Car Stereos: sound system installation, dual voice coil, watts rms

Question
Im looking at buying an 1500 watt 12" Alpine Type R sub and sub box. it has 500 Watts RMS and dual 4 ohm voice coil, i have no idea what that stuff means but im just letting you know to maybe make it easier. would you be able to tell me what kind of amp im going to need to power just the sub? also what kind of head unit and capacitor if i need one. thanks, marlon

Answer
Hi Marlon,

When you're looking for an amplifier to match with your subwoofer, you can ignore any "peak" or "max" power ratings, both on the amp and the sub.  Look only at the "RMS" ratings.  For that particular subwoofer, the ideal amplifier would be a mono amp, rated between 300 watts and 500 watts RMS at 2 ohms.  (Because the Type R is a dual voice coil sub, it will be wired to the amplifier as a 2-ohm load).

There are quite a few amplifiers that fall into this power range, and most of them would work very well.  However, I'd suggest Alpine's MRP-M500 amplifier, which would be a perfect match for a single Type-R subwoofer.

If you're shopping for a head unit, you'll probably want to look for one with a subwoofer pre-amp output.  This isn't mandatory, but it's useful, because it usually means you'll be able to make adjustments to your subwoofer's sound output using the head unit controls.  However, you can still use the sub and amp with a head unit that lacks a subwoofer output; or even with a factory radio, if you wish.

I don't think there's any real benefit to adding a capacitor, with this type of system.

Hope this helps!

Brian