# 93 GA16 Max Amp



## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

So my car needs more bass than the 6 x 9's I just installed put out. I don't necessarily need a lot of power, but I want a good low frequency response with decent kick. I don't need to wake the neighborhood or anything. 

So I'm thinking I'll get a 12" sub and a 200W amp. Can the stock alternator on a 93 GA16 handle this safely? (I'm willing to upgrade the wires as necessary. How does that go? Use 2ga for battery to chassis ground, battery to alternator power, and block to chassis ground or something like that?)


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

if you just want decent kick, don't get a 12, get a 10.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

chimmike said:


> if you just want decent kick, don't get a 12, get a 10.



I disagree, you should always get the largest diameter sub you are willing to give up the space for. Larger subs have better efficiency, better low frequency reproduction, and they have arguably better sound quality. That last comment will probably piss a couple people off, but it's pretty simple. The closer a sub is to equilibrium (no movement, just sitting still) the less distortion it has. The larger the sub, the less the cone has to move for a given SPL. A 10" that's moving close to it's full xmax is going to have much more distortion than a 15 that's only moving a couple mm each way, even though you have the same output in both cases.

Back on topic, your stock alternator will be fine on 200 watts, you don't even need to upgrade the wiring if you don't want to. I always recommend you do, but even if you don't you aren't going to run into any dimming problems at all. Just use 4ga for all the wires under the hood, that would be plenty up to ~1200rms, any larger would just be overkill. Overkill is normally good when it comes to wiring, but sometimes it's just a waste of money. You have the locations for the wires right, it's the battery ground, alt + to batt +, and engine to ground.

Since you aren't after a lot of output, you might as well spend the money on something with good sound quality that can dig deep. How much space do you want to give up? I would go with a 12, but the box size can range from .75cf to over 2cf depending on which one you go with.


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

I figure I'd probably be willing to give up the back, say, foot and a half of the trunk. Single sub next to the amp or somethin like that. (When I say back, I mean close to the back seat.) I don't want to spend much (will probably wait till classes are over and I'm working again this summer) so I'm thinking an inexpensive pheonix amp and maybe a 12" sony, both of which i've found good reviews for (on epinions.com) and can be found for 50-100 a piece.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Don't read those unprofessional reviews, they're normally written by morons from what I've found (people saying their single RF punch broke their trunk lid in half  ). PG amps are good, but they're pretty expensive for what you get, they shouldn't be used for a budget system. And Sony is Satan's gift to car audio, absolutely horrible. Unreliable, don't get loud, terrible sound quality, just plain junk.


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

Haha yeah, I disregarded one review cuz the guy mentioned how well his sub hit the high's...

So, got any sub/amp recommendations for a 12" & 200ish watt on a budget of under $200?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

$200?
damn

uh....
e12Kx.22 - $85
JBL P80.2 - $100

That's the best I can come up with, that JBL won't be pushing the sub very well though. If you could manage to upgrade to the 180.2 it would be worlds better, but that's $170.


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## BikerFry (Jul 31, 2003)

My roommate just reminded me that he's got a 150watt rms computer sub with a burned up amp sitting in his closet. (It's from the Cambridge Soundworks 510D series, very nice sub. I could have it for free.) Since the woofer is in perfect shape and very high quality and already in the right enclosure but the amp in the enclosure is blown, could I theoretically power this off of a car amp? Would I need a DC to AC power converter between the amp and the sub?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

I would be scared how bad that sub would sound in a car. Home theater subs should never be used in a car, the subs themselves can be used, but you MUST build new enclosures for them. Things are completely different in a car, something that works great for the house will normally sound like ass in a car.

How does he know the sub is still fine? Has he tested it somehow? What is the impedence of the sub? Do you know ANY of the T/S parameters for it (xmax, qts, qes, qms, vas, fs, anything)? If you knew these things, you could build a new box for it so it could sound decent, and you could get an amp that would power it properly. Without knowing them though, your car's audio would sound like a turd on wheels and you could easily blow whatever amp you got to power it.


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