More important than the actual wattage of the amplifier is the quality of the signal. A speaker driven at half its rated power with a heavily distorted signal will burn faster than a speaker driven at slightly more than its rated power with a high-quality, clean signal. If each speaker can hold up to 1,000 watts each, the salesman will want you to buy the 2,000 watt amp or the 1,800 watt amp, when the 600 watt amp will do just fine.
That said, always remember that just like having too much wattage can blow your speakers, not enough watts can do the same exact thing! You've got to make sure it's RMS power, not MAX power. Each subwoofer might only gets 320 watts of power, but it will sound good and it's enough power to impress just about everyone you show them to. Avoid pusing your subwoofers to the max, because they will "max out." This will make a clipping sound, which ruins the richness of the bass and the speakers will also burn out much much easier.
The gain controls how much power gets fed to the speakers so using it as a volume control will also blow a speaker in a matter of seconds if adjusted improperly. Once you have the amp installed, turn the volume on the head unit up to 3/4 and adjust the gain until you hear distortion, then lower the gain slightly. This will keep the amplifier and speakers from being destroyed.
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More important than the actual wattage of the amplifier is the quality of the signal. A speaker driven at half its rated power with a heavily distorted signal will burn faster than a speaker driven at slightly more than its rated power with a high-quality, clean signal. If each speaker can hold up to 1,000 watts each, the salesman will want you to buy the 2,000 watt amp or the 1,800 watt amp, when the 600 watt amp will do just fine.
That said, always remember that just like having too much wattage can blow your speakers, not enough watts can do the same exact thing! You've got to make sure it's RMS power, not MAX power. Each subwoofer might only gets 320 watts of power, but it will sound good and it's enough power to impress just about everyone you show them to. Avoid pusing your subwoofers to the max, because they will "max out." This will make a clipping sound, which ruins the richness of the bass and the speakers will also burn out much much easier.
The gain controls how much power gets fed to the speakers so using it as a volume control will also blow a speaker in a matter of seconds if adjusted improperly. Once you have the amp installed, turn the volume on the head unit up to 3/4 and adjust the gain until you hear distortion, then lower the gain slightly. This will keep the amplifier and speakers from being destroyed.