Amp and sub questions

[donnie86]

I got this fusion amp for $80 new and was wondering how much power i really get out of it? It says 76w rms but i have heard that these figures are usually unreliable.

FUSION Electronics ? Car and Marine Audio

I am looking to bridge 2 channels and power a sub, probably the fusion encounter 12" which i can get for $50. Has anyone heard one? Are there any subs $50-$100 that stand out?

[theSeekerr]

Rating products at 1% THD is a bit slack to start with, and that's assuming their numbers are accurate. Their bridged into 4 ohms figure is a little less than 2x their 2 ohm figure, so that's a good sign. The fact that their 2 ohm figure is way less than 2x their 4 ohm figure is less encouraging. I reckon it'd be safe to assume that you could get 150W RMS from a bridged channel into a 4 ohm load without breaking anything, but that's based on intuition, not experience with the actual product.

As to the sub - what sort of enclosure were you looking at? Sealed, ported, bandpass, IB? In any case, it's better to choose your driver to suit the application.

[Dan366757]

As far as i know all car audio places bullshit about there power but basically i think you get about a third of the max wattage, i used to have a boss 400w max 2 channel amp powering 2 12in boss subs in my vl and it used to go pretty good, alot of vibration in the old girl, the rear view mirror would shake to the point i couldn't see out of it and my mates would hear me coming from down the road, i was happy with it. so it should go alright i think.

[donnie86]

Sorry im new to car audio what does bandpass and IB mean? I am probably going to port the box but am not sure yet. Is it better to get a larger sub or get one that matches the amp closely in power?

[Dan366757]

A bloke told me once that to run a 1000w sub your best off to run a 1000w amp, i got no idea what bandpass or IB mean. i was just happy with the setup i had and didnt think i needed anymore.

[| evaN |]

really for 100bux you cant get much that really stands out.
If you can get the fusion sub for 50bux then why not. It's rated at 150watts rms which will be ok for this amp.

[holdenboy]

Bandpass is basically a sealed box with the sub firing into a ported enclosure, definately not something to try if you dont know what youre doing.

IB means Infinite Baffle, basically no box at all....like mounting subwoofers in the parcel shelf.

If you do go with a ported enclosure, make sure you get the internal volume and port size / depth right, otherwise it can sound like crap.

As far as the sub goes, its up to you....pretty much no matter what sub you get your only going to be pushing 150wrms into it, so maybe something with a high sensitivity rating would be ideal?

[donnie86]

Which is better for rock? Sealed or ported? I was told by a friend to port so i would get more out of it.

Also where can i get a sub box? Should i get a cheap one or spend a bit in case i upgrade my sub later?

[Philthy]

A sealed box should give tighter, cleaner bass and will be the smallest one if boot space is an issue.
A ported box will be louder, but will be a bit "boomier", and needs to be a bit bigger.
You can make your own box in a couple hours to the exact specs of your sub to get it sounding best, or you can buy basic generic overpriced boxes from most car audio places

[theSeekerr]

Sorry, I forget sometimes that the jargon doesn't come naturally.

I'd personally suggest a sealed box, they're much more forgiving, you can muck them +/- 30% and they'll usually still be fine (a fact those cheap boxes rely on - very few subs are perfectly suited to 1.5 cubic feet, but a great many will work well enough). Most guys seem to run ported these days, but they're much harder to build and tune correctly for the driver, so they tend to sound boomy and "slow".

If you're up for learning the jargon, look up WinISD, it's a speaker box sim tool - it's excellent, provided that the parameters you feed it are accurate.

[donnie86]

I have the fusion sub ($44) and don't really have the time to spend or the ability to spend making a sub box so i will just buy one online. Thanks all

[Philthy]

In that case have a look at the sub's spec sheet, find it's ideal box volume for both sealed and ported (and port info), and find the closest match you can. With cheap gear you will need everything you can get to make it sound good

[donnie86]

Yeah its 1.009 ft^3 sealed and their are plenty that size around. I had a listen in the store and its loud enough for me at the moment.