# 2 amps on a dvc sub???



## doubledown77 (Apr 2, 2012)

I was talking to a kid in class last night and he was tellin me you can run a dvc sub with 2 amps. It sounds like a good idea until I start thinking about how to sync up 2 amps and then my brain starts to hurt and I pass out. jokes aside, I am planning out a install for my ride right now and just wanted to know if there are any advantages/disadvantages of running a sub this way.


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

The only advantage I can think of is saving a few dollars on 2 amps that are smaller than the one the sub might prefer. Matching the gains that close is a PITA. And they have to be watched closely. They can become offset after hitting a few unlucky bumps. Then you can rip the coil out.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

nineball76 said:


> The only advantage I can think of is saving a few dollars on 2 amps that are smaller than the one the sub might prefer. Matching the gains that close is a PITA. And they have to be watched closely. They can become offset after hitting a few unlucky bumps. Then you can rip the coil out.


Not true at all. If they are off a little it won't matter. Both coils sum together.

In 20 years I have never had gains move on their own.

That side, why? If you are in the planning stages, then plan a single amp to do the job. It is cheaper and easier to set up

Sent from my Motorola Electrify using Tapatalk 2


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## doubledown77 (Apr 2, 2012)

thx thats what I was figuring, not really worth the trouble and I'd be really upset if I blew my voice coils for a little xtra thump


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

Double post


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## nineball76 (Mar 13, 2010)

minbari said:


> Not true at all. If they are off a little it won't matter. Both coils sum together.
> 
> In 20 years I have never had gains move on their own.
> 
> ...


We have a guy in our area running separate amps per coil on dd 9500's. He's blown them several times due to the gains rolling on him.


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## Driven Audio Tony (Feb 14, 2011)

If the gains are moving you could just measure the pot - take it out and replace with fix resistors.. or silicon them in place


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## MarkZ (Dec 5, 2005)

doubledown77 said:


> thx thats what I was figuring, not really worth the trouble and I'd be really upset if I blew my voice coils for a little xtra thump


Haha that's what you concluded from minbari's post?

You're not going to blow your voice coils. As he said, the coils sum. Even if your gains are not identical. People strive for the gains to be similar because it makes no sense to set it up so that one amp clips before the other, or so that one coil is driven more strongly. It has nothing to do with blowing voice coils.


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## Danometal (Nov 16, 2009)

Yep, it sums just like DVC home audio subs taking the left signal on one coil, right on the other. If someone blows a sub with 2 amps, it's because it's too much average power.


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## 14642 (May 19, 2008)

NO! NEVER run DVC subs with two amplifiers. IF the gains aren't precisely set, the Earth's temperature will rise 40 degrees C in a matter of seconds and all life as we know it will cease to exist...except for cockroaches and marketers of erectile dysfunction drugs.


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## doubledown77 (Apr 2, 2012)

MarkZ said:


> Haha that's what you concluded from minbari's post?
> 
> You're not going to blow your voice coils. As he said, the coils sum. Even if your gains are not identical. People strive for the gains to be similar because it makes no sense to set it up so that one amp clips before the other, or so that one coil is driven more strongly. It has nothing to do with blowing voice coils.


Nah I was intrigued by the idea of running this but I don't want to do it for this setup I'm planning. And it's entirely possible that I would wind up screwing something up setting it up and messing up new equipment, I'm a bit more absent minded nowadays and tend to totally skip steps sometimes :dunce2:.


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## benny (Apr 7, 2008)

Some people have even been known to strap TWO amps to each coil for a total of 4 amps on a DVC woofer. 8 amps can power a single quad coil woofer.


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## OGJordan (Sep 26, 2006)

hahaha, you can run 2 amps on a DVC sub with 0 problems. Anyone saying otherwise is simply spouting something they read online back out. I've been doing this close to 20 years also and I have NEVER EVER had an amp gain move on it's own. You can bolt an amp to the front of a wall of 15s and the gain's not gonna magically turn on it's own.


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## envisionelec (Dec 14, 2005)

What are two channel amps, anyway? Not two amplifiers?

I'm with Andy. 

Come on, gain controls move around "on their own" all the time. Don't you people have nosy friends that know "better than you" where the knob should be set?


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