asking basic questions about car audio..?

Question

1)For example..If i get a certain sub with 200 watts. What watts must my amps be?And does anything happens if the watts of amps are lesser or greater the subs?

2)What is mono channel,2 channel, and 4 channel amps?what is the difference?and How can each one be used?

3)What does ohms mean?

Answer 1

1) You alway want to look at the RMS values not "max" or "peak" values. Those number are just for marketing and have no meaning as far as choosing what you want. It's always best to power you subs with at least 75% of their rated RMS and not exceed their RMS by more then 10% .

2) Mono and 2 channel amps are most commonly used for subs. Mono channel amps have only one channel and are used only for subs due to their increased power producing capabilities. 2 channel amps can be used, usually, for 1 set of speakers or bridged to create a "bigger" mono channel amp for subs.4 channel amps are most commonly used for 4 speakers.

3) An ohm is a measure of electrical resistance. All speakers and subs have ohm ratings, as do amps. You always want to match the ohm ratings of the amp to that of the sub...or higher.

Theses were pretty basic explanations...email me if you have more questions or want a more in depth explanation on anything.

UPDATE:

Actually Crunch, you're all backwards. If you go back and read, a good 85% of the questions here people are suggesting they match the peak ratings of subs and amps together. That's for people who don't know what they're doing, RMS is the maximum power a certain device, be it a amp or sub, can produce or handle safely for an extended amount of time. This number is for people who know what they doing.

If you lower the gain, crunch, all your doing is reducing the sensitivity the amp has to the input signal. Therefore, reducing the RMS output the amp creates. Why would you spend the extra money getting a bigger amp then the rated RMS of the subs only to turn down the gain to match the amps RMS to the subs??

Answer 2

1 you would want to try and stay in between like if you have a 400w sub you would want a 200w amp so that way neither you will blow 2 mono is a class D only 1 sub can go on it basicly 2chanel is for 2 subs but usually can be bridged into one for more power of one sub 4 channel = 4 subs 3 ohms is the way you choose to wire from the sub to the amp and you want to make sure if the amp is compatible to go to lower ohms

Answer 3

1) The sub rating of 200 watts is its maximum - your amp should put out less power than this for each speaker - 100 watts is plenty. (Too much power, and you'll blow out the speaker.)
2) Mono is one channel, 2-channel is for straight stereo, 4-channel allows you to control 4 separate speakers for stereo or mono.
3) Ohms is the measure of the impedance of the speaker - its resistance to audio power signals. You should try to match your speakers to your amp - if the speaker ohms are higher than the amp's ratings, that's OK, but not the other way around.

Answer 4

a over powered amp will give a cleaner signal than a just enough or 10% over amp. with this said yes you must set the gain lower so that you wont over power your subs rms rating by 10% or so (a rms rating is just a number set by the manufacturer to keep people who dont know what they are doing from blowing their speakers to easily). but running a matched amp at high levels will only run into clipping, I can run all day and never clip or over power any sub with a over sized amp. sorry had to chime into this question because no one was telling it the way it is.

Answer 5

Most of what you need to know is here http://spkrbox1.spaces.live.com

To properly set the gain...

The purpose of the gain is to match the signal volts RMS coming from the source (CD player, etc.) to the input of the amp.

Here is a guide that will help you set the gain correctly http://www.datafilehost.com/download.php?file=6d26c621

You'll need a multi-meter (AC voltmeter), Microsoft Excel and a way to burn an audio CD from an MP3.

If you don't have Excel, e-mail me and I'll send you a condensed version [e-mail]