In searching threads for those of you who have a single Elemental Designs e8A sub in a WLaurent enclosure, most of the installations appear to have utilized a multi-channel amp for the power. I'm looking for a small dedicated D class mono amp to power mine (maintaining stock HU and door components plus Lucid rear speakers in my '02 for now). The ED website recommends a power range of 200-450 watts for this sub, and I understand it is less efficient than competitors like the JL Audio 8W3.

So far, I've considered the Soundstream Rubicon II 500.1 (500 watts at 2 ohms) and the Alpine V12 MRD-300M (300 watts at 2 ohms) as possibilities. Both should mount nicely out of the way in the vertical space just to the left of the spare.

Has anyone utilized either of these amps with the e8A sub? What advice can others offer me on Soundstream vs. Alpine quality? Should I expect a big difference between the 300 vs. 500 watt amp output in terms of overall performance and compatibility with this sub's power range? Finally, what other amps should I consider? (These two are currently selling for just under $200 and I'd like stay in that rough price range.)

Thanks.

 

http://www.millionbuy.com/souega2300.html

Thank me later.
Get it NOW!

Great amp, kick me in the face and call me suzie price.....


<span style='font-size:11pt;line-height:100%'>$129!!!!!!! </span>

I think thats well in your price range dont you?

 

I challenge someone to get a better cheaper amp!!!!!

 

umm... Dave....

that amp is not mono stable at 2 ohms (and since the e8a is a 4 ohm DVC and it needs to be 2 ohm stable when mono if you wire the voice coils in parallel). and if you wire it for stereo, you'll only be sending 150 Wrms / coil, which is ok, but she could do w/ more...

PAS2KNut is planning on using the Rubicon 500.1 for his e8a. i think he is also on backorder right now...
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/Pr...ProductID=12312
$189 for a 500.1 isn't bad.

 

http://www.millionbuy.com/souega2440.html

How about this one???
$169 bucks.....

220x2 @ 4 ohms.

 

btw -- what is it w/ you and not wanting to run DVC subs mono?

 

I dunno......I have no problems with it.....just seems harder to find amps that way

Good 4ohm mono amps are usually bigger and more $$$ no?

Also....educate me.....

Whats the difference between buying a single coil sub, or the same sub thats DVC, but run in mono....arent you basically making the sub SVC again?

So if an amp is 600x1 @ 4ohm, and the sub is 500wrms SVC.......

or the amp is 600x1 @ 2ohms and you wire it mono on a DVC....

Basically, its the same 600wrms isnt it?

 

yup. pretty much the same. the DVC flexibility only really kicks in when you're wanting wiring options for multiple subs.
but many amps make way more power when bridged vs when in stereo...
here's where it depends... what's your DVC setup?

for example:
picking a fictious amp (making up stats, but trying to reflect real amps), suppose we have a 2 channel AB class amp that's stereo 1 ohm stable and has the working stats:
2 x 100 Wrms @ 4 ohms
2 x 200 Wrms @ 2 ohms
2 x 400 Wrms @ 1 ohm
1 x 400 Wrms @ 4 ohms
1 x 800 Wrms @ 2 ohms
(these stats are based on the typical rules of: 1. half the impedance = double the power, and 2. double the voltage (bridging) = quadruple the power. real amps generally aren't perfect here, and might be limited by rail voltage.)

ex 1.
you have a sub w/ a 2 ohm DVC.
here - mono or stereo, it makes no difference.

if you wire in stereo, you have 2 x 200 Wrms @ 2 ohms / coil for a 400 Wrms total power.
if you wire in mono (serial), you get 1 x 400Wrms @ 4 ohms (total load).
(if you were 1 ohm mono stable, we'd have an option to wire the 2 ohm DVC in parallel and pull even more power, but we know how rare that is...)

ex 2. (e8a fits here)
you have a sub w/ a 4 ohm DVC.
here in stereo you get:
2 x 100Wrms @ 4 ohms for a 200 Wrms total.
but in mono (parallel wiring) you get:
1 x 800 Wrms @ 2 ohms (total load) for 800 Wrms total.

(as Emeril might say...) BAM! that's 4 times the power from the same amp... and that's the exploitation of high current amps.

even if this amp were limited by voltage or current at the 1 ohm stereo / 2 ohm mono zone -- we'd still be making tons more power in mono than we would in stereo. of course, it will probably be toasty warm in the trunk... but...

now, for mono amps... actually, the current flock of D-class mono amps seem much more commonly 2 ohm stable, which actually gains you more bang for size versus when compared to what you would get for a 4 ohm stable mono amp.

so, like most DVC subs that you'd wire parallel, the e8a really benefits from mono bridging the amp vs running in stereo...

did i make sense?

 

Gotcha.......

That subject always confused the crap out of me. Thanks!

 

np.

one of the things to note is... i purposefully 'picked' an amp w/ high current capabilities (1 ohm stereo / 2 ohm mono stable)... those seem to be less and less common now, so sometimes, it becomes more difficult to find a good selection of affordable amps that are 2 ohm stable... with the e8a, often D class mono amps (which seem to be much more commonly 2 ohm stable) become your only choice... either that, or driving the sub in stereo at 4 ohms (which is really not such a good application, since virtually all car amps are 2 ohm stereo stable.)