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General discussion

have an amp and subwoofer question

Jan 2, 2009 6:04AM PST

Discussion is locked

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May be too much amp.
Jan 5, 2009 9:38AM PST

I did some digging around and found the owner's manual for that L121P5 sub and found this:

http://www.xplodsony.com/files/manuals//XS-L121P5_Owners_Manual.pdf

While I see what you're doing by matching the max power of the amp to the max power of the sub, equally important (perhaps even more important) is matching the continuous (RMS) power of the amp/sub combo. See, max power is only ever really achieved in short spurts and peaks, but continuous power is the average load the component outputs/receives.

The sub is rated for a continuous 350W RMS @ 4ohm. The amp you're paring it with is rated at 500W RMS @ 4ohm. So, at first glance, the amp may be just a bit too powerful for the single sub. I wouldn't go as far as to say that the amp will blow out the sub with the extra power, but with 150 extra watts, you'll want to be careful with extended periods of max volume listening.

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better to have the headroom
Jan 10, 2009 1:49AM PST

Depending on your mounting location for the amp, I'd rather buy the more powerful amp and turn the gain down a bit. Later, if you upgrade to a bigger sub, or put a second sub in, you don't have to get a new amp.

I always mounted my amps under seats or behind stock panels, so replacing them were a PIA. I may be biased.