Output Power:

ZX350 SPECIFICATIONS:

Output Power:

ZX450 SPECIFICATIONS:

Output Power:

Output Power:

Output Power:

Subwoofer Channel Output Power:

1996 - 1999

The 12 volt rating is very conservative and used in most competition organizations.

How do I tell what frequency my crossover is set as since only the lowest and highest frequencies are labeled?

The frequency dial is not linear, so if you set the crossover dial halfway in-between 30 and 600 Hz the frequency will NOT be 300.  The above picture gives you an accurate display of where the crossover settings are at.  Of course the best frequency for the crossover to be set at is the frequency that sounds best to your ears.

When designing the ZX amps we wanted a design that made its best power at normal loads. By that we mean 4 ohms bridged. Now we know that no matter what we say or how loud we say it people will still hook the amp up to lower impedances trying to get more power. So our number one goal is that the amp continue to operate at lower impedances. The only way to do that is to limit the power output of the amp when it's hooked up to lower impedances. But it really isn't that big of a deal. Here's why:

Wattage is equal to voltage times current. Running the amp at 2 ohms bridged means more output current. Current makes heat. We can't allow the amp to make more heat than the fan can deal with. The fan can deal with a bit more heat than what's generated from a 4 ohm bridged load. So there's some room for more power. Here's how we limit the power increase to what's manageable:

The ZX amps have a circuit that detects the amount of current going out of the speaker terminals. If the current is high enough AND last long enough (longer than 100 milliseconds), the circuit limits the amount of voltage that the power supply can produce. This in turn limits the power output of the amp. So continuous power output remains about the same with the power composed of more current and less voltage.

But there is a bright side to all this. Remember I said that the excess current demand had to last longer than 100ms. The dynamic peaks in most music last less than 20ms. So the circuit never has a chance to effect the power supply voltage for musical peaks. All this means that the amp IS allowed to make more power with musical peaks while continuous power remains about the same. You could say that the "headroom" of the amp is increased.

If you want to run the amp 2 ohms bridged, go for it. Just understand that it will run slightly hotter and will pull more current from your car to make those musical peaks (add more capacitors and use thick gauge power/ground wire). I wouldn't recommend running it 1 ohm bridged. The amp will shut down (red LED) if the output current gets too high (looks like a shorted speaker). 

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Copyright © 1999 Phoenix Gold Corporation. All rights reserved. 
Last modified: Thursday October 28, 1999.