Question with amp & power cable

[Clint]

I have a 400w Lanzar vibe amp, hooked straight up to two 4-ohm RF HF2 10" subs in a sealed enclosure.

I used to run this same amp with 2 8-ohm 12" Kicker comps, bridged mono.

I would like to run the RF subs bridged mono. (2-ohm load)

Some people have told me this amp should be able to do a 2-ohm load, however when I try it, the amp goes to protect as soon as some bass hits.

My question is this: Could the amp going to protect possibly be caused by a power cable being too small a gauge? I think the cable I have run is a 10-gauge, which seems to power the 2 subs fine at 4-ohm, I just want to get a bit more power to them.

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

[Miles]

I have a 400w Lanzar vibe amp, hooked straight up to two 4-ohm RF HF2 10" subs in a sealed enclosure.

I used to run this same amp with 2 8-ohm 12" Kicker comps, bridged mono.

I would like to run the RF subs bridged mono. (2-ohm load)

Some people have told me this amp should be able to do a 2-ohm load, however when I try it, the amp goes to protect as soon as some bass hits.

My question is this: Could the amp going to protect possibly be caused by a power cable being too small a gauge? I think the cable I have run is a 10-gauge, which seems to power the 2 subs fine at 4-ohm, I just want to get a bit more power to them.

Thanks for any insight you can give me.
is the amp mono? or 2 channel?

[Clint]

2 channel! thats why i want to bridge it mono.

[Clint]

in trying to research it, it doesnt appear to be able to handle a 2-ohm mono load, but it says it can put out 175 x 2 @ 2-ohm ?

[joebobclark]

Yeah that amp is 2-ohm stable stereo and only 4-ohm stable bridged. Alot of amps are like that.

[Miles]

in trying to research it, it doesnt appear to be able to handle a 2-ohm mono load, but it says it can put out 175 x 2 @ 2-ohm ?
bridging it fucks with that whole statistic if i remember correctly... bridging the channels will put 350 x 1 at 4 ohms, but if you present it with a 2 ohm load it drops the channels down to something like 1.3 or 1 ohm... i believe, there was a big discussion about this like a year back, and there was lots of physics and calculus involved, so the majority of it went over my head. but i'd bet dollars to donuts that's why it's going into protect mode.

[integralsgreen]

lol i had a lanzar vibe amp for a while..... untill it cought on fire

[joebobclark]

Couldnt find any specs for HF2 subs? Are they HX2 or HE2?

Either way, they should be dual voice coil (DVC) 4-ohm. You can run the amp bridged to get full power from it, you will just have to re-wire the subs, to produce a single 4-ohm load.

http://www.tamparacing.com/photopost/data/500/wiring.JPG

Hope that helps....

[joebobclark]

Your other option is to wire each speaker to a 2-ohm load and connect to each channel of the amp.

http://www.tamparacing.com/photopost/data/500/wiring2.JPG

I dont know which would be better in your case, as I have no idea the specs on a Lanzar amp. Try each one, see which sounds better to you.

BE CAREFUL!!! Dont let the amp overheat, especially in 2-ohm stereo.

[Clint]

Couldnt find any specs for HF2 subs? Are they HX2 or HE2?

Either way, they should be dual voice coil (DVC) 4-ohm. You can run the amp bridged to get full power from it, you will just have to re-wire the subs, to produce a single 4-ohm load.

http://www.tamparacing.com/photopost/data/500/wiring.JPG

Hope that helps....


Sorry I meant HE2 and I dont believe they are DVC...

[joebobclark]

The "2" would mean DVC, if they arent DVC they are just HE's.

[Clint]

you are 100% correct... they look just like this

http://www.audiocarplus.com/RFP3410.jpg

[Clint]

and here is my amp... i think all i can really do is upgrade......

Model VIBE230
400 Watt 2 Channel MOSFET Amplifier
# 2 x 125 Watts RMS at 4 Ohms
# 2 x 250 Watts Max at 4 Ohms
# 1 x 500 Watts Max at 4 Ohms Bridged
# 2 x 225 Watts at 2 Ohms
# Electronic Crossover Network
# Bass Boost Circuit
# Bridgeable at 4 Ohms
# 2 Ohm Stereo Stable
# Tri-Mode Capable
# Gold RCA Inputs
# Line Outs For Left &Right Channels
# Power &Protection LED Indicators
# Soft Turn On/Off
# Frequency Response:15 Hz-35 kHz
# S/N Ratio:90 dB

[joebobclark]

Unfortunately, looks that way.

[Clint]

ironic how i can ADD 2 more subs and get more power out of the existing amp...

[joebobclark]

You could try wiring for 2-ohm and connecting to 1 channel of the amp. Should give you a little more power, just will be using half the amp. Rated at 225x2 @ 2-ohm, would put ~200 watts to each speaker.

[Clint]

isnt that bad for the amp? to only run one channel?

[joebobclark]

Not sure, I have done it before but not for an extended amount of time....

I use to run one channel on a Kicker ZR but only because the other channel was blown, lol.