Is 430 amps good enough?

[snafu]

I worked for Rockford Fosgate for six years. Trust me when I tell you that amplifiers are engineered NOT to fail, even when the user connects them to loads far below they're rated to safely drive. For example, a given output device may be rated at 100 Watts. If you have 100 of them, that doesn't mean the amplifier can deliver 10,000 Watts. The engineers go out of their way to ensure that each of the output devices operate within a safe window - say 75% at max. So, if 75 watts is determined the maximum safe operating range of the device, that could be:

100 Volts at .75 Amps

75 Volts at 1 Amp

37.5 Volts at 2 Amps

25 Volts at 3 Amps

etc.

Part of their job is to design the protection circuitry in such a way that the amp won't just blow up the first time someone injects an 8 Volt signal and shorts the outputs together. By it's very definition, this means that a good engineer will limit the maximum power the amp is capable of delivering - this is by design, and you can't get around it.

Listen, I know that there has always been this appeal on the street to run amps well below the specifications in search of a few more watts. But any engineer worth his salt has ensured that the amp will live no matter what you try and connect it to. Otherwise, amp companies would go out of business plain and simple.

[CJSmith]

I worked for Rockford Fosgate for six years. Trust me when I tell you that amplifiers are engineered NOT to fail, even when the user connects them to loads far below they're rated to safely drive. For example, a given output device may be rated at 100 Watts. If you have 100 of them, that doesn't mean the amplifier can deliver 10,000 Watts. The engineers go out of their way to ensure that each of the output devices operate within a safe window - say 75% at max. So, if 75 watts is determined the maximum safe operating range of the device, that could be:

100 Volts at .75 Amps

75 Volts at 1 Amp

37.5 Volts at 2 Amps

25 Volts at 3 Amps

etc.

Part of their job is to design the protection circuitry in such a way that the amp won't just blow up the first time someone injects an 8 Volt signal and shorts the outputs together. By it's very definition, this means that a good engineer will limit the maximum power the amp is capable of delivering - this is by design, and you can't get around it.

Listen, I know that there has always been this appeal on the street to run amps well below the specifications in search of a few more watts. But any engineer worth his salt has ensured that the amp will live no matter what you try and connect it to. Otherwise, amp companies would go out of business plain and simple.

I do understand what you mean. My amp probably should have failed by now, and still hasn't. When I did my 1st big build, I put my amp at .25 ohms with 1 batter and a 140A alt! I had the worst voltage drop imaginable, clipping, and my amp got hot enough that I could probably literally cook an egg on it. But still, it kept playing. Not saying I would EVER do that again! my amp seems bulletproof, which is why I was confident I could run it at .25 with what I have now. I just don't want to mess up my amp, it's been the best one I've ever had. But I won't have the money for a couple weeks to buy another amp.