I have an old american 150w 8ohms SoundBarrior mono amp thats just lying around and I was thinking of maybe getting a cheap passive sub that the amp could run. I don't really know if this is practical, but any ideas/recomendations anyway?

Cheers

J

What sort of thing do you want to put through it?

An old 150W amp isn't going to produce much in the way of bass. If you need subs, pick them to do the job, then buy an adequate amp. Rather odd to pick subs to match an amp you have lying around. What s the rest of the system? Then we can suggest things.

Its not much tbh, a couple of 300w full range customs. I am a 15 year old with next to no money, I don't have enough to buy new subs and an amp.

Go easy on me, I'm only learning.

What is the application Jonny?

Do you really need to use this amp?
Do you really need to add more bass to whatever it is you are doing?

I suppose you ask 'cos you have an amp spare.
Have a look on ebay, sometimes someone has had one (of two) nicked or something so bargains can be found.

John Denim.

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

Ps we all have to learn mate, the one thing about sound is that no-one will ever know everything!
Even some of the experienced guys on here.

Rather than subs, why don't you use it to drive a monitor? It still won't be very loud, but it's a very good start and is probably a more useful piece of kit than subs. 150w won't do anything noticeable on subs, especially if you use a crossover at which point your bottom end may even get quieter due to the underpowered subs.
Monitors are always handy to have.

important to know what you intend to use the speakers for, do you DJ? or is it a band? or theatre work?

I doubt youll notice any difference running a 150w sub, but like others have said, a 150w monitor for bands or Djing isnt bad at all

also are you sure its 150w RMS or is this peak/max/total power?

Yeah thats a fair point, I DJ, and a monitor is a good idea I'll look into it, cheers guys.

If your sub was 98dB 1w/m, then with a clean input of 150watts you'd get in theory over 120dB.

YES, it lacks significant headroom.
YES, in practise it will probably be less than this due to various factors
YES, it's probably not an amazing amp.
YES, in a small environment on a budget for someone starting up, it WILL WORK.


if the sub was rated at 300watts rms, it means that you're giving it half the rms power. It's FAR FROM ideal, but if you keep the signal clean it'll not hurt anything. It's also important to note that it's only 3dB more if you DOUBLE the size of your amp.