Wanting To Upgrade Subs, Need Ideas

Right now im powering my 4 focal component door speakers and 2 jl 8's with an alpine pdx 5 channel 600 watt. I want to go to either 1 ten or 1 twelve(probably 1 ten w7). I know i would need more power but i dont want to go through too much trouble re-wiring a new amp to the new sub. Any ideas or am i just screwed and need to start over???

 

You couldnt power your door speakers and the sub. And even if you only had the 600 channel all 600 watts to the 10w7 it wouldnt be producing an incredible amount of bass. It would sound alright

but...a 10w7 is a 3ohm coil and takes 750 rms. So you would have to atleast a 1000watt amp (unless its a JL amp) to pump 750 to that thing.

JL is kind of sneaky and made 3ohm voice coils so you are almost forced to spend more for a bigger amp or get a JL amp.

 

If you want to just run the 10w7 off of the amp and wire your door speakers off of your amp, you would get decent sound, but the bass wouldnt be incredible.

 

you should start over and sell your PDX to me.

 

What do you think about gettin the jl 500 monochannel to power the w7 and just leavin the 5 channel on the speakers

 

What JL 8's do you have and why do you want to switch them out... if you don't mind me asking?

 

i have w 3's. i love the sound just lookin for some more power i might stick with 8's and go to w7 with them to save some money not sure yet tho

 

Umm 500 rms still wouldnt get that w7 moving the way you might want it. That sucker is gonna take 750 to really get it pushing.

Id recomend buying an eclipse or a jl amp that matches the rms for the sub. I dont recomend under-powering subs.

Keeping the amp for the Focals is a good idea. Personally Id recomend getting a 2xchannel JL amp incase you wanted to get another sub.(The 500 will be enough to get sufficeint bass, but you wont be pounding with that by no means)

Let me know if you need to know anything else.

 

ok i will, thanks alot

 

This is NOT true. You need look at the JL site, which shows you the power ratings for each of their subwoofers. If you put more then 500 watts to the 8w7 you VOID the warranty.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_subs_pages.php?page_id=35

 

good info here

 

The pdx Is fine for your focals and a 500/1 would make a 10w7 Hammer plenty hard. I had two 10w3s running off a 500/1 then switched to a 10w7 and it was a little louder than the pair of 10w3s but it hit cleaner. If you want some real bass check this out! http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2935312/5

 

Sorry if you missed it, I assume you didnt read the previous conversation above. He is considering getting a 12w7 or a 10w7...

10w7 RMS: 750
12w7 RMS: 1000

Read everything before you speak.

 

According to JL Audio the power that you're telling him to put on those will do the following:

"In this zone, low-distortion output and long-term reliability will be compromised (especially by an aggressive user). Slightly more SPL will be gained by pushing the power into this zone, but typically not more than 2dB, compared to the yellow zone. The closer you are to the black zone, the higher the likelihood of driver failure. Operate with caution."

You said:

"Umm 500 rms still wouldnt get that w7 moving the way you might want it. That sucker is gonna take 750 to really get it pushing."

Well, according to the JL documentation 500W is the "OPTIMUM" power to put on the 10W7.

What did I miss?!?!?

 

500 for the JL 12w7 is the minimum. And even if his amp was 500, JL audio has 3 ohm voice coils. They do this so you buy their amps. In order to use his amp, he will have to raise the Ohm load to 4, and lose power. So instead of channeling 500 watts, he'd really only get 300-350 depending on the specs of his amp.

Same follows for the 10w7 except it would move a little more. And you also have to account for loss of power through speaker wire, power wire etc.

His sub will probably produce bass with just the 500 watt amp. Im just not sure what kind of bass he is looking for. Personally, if your going for 1 sub, dont get a JL, they are harder to work with because of their 3 ohm coils.

 

Ported or sealed for the W7? Ported...you don't need true 750 rms. 500 watts would be sufficient. HD 900/5 should be plenty for the mids and highs and sub.

 

The 900/5 is an awesome amp! I would love to have one for my wife's car. Not all JL woofers are 3ohms just the W7's and the 13TW5's.