longblock454 said:
You can just say JBL have worked great for you,
Which JBL amplifiers atre you talking about now?
The only ones that have any real heart are the GTS of some 10 years ago, the modern ones sound cold and weak, on the Crown tweaked models have some bounce am told, i hunt for the old GTS amplifiers on Ebay, so dont bid against me ok
As for Genesis, they are nice and well made but quite clinical, if you like that shoot, but i like warm full sounds like the Tru Tech amplifiers.
they're my only expreience with good car audio but in 1998 I did a setup with Xtant. 4180C and a bridged 2100B for subs.
Other than having to expose the circuit boards during installation (not good imo as a single strand of stray copper from a stripped wire could spell ruin if it fell to a bad place). other than that, they were completely reliable, powerful, quite and sounded good enough for me.
Other than having to expose the circuit boards during installation (not good imo as a single strand of stray copper from a stripped wire could spell ruin if it fell to a bad place). other than that, they were completely reliable, powerful, quite and sounded good enough for me.
I'm currently using the US Amps Tube amps which I'm very impressed with, warmth and an organic character to them (ok I sound like an audiophile but they sounded more alive to me) there solid state models are very good too. previous to this I have run lots of stuff but this is the better of it:
Xtant X603 (my first really good amp) and was very impressed, very lively with plenty of clout, nice onboard crossovers and front end too, good all in one amp solution, if I wanted a one box amp for a simple system I would consider one again.
Phase Linear Modular, regulated modular system one box for the PSU and as many 4 channel slave amps as you can power depending on impedance. nice amp, very flexible, the fans were noisey and it never failed me, always sounded good but never astounding. 0-180Degree variable phase controls and decent variable crossovers were nice.
Genesis series 3, 5 channel. good amp, very nicely made but as Paradise ICE says very accurate but bordering on clinical. you could probably run over it and it would still work fine.
Sinfoni, nice enough sounding, possibly over simple design IMHO, build quality was a little iffy IMHO, there is better out there for the money, wouldn't buy one.
Old JBL black square knobbley block amps. Not really high end but they are great for what you pay, one of those amps which was truely a step above the rest of the competition.
Cheapie 4 channel alpine V12. one of my first amps, moded the main power rails to the transistors with an extra 400,000uF of smallish capacitors,had to raise the amp as the hung out of the base but my god it made a difference to the sound
Xtant X603 (my first really good amp) and was very impressed, very lively with plenty of clout, nice onboard crossovers and front end too, good all in one amp solution, if I wanted a one box amp for a simple system I would consider one again.
Phase Linear Modular, regulated modular system one box for the PSU and as many 4 channel slave amps as you can power depending on impedance. nice amp, very flexible, the fans were noisey and it never failed me, always sounded good but never astounding. 0-180Degree variable phase controls and decent variable crossovers were nice.
Genesis series 3, 5 channel. good amp, very nicely made but as Paradise ICE says very accurate but bordering on clinical. you could probably run over it and it would still work fine.
Sinfoni, nice enough sounding, possibly over simple design IMHO, build quality was a little iffy IMHO, there is better out there for the money, wouldn't buy one.
Old JBL black square knobbley block amps. Not really high end but they are great for what you pay, one of those amps which was truely a step above the rest of the competition.
Cheapie 4 channel alpine V12. one of my first amps, moded the main power rails to the transistors with an extra 400,000uF of smallish capacitors,had to raise the amp as the hung out of the base but my god it made a difference to the sound
Puggie said:I'm currently using the US Amps Tube amps which I'm very impressed with, warmth and an organic character to them (ok I sound like an audiophile but they sounded more alive to me)
Genesis series 3, 5 channel. good amp, very nicely made but as Paradise ICE says very accurate but bordering on clinical. you could probably run over it and it would still work fine.
Sinfoni, nice enough sounding, possibly over simple design IMHO, build quality was a little iffy IMHO, there is better out there for the money, wouldn't buy one.
Cheapie 4 channel alpine V12. one of my first amps, moded the main power rails to the transistors with an extra 400,000uF of smallish capacitors,had to raise the amp as the hung out of the base but my god it made a difference to the sound
Hi Bill
AKA PuggieI didnt know you are on this forum as well.
You are spot on with your views on car amps,
You should post a thread on moding a Alpine V12, it will not make it the best sounding amplifier but people love to tweak and i cant blame them at all.
we all love to tweak now dont weMcIntosh MC440M.. hands down for me.. 4 channels x 50 for the fronts and 2 for the subs, with focals run in parallel each side, rear treble -4db, i'm getting 200 wats into 2 ohms per channel, and 2.5 ohms each channel of 100w into 4 for 4 5ohm subs.
SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN. And the blue meters are cool. Currently looking for a really efficent class D amp for a 11" sub because my charging system is near running out of juice.
SOUNDS LIKE HEAVEN. And the blue meters are cool. Currently looking for a really efficent class D amp for a 11" sub because my charging system is near running out of juice.
Late 80's PPI amplifiers were very good in my opinion. I had (and still have) a couple of PPI-2150AM's (150x2 4ohms) that were my favorite. Also had a couple PPI-2300AM (300x2) monsters - they were actually a dual monoblocks - 2 PPI-2125's in 1 big chassis.
I had many different models of the late 80's Linear Power also.
1752/2002/2202's very good. Maybe not as good as they are made out to be though.
I had many different models of the late 80's Linear Power also.
1752/2002/2202's very good. Maybe not as good as they are made out to be though.
MTX, PPI, Zapco, McIntosh and then Arc Audio for the last 3 years or so. Dang fine gear, true car audio enthusiasts, probably best support in the industry. All the amps and other new and exciting products are designed by Robert Zeff, original founder of Zapco.
Anybody going to CES? Stop by the Arc Audio booth and say high, I will be hanging out with my buddies there.
Here is a link to my best sounding install ever, not built to be pretty, built to work and well it did
RAAMmat Tacoma
Just click on the Tacoma or on the Mobile Entertainment pic on the bottom left corner
Rick
Anybody going to CES? Stop by the Arc Audio booth and say high, I will be hanging out with my buddies there.
Here is a link to my best sounding install ever, not built to be pretty, built to work and well it did
RAAMmat Tacoma
Just click on the Tacoma or on the Mobile Entertainment pic on the bottom left corner
Rick
Puggie said:Cheapie 4 channel alpine V12. one of my first amps, moded the main power rails to the transistors with an extra 400,000uF of smallish capacitors,had to raise the amp as the hung out of the base but my god it made a difference to the sound
is this the same amp? it's V12 but I guess it's a counterfeit.
www.djquan.angelcities.com/ride.html
but it does well for the subs. the other amp is already replaced. I replaced it with a DIY two channel P3A for the fronts. real nice to the ears.
djQUAN: Judging from the heatsink, I think that's a 1997 model. I have a pair of 1995 model V12s in my car. These sound great, IMO. Later Alpine V12s weren't quite as good, I think. Mine are quite underrated. Nominally they're rated at 40WX4 and 30WX4. (50WX4 and 40WX4 at 14.4VDC input) When I had a chance to measure the actual output, the 40WX4 amp was putting out a very clean 68WX4 with <0.05%THD at 12V input, and the 30WX4 amp was putting out 46WX4. This beat the published specifications in all regards.
Now, I wouldn't call the amps "cheapies" as I feel that I paid a reasonable price for good amplifiers. The smaller one I got at a good deal, because I bought it off of the display board at the end of the model year.
Now, I wouldn't call the amps "cheapies" as I feel that I paid a reasonable price for good amplifiers. The smaller one I got at a good deal, because I bought it off of the display board at the end of the model year.
The Alpine I had was the 307 model 4channel. I can't remember exactly what I did but basically it was connecting a lot of smallish value caps between the power rails (High voltage ones after the PSU) and earth. The caps were what I could 'borrow' from university at the time and I fabricated 'riser rails' from seriously thick solid copper wire/bar and soldered the caps accross these. They hung out of the bottom of the amp, very ugly but quite effective, the sound became noticably more punchy and dynamic.
SupraGuy said:
well, mine got right on with the rated specs after I measured them (85W RMS x4), and my V12 got Sanken output stages.
other components are of acceptable quality. (TL074, carbon resistors, film caps and sealed alps pots)bought them two years ago as a brand new unit for about US$84
Lot's of great gear being mentioned here
FYI, Arc Audio is bringing out a new Robert Zeff designed high end amp, can't say much about it yet except the line will be exceptionally good, resonable in cost, best parts available, they look great too
I will be running them just as soon as they are out and let you guys know what I think about them.
Rick
FYI, Arc Audio is bringing out a new Robert Zeff designed high end amp, can't say much about it yet except the line will be exceptionally good, resonable in cost, best parts available, they look great too
I will be running them just as soon as they are out and let you guys know what I think about them.
Rick