Question about "underpowering" subs

[Mills561 10+ year member]

What's up guys, I'm gonna be running a 18" AA Havoc. The rms on this sub is 1250. The amp I am going to use is a Recoil RED 1000.1 (1000 watts @ 1 ohm). My question is this - will the subwoofer experience any downfall from being underpowered? Will it not sound as well as it should? Thanks for any replies

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[plugitin 5,000+ posts]

it will be fine, just dont clip it

 

[Mills561 10+ year member]

That is what I'm worried about... I don't want to overpower the amp meaning that this sub wont see anywhere near its potential. The amp will probably put out around 700-800 without any worries of clipping. I want to see what this bad boy can do! I'm thinking of upgrading to where the sub can see ~1500 watts easily. What do you guys suggest?

 

[BlactimusCrime 10+ year member]

its better to get a bit of an oversized amp and set the gains low to the correct power, but as long as you dont set the gains too high on your 1000w you wont do anything bad, its just wont be quite as loud, but i doubt youll be able to hear the difference between 1000 youll put to it and the 1250 its rated for anyway

 

[plugitin 5,000+ posts]

That is what I'm worried about... I don't want to overpower the amp meaning that this sub wont see anywhere near its potential. The amp will probably put out around 700-800 without any worries of clipping. I want to see what this bad boy can do! I'm thinking of upgrading to where the sub can see ~1500 watts easily. What do you guys suggest?

1500 would do well...my choice would be something like a saz-1500

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

The Recoil would be fine.

 

[Mills561 10+ year member]

Lol, Wingman. Still haven't gotten around to getting this **** set up... did you ever use the Recoil, I don't remember? If you did what sub were you using and how did it perform?

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

If you underpower the sub your amp will experience voltage drop and they will both blow up.... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

 

[michaellane 5,000+ posts]

It will work fine don't worry just hook it up and set ur amp correctly. Even if you don't set it 100% right you will still be fine. If you smell anything or hear the sub barking just back off the volume a few knotches. there is no harm in underpowering a speaker. Just don't clip it by trying to get more out of the amp then it can do. Simplest way to explain it

 

[mossberg385t 10+ year member]

It will work fine don't worry just hook it up and set ur amp correctly. Even if you don't set it 100% right you will still be fine. If you smell anything or hear the sub barking just back off the volume a few knotches. there is no harm in underpowering a speaker. Just don't clip it by trying to get more out of the amp then it can do. Simplest way to explain it

OMFG its mike lane!!!

 

[Phoenix Risen 10+ year member]

if you didnt want to spend as much to get a saz-1500 you could always pick up a MB quart DSC/ONYX 1500.1

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

That is what I'm worried about... I don't want to overpower the amp meaning that this sub wont see anywhere near its potential. The amp will probably put out around 700-800 without any worries of clipping. I want to see what this bad boy can do! I'm thinking of upgrading to where the sub can see ~1500 watts easily. What do you guys suggest?

You cannot 'overpower' an amplifier by hooking a speaker to it capable of handling more power than the amp can provide. The only thing you can do is set your gains incorrectly, which is possible no matter what speaker you hook to the amplifier.

 

[09civic 5,000+ posts]

All your gonna do is tickle that sub //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif