have 2 Kicker Comp 12" subs in an underseat box connected to a Audiobahn A435HCT amp.
What is the best way to wire these subs to the amp and any settings info would be helpful.
Amp specs:
• RMS Power Range : 100x4 Watts
• Number Of Channels: 4
• Maximum Power: 560 Watts
• Low Frequency response: 10 Hz
• High Frequency Response: 40000 Hz
• Built In Crossovers: Yes
• Channel Separation: No
• Variable 24dB High-pass Crossover :50Hz-750Hz
• Variable 24dB Low Pass Crossover : 30Hz- 120Hz
• Variable Subsonic Filter : 20Hz to 45Hz
• Variable Bass Boost : 0 - 18 dB
• Variable Bass Boost Frequency : 40Hz - 100Hz
• RCA Throughput Connections
• 4 Ohms Stereo : 35 x 4
• 2 Ohms Stereo : 70 x 4
• 1 Ohms Stereo : 100 x 4
• 4 Ohms Mono : 70 x 2
• 2 Ohms Mono : 140 x 2
• 1 Ohms Mono : 280 x 2
I’d probably begin by checking the impedance and power handling on the speakers. Odds are, it is printed on the rear of the speakers and they’re 4 ohms and hundreds of watts each. Make sure the speakers can handle at least 70 watt if they’re 4 ohm, 140 watts if they’re 2 ohm.
You’ll want to bridge your 4 chan amp to two channels. Then, connect the speakers to each of the bridged channels. Observer amp and speaker red=+/black=- polarity. If your amp has a stereo/mono switch, you want the latter.
I will check the impedance of the speakers as soon as I can.
I appreciate your answers!
Does it matter where I plug the RCAs into the amp from the radio (just into line 1 and 2?)? http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/ec2e8deb2c.jpg
They are 4 Ohms each.
I bridged the amp (it even has the diagram of proper bridging on the amp), but the sound wasnt as good as when I had both speakers wired to channel 1 only.
(I had both speaker positives to channel 1+, and both negatives wired to channel 1 -)
Two 4 ohm speakers in parallel would be a 2 ohm load.
They should sound just as good when you have each speaker on it’s own channel, but you have to watch out for phasing. If you incorrectly wire one speaker backwards (positive speaker lead to neagative amp connection, etc.) the sound could be worse. I didn’t look at your links, but some amps have a phase switch that can also change things.
Bridge the amp and wire your subs for mono. The car is a terrible audio environment, and in the few recordings that would have shades of nuances that subs wired in stereo would reproduce, it isn’t worth the power disadvantage to try to hear them.
You want power and volume, and a 4 channel car amp is only going to deliver that if you bridge it to 2 channels. Also a word of advice: the gain knob is not a volume knob. Use the gain to adjust the volume of your subs to match the rest of your system so that they are loud and clear and distortion free, but not so loud that you are overwhelming the rest of s the spectrum of sound from the rest of your music.
Another thing: what kind of an enclosure for the subs do you have? If you have two 12’s I’d highly recommend a sealed enclosure. Ported boxes are usually better for a single sub when you’re trying to eke out volume, but their sound is often farty and distorted sounding to me. A sealed box with two Kicker Comp 12’s will produce very punchy and loud bass. Kicker subs aren’t the most musical subs out there, but they are loud, inexpensive and durable. My system I had in my car when I was in college featured two of those, and they were my weakest component (cheapest). Breaking the bank on subs for a car is kinda silly to me, as they don’t really need to be super crystal clear, just powerful, and they are the easiest of your system to steal too.
And don’t go below 4 ohms, either. I’m not familiar with your amp design but a lot of times I experienced amp thermal overload shut downs from trying to get that 2 ohm power rating, even on amps that claimed they could handle it. You’ll get plenty of power from that 4-channel amp bridged to mono at 4 ohms. In the future if you want to improve your system I would keep that 4 channel for your smaller speakers and invest in a class d two or one channel mono amp that’s designed just for powering subs.
What do you mean by ‘wasn’t as good’? It wasn’t as loud or was there some distortion or other artifacts present? Are you sure you are running the input in mono? Do both speakers seem to fire in unison? For subs, you’ll probably want to tie the left and right stereo receiver outputs and feed both amp inputs the mixed signals. This way, the bass from either channel is thumped by both speakers.
Thank you for your reply!
The speakers didn’t seem to have any distortion, but they didn’t perform as well.
The speakers didn’t thump as hard or loud no matter what I did to tune them.
I am not sure how to get the amp to be mono if it isnt already…
I’ve looked at your amp. You want the crossover to the subs to be about 90hz. That way you will still get some high-bass reproduction without frying your subs. You must keep high frequencies away from your subs or they will blow out.
Set your bass boost frequency to around the 50-60hz range. This is the range where most sub bass really thumps. Do not set your bass boost setting above about 5-8 db. You will get distortion over that, which sounds like shit and is bad for your speakers.
Ideally what you want to do with your gain settings is match up as close as you can to the highest possible volume settings on your head unit to the near limit of your amp and speaker ability to produce loud volume without distortion. That way you can just turn your head unit’s volume all the way up and have loud volume without having to worry about failures and distortion.
My audio interests have always been home oriented rather than car, but I’ve never heard of or experienced this before.
I understand why tweeters/mids can blow from too much power (even clean), too low frequencies, and/or clipped signals. But all I’ve ever heard about restricting high frequencies from subs has to do with getting a good match with the (high) bass/mids and not being able to audibly detect where the subs are since they’re often not located physically close to the other drivers.
Could you elaborate a bit on how high frequencies would blow a sub driver?
