Sub Amp upgrade

[griff]

im not sure whether or not this is viable but i thought id throw it in the air, i want to get more out of my sub amp. Its rated at 100 watt into 8 ohm and 150 into 4 ohm. are there any components that i can simply upgrade/change to get more out of it, reduce distortion etc. below is a link to the actual amp so that you can check it out, see what you think.

http://www.altronics.com.au/cat.asp?cat=7&grp=4&id=A+2450

thanks

 

[Nelson Pass]

Maybe a little more capacitor for the power supply.
Try a couple of 10,000 uF caps, each in parallel
with the existing ones.

 

[griff]

thanks for your reply Nelson, what effect would this have? Im reasonably new to the amp game.

 

[JBL]

I don't think that this will change much the output power al least the capacitor already there are very small. Upgrading an amp is generally not possible and it's more impossible for commercial amp becaus they tend to work quite near the limit of the different device in the amp.

 

[GRollins]

Adding capacitance to the power supply of an amplifier will not (normally) increase the power available, but...
In the event that the power supply is undersized, more caps will keep the rails from collapsing, which means that you get to keep the power you thought you had all along. (If the rail voltage sags, the power will drop.)
Additionally, you'll find that adding capacitance improves the quality (as opposed to the quantity) of the deep bass. More "oomph."

Grey

 

[griff]

any other possible upgrades?

 

[Dustin Haug]

From the posted picture it doesn't look there is much filter capacitance, so definately start there. You could replace the EI transformer with a torroid, but probably wouldn't gain anything significant.

You're probably not going to get much more out of the amp without doing a ton of work, you may want to consider swiching to a very efficient subwoofer to make better use of the power you've already got.

 

[griff]

yeah, i thought about that, the quality of the amp is still an issue, what cap's are suggested?

what drivers do u have in mind?

 

[Dustin Haug]

As far as caps go just measure the voltage at your rails and get caps rated higher than that, even adding one 10,000 uF per rail will probably help. Whether or not the improvement will be worth the time to add it is debatable.

As far as efficient subs, it all depends on what type of sound you like and what size enclosure you're willing to live with. I'd suggest checking out the drivers at www.adireaudio.com and www.partsexpress.com look for something in the low to mid nineties 1W/1m. Put it in a decent sized ported enclosure (size and tuning frequency will obviously depend on the driver used) and you're bound to get some decent bass out of it. 150 watts is really plenty unless you're looking to loosen the fillings in your teeth.