I need some help selecting the proper amplifier for my new sub. I really have absolutely no idea when it comes to car audio setups..

My sub:
Rockford Fosgate Punch 12'' HE Woofer
200 watts RMS/400 watts peak
Impedance: 4 ohm/8 ohm

I would eventually like to upgrade my speakers as well and amplify them, so should I just spend a little extra to buy a single amp that can power both the sub and speakers??

Thanks for the help!
Marshall

 

Well if your just wanting an amp for your sub go with a Mono amp there a bit less costly. there's really no reason to have stereo quality considering is just a sub u could just find a cheep one for around 150.00 some have a 600w peek but at 4 ohm's they only put out around 200w RMS which is what you need . really it all depends on whats the watt out put of your radio an the new replacement speakers are rated at. its really personal pref like my ranger i got a 10inch kicker 400rms 800 peak I've got a 1000 watt mono kenwood amp 2 channel mines set up for 2 ohm I have about 600 going to it an it works an sounds great. an i put all new speakers in as well i belive my radio is rated at 250watts but thats devided in to 4 my speakers are like 200watt but the required operateing power supply is less 35 to 50watt at the min an well my radio volume goes to 50 an i never turn it over 30 cause it will run me out of the truck lol but it so clear an sounds awesome.. i hope this could be of some help if i missed any thing or u have any other questions feel free to ask

 

If you have one sub... use a mono amp. If you want to power your 4 speakers... run a 4 channel amp on them. Don't try to hook up all 4 speakers and your sub to the same amp.. bad idea. Don't look at peak watts... companies will put higher numbers to try and sell their crap... and I mean CRAP. Look at RMS... RMS is basically the average watts your amps/speakers run at... the max is what they will hit once in a blue moon. The closer you are to matching the RMS from the amp per channel to the speakers RMS, the better you will be. Keep in mind that most amps are bridgeable... can take them from 4 ohm to 2, but that's a whole other issue. Keep it simple if it's you're a noob to car audio... do a LOT of research, ask a LOT of questions... and remember you get what you pay for.

 

Yeah I guess the next step for me is finding a mono amp that works for me. I am about to start building a sweet custom box to mount everything in. What about wiring? The bigger the gauge the better right?