This came up for sale local. Decent price would it give me evreything I need to use my larger sub? Yorkville px1700
http://yorkville.com/amplifiers/product/px1700/
Subwoofer amps are a pain for 2 reasons - one is the design of the driver in the box, the other is the way that amps spec.
If you have a good woofer in a box with no EQ, either ported or sealed at say, .7 Qts for the sake of conversation - you can pretty much match the amp output to the driver. In either case, however, there is rising impedance toward the Fs. So if the driver is rated at 8 ohms - it can have a peak at 20 or more ohms!
It gets worse. If you are trying to stuff a subwoofer into a small box and use a plate amp with EQ to compensate for the fast bass roll off - you need 2, 4 or 8 times the power to extend the frequency response.
So before anyone gets upset by any of that - let's consider it a good basis for a power discussion about amps. First - the manufacturers suck. They don't provide usable specs anymore. I'm so sick of reading 2000 watts at 2 ohms. So what! Tell me the continuous power 20 - 20K into 8 ohms, 4 ohms, and 2 ohms if it works down there.
In an ideal situation, 400 watts at 8 ohms would be 800 into 4 and 1600 into 2 ohms. Now that's possible - but rare. I have found the newer advanced Class D, and Class A/D amps really effective for bass. The other important factor is damping - how well it controls that woofer.
So back to an example. Say you have a sub rated at continuous power of 200 watts at 8 ohms with 400 watt peaks. Theoretically, you would want an amp that delivers 400 watts into 4 ohms - stable. If you want full dynamics - match for the peaks. Anyone who has heard a good sub knows there is imaging and "air" in its' presentation.
One of my reference amps is the NuPrime K38 - 8 channels I bridge into 4 x 400 Class A/D watts, 8 Ohm. The sound is very good. It performs well - YET - I have managed to overload it once at full output. I have a sub rated at 600 with 1200 watt peaks.
So about your amp... 1700 sounds nice - but really explore the real world specs - 8 and 4 ohms. Look at frequency response. They only mention down to 30 Hz. Watch for damping factor and signal to noise. Pro style amps often send a lot of "hiss" to the speakers and have loud cooling fans. Choosing an amp for audiophile sound is much different than for pro sound. And in ANY case if the price is too good to be true - well, guess what
My leaning is toward Class D. I used to hate it - I MEAN HATE CLASS D. Jason at NuPrime changed my mind forever - and I've got a dozen reference amps from tubes to transistors - Bryston to Audio Research ad nauseum.
I hope some of this information helps generate thought. You work hard for your money. You deserve to get the best you can "eyes wide open". I hope the group adds info and possible suggestions or personal experiences with products that they have found to be great!
Thanks,
Mark
