Just bought Solo-Baric, need Audio help

[waylon hatch 4]

Just bought 1 Kicker Solo-baric S8L7 on Ebay. 170.00 shipped. I need advice on an amp. I'm not very good with Ohms, and Bridging, and channels, so any help is appreciated. Also, I will just be running one speaker. I don't want to have a rap concert in my ST. I just want a little deeper bass, and richer sound. However, I have heard that It is not good to underpower a Solo-baric





TIA

 

[Conrad AlbertoJr]

Im not sure about the rower requirmentents of that specific solo baric, but in terms of power you want an amp that thats rms power is euqual too or greater than the rms power req. of the sub. Getting an amp thats power output is less than that will not let the sub work to its full potential. Power doesnt ncessarily mean extremely loud, but allows for a deeper fuller bass. Two channel would be enough for just one sub.

 

[Jason Wilson]

Well I guess the question is did you get the 2 or 4 ohm speaker.



If they are 4 ohms you can get the kicker kx400.1

it is almost a perfect match and you will run your speaker in parallel.



If you got the 2ohm speaker you can get the kx 450.2. You can run your speaker in series and bridge your amp and it will put out 450 bridged



for info on series and parallel go to

 

[Uruiah Barley]

I would suggest a rockfordfosgate amp. They're tough little amps that are reasonably priced and have all the adjustments you need to produce the sound that you want. It'll take some tweaking but it can be done easily. Also some of their amps are stable at 1 ohm so even if you have a 2 ohm or a 4 ohm sub you should be ok. Almost all of their amps are bridgable and have built in crossovers as well as seperate bass control that can be installed remotely from the amp for your easy access. You could adjust it depending on what your mood is that day.

 

[Fudged Undies]

You DO NOT want an amp that is equal in power to the speaker. Though logically this makes sense, this is inaccurate because often times amp manufacturers fudge the power output of their amps. Most big names no longer over rate their amps but none the less, get an amp that puts out more power than you need. You will regulate this using the gain control on the amp. This is partially what the gain is for. You don't just crank the gain up to max and leave it, chances are this will cause distortion and potentially damage the speaker. A bigger amp (more powerful), will also give you future flexibility if you choose to go to a larger woofer. On the other side, if you under power the woofer you WILL NOT damage it, it just won't perform as well as it could. If you need some help with the details feel free to drop me an email.

 

[tony brizag]

fosgate 500 w 2 channel

 

[Fudged Undies]

I would also suggest looking into a mono amp. A two channel will serve no purpose if it is not bridgeable and is less efficient than a mono amp which means more heat at higher power output. I'm sure you'll be happy with a fosgate amp but go with a mono not two channel.

 

[waylon hatch 4]

Thanks to all that have replied so far. I did get the 2ohm, I should have meantioned that.







Man, I love this site. WH

 

[Jason Wilson]

The info about getting an amp that under powers the speaker and not hurting it is incorrect.



Most speakers are blown because people do not have enough power to them. They want more bass and volume with the speaker and when they don't get a big enough amp they keep turning up the volume on the stereo to get the desired result. Because the speaker does not have enough power the speaker starts to distort and it blows it.

 

[Dale Carter]

Underpowering speakers is a big problem. Tank is on the right track regarding underpowered amps getting turned up. When an amp is run too hard it will clip and that "clipped" wave will result in an overheated voice coil, damaging the capabilities of the speaker. If anything, overpower the sub slightly and run it at a reasonable level. It is impossible to hear a sub clip but it is easy to hear when your mids or tweets clip. The rattle or "splat" in a sub is not clipping, but cone over excursion.



The exceptions are high end amps with sophisticated protection circuits. These are especially prevalent in high end PA systems from names like Crest, Crown and QSC, but seem to be rare in home and mobile audio.



The answer is to carefully evaluate your listening needs and build/tune your subs accordingly. I listen to a wide varity of music and have no interest in how hard my sub hits. I want it to sound accurate and, sometimes, turn it up a little. My 94 Explorer Sport had a single JL 10" (Stealthbox) powered by a PPI 300 and was perfectly adequate for my needs. A Snoop Dogg fan probably would have munched it in a few days.



My plan is to replace the "40" seat in the back with a sub box with two JL 12"s. That project is a month or two away.

 

[Travis Munday]

I'll agree on the underpowering an amp is not very good for the speaker. A manufacturer would rather you slightly over amp a sub then under amp it. I would recommend, from personal experience, the <a href="http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/products/amps/all/c500_1/" target="top">Polk/MOMO C500.1</a>. It's a small amp that puts out lots of power. Even though it is only rated at 500 watts @ 2 ohm, it puts out close to 600, I think mine was bench tested at 560 watts, RMS. I've got it pushing a DVC 12" rated at 400 watts RMS, 800 max. I keep everything tweaked down, the gain, boost (both HU EQ and sub EQ), with the upper roll off set fairly low, around 120 Hz I think. I've got some very clean sound, very loud sound, no hint of any clipping, distortion, excess heat, or anything...no matter how loud I listen to the music, or how heavy the bass. I've had it cranked on compition bass CDs for around 30 mins, and the amp was still cool to the touch.

 

[Fudged Undies]

To clarify, the underpower issue is one of poor/improper amp tuning (read distortion) not actually due to underpowering the sub. These are two extremely different things. Saying that underpowering a sub will cause damage would mean that when you are listening to your system at a level that permits conversation, your subis being underpowered, so damage should follow. Obviously, this isn't accurate or correct. Underpowering can lead to damage due to distortion via pushing the amp beyond it's means, yes, but underpowering itself does no harm to any speaker. Hence the bigger amp being an advantage.



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Edit: Even having a sufficiently powered amp can have the same effect as the underpowered amp, if the tuning isn't correct. The output voltage of your headunit should match the input voltage of your amp. This isn't so important if you don't push your equipment very hard, but for the most part Kicker Solo aren't sound quality woofers, they're more for volume. Hence proper amp tuning, (read correct gain adjustment). The gain nob is not just a volume nob.

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[Dale Carter]

Spiff, well clarified. Gain staging is a pretty esoteric concept for even experienced audio pros. I do an extensive amount of pro aduio for live concerts up to 20,000 people. I can't tell you how many times I have seen sound "engineers" (aka fader jockeys) at live shows wonder why their sound was poor and they didn't even know how to properly set the gain on the input strip of a mixer. That error builds and builds through multiple eq's, compressors, fadrs, subgroups, expanders, gates, etc. etc.



Like the computer dudes say GIGO, Garbage In, Garbage Out!.

 

[Fudged Undies]

Thanks Dale. I thought that needed a bit of clarification. I do agree a bigger amp is always better, but i've heard this underpower argument before and until Tank explained pushing to the point of distortion, it didn't occur to me. I love discussions like this one.

 

[waylon hatch 4]

Ok, that's all nice, and good. However, I still need suggestions on what amp to buy. Anybody have suggestions in the 200.00 range, or will that just not cut it for the Solo-baric?

 

[Travis Munday]

I don't think $200 will really cut it, you won't be able to buy a powerful enough amp that'll last you more then a few months. Even if you have to wait a few months to be able to afford a proper amp, I'd suggest doing so. I know, it sucks having that nice new sub staring at you in the face...I had my new wheels and tires for about 5 months before I was able to install them, I know the feeling , but it's better to give the sub something that is matched, not what seemed like a good idea at the time. Oh, and don't forget to budget about $100-150 for an amp install kit and patch cables.

 

[Jason Wilson]

I agree with Tiger, but you can find some on ebay. I didn't read all the details on this so check but it is a good price.

 

[Fudged Undies]

Well, just as big an issue as the amp it the model s8l7 you bought. Above you stated that you got the 2Ohm model. These subs have dual voice coils which means to run it your going to have to run it in either series or parallel. Running the speaker in series will give you better sound quality and a bit less thump from the woofer and an effective ohm-age of 4. Running in parallel, will drop you ohms to 1, effectively giving you more power but less quality.



Since you can run at 1 ohm and you chose this particular woofer, you should seriously consider getting a mono amp that can handle this load. For the most part, since you chose this woofer I have to think you're looking for maximum thump in a small package and this is the right woofer for the job.



Here are a couple of amps which should match well with your woofer and keep you happy:



<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKFORD-FOSGATE-MONO-900-WATT-AMPLIFIER-MONOBLOCK-2005_W0QQitemZ5794158298QQcategoryZ64572QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"target=top>fosgate</a>

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-KX1200-1-MONO-AMP-1200-WATTS-1200-X-1_W0QQitemZ5796031884QQcategoryZ79829QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"target=top>Kicker 1200.1 (old model)</a>

<a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/HIFONICS-BX1205D-1200w-MONO-CAR-AMPLIFIER-1-OHM-STABLE_W0QQitemZ5794093747QQcategoryZ18797QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"target=top>Hifonics Brutus</a>



Anyone of the above amps will make you happy however the kicker and brutus will put out much more power than the fosgate. I think the brutus would best suit your needs due to power needed as well as amp size. If you purchased the 4ohm model rather than the 2ohm model your amp choices will broaden considerably.



On a side note, I don't know any of the sellers on ebay nor have I done any business with them. So purchase at your own risk.