I have an 800 watt amp,how big subwoofers should I use?

Answer 1

At least 12" and look for the efficiency rating. A 12" inch woofer rated at 90db will play TWICE as loud as one rated at 87db. Every 3db in efficiency gain is like doubling your amplifier. Some of the most efficient are made by Infinity at are rated at 96db.

Answer 2

Well its hard to say with such little information about the amp. First off id like to respond to some answers that have allready been given. Everybody is saying 12" subs, why? I just dont unerstand their resoning. It all depends on what you are going for (SQ) Sound Quality or high (SPL) Sound Pressure Level? I call SPL the boom boom boom all bass no mids or highs. Sound is measured in SPL, SPL is an acoustic measurement for the ratios of sound energy and is rated using a unit called the Decibel or DB SPL. If you want a better possibility of distortion go for the most SPL. Me, I go for sound quality and would use 10" subs because the magnet and voice coil have better control over a smaller area, better for control of the cone of the sub during excursion and retraction and you can still acheive the desired DB with the proper tuning. Thus producing clearer notes in a sealed box of course. If you use a vented box you will get distortion anyways same with a bandpass but a bandpass can literally tear speakers to shreds Ive seen it. Next I wonder why someone is telling you to go by the ratings of the decibel level? You should go by the rest of the ratings of the amp. How many channels is the amp? What is the max wattage? How many subs do you want? Series or Parrellel curcuits between subs if more than 1? Whats the subs resistance after acounting for how youre wiring them? Is the sub or subs single or dual voice coil? If dual voice coils how are they wired series or parrellel? What is the RMS of the AMP? anyways I just thought I would throw it out there and say Bigger Isnt Always Better!!! I am (MECP) Mobile Electronics Certified Proffesional. Also one of my former systems before I was certified was a dual amp kit 2 800w amps bridged to their own 10" subs with a 95DB rating and a RMS of 450w power max handling capacity. It slamed after I had the polarity right. Little tip if they are 180 degrees out of phase the subs will cancel each other out. But I would suggest only 1, 10" sub for an 800w amp bridged yet again not enough info to accually say for sure, using 2 subs could cut the power to each sub in half. Also brand of sub doesnt matter its all in the wire job and setup if you are worried about blowing subs buy warrenty's for them.

Answer 3

Is it 800 watts mono channel at 4ohms? If it is you can run as big as you would like. 15's come to mind if you have the room. If the front of your amp is listed at 800 watts then I would make sure how many watts youre actually getting into 4 ohms.

Answer 4

Well, depends on the setup. Are they gonna be bridged, how many, crap subs or good ones... how much money do you have? These all influence the answer. I think you could handle two good 12" subs. Also depends on if its a Wal-Mart amp or one from a audio place. WalMart amps dont output what the advertise. That is Peak they show (and print in fine print) not RMS. Divide by square root of 2 to get the real value. Lots more could be said but without knowing the specifics of your system, two 12" subs is a good answer.

Answer 5

I run a single 10" Infinity reference with a Pioneer 2 channel 760w amp. It sounds great.

Put your sub in an enclosure. Sealed is best (don't mess with 2nd or 3rd order "fog horns" unless you know what you are doing - these are very sensitive to errors in the volume of the chambers). I use a .75 cu ft custom enclosure with the Infinity 10" because that's what Infinity said to use. It sounds great and hits hard enough to kill your whole family.

If you use too small an enclosure, you will draw too much current for the amount of "hit" you are getting and will get mad at your amp's thermal cut-off activating all the time. If you use too big an enclosure, your sub-woofer will not "hit" as hard. Mine feels like someone thumping my chest and it rattles my pants cuffs as I drive (yes, that's a single 10")

Answer 6

go with 2 10's i have an 800W amp and 2 10s and i get a lot of completments. Just make sure u get good quality subs or else u will just waist ur money. Ive made the mistake be4. Alpine, JL, Rockford Fosgate, all would be good choices.

Answer 7

depends...if you have an amp that can go 800W RMS then you should get some really nice 12's or some good 15's....if its 800 watts max then I would get a 12 or a good 10

Answer 8

You don't provide enough info to give you an accurate answer. ALL these people are guessing. Do you feel comfortable to put a system together on a guess?

E-mail me and I can get you on the right track:
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Check my site:
http://spkrbox1.spaces.live.com

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Answer 9

I would go with the new 2 1/2 inchers.

Answer 10

You should get a 12 inch or two 10 inches