Car Stereos: dvc-amp matching, ohm voice coils, watts rms

Question
Hi, Brian. I want to buy a dvc bass tube rated for 250 watts RMS. I'm assuming that means 125 watts rms PER COIL. I want to get a mono amp so I can wire the coils parallel without bridging. I don't know if the RMS rating of the amp should match the TOTAL rms(250) of the speaker or that of an individual coil(125 rms).  Thanx!

Answer
Hi Jason,

The amplifier power should match the total RMS rating of the sub.  Any power produced by the amp will be evenly divided between the two voice coils.

To pick an amp, you'll also need to know the impedance of the voice coils.  For example, if they're 4-ohm voice coils, then you can wire them in parallel so that the impedance at the amp is 2 ohms.  Most amplifiers will have different power ratings for 2 ohms and 4 ohms.

Hope this helps!

Brian