Do Sundown Amps take up alot of power?

[Angelboy863 21]

I'm just curious. I know personally Hifonics takes up ALOT of power. But do Sundown amps do?

Lets say i wanted one 15 inch sundown nightshade and power it with a saz 1500.

if i were to power it with a hifonics brutus 1400 < i know that id need a cap or second battery or both and alt upgrade

but i just want to know in general do sundown amps take alot of power?

just for personal preferences i have a 03 nissan maxima and will be replacing battery and buying a second one. but i wouldnt want an amp that takes alot juice. i know, amps should because they are producing so much power but i know personally hifonics takes up alot of juice, i had to go through 2 batteries in a year, (although they were walmart batteries.)

and i read reviews that hifonics amps takes up alot of power

thanks.

[Julian 641]

The general response you'll get is it takes power to make power, however some amplifiers are more efficient than others.

[Luke.H 33]

Any 1500W amp is going to "take up a lot of power" at full tilt. It all depends on your listening habits. Don't buy a cap they don't do anything

[jcarter1885 995]

The general response you'll get is it takes power to make power, however some amplifiers are more efficient than others.

x2, depending on your factory alternator size you may only need to upgrade the battery under the hood or just add a small secondary battery. The best way to find out is install equipment with volt meter and monitor voltage. Small voltage drops will only require some more power such as a secondary battery. Make sure you do Big 3 as well

[Angelboy863 21]

true true. but i mean hifonics was a real voltage drainer. i wanna know if sundown amps are efficient. sorry if my question is weird i just dont know how to say it lol. i will do big 3 and have two batteries but dont plan on upgrading alt. my alt is 150 amps. I agree caps are worthless i was just stating the setup my friend had.

[BanginGMC 23]

I can assure you a Sundown SAZ-1500d is more efficient then your Hifonics Brutus

[Shogen 325]

No caps. Def upgrade front battery and big 3. If needed second battery of equal or more size.

Also you have to be careful on gain and volume knobs if you're voltage isn't stable.

[Angelboy863 21]

Well for my starter battery i was gonna get the shuriken 1500 cranking amps and for a second battery i was going to get the shuriken 850 cranking amps. and 0 gauge for big 3. that should all be enough for a saz 1500 right?

[Julian 641]

The Saz-1500D will be around 86% efficient at 4 ohms, the lower you drop it the less efficient it becomes.

[Angelboy863 21]

ohh ok. i plan on buying the saz 1500 and have it at 1 ohm for one sundown nightshade or z v2 (havent decided yet)

do any of you guys have experience with this amp and how well it works at 1 ohm?

[Julian 641]

All the sundowns work great at 1 ohm, I wouldn't worry unless you're going below 1 ohm.

[Angelboy863 21]

...what if i wanted to go below 1 ohm..

[bassahaulic 155]

...what if i wanted to go below 1 ohm..

Then it's even less efficient, by a long shot. If you that worried about efficiency don't buy woofers.......

[Angelboy863 21]

trueee. i want to be on a pretty good budget and want to know what i can get my moneys worth. im still in high school but want a pretty good setup. would i have to upgrade my alt (150amps) for the saz 1500?

[bassahaulic 155]

trueee. i want to be on a pretty good budget and want to know what i can get my moneys worth. im still in high school but want a pretty good setup. would i have to upgrade my alt (150amps) for the saz 1500?

In theory, yes, but it should be fine as long as you have a decent electrical built around it.

Don't play that HS card with me, I was doing 50's my last year of HS.

[Angelboy863 21]

id rather not upgrade it because that is a big cut from my budget, i mean ,i might later but for now no.

lol sorry man but this would be my first "good" build. i had two 12" kenwoods and got stomped on by my friend's 18" incriminator. its about to be my senior year and id like a pretty good setup without the big pricetags

[ssh 924]

Only advice I can say is, don't think your the shit because your stereo is louder then everyone else's and blast your music in the school parking lot, or it'll likely be stolen awfully soon.

Sundown amps are efficient, but nothing special. There is no way to magically make power, it must come from somewhere (alternator and batteries).

[Angelboy863 21]

oh of course , im not saying im trying to show off. its actually going to be a lil competition between me and my other friend to see who has the better setup with same amp, different sub. but no definitely not trying to show off.

i understand that i need power for power, im just looking for something that doesnt ask for as much power.. like the hifonics, those amps took more juice then they put out..

id like a amp that reasonably doesnt take alot of juice, like more than it outputs. ya kno?

[NB50 206]

oh of course , im not saying im trying to show off. its actually going to be a lil competition between me and my other friend to see who has the better setup with same amp, different sub. but no definitely not trying to show off.

i understand that i need power for power, im just looking for something that doesnt ask for as much power.. like the hifonics, those amps took more juice then they put out..

id like a amp that reasonably doesnt take alot of juice, like more than it outputs. ya kno?

I want to know if you ever find one of those amps, EVERY amp "takes more juice then it puts out"

[Angelboy863 21]

do all amps take more power then they output? hm my bad i didnt know that.

[An-i-no 86]

oh of course , im not saying im trying to show off. its actually going to be a lil competition between me and my other friend to see who has the better setup with same amp, different sub. but no definitely not trying to show off.

i understand that i need power for power, im just looking for something that doesnt ask for as much power.. like the hifonics, those amps took more juice then they put out..

id like a amp that reasonably doesnt take alot of juice, like more than it outputs. ya kno?

I want to know if you ever find one of those amps, EVERY amp "takes more juice then it puts out"

Which is why efficiency is always .xx Give an amp with 75 percent efficiency 100 amps and it'll waste 25 of them. Just the way shizz goes.

[Angelboy863 21]

oh ok that makes sense. thanks. you answered my question

[ssh 924]

Let's say a magical amplifier was 100% efficient, meaning it didn't lose any power to heat, etc. At 14.0v it would require 107amperes to produce 1498watts. There is no way for an amp to produce more power then the amperage and voltage it's being ran on.

And most amps are measured at higher frequencies and higher ohm loads then what they'll actually be used for. At least in your case. Saz1500d for example, Efficiency : 86% @ 4 ohm, at 100Hz. You'll likely have it crossed a fair amount lower, it'll be playing frequencies even lower, and your probably going to wire down to 1ohm, so your real world efficiency is going to drop.

Now let me blow your mind, there's this thing called impedance rise, and well, once you start playing music, tones, what ever, the voicecoils on the driver will heat up and the impedance will rise a fair amount. Meaning you'll never really see 1500watts, at least for very long.

Oh and music is dynamic unlike a sine wave, so even impedance rise thrown to the side, you'll never have a constant 1500watts to your drivers (not even close).

Don't forget that for the most post, speakers are very inefficient in terms of power. IIRC, 90%+ of power applied to a speaker is transferred into heat, and the small remaining percentage actually produces output.

And that sound is on a logarithmic scale, not linear. In a perfect world, it would take twice the original power to increase output by 3dB.

[trod2902 26]

Let's say a magical amplifier was 100% efficient, meaning it didn't lose any power to heat, etc. At 14.0v it would require 107amperes to produce 1498watts. There is no way for an amp to produce more power then the amperage and voltage it's being ran on.

And most amps are measured at higher frequencies and higher ohm loads then what they'll actually be used for. At least in your case. Saz1500d for example, Efficiency : 86% @ 4 ohm, at 100Hz. You'll likely have it crossed a fair amount lower, it'll be playing frequencies even lower, and your probably going to wire down to 1ohm, so your real world efficiency is going to drop.

Now let me blow your mind, there's this thing called impedance rise, and well, once you start playing music, tones, what ever, the voicecoils on the driver will heat up and the impedance will rise a fair amount. Meaning you'll never really see 1500watts, at least for very long.

Oh and music is dynamic unlike a sine wave, so even impedance rise thrown to the side, you'll never have a constant 1500watts to your drivers (not even close).

Physics

[An-i-no 86]

Let's say a magical amplifier was 100% efficient, meaning it didn't lose any power to heat, etc. At 14.0v it would require 107amperes to produce 1498watts. There is no way for an amp to produce more power then the amperage and voltage it's being ran on.

And most amps are measured at higher frequencies and higher ohm loads then what they'll actually be used for. At least in your case. Saz1500d for example, Efficiency : 86% @ 4 ohm, at 100Hz. You'll likely have it crossed a fair amount lower, it'll be playing frequencies even lower, and your probably going to wire down to 1ohm, so your real world efficiency is going to drop.

Now let me blow your mind, there's this thing called impedance rise, and well, once you start playing music, tones, what ever, the voicecoils on the driver will heat up and the impedance will rise a fair amount. Meaning you'll never really see 1500watts, at least for very long.

Oh and music is dynamic unlike a sine wave, so even impedance rise thrown to the side, you'll never have a constant 1500watts to your drivers (not even close).

Physics

Can't 1500 watts at 1 ohm just be 1500 watts at 1 ohm!

How fun it is to dream....

Edited June 15, 2011 by An-i-no