Hi guys im looking to buy an HCCA 15.2 Orion sub, but curious if my amplifier is putting out enough watts to make it worth the money. I am running an mtx 81001d. Which i will be running at 1 ohm which should give me 1500 rms and the sub is rated at 2,000rms 4000 peak. Thanks in advance.

 

what is your main goal; are you planning on competing, or is this just to add a sub to ur system? do you know what 1500w rms sounds like in a civic? hcca's are cheap for the power/price ratio, provided you pay 6-700$ for it..

more details please

 

Ya i know a bit about stereo systems. This is just the most ive spent and the highest amount of watts. As far as if i know what it will sound like i was just pushing 2 Fosgate P3's but at 2 ohms which my amp puts out 1,000rms and it blew them and it seemed loud but not quite as loud as i would like. Also i am going to be putting the HCCA 15 into a subaru wagon that im buying soon. Pulling the civic engine and making it a track only car. So not sure if that answered your question or not. Ive just been doing alot of research on what sub to go with and really like what i have read and seen on the HCCA but i read it needs watts so just want to make sure this amp is good for the task i know its alot of watts.

 

U can't even hear the difference in 500w...not even 1000w extra

You only gain 3db in output when you double the power. Don't get all hyped up by numbers, just make sure the sub is in the right enclosure.

 

It is not enough wattage for that sub, the sub is 2 ohms, you will be running your amp at 2 ohms not one ohm, you will underpowered the sub by a lot, most likely driving the amp into constant clipping, [distortion] resulting in DC output and that will burn the subs VC, destroying the sub. 94

 

Yes it is a 2 ohm sub but you can wire a 2 ohm sub to 1 ohm.

 

Just need an answer not a big deal if it dont work i will just go with my plan b 2 fosgate t1d4 12's and run those at 1 ohm.

 

Then it must be a dual VC 2 ohm sub.
Still is not enough watts.94

 

Yup




how is it not enough power, though? What are those extra 500 gonna do?

 

why not run Fi?

 

Jeezzz edzy, even you must know that the most common reason for speaker failure is under-powering them, [driving underpowered amps into clipping] do you just not know that, or is it just that you need to disagree with me on everything.???

What will the extra 500W do, it will most likely result in the OP not overdriving the amp into clipping, in turn, not burning the VCs in the sub.94

 

Dude, you are much much smarter than this. Please re-read what you just said. Clipping and under-powering are NOT synonyms with each other.

It's a common myth, so i'll let it slide this time lol

If anything, read this http://www.bcae1.com/2ltlpwr.htm

 

Let me rephrase, although I stand by my statement, N0obs turning the volume up on amps that are underpowered for the speakers they are powering will drive the amp into clipping resulting in blown speakers.

My statement that underpowered systems are the cause of more blown speakers still stands, you are correct the underpowered amp does not blow the speaker it is the clipping amp that blows them, but that is far less of a problem when system is properly powered.

Over the last 30+ years I have replaced 100s if not 1000s of speakers blown because of underpowered systems, [operators overdriving the amp(s)] and very few on properly powered systems. 94

 

You're right, but it is kinda vague, no?

It's not the under-powering that's ruining the speakers... It's the idiot behind the volume ****.

 

You should be fine with that just don't turn your gain up all the way if you aren't getting the "BOOM" you wanted but most likely it'll be plenty loud. I say under 3/4 gains and same with that volume ****.

 

My vote is the later it's common knowledge, most anyone that knows anything about audio knows that and I'm sure Edzy knew exactly what you were talking about but chose to argue to argue.

I tend to ignore his posts or his following comments.

 

* Continuous power handling will be 1500W (under rated) There's a specs from a dealercostcaraudio. Manufacturers underrate their products so people don't blow it easily all the time.

 

Know what you mean, and it is never any help to the OP who only gets confused with seemingly opposing info.

I can probably count on one hand the number of customers over the last 30+ years that had underpowered systems and knew not to over drive the amps, pretty much everyone else ended up burning up at least some of their speakers before upgrading amps to ones with wattage that matched or exceeded speaker continuous power handling, [RMS], or learned to be carefull with the volume ****

It's like Murphy's Law if they can, [turn the volume **** higher] they will and something will go wrong.

We got to the point of having cones with VC and former attached in our show case, one with a burnt VC, [from clipping amp] and one that was defective but not burnt so we could show customers that if the VC was burnt like this, [show burnt VC] warranty was void, and if it looks like this, [show unburnt VC] warranty would replace the speaker, one is abuse and not covered and the other is a defect and covered. 94

 

If they can they will with a higher rms amp and that will be worse than a smaller wattage amp.

 

lol..you can ignore my posts all you want, dude.

Clipping and underpowering ARE NOT synonyms with each other.

No speaker, in the history of the universe, has ever failed because it didn't have enough power. If Under powering your speaker blows them then they are being damaged every time you turn them on and listen at low volume for any length of time. (Makes no sense see?)

What you 2 guys are talking about is clipping. The fact that the one is a result of the other is another matter. People not smart enough to keep their amps from clipping is different from sending a small signal to a speaker that can handle a large signal.

With that said, It's important to understand that clipping is NOT underpowering. Clipping is overpowering. If you destroy a speaker with a clipped signal, you didn't underpower it. You gave it too much power over a specific length of time and it overheated.

So to summarize...

1. Under powering the SPEAKER is harmless
2. Asking an under powered amp to make more power than it's able to is BAD NEWS BEARS!
3. Clipping = Speaker Poison
4. Keep your drivers within Xmax and their thermal limits and you'll be fine.

 

Yeah, even clipping with an underrated amp might not burn the coils. If you have a 1200rms sub clipping it with a 200rms amp isn't going to cause enough heat to burn that sub out. It'll damage the amp before the sub. If it'll even do anything to the sub other than make it sound horrible.

 

OP- ignore all the bickering-- if you want loud, two 12" subs will be louder than 1 15" by far and away. IMO get 2 12" DVC 4ohm subs that are rated to your amp's output at 1ohm and wire everything up accordingly. Best of luck!
-Jim

 

I just love blanket statements like this.

 

If you go 2 12s go BL..Oh! I just happen to have some that I will sell if I ever get to pulling them out.

 

Your going to beat this hoarse till it's dead, aren't you.

"Clipping and underpowering ARE NOT synonyms with each other"
Technically, no they are not, you can drive an "overpowered" amp into clipping as well, in that case the speaker would be damaged because of too much power, however driving an underpowered amp into clipping is far more common, [especially in car audio] then doing the same with a "proper" or overpowered amp.

With that said, it is not too much power from the underpowered amp, [that would be an oxymoron] that kills the speaker, the output from a clipping amp is DC, it is the DC current the burns the VC not too much power.

If your going to argue the point let's at least get it right. 94