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My son turns 15 in May and will be getting his learner's permit. We have an old Hyundai Elantra that he'll be driving. 9 years ago I had a custom sub w/amp built and installed, but it got crushed in a move a few years back and he wants to have some bass with his music.

The head unit is an old Alpine CDA-9820XM. I was recently given a used prefab sub which consists of a super cheap manufactured box and two garbage 12" Cuspid w0-1201 subs. On the speakers it says they're rated at 4ohm and 600watts.

I need to find a cheap amp to power the box, but I obviously don't want to invest much due to the lousy quality of the equipment. My main concern is getting something specced that will give him a bump but isn't going to instantly blow out the cheap speakers.

If he takes care of this setup we'll be upgrading the system a year from now on his 16th birthday with a new HU and a real sub. It would be nice if I was able to buy an amp that would work with a new setup, but I'm perfectly ok with tossing it out if it's not practical to find something that will work with the crap setup and also drive something more substantial when/if we upgrade.

I'll obviously he hitting eBay and the local classifieds and pawn shops to try and keep the cost at a minimum, so I'm not going to be able to be picky with the brand.

What specs should I be looking for, and are there any brands that I absolutely need to steer clear of (like I would have the Cuspids if they hadn't been given to me).

I really appreciate the assistance. I've lurked here forever, and there's perfect info available for when we upgrade. My problem is that everyone here is rightfully focused on quality equipment and I couldn't find anything that would help me solve this problem.

jonkrite wrote:My son turns 15 in May and will be getting his learner's permit. We have an old Hyundai Elantra that he'll be driving. 9 years ago I had a custom sub w/amp built and installed, but it got crushed in a move a few years back and he wants to have some bass with his music.

The head unit is an old Alpine CDA-9820XM. I was recently given a used prefab sub which consists of a super cheap manufactured box and two garbage 12" Cuspid w0-1201 subs. On the speakers it says they're rated at 4ohm and 600watts.

I need to find a cheap amp to power the box, but I obviously don't want to invest much due to the lousy quality of the equipment. My main concern is getting something specced that will give him a bump but isn't going to instantly blow out the cheap speakers.

If he takes care of this setup we'll be upgrading the system a year from now on his 16th birthday with a new HU and a real sub. It would be nice if I was able to buy an amp that would work with a new setup, but I'm perfectly ok with tossing it out if it's not practical to find something that will work with the crap setup and also drive something more substantial when/if we upgrade.

I'll obviously he hitting eBay and the local classifieds and pawn shops to try and keep the cost at a minimum, so I'm not going to be able to be picky with the brand.

What specs should I be looking for, and are there any brands that I absolutely need to steer clear of (like I would have the Cuspids if they hadn't been given to me).

I really appreciate the assistance. I've lurked here forever, and there's perfect info available for when we upgrade. My problem is that everyone here is rightfully focused on quality equipment and I couldn't find anything that would help me solve this problem.

Hi,
Welcome to the forum,

I'm not familar with those subs at all, did a quick search and this was the only thing that came up in Bing
http://missoula.craigslist.org/ele/3534386139.html

Are those them?

There is no way those are 600w subs, I bet that is a max rating. I would guess, that those might be 100W-150W RMS subs.
I would just look for a used lower power amp, to power those. Then when you're ready to upgrade sell everything as a package and get better equipment all around.

Chris from Washington wrote:Hi,
Welcome to the forum,

I'm not familar with those subs at all, did a quick search and this was the only thing that came up in Bing
http://missoula.craigslist.org/ele/3534386139.html

Are those them?

There is no way those are 600w subs, I bet that is a max rating. I would guess, that those might be 100W-150W RMS subs.
I would just look for a used lower power amp, to power those. Then when you're ready to upgrade sell everything as a package and get better equipment all around.

I think you're absolutely correct, and your suggestion sounds perfect.

The subs are garbage. The website for the company no longer exists. The only references I could find online were expired ebay auctions and derogatory threads on old car audio forums.

I think it's a VERY safe assumption that 600 is not only peak, but also a VERY optimistic peak.

That being said, what specs would you be looking for on the amp?

I would get something around 200W RMS or so.

Maybe something like this

Chris from Washington wrote:I would get something around 200W RMS or so.

Maybe something like this

That looks perfect. Thanks so much for the great information!

jonkrite wrote:That looks perfect. Thanks so much for the great information!

Sure, glad to help. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Chris

So I've been shopping around, and I finally found something. A local guy put a brand new Blaupunkt THA275 in the classifieds. I researched it a bit, and decided to buy it. It's only 75 RMS but I'm not looking to blow things up just yet and if I understand things correctly there's pretty much no chance that the speakers get damaged with this thing.
The main reason I picked it up was the price. Everything else in the same price range was either really really off brand or in horrible condition. I also feel like once we decide to invest in a better sub that we can still use this amp for some new mid range speakers.

Anyhow, here's some pics of the sub and the amp which I just picked up tonight.
Thanks again for all the assistance. I feel very comfortable with this setup, it cost me almost nothing, and we'll have the chance to see if I want to really spend the money on a real system next year based on how he handles this one. Even if he somehow manages to blow this up or set it on fire I won't lose any sleep :)

Got everything installed. Sounds as horrible as I expected :)

The speakers are very muddy, but the amp is actually performing much better than expected. Although it's only 75 rms with the two 12" speakers it can push them way harder than it should be able to.

But. That being said, it is perfect for what I was looking for. The whole thing set me back less than $100, and while it's far from tight it's more than adequate bump to satisfy him.

So if he doesn't do something stupid like wake up the neighbors in the middle of the night we'll look at a real system for him next year.

Thanks again so much for the help. The results are exactly what I was trying to accomplish, couldn't have done it without you.

jonkrite wrote:Got everything installed. Sounds as horrible as I expected :)

The speakers are very muddy, but the amp is actually performing much better than expected. Although it's only 75 rms with the two 12" speakers it can push them way harder than it should be able to.

But. That being said, it is perfect for what I was looking for. The whole thing set me back less than $100, and while it's far from tight it's more than adequate bump to satisfy him.

So if he doesn't do something stupid like wake up the neighbors in the middle of the night we'll look at a real system for him next year.

Thanks again so much for the help. The results are exactly what I was trying to accomplish, couldn't have done it without you.

Great, glad everything worked out!
Be sure to check back here when you're ready to upgrade and we'll help lead you in the right direction.

Chris

The 12"s look to be like the old THUMP speakers also the funky pup sub. If you want a little more response there is a company called VVME and you can buy on eBay for cheap but would sound 100x's better than these. I know they was free but keep the box toss the subs ASAP!!! Lol
If he did good and when you do an upgrade for a good wow factor should do 4 8"s there would be a lot of people that would not believe in till they seen it lol. When you decide to go in bigger power make sure you do the BIG3, I wouldn't use a cap I would get a small battery that can be tucked away. I know you won't be needing all of this now but for the future it's good to know :)