When buying and amp for your sub do you go for the RMS of the sub or MAX power?

Question

I just bought a Audiobahn Flame Q 12'' subwoffer (2200 watts max; 1100 watts RMS) for my car and my amp that I have in my car right now is much to weak, im looking to buy another amp and I was wondering if I need a 2200 watt amp or a 1100 watt amp, I have herd that if I get the 2200 watt amp that I could potentially blow the sub, but I have also herd that I could have a 5000 watt amp and could not blow the sub unless I just completely distorted it. I am just wondering if I should go with a 1100 watt amp or a 2200 watt amp with money not really being a big factor, and if you could provide some links to amps that would fit this category. -Thanks much appriciated

I am only powering 1 subwoffer.

Answer 1

When matching any audio equipment, you should always match up RMS power ratings, not peak ratings. There is no standard for measuring a peak or max power rating, so most manufacturers just use it as a marketing tool.

When picking out an amplifier, you also need to know the impedance (ohm) rating of the speaker because most amps put out different power levels into different impedances. With your one subwoofer, you're looking for around 1100 watts into a 2-ohm load. This usually means a mono amp.

Whoever told you that you couldn't blow the sub with a 5000 watt amp unless it was distorted was wildly incorrect. There's a common myth that it's easier to blow a sub with too little power as opposed to too much power, but that untrue, as this link explains: http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/scripts/rightnow.cfg/php.exe/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=63 Speaker power ratings are seldom exact, so you'll usually be okay if you pick an amp that's close to the speaker power rating, a little bit over or quite a bit under won't usually hurt anything if you don't abuse it.

Here's a couple that would probably work well:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-i3RGlnHyU12/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=120&I=113KACX1R
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-i3RGlnHyU12/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=120&I=500MRDM105

Answer 2

You need to find an amp that puts out close to the RMS value of your sub. So if your amp did like 1000 rms i would say that would be fine. I'd like to see 5000 watts on it....yeah i can see the smoke now.

Answer 3

is it a 2ohm or 4ohm sub? go for an amp that matches the rms of the sub. with an 1100watt rms sub find an amp between 900-1200rms. check out onlinecarstereo.com for some good prices and they have ratings that people that own items

Answer 4

u want an amp that runs between the rms and peak