i have a quick question, why are car audio amplifiers so physically large? my amp is quite big, but when we went to set up the stereo for the DJ we flew in from london, the amp that came with the stereo we rented was like half the size and put out about 10x as much power. is it because the car's electrical system is only 12-14v whereas the power in a building is 120v? or why?

but the PA amps are also x3 as heavy, now u confused?

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Alphasonik Mayhem 900 Series 12" Subwoofer (2200RMS) - $150
http://www.canadiancaraudio.com/onli...ries-12-a.html

In my experience the opposite would be true. Just as an example my Dad owns 5 or 6 peavy 1.3Ks which are A/B class and put out in excess of 2kw when bridged at 4ohms, and weigh more then 60lbs each... also sitting right beside me is a behringer EP2500 which is a more efficient class H design that puts out about the same amount of power and it is still over 40lbs...

A 2+kW A/B class car amp is going to be a bit smaller then that... and most D class car amps are going to be significantly smaller.....

I would attribute the difference in size/weight to the fact that a home/pro audio amp has a power supply that uses a transformer and filter caps that operate at 60hz, while a car amp uses a switch mode supply operating at several hundred kHz or more (which lends itself to smaller components)

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SIC Audio

weird, cuz i remember this thing wasn't hard at all to lift. would have been the same weight as my car amp, if not lighter. it was like the size and only slightly more weight than a laptop. (and this system was loudas****.. it hurt the ears if you were too close)

i just thought of something.. i'm pretty sure the subs for the stereo had the amp built into the case, now that i think about it. so i guess the power output that we had woudln't have all been coming from that amp.