Technique

I bought a new JL Audio 250/1 amp today. New in box. The sticker on the box with the serial and so forth says "13-Sep-02".

This amp was made back in 2002?!?!? How old is the "slash" series??

I wonder if I should return it... I mean, I really don't care about warranty cause I think these amps are pretty bulletproof, but still...

vin 78

the slash series were around for quite sometime now.
Your amp is probably built awhile ago, but it doesn't mean it used, its still brand new.
Also, the warranty is based on when the customer bought it, not when it was made.

88supramki

does the serial on the amp match the serial on the box?

Technique

Yup, everything matches...

Technique

Bah, I just found out in the manual that the warranty is only 1 year anyway!! That's really short... The warranty is 2 years if you have the amp installed by an authorized dealer. They are really strict about their warranties, oh well... Hopefully the amp is as solid as people say it is

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

That amp is awesome. I have the 500/1 and 300/4, both purchased in 2002. Keep it, install it, and enjoy. It's bullet-proof if installed correctly and setup right.

Technique

Good to hear! I think I'm going to put a W3V3 10" up to it... Should add some nice bass to the stock ML system... My only debate is between 4 gauge or 8 gauge power wire... It only needs 8 gauge, but I dunno... We'll see...

vin 78

4 awg is a tad bit extreme for a 250 w rms amp, but if you can get it cheap go for it. The prices for 4 awg is cheap these days anyways

Technique

Ya, that's what I was figuring, 8 gauge for power, 12-14 gauge for speaker.

Now I just have to figure out how to get a good signal to the amp... The ML system crosses over 30hz to 80hz... Which sucks for 2 reasons:

1) I want 0-30 hz sent to my sub
2) The auto-turn on by signal sensing on the 250/1 needs mid-range signal (which makes no sense since it's a sub amp!) I may just have to run a turn-on remote wire to the 250/1

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Do yourself a favor and just run 8ga to the amp. You can poke it through the existing (huge) grommet on the pass side firewall. A 4 ga is harder to run thru firewall. Otherwise makes no difference install-wise. Marginal improvement in voltage drop when bass hits.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

NO - you don't want 0-30 Hz sent to your sub. Especially not 0 - that's DC and will fry your woofer. Anything below 15 MUST be filtered out. Between 15 and 30, there is usually little music energy, except for many fake rap sounds. The cleanest hardest bass hits will be from 30-80 Hz, esp. 40-60 Hz. Get that part clean and powerful and you'll be good.
You don't need any midrange to turn on your bass amp. You can use the auto-turn-on. Maybe you mean mid-level. It will turn on when bass reaches a small turn-on threshold.

Technique

For the turn-on, the manual states the following:

"The signal-sensing circuit is designed to detect midrange frequency signal presence. If the signal feeding the amplifier is not full-range (for example, if there is an active low-pass crossover in line before the amp), this circuit will not operate properly."

Maybe they are just being cautious?

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

Not cautious, just insane! That is complete insanity. Can't believe they would do that. I don't know of any others that have that requirement, that you can't feed just bass to a sub amp. Well, looks like you have to wire the remote. Not too hard - just yank the headunit, find the wire, splice and run to amp.

Technique

After talking to the local installers, they are recommending I go with a 10W6 instead of a 10W3. They said the W3 would not be that much bass since the trunk is so tightly sealed. They said the 250/1 would be plenty of power with either the 10W3 or 10W6. Thoughts?

vin 78

with that amp I would go with a W3, It seems that they are trying to sell you a more expensive sub.