeable on some amps so be careful and double check the documentation.

[Kenoconnor]

Hey mike , would I be right in saying if my speakers are 4ohm I could wire up amp as in diagram , this wiring diagram is my preferred way but if I have to could  I bridge sub ,run front speakers from amp and rear speakers from head unit . 

Thanks for all the help Ken

[mikel]

Hi Ken,

I'll preface this post with the point that most of my audio experience is with home and pro audio not car audio, but most I say below should still apply...

On 9/28/2017 at 4:03 PM, Kenoconnor said:

Hey mike , would I be right in saying if my speakers are 4ohm I could wire up amp as in diagram , this wiring diagram is my preferred way but if I have to could  I bridge sub ,run front speakers from amp and rear speakers from head unit . 

Thanks for all the help Ken

correct - if your speakers are 4ohm, then in parallel they (should) present a 2ohm load to the amp - and based on the quick skim I had of the amp specs this should be OK.

That said, a speaker's impedance varies with frequency - it has a peak impedance at the resonant frequency of the driver, then drops back and rises slowly as the inductance of the voicecoil increases with frequency.

Driver specs don't really provide enough information (eg 8 ohm vs 4 ohm) as to what their minimum impedance is, but it's a start.

"Normal" home/pro audio drivers are typically 8ohm or 4ohm - maybe some car audio drivers are specced at 2ohms - I wouldn't know.

In home audio and pro audio any speaker/driver that dips below 2ohms impedance would be regarded as a "difficult" load for any amplifier to drive.

You should never connect a load impedance to an amp lower than what the amp can drive - the output stage of the amp will go into protection mode (if you're lucky) or fail.

If your drivers are 4ohm, not 2ohm, start with the wiring diagram you provided - it should be fine.

If your drivers are 2 ohm (does car audio have 2ohm drivers?), then you could wire them in series as opposed to parellel and present a 4ohm load to the amp - this would be fine as far as not overloading the output stage of the amp, but may require tweaking of volumes on amp channels to get the balance right between mains and sub (which is required anyway if adding a new sub)

On 9/28/2017 at 4:03 PM, Kenoconnor said:

but if I have to could  I bridge sub ,run front speakers from amp and rear speakers from head unit . 

Thanks for all the help Ken

In reality you need the ability to change the volume front to rear (ignoring the sub for the moment) to get the balance right - so this is a good idea.

Running front and rear speakers in series or parallel won't allow volume tweaking front/rear.

Based on my (limited) knowledge of car setups, your front speakers are more important - so running the fronts off the amp and the rears off the head unit is the best approach - as you've suggested.

Whichever way you go you should plan around 2 channels bridged for the sub with the following points as suggestions:

• the spec of the sub says 94dB at 1W (in car) - I suspect that 94db is measured at 60-80Hz or so, not 20 - 30Hz - hence you'll want the extra power from bridging 2 channels of the amp
• for a bridged amp (2 amp channels in bridge mode), each amp channel "sees" half the speaker load, so for a 4ohm speaker connected to a pair of amps connected in bridged mode - each amp sees a 2 ohm load - make sure the amps can handle the load (in this case a 2 ohm load from a 4ohm speaker)
• be very careful of EQ boost at low frequencies - in car audio you get significant cabin gain that works in your favour, but even with that, in the bottom end where the driver/box response is dropping off, adding EQ can consume available amplifier headroom very quickly and force the amp into clipping.

cheers

Mike