Is 1500 watts too much for an 18" RL-P?

[deerhunt1988 0]

I am about to get ahold of a Rockford 1501bd which puts out 1500 watts @ 2 ohms...I was just wondering if this would be too much power for the 18" RL-P?

I have heard the rating of 1,000 watts is very conservative..

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Mike would be the best voice on this one. The RL-p 18 is a stout sub, I would venture to guess, if you are smart with the gains and don't clip the amp, the sub should be fine on it. But like I said, I would wait for Mike to be sure.

[deerhunt1988 0]

I can assure him that the amp won't be clipping..

[DevilDriver 28]

There are many factors to consider. Obviously, any form of a clipped signal has a lower crest factor (0 dB) and the average power is increased over a sine wave (which has a crest factor of 3 dB). However, your normal music ranges in it's crest factor as well. A really well recorded song may have a crest factor of 15-20 dB, whereas a poorly recorded album can have a crest factor ranging from 5-10 dB. Obviously, the approximations are not hard and fast numbers, but you get the idea.

Let's say you have a poorly recorded album with a low crest factor. Let's say the album happens to be by bass mekanik where there is a lot of low frequency content in every track. Let's say you play this album for an hour or so. With a lot of power on tap at maximum amplitude, you could be putting the coil at risk.

The coil, by itself, should be more than capable of dissipating that power in high crest factor transients. But like any speaker, decreasing the crest factor and increasing playing time can create a dangerous situation.

If you're not foolish, I would personally say that you'll be fine. The final consideration in this concept is the mechanical power handling in the enclosure you will be using: be sure that you will not be causing physical damage by exceeding what the speaker is capable of handling in the enclosure you'll be using.

Maybe as a caveat, I will add that there is certainly a point where adding power just brings on increasingly diminished returns. I would say that 1500W is bordering on the point where thermal power compression is becoming a dominant factor and any gains are greatly diminished. It doesn't take much power to get quite a bit of output, especially with the speaker you're looking at.

[deerhunt1988 0]

well...with my current amp I can give the sub 900 watts...

I just want to be able to get it to its full potential..And I will be in a competition or two on it..May just set the Rockford to around 1200 watts for daily and crank it up for burps..

[geoffstgermaine 0]

It is most likely going to depend on the excursion of the driver in the enclosure more than on the power handling of the voice coil.

[mfishmike 0]

It is most likely going to depend on the excursion of the driver in the enclosure more than on the power handling of the voice coil.

It could be costly to overamp your drivers. They are rated up to 1000 watts. I overamp on purpose to hear the clean crisp lows at a low volume in my home theater and usually leave the gains at full, and reduce them when I change music videos and movies if necessary. I'm running 2 bridged QSC amps at 1450 watts each per driver. (two drivers in the enclosure).

My wife switched movies while I was out of the room and Jurassic Park 2 was her choice which has some outstanding bass and thumps. I lost both drivers by the time I was able to get to the living room and shut the gains down.

Mike is shipping me two more RLP-15's that I've purchased and I've installed serious heavy duty partitioning between the upper and lower drivers now. If one amp clips and blows one driver, the other one shouldn't bottom out. This will essentially give me dual subwoofers, one stacked on the other inside the same cabinet. The cabinet is now up 245 lbs. with all of the extra materials and drivers. The amps are remote.

Be sensible with your power. These are the finest drivers I've ever had the privilege to use and have had them in my cabinet for two years now, but all it takes is one mistake.

This makes rebuild #5 since I started the sub project 4 years ago. I've updated the Photobucket album with the latest on page 2.

Enjoy

Edited July 22, 2007 by mfishmike