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Originally Posted by mercury-hg
most of what you mention here is good advice, but this underpowering myth is crap that, for some reason, gets quoted like the bible:
a brief excursion in electrical engineering, hopefully without too mnay equations or EE-speak:
an amp takes a waveform (music), makes it bigger but proportionately identical, and sends it to the speakers. problems occur if the "speaker level" version of the waveform is clipped (a form of distortion, but not the only type). this can occur if the output waveform (a) exceeds the amp's voltage rails or (b) the amp can't source enough current to the speaker, causing the voltage to "sag". a speaker's displacement is proportional to the voltage waveform it gets from the amp, so when a waveform is clipped, full power (P=VI) is pumped into the speaker, but the speaker is fully extended and immobile. this stresses the speakers structurally and doesn't displace the heat cause by the high power level. generally, this situation is what kills a sub.
if "underpowering" damages speakers, then we all would destroy speakers simply by turning the volume knob counterclockwise.
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Thank you for clearing this up. Ive heard countless people say it, but going to school for engineering, could never rationalize it through actual physics principles.
The coil heating thing always seemed something that would happen after a speaker couldn't move any further out, and the energy from the current gets turned to heat, rather then movement. And as most (at least old) volume controls were a simple rheostat, (variable resistance) to control the current, THe underpowering kills speakers never made sense.
Regardless, the install went very very well, as I built a custom fiberglass enclosure, sealed to .75 cu ft per sub, which was one of the recomended set ups for the subs in the manual.
Now any thoughts on best amp brands? I've heard brandons advice, and no offense, but he pretty much likes JL and only JL, so I was looking for some people that maybe had some broader experience.
(I do appreciate everything you've been able to tell me so far though brandon, just looking for more, broader opinions.)
Rockford could be a choice, but again, I simply want as many opinions, and reasons for them that I can get my hands on, so I can make the best informed decision I can.