1000 watt amplifiers

[boxcustom]

Hello. I sell car audio. No, I am not selling any here. I get this question about 10 times a day. Hello. What do you have in a thousand watt amplifier? I reply," What speakers are you using?". The most common response is." 2 ten inch 1000 watt subwoofers made by Crush (not a real brand)." Whats your budget? " Around a hundred." Here is what I am asking. What is a good response? I have tried to inform them that you need a upgraded charging system and so on. Also tried to explain true power ratings, and so forth. Differences in amp brands China vs U.S. (soon to be China vs China). I have been selling car audio for more than 30 years. I have seen equalizer power ratings go from 20 watt per channel to 1000 watts. Usually I lose the sale. I could sell them a class D Kenwood with a thousand watt rating (300 rms). But I don't. 4 irf 540"s in the outputs does not equal 1000 watts, or does it? Rockford labels or use to it's Best Buy amps in Peak power with a small disclaimer. 200 watt is labeled 900 watts. Anyway I've have to go. What is your best response? Thanks!
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee3/boxcustom/rockfordFosgatetypeRF007.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>

[Cloth Ears]

box,

You're wasted in car audio sales, I'd like to be able to get advice from someone like you. If you want an honest answer, there isn't one. My advice is to answer 'correctly'. You've asked what their speakers are, and their budget - so you have to give 'em a choice. Do they want this amp, (which is rated at 100W, but will drive their speakers to xmax and costs double their budget) or do they want this one (which says it's rated at 1000W but will run out of puff in short order)? Or do they want to do away with those crappy 'Crush' drivers and you can sell them drivers and a matching amp?

If you get queries like this all day, then you need a strategy. But if they're not that often then I'd suggest blowing them off ($100 isn't much if it's once a day, but it's heaps if it's 10 times).

[Perry Babin]

It's extremely difficult to sell electronics if you want to be honest and want the customer to understand what they're buying.

I get a lot of people that bring me amps to repair that were given to them. Before I repair it, they want to know if it's going to drive their woofers hard (actually they ask of it's going to pound, slam, beat, bump... take your pick). Then I ask them how they define (insert word of choice from the previous list). They can't answer that question. I then try to explain to them that anyone who answers a question like that is likely trying to mislead them.

I try to help educate them but they know so little that it's almost impossible. It would take weeks. I give them the address to my site but they don't bother to read it. Where I live, most young people are uneducated and seem to prefer to remain that way. They want big/shiny/flashy equipment that will impress their uneducated friends. It's sad.

[Clipped]

tell em chinese watts and american watts arent the same and has something to do with ummmm , the metric system....

that sounds good.

[junglejuice]

So what does the metric system have to do with any of this????

Manufacturers have a lot to answer for in this situation as most of them lie or at least do their best to disguise the truth.

Retailers are the next on the list as for every one retailer that is honest and tries to inform their customers about the realities of the products available there is probably a dozen or more that will tell them that the $100 1000w amp has to be better than the $500 100w amp cause the $100 unit says it is 1000w.

Lastly it falls down to the fact that the average punter that walks into the nearest retailer to buy a "thumping" or "slamming" system for $100 is barely educated enough to tie there own shoelaces let alone decifer that most of they are being told is total crap!!!

Amplifiers are black boring boxes not bling!!!

[Cloth Ears]

Originally posted by junglejuice
So what does the metric system have to do with any of this????

I believe it's called humour. As in "Drugs have taught an entire generation of American kids the metric system." - PJ O'Rourke

The honest retailer will still get reasonable sales, as a lot of the people with good money to spend will want an honest opinion. But the others - do the retailers really want the sales and do we care where the "barely educated enough to tie there own shoelaces" people buy their amplifiers from?

[ppia600]

I have to explain that our kkr 750.1 will beat the $#!t out of the flea market "3000w" amp with a 30 amp fuse all of the time. Most of the time they act like they are paying attention but a lot of people still come in with a huge flea market amp wanting it to pound their flea market subs.:lol: Sometimes you just have to let them learn for themselves. Hearing is believing.

[theAnonymous1]

Originally posted by Cloth Ears
The honest retailer will still get reasonable sales

That all depends on the customer. The type of customer the OP was talking about don't want to hear, nor do they care, what the truth is. They just want to "pound, slam, beat, bump".

The problem is honesty doesn't sell anymore; at least not here in America. The honest retailer is a broke retailer. People want to be lied to; they want to believe they are getting more than their moneys worth. They want superficial products with superficial sound. I mean do they really need the bass to be 30db louder than the rest of the music? No, but they think it is cool.

I say screw honesty and cater to the customer. Your selling things to make money, so do what you have to do to make money. Lie, cheat, steal; whatever it takes. This is America for god sake; this is how 99% of all successful businesses run in this country.

I suggest a new selling strategy. When they come in and ask what kind of "pound, slam, beat, bump" they can get for $100, show them the most gaudy, shiniest, over-rated piece of garbage you can get your hands on. When they come back to tell you they fried their drivers, act surprised and say "wow, it must have been too much power" and then proceed to show them your new line of Audiobahn subs. Don't forget to emphasize how much these new drivers will ""pound, slam, beat, bump".

God bless America.

[djQUAN]

wow. this thread is beginning to be entertaining.

sadly, the replies are indeed true in most cases. most kids nowadays (and the manufacturers are starting to sell) stuff that are more show than go.

when I'm looking for new equipment, I usually think "amount of chrome is indirectly proportional to performance" and "the (physical) size of the wattage label is indirectly proportional to how close it is to the actual rating"

[junglejuice]

Originally posted by djQUAN
wow. this thread is beginning to be entertaining.

sadly, the replies are indeed true in most cases. most kids nowadays (and the manufacturers are starting to sell) stuff that are more show than go.

when I'm looking for new equipment, I usually think "amount of chrome is indirectly proportional to performance" and "the (physical) size of the wattage label is indirectly proportional to how close it is to the actual rating"

So what if the amp has no wattage label? Must be a good one then....
I think I will stay with my 15yr old Alpine amps.....