Bolting down amp to sub. enclosure... yay or nay?

[gt4tified]

A paddna and I earlier this evening arguing over this. I did a search on this forum but got nothing as it relates to whether this is an acceptable or frowned upon practice.

Neither my paddna nor I are certified in all them car audio qualifications etc. and for argument’s sake we don’t care about aesthetics.... our bickering was about the effect on longevity of the amp and sound quality deterioration.

Anyone here could shed some insight into this?

[shake d livin wake d dead]

done by most "installers" but it's not recommended,this is so because small parts inside the amp is held by solder.constant vibrating would eventually cause it to fall apart.

[Firewall]

if your sub box vibrating enough to cause issues with the amp, you have a bigger problem.

[SnipeR]

if your sub box vibrating enough to cause issues with the amp, you have a bigger problem.

This.

[nervewrecker]

It could be done but its not recommended. Attaching it to the enclosure with a sort of thin sheet to act as a dampening device from road vibrations & shock from when you hit a pot hole might be a better idea.
Also consider heat dissipation & theft. I not saying amps have to be mounted flat with the top at the top so to allow heat to eascape & all this yadda yadda yadda, some are fan cooled (external fan) but personally I will prefer it mounted flat so an equal amount heat will flow from all points. With respect to theft, one bolt cutter & power cables cut, unjack rca, rip out remote turn on & thief going with your subs, enclosure, amps & whatever else you have bolted unto it with one movement.

[SnipeR]

^^wrt mounting it flat, I assume you are referring to a custom false floor install or....under the seats?

[nervewrecker]

I meant horizontal mount as opposed to vertical although some amps like the soundstream tower series are vertical mount. I not saying it cant be done eh, I have seen it done many times without problem but its just my personal preference.

[- Rovin's car audio -]

this has been discussed b4 , its not recommended , try to avoid ...

[3stagevtec]

Most amps are built to withstand a certain amount of vibration, but bolting it to the side of a box means you will be putting alot of faith in your amp manufacturer's build quality.. Plus if you consider the power of your average subwoofer these days and the level of noise it an produce, i'm sure that would be alot more than most amps could safely take over extended periods of time.

[ruffnek]

did this once, parts fell out like capacitors from inside the amp,...i highly disagree

nay

[gt4tified]

this has been discussed b4 , its not recommended , try to avoid ...

Thanks for your valuable contribution. Could you refer me to said discussion so a mod could lock this seemingly redundant, bane and inane thread? After all, there is so much more intellectually stimulating dialogue in the other forums.

[SR]

http://www.jlaudio.com/car-audio-subwoo ... rwedge-max


discuss this then

[- Rovin's car audio -]

this has been discussed b4 , its not recommended , try to avoid ...

Thanks for your valuable contribution. Could you refer me to said discussion so a mod could lock this seemingly redundant, bane and inane thread? After all, there is so much more intellectually stimulating dialogue in the other forums.

um who get u vex & why u being sarcastic to me

if u dont know how to type in words in d search bar & read english well hard luck

i just did a search & found a couple threads with it already discussed but since ur such a nice guy go do d damn search & find it for urself

...

[SnipeR]

http://www.jlaudio.com/car-audio-subwoofer-systems-powerwedge-max


discuss this then

Anybody?? Guess it depends on the amplifier's manufacturer wrt build quality...

[Firewall]

http://www.jlaudio.com/car-audio-subwoofer-systems-powerwedge-max


discuss this then

Anybody?? Guess it depends on the amplifier's manufacturer wrt build quality...

Imho its more dependent on the box. A properly reinforced box is not supposed to have any appreciable vibration regardless of the speaker in it. Box vibration and flex equates to loss of energy.

Sent from my MotoA953 using Tapatalk

[Gladiator]

Most home theater sub woofers come with a plate amp built into the enclosure. They don't fail due to vibrations, I don't see why it should be different with the car audio equipment.

[gt4tified]

Imho its more dependent on the box. A properly reinforced box is not supposed to have any appreciable vibration regardless of the speaker in it. Box vibration and flex equates to loss of energy.

Sent from my MotoA953 using Tapatalk

This was one of my arguments in the conversation with my paddna. Unless of course we talking not only poor reinforcement but also wrong material specs and type.....like using .5" MDF when u should have used .75" MDF.

[nervewrecker]

Most home theater sub woofers come with a plate amp built into the enclosure. They don't fail due to vibrations, I don't see why it should be different with the car audio equipment.

The plate amps have a kinda foam layer between it & the enclosure to dampen vibrations.

[nervewrecker]

Amplifier mounting:
DO NOT mount an amplifier on your subwoofer box. I know that there has been a great deal of discussion over mounting an amplifier to an enclosure and many people do it all of the time with no problems but those people probably build good enclosures from 3/4" (or thicker) MDF with extensive bracing. Most people (especially young impatient people) are too lazy to do that and build unbraced enclosures from 5/8 MDF. These enclosures will flex considerably more than a proper enclosure and will likely cause amplifier failure if the amp is mounted to the enclosure.
REASON:
When the woofer(s) moves in or out, the box flexes and therefore causes the sides of the box to vibrate. This vibration is transferred to the amplifier mounted to the box. All of the electrical components in the amplifier have mass. Inertia (an object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest) tells them to stay at rest, the box vibration is trying to make them move. The energy from the box's vibration is transferred to the components through the electrical leads which are soldered into the circuit board. All of this will cause the components to break loose and therefore cause the amplifier to fail prematurely. Basically, the amplifier will commit suicide! I'm not telling you this because someone told me it was bad. I've been repairing amplifiers since ~1985. Virtually every amplifier that's come into my shop with parts rattling around inside them have been mounted on the speaker box. It causes the legs of the semiconductors to break (which causes amplifier failure). It causes the capacitors to break off of the board (which can cause catastrophic amplifier failure). It causes solder joints to break on the semiconductors mounted to the heat sink. It causes transformer windings to grind into one another (which causes lots of smoke to pour out of your amplifier). People who repeatedly tell others to mount their amps on the speaker box because they've never had a problem remind me of people who drink and drive and say there's nothing wrong with it because they've never crashed their vehicle. Eventually, in both cases, problems will arise.

NOTE:
Mounting the amplifier on the enclosure also allows someone to steal BOTH your amps and speakers at the same time with no extra effort. It's bad enough to have one or the other stolen but losing amps and speakers (and anything else mounted to your speaker box) is really gonna suck.
Now for those who absolutely have to mount the amplifier to the enclosure:
NOTE:
The top of the enclosure has been removed to show the bracing.
Absolute Worst Situation:
This diagram shows the amplifier mounted in the center of the largest wall of the enclosure. You will notice that there are no braces under the amplifier's mounting points (red arrows). Because this part of the enclosure will flex more than any other, this will cause more physical stress (from panel flex and vibration) to the amplifier than any mounting position. This would be made even worse because the enclosure has no center brace/divider.

Somewhat Better Position:
As you can see, this enclosure has a center brace which will help to reduce panel flex. You should also notice that the amplifier's mounting points are very close to the braces or on top of the wall of the enclosure. These points will have less vibration from panel flex (when compared to points farther from the dividers or walls).

[img]As good as it gets (with amp on box):
This method of mounting will relieve most of the stress from the amplifier because the wood braces will connect the top of the enclosure to the bottom of the enclosure and won't allow the panel to flex. The braces should be glued (with a good wood glue) and screwed on both ends. The other mounting points are directly on top of the walls or dividers which will vibrate VERY little when compared to the an unbraced panel.[/img]



http://www.bcae1.com/amplfier.htm

[kurpal_v2]

http://www.jlaudio.com/car-audio-subwoofer-systems-powerwedge-max


discuss this then

Nothing to discuss there, small power-low vibrations, well built enclosure, amp may not be directly mounted to sub box, amp is built to high standards compared to a more "budget" brand.

[3stagevtec]

http://www.jlaudio.com/car-audio-subwoofer-systems-powerwedge-max


discuss this then

175W.. pfft! dat can't shake anything..

but kurpal said it best, low power + well built enclosures. We all know JL doesn't skimp on bracing..

[Gladiator]

Most home theater sub woofers come with a plate amp built into the enclosure. They don't fail due to vibrations, I don't see why it should be different with the car audio equipment.

The plate amps have a kinda foam layer between it & the enclosure to dampen vibrations.

I guess a foam layer can be placed between the amp and enclosure also in the car. You can also use some damping washers to decouple the two surfaces.

Solder is pretty strong and a well built amp will be able to handle these vibrations. Hell the car environment is one with mucho vibrations already, I am sure the designers took this into consideration when assembling their boards. If you bolt your amp to the floor of your trunk and go through a pot hole it doh mash up??? That impulse force is much more than the vibrations from a sub.... just food for thought

[SnipeR]

18" MMATS juggernaut in 1" mdf enclosure (thanks Rovin)...absolutely no vibrations. US Amps Merlin bolted to sub enclosure....absolutely no problems.

So I'm guessing that for the amp to be bolted onto the enclosure, certain conditions apply...

[ruffnek]

18" MMATS juggernaut in 1" mdf enclosure (thanks Rovin)...absolutely no vibrations. US Amps Merlin bolted to sub enclosure....absolutely no problems.

So I'm guessing that for the amp to be bolted onto the enclosure, certain conditions apply...

well said....

[- Rovin's car audio -]

thats some memories dey boi & it make 4yrs ago already too eh

for those who never saw it look at d inside so u will know why it doesnt vibrate :

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=173480&hilit=18+MMATS+juggernaut

quality amp & box so less chances of amp failure

in spite of all that (& even doing it myself too since i had no place left for d 2 amps i used for spl comps) like i already said its not d ideal thing to do unless u really have no choice & at least u shud slightly decouple it with a board between d amp & sub box ...

[SR]

its always safer not to mount your amp on the enclosure but i have seen quite a few installers build enclosures with minimal to zero internal bracing and sadly some powersellers on this forum as well