leftync

I know this has been addressed in other threars, but a lot of the details leave me confused.
My subwoofer was buzzing, so I pulled it out and would like to replace it. The Beast doesn't sound horrible w/o a sub, but it doesn't sound great.
I don't want to replace the amp or build a box. I'm looking to get away cheap, or I probably won't replace it at all.
My question is: given the 1.2 ohm rating of the amp (according to forum posts), what kind of sub should I buy? Two ohms makes sense to me, but I'm not confident in my understanding of it.
The only inexpensive 2 ohms I see that are shallow mount are Kicker and Fosgate. I hear better things about Kicker and am ready to pull the trigger, but I've been told I can install a 4 ohm sub as well.
So, I'd appreciate any advice regarding specs, fit, etc. I want it as easy as I can, just connect the wires, line up the holes, put in the screws and pop the grill back.
Any thoughts or advice?

mossman77

Given the 1.2 ohm rating of the amplifier (assuming that is accurate), the minimum impedance you'll want for your new sub will be 1.2 ohms. As long as you don't drop below that number, you'll be fine. A higher speaker impedance will work fine, but the higher it is, the less gain you'll have (i.e. it will not be as loud for at a given volume). I'm sure you could find a sub with dual 4 ohm voice coil--wire the coils in parallel and that will give you 2 ohms. And are you sure it's the speaker that is blown and not the amplifier? Do you know what the amplifier's RMS and maximum output power is? That is pretty important too. You don't want to connect a 1,000 W sub if the stock amp only outputs 100W. It won't hurt anything, but it won't be very loud. Maybe it's printed on the stock sub's magnet? It's important to understand that the impedance rating of the amp is the maximum load it can handle (less speaker impedance = greater load on amp) without overheating, clipping, distorting, etc. and the peak power is just that--the maximum power the amplifier can deliver to that load. From the prospective of the speaker, the impedance is fixed (but the total equivalent impedance can be configured for different values if there is more than one voice coil) and the peak wattage is the maximum wattage it can handle without risking damage to the speaker. SOOOO, you want to match the speaker's impedance as closely as possible to that of the amplifier without going below the amplifier's impedance spec. and select a speaker with a continuous power handling (often stated as RMS power) equivalent to or higher than the RMS output of the amplifier.

mossman77

...you might as well just get another stock subwoofer ($219). There isn't going to be any noticeable gain by getting a Kicker or Fosgate sub if you're using the stock amp. In fact, it will likely sound worse.

leftync

Actually, I decided to go w a kicker box. I got a good price, it's 2 ohms so we'll see. Should be good enough to keep if I ever replace what appare try is a pretty crappy Bose oem amp.

mossman77

As I explained in my original post, the impedance is only part of the equation. What size Kicker sub, what model, power handling, etc.? Is it dual 2-ohm? If so, that means you're going to end up with either a 1 ohm load or a 4 ohm load, neither of which are desirable. You would want a dual 4 ohm sub so you can get 2 ohms total.

leftync

I got a kicker 2 OHM sub, sealed, with a 10" woofer. It has made a huge difference, even with the existing small amp. My son is working his way through grad school selling electronics, so I got a great deal, but it normally sells for $250-280. I got the 10" instead of the 12, in case it didn't work. I could take it out of the box and replace the stock speaker. And from what I've read, including here, I thought the single speaker would do better than a dual.
I have to admit, I'm over 60, but I sometimes find a hip hop channel on the Sirius so I can hear some strong bass. Jazz, classical and classic rock sound great.

mossman77

That's surprising. I'm curious what the speaker parameters are. What is the exact model of the sub?

Mtn Shadow

Thanks for the Thread