Ok so i've been told that for my sub amp I want to find an amp with a good dampening factor, roughtly 300+ is the range I was told to look for. Should I abide by these standards? or does the dampening factor not play that be of a role in mono sub amps? thanks for the help, -Josh

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damping factor changes depending on the impedance you run the amp at, and with a mono amp - generally running 1 or 2 ohm loads it's always going to be low. Fortunately, DF of today's amps are so high to begin with, and sub amps generate so much power the subtle SQ differences due to the relatively low DF's are largely/completely inaudible.

excellent source:
http://www.bcae1.com/dampfact.htm

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 facts on damping and some opinion

I know that a lot of people think that damping does not matter but the fact is that dp is the difference between an awesome sub amp and a muddy amp. If you have never heard the difference between an amp that has a dp factor of >3000 and one that has <400 you do not know anything in my opinion because the difference has to be heard rather than read. I have tried many amps in the last few years “spent $5000” while building the best stereo system that I can possibly put together. An amp with a very high dp factor will give you bass that shakes you guts from the violence of the slamming. Not only the sq be better you spl will be much louder because dp makes the sub more accurate by controlling the sub better. In addition, with a higher dp factor you can send more power to the speaker without it bottoming out because the speaker is not “sloppy”. I have found that if you have a dp factor above 1000 you can run a larger dia. Speaker and still obtain the chest slamming base of a 12 or 15 as long as you do not use a long-throw sub speaker which I do not like because it is not an accurate speaker. What do I recommend if you want a chest slamming system with loud but accurate base that is extremely low. Get a dp factor of 3000, a mid-throw sub in a vented box and you will have sub that shakes the window pains out and splits the drywall “that is what happened to me with one 18” Damping factor is usually thought of as an indicator of how tight an amplifier will sound when powering bass speakers. A speaker's driving motor is a coil of wire (called a voice coil) mounted within a magnetic field. As this coil of wire moves within the field a voltage will be induced in the voice coil. If resonant motions of the speaker are not sufficiently short circuited by the amplifier, the speaker output can have an over accentuated or "boomy" bass sound. From a technical measurement stand point, Damping factor is the ratio of the rated speaker impedance to the amplifier's output impedance. Low output impedance is the consequence of the amplifier having substantial negative voltage feedback taken from its output terminals. Properly designed negative feed back not only corrects for output voltage errors induced by the speaker but also produces other benefits: • Low distortion • Low noise (hiss) • Flat frequency response Word of caution; if you have really good high frequency speakers do not run them with an amp that has a high dp factor. I have found that this will make the highs too shrill. If you have low quality speakers (highs or mids), a high dp with bring them “out of the box” If you have experience with audio equipment you know what the box sound is. If you are interested my home system consists of (3) evx 180b (18’s) 4 (ex 15’s and horns), 2 peavey sp2 which I do not like but hooked up to a dp of >3000 and tri-amped they sound awesome with around 6000 8 ohm watts running them. PS: I have looked into the dp factor of most car amps and they are not very high, usually less that 300, which is terrible by my standards because at 8ohm a dp factor of 1000 is recommended for a sub speaker. As the ohms get smaller the dp factor that an amp produces decreases as resistance increases. In addition, as the ohms get lower, a much larger speaker wire is needed because of the increase of resistance. For you car, really 1000 watts 2 ohm is like 250 watts 8ohm which I would recommend 14 gauge wire because with 14 gauge wire you can run 8 feet or so and not loose any power due to the resistance of the wire but I would use 12 because I am insane and do not want to loose a single watt of power. For the best speaker damping and least amount of power loss you will want to use the heaviest gauge that is practical. The length of the speaker wire should be considered when considering wire gauge. The shorter the run, the smaller gauge you can use with minimum power and damping factor loss. The longer the run, the heavier gauge you will need to minimize power and damping factor loss. You will also want to consider the size of power amplifier you are using. The larger the amplifier, the heavier gauge you will want to use.

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I am sorry for writing so much but I just want to help people understand why some amps are so expensive when there does not seem to be any apparent differences and help others understand their system more thoroughly.

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regarding DF -- I found this a good read.

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I get my information from sound reinforcement handbooks written by industry professionals and engineers and from much personal experiences. I know that some people think that it does not matter but I have found it to make a great deal of difference and that will be all I say about it unless anyone wants to know more about the actual mechanics of damping

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 RE:

quote:

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Originally posted on 11-08-2004 by dwkremer
I get my information from sound reinforcement handbooks written by industry professionals and engineers and from much personal experiences. I know that some people think that it does not matter but I have found it to make a great deal of difference and that will be all I say about it unless anyone wants to know more about the actual mechanics of damping

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