Which would you rather be more powerful? an amp or a sub?

Question

i have a sub and here are the specs

http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Rockford-Fosgate-RFT3101

but im looking for an amp to go with it and i dont know if i would need the amp to be more powerful or the sub because its not easy to find one with the same wattage at a good price

Answer 1

Profile's California series AP700M mono subwoofer amp

mono subwoofer amplifier

220 watts RMS x 1 at 4 ohms (350 watts RMS x 1 at 2 ohms)

MOSFET power supply

remote-mount level control with 16-foot cable included

selectable bass boost (0-12 dB) at 45 Hz

variable low-pass filter (50-250 Hz, 12 dB/octave)

subsonic filter (20-50 Hz, 12 dB/octave)

preamp- and speaker-level inputs

preamp outputs

fuse rating: 20A x 2

4-gauge power and ground leads recommended — wiring and hardware not included with amplifier

11-3/8"W x 2-1/16"H x 10-5/16"D

warranty: 3 years

The good thing is that you can bridge the amp into 2 ohm and use both voice coils to get that 2 ohm resistance, thus you can belt out 350Watts RMS. You can't beat the price, $129 at Crutchfield.com

Answer 2

I would prefer to have an amp that is more powerful.  

With an amp that is more powerful you will be able to push your sub to it's full potential.  You just have to be careful not to overpower it.  This is done by carefully setting the gain to the right level.  

If you are underpowering a sub you will not be able to reach the sub's full potential.  Also, many people tend to turn up the gain to compensate for the sub being underpowered.  This can lead to clipping which will damage your sub  (Just to be clear you can still clip an amp when it is overpowering a sub.  Also underpowering and clipping do not come hand in hand.  Just because you are underpowering a sub does not mean your amp will clip and vice versa.)

Good Luck!!!

Answer 3

I want the amp to be more powerful. So I can upgrade easily in the future. Right now my subs are at 400W RMS each. And my amp pushes out 900W RMS at 2 ohms. I don't turn them up until they distort. My amp is also 1800W RMS @ 1 ohm. So the powerful amp will save me money in the future as I will upgrade

Answer 4

It's good to match them as closely as possible.  If you exceed the sub RMS rating, try to keep it within 10%.

In your case ... that doesn't give much to work with.  But, there are quite a few amps in the 200W range.

Answer 5

you want the amp to be able to handle your subs output...if you run an amp that can't, you have potential to blow your amp, and if you run an amp to big for your sub, you can tune it too what you want but too much and it will blow your sub. The best route is to get and amp bigger than your subs output, because then at least there no chance of blowing your amp...hope that helped!

Answer 6

get the amp a little less powerful then the sub so you don't blow it.