Subwoofer Amp

[Rocky]

I just finished building my Sonosub, (12" Ascendant Audio Assasin tuned to 20hz) and I am looking to buy a quality amp for it. I do not want to integrate the amp i nto the design of the sonosub unit so i was thinking that a rackmount amp or something similar would be the best. Has anyone used the Behringer A500 amp for a subwoofer? What would you guys recommend for an amplifier for this setup. The subwoofer will take 350w rms.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[WmAx]

I just finished building my Sonosub, (12" Ascendant Audio Assasin tuned to 20hz) and I am looking to buy a quality amp for it. I do not want to integrate the amp i nto the design of the sonosub unit so i was thinking that a rackmount amp or something similar would be the best. Has anyone used the Behringer A500 amp for a subwoofer? What would you guys recommend for an amplifier for this setup. The subwoofer will take 350w rms.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

When bridged mono, A500 will output 440 clean watts into 8 ohms. If your load is nominally rated at 8 ohms, it will work fine.

-Chris

 

[j_garcia]

Things to consider with this amp - you will need a separate trigger or leave it on all the time, it has no subsonic filter, and it has a fan (as many pro amps do). I decided against it myself because it is not stable to 4 Ohms when bridged.

What is your budget? What is the nominal impedance of this sub? Parts Express recently released a stand alone/rack mount version of their 1000w amp - 500w @ 8 Ohms, which should not be a problem for your sub. That much clean power should be fine with any decent sub. I'm actually thinking about trying it out with my sub because the place I am moving to is larger than my current place.

Part number 300-810

 

[majorloser]

Things to consider with this amp.... it has a fan (as many pro amps do)

Actually the A500's do NOT have fans. The larger Behringer amps do have fans but a retrofit of a quieter fan is fairly easy.

I'm using seven (7) Behringer A500's bridged to run my 7.1 system. As in my case, when you run the A500's bridged they must be driving a 8 ohm load. If you are driving a 4 ohm load I'd look at the EP1500 or the EP2500 and think about a fan upgrade to some quiet computer fans.

 

[j_garcia]

Actually the A500's do NOT have fans. The larger Behringer amps do have fans but a retrofit of a quieter fan is fairly easy.

Doh, I keep confusing that - the A500 is convection cooling. My bad.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Regarding the EP 1500/2500, you don't even have to replace the fan but rather you can just slow it down and reverse the flow. Very easy, takes about 15 minutes to do. I did it and it worked great. The EP 2500 has some serious power. I would love to see Gene measure it to see what it's doing.

http://www.cwitt.com/epfanmodification/index.html

 

[Rocky]

Thanks for the responses guys. My budget is fairly low, because im looking to purchase a psb image system to go along with the new sub. Would it also be a viable option to power the sub with one of the 250w outputs and the center chanel with the other one? My listening room is fairly small and I not too sure that i will need the 500 watts anyways. I may also be able to power the sub with a 100w plate amp that is powering my old subwoofer for the time being until i make a bit more cash to fund the project properly. Are there any other amps in this price range that will perform better? BTW i am not entirely sure that i will need a subsonic filter. I usually like to use my reciever as the crossover.

 

[j_garcia]

Subsonic filter and x-over are not the same thing. A subsonic filter removes the deepest bass below the capability of the sub so that it doesn't try to reproduce it, thus allowing it to operate more efficiently. Basically the same thing that the x-over does for your mains.

You said you don't really want a plate amp, but my recommendation would seriously be the A-250 Basic from Rythmik. For the price, it is a heck of an amp. Inexpensive stand alone amps are going to be pretty much impossible.

Yes, you could use one of each channel to power each speaker, but I think you will find your sub will be better served by having more power than what one channel from that amp will really supply. Note also, if your sub is 8 Ohms, that amp is rated for 160w x 2 at 8 Ohms, 230 is for 4 Ohm operation.

Another thought would be to pick up an old used receiver and use that.

 

[Rocky]

my subwoofer is nominal impedance is 4 ohms. I am now seriously considering just pickingup a plate amp and somehow incorporating it into my design, quite possibly building an enclosure for it out of perforated metal mesh which could be done quite easily. It would be cheaper to go this route as well. That gives me more money to spend on the other elements of my system. BTW, i have an old Kenwood receiver sitting in my basement, but if memory serves me correctly it is only 100wpc which doesnt seem like enough. What do you think of the 240w dayton plate amp part number 300-805 or the 300 watt bash plate amp part number 300-750

 

[j_garcia]

That Dayton looks fine, but the Rythmik A-250 is only $109 and would be my choice between the two simply because I know the Rythmik is a solid amp. I use the A-350 and a friend uses the A-250. I found it funny that PE carries the A-250 also - #300-796