amp strain and distortion

[black cali v6]

is it better to have a more powerful amp and turn the gain down or will an amp play at full power without distortion?

choosing between a JBL BP 300.1 and a 600.1....the 300.1 makes 300 watts RMS at 2 ohms, but is that clean without distorting or clipping(im still not sure what clipping is)....250-300 watts rms is all i need but i could go for the 600.1 and turn it down some

only reason im leaning towards the 300.1 is its about $55 cheaper, its all i need, and i dont want my lights to dim.


zack

[v6maro]

2 ohms is clean and powerfull, 4 ohms is even cleaner, ect
but if you have an amp, say a class D amp, that can handle the 1.0ohm loads, the quality is usually about the same as the 2ohm loads.
-Steve

[black cali v6]

thanks for the info

im going with the 300.1 then

i can use the extra 50 bucks to get a backup camera [img]smile.gif[/img]

zack

ps: i promise all u guys pics when im done, lol you've given me so much help already, and dont worry i'll need tons more [img]smile.gif[/img]

btw if your curious my system will be a full on dvd multimedia system, plus i redid most of the interior lighting in blue, this weekend took off the ac knobs, took the rubber off, and made them translucent blue, looks pretty good, might throw some neons under the dash too. but anyway dvd/tv maybe/backup camera/who knows what else

thanks again


zack

[ChameleonGreen]

What kind of voice coil does your sub have? Dual 4ohm, single 4ohm, dual 2ohm, etc...

[black cali v6]

dual 6 ohm

jl 10w6

[ChameleonGreen]

If you've only got one sub you are only going to be able to present the amp with a 3-ohm load. That means only around 225RMS from the 300.1. You'll get 450RMS out of the 600.1. The JBL's do tend to be underrated though so you might actually ger somewhere around 275RMS out of the 300.1 and 500 out of the 600.1.

[96firebird311]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by black cali v6:
and i dont want my lights to dim.
<hr></blockquote>
You don't have to worry about that with either of those amps. Even if you have a few LCD screen and neons. Those don't draw near as much current as an amplifer. I'm running about 1500RMS through my car. I do have a cap, but still... no dimming.
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>(im still not sure what clipping is)<hr></blockquote>
Hmmm.. let's see if I can try to explain what a clipped signal is without getting flamed... [img]smile.gif[/img]
Ok, you have a regular sine wave (hope you know what that it [img]smile.gif[/img] ) now flatten the very tops and bottoms of the signal. Now (depending on the amount of clipping) the signal is closer to a square wave. Basically what happens is that the woofer will start on the + path (pushing outward) until it reaches the beginning of the flattened top and it will hang there for a fraction (VERY SMALL!) of a second. During this time, the woofer is not moving and has max output from the amp running through it. Needless to say, that speaker is getting VERY hot! Then, on the downward portion of the clipped wave, the woofer will begin to move in the - direction (pushing inward) until it hits the flattened (clipped)bottom of the sine (now square) wave. Now it will stay inward for a fraction of a second, building heat. Then travel back towards the top.
There. That's pretty much it. I know that was probably confusing as all hell, but I tried to break it down step by step so you could understand it and know exactly what was going on. Now the next few posts are going to be people picking apart my lesson... so let the flaming begin! :D

P.S. Chameleon is correct. Since you have a 3 ohm load, you would get about 500RMS out of the 600.1 . Unless you really need the extra $55 I would get that for your JLW6.

[black cali v6]

yea hehe i know how much power im getting at 3 ohms......i went with the 300.1 tho, i dont want to strain the system, going to be doing alot of long distance driving and dont want the alternator belt to go. also i dont want a system that bumps too hard, going more for nice sound quality for dvd movies and stuff.


zack

[ChameleonGreen]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by black cali v6:
yea hehe i know how much power im getting at 3 ohms......i went with the 300.1 tho, i dont want to strain the system, going to be doing alot of long distance driving and dont want the alternator belt to go. also i dont want a system that bumps too hard, going more for nice sound quality for dvd movies and stuff.


zack<hr></blockquote>

You'll probably regret it later if you don't return that and get the 600.

If you were to get the 600 it will NOT be a strain on your system. I've got a 1200 and another amp and I do not have any dimming problems.

Secondly, whichever amp you buy has absolutely NO EFFECT on how much your belt will wear. The belt wearing out is in direct relation to how your engine RPMS are. If you floor the car all the time it will wear faster, if you keep the rpms lower, it will last a little longer. Also, if you drive a lot of highway miles your engine will constanly be around 2000-2500RPMS. This range is where the OEM alternators are designed to put out the most power. Besides, a $15 part that you can replace yourself in 5 minutes should not be the deciding factor in what amp you buy.

Lastly, a SQ system does not have to be lacking in 'bump'. One major part of building an SQ system is keeping out distortion\clipping. With the 300 you are not going to have the amount of bass you really want, so that means you will turn up the volume more or turn the gains higher. With that you get more distortion and lesser quality music. Or you might just skip that part and buy a bigger amp down the line and have a useless amp. I've got two useless one myself. If you get the 600 now you can keep the gains lower, you'll have more headroom, you'll have more clean bass, and you'll be happy.

[massivefirebird]

It'll dim with clipping...

Get the 600, and make sure you use a good power wire, of the proper gauge.

[black cali v6]

what causes clipping though? the gain turned up too high?

[black cali v6]

im trying the 300.1 btw, a friend of mine wants one anyway and he said he'd buy it off me for what i paid since he doesnt have a credit card to order stuff from the web. i can get the 600.1 without a prob then if its not enough bump.

id rather have less bump and less rattles, plus the cops in my area really suck, my friend without a sub got pulled over just for playing his cerwin vega components loud.