What Amp Should I Use For Two Alpine S-type 12" Subs

SunshineState · June 30, 2006

Hello fellow lexus lovers,

Currently I have two crappy pioneer 12"s and a crappy amp w/ a 8 gauge wire running to the amp (all gutted from my old crappy car and put into my Lexus). Soon as I put all that in, I started having power issues and the system would drain the battery after only 3 songs w/ the ignition off and my car wouldn't start. Since the sound system is relatively week I attributed it to the 8 gauge being too low (well high I guess). Would that be the most likley problem?

So i disconnected the amp and i just bought 2 new Alpine S-Type SWS-1242D 12" Subwoofer(4ohm). They are dual coil 300 watt rms (900w max each even though that probably doesn't mean anything) and I'm wondering what would be the best single amp to run to both of them in my 2002 GS, and also what gauge wire I should run. I am on kind of a budget since I foolishly went to Circut City to have my crappy old system put in and got ripped off but thats another story! :censored:

LRP_LS400 · August 15, 2006

use low guage wire to help the increase in power need to your amps, I'm an oldschool rockford junkie so i would recommend a rockford fosgate 601s, I have one in my LS powering 2 JLaudio 12w3v2 and it is plenty enough power. you can pick one up for less then 300 on ebay.

Ronalder · September 28, 2006

In a former life I designed car audio systems.

I am an a/d/s man myself but my last system used Rockford amps.

It sounds like a ROCKFORD FOSGATE PUNCH 360 (check eBay or a pawn shop) should meet your needs. The amp is 180x2 and 2 ohm stable. Rockfords run a bit on the warm side but you can get a good used one for cheap money. I would recommend you purchase at least 4 gauge power wire and likewise for the ground. Put your money into the power cables and a 1 Farad Stiffening Capacitor (mathematically you do not need a full farad but more is always better). The cap will allow for sudden bursts (BASS :) ) of energy with out a direct draw from your battery.

You mentioned the battery dies after 3 songs, how loud are you playing your system and what size battery are you using (CCA)?