Author: Rick Formosa/mad89.

Introduction:

Amplifier mounting is often a hotly contested debate. Do i mount it under the seats? What about in the boot, on the back of the back seats? What about making a custom false floor and mounting them flat over the spare wheel? Or on the back of the subbox?

Often, most of these methods will be 'fine' as the amp will work 'fine' and you may never touch it or look at it again, once the gains, crossovers and other settings are set. So why take consideration when mounting an amp, if it will work in any of those locations? Heres why.

Amplifier Design:

We'll start with some amplifier design basics.

If you think about an amp, it has an internal circuit board, and a heatsink.

Heat is a by-product of the amp outputting pure unclipped power, so it has to be appropriately dissipated. Thus, the amp design includes a heatsink, as seen below:

Now, we all know that 'heat rises'.

Hence, the heat from inside the amp, from the circuit board, rises into the heatsink, to be appropriately dissipated.

So with some amp design basics covered, we can move on.

Mounting Options:

There are a plethora of mounting options out there, but ill only cover the most common ones:

Back Of The Back Seat:

Basically, you are mounting the amp upside down, which is a big no-no. The heat generated by the amp and its components is now trapped inside the amplifier, as it is not being dissipated by the heatsink. This can potentially have negative effects on the amp, however, they may not become evident in short periods of time. But if you want to ensure the longevity of the amp, then i suggest 'saving' it early, and mounting it elsewhere.

The argument arises that you want the amp to be seen. Fair enough, so make a false floor or amp rack for it, and mount it flat, IF possible.

Vertical Mounting/Subwoofer Enclosure:

A similar problem arises, as the heat cannot be dissipated to the best of its ability. Sure, part of the heatsink is working, but its still not ideal.

Again, and arguement arises, "mount it flat ontop of the box", which leads to my next point.

Its another hotly debated topic, about whether or not mounting amps to subboxes is ideal. Some say it rattles the internals, and over time, it will weaken the soldered joints, cause flexing of the main board, and loosen the mounting screws (which would be bad if theyre the FET screws, bolted the to heatsink!) etc. Others argue that regular shocks and bumps from 'everyday driving' on roads still rattle the amps internals, so mounting on subboxes is still OK.

Ill leave this one upto you, but it is of my opinion that driving over ANY road WILL NOT imitate a subwoofer pounding away at the amp. So i still wouldnt recommend this option.

This option also depends on the heatsink design of the amp, as some work well in this application (vertical), such as the Alpine V12 Series. For example:

The last option, is mounting the amp flat under a seat, onto a false floor or amp rack.

This option allows for the amplifiers design to be put to best use, allowing the heatsink to dissipate heat away from the amps internal components as fast and efficiently as possible, exactly as designed.

It also ensures the longevity of the amp, and ensures it performs to its optimum, and runs as cool as possible.

Glossary:

Dissipate: To disperse: to cause to separate and go in different directions.

Conclusion:

You now have the information, so its up to you how you want to mount the amplifier.

Basically, its your amp, do what you like.

Personally, I would mount the amp flat, unless its designed to also work well in other applications. But the majority (id say over 98%) of amps are designed to work best, and dissipate heat efficiently, when mounted flat.

Major companies, that make the amps, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on 'Research And Developemnt' (R&D), to prove which cooling methods work best. Over the past 20 odd years of Car Audio Amplifiers, you will notice that most of them have top mounted heatsinks, so what does that tell you?

They have been designed to be mounted flat, to best dissipate the heat. So follow what the manufacturer has spent thousands of dollars in successfully proving.