Just wondered what everyone thought of new amps, in various price ranges. What would you actually buy for a new amp with a cheap/mid/large budget and why?
Would you only buy a used/older amp for some uses?
I prefer old amps for mid/highs but on subs its usually class D unless its under ~300rms. Not tried a full range class D yet. I would use any amp that worked no matter how cheap, but it seems that only a few cheap amps on mid/highs made me happy. I bought a new kicker and the sub works great but the highs are not pleasing me in this setup.
I have no idea what new amp I would buy, I'm going back to old amps for a while.
Would you only buy a used/older amp for some uses?
I prefer old amps for mid/highs but on subs its usually class D unless its under ~300rms. Not tried a full range class D yet. I would use any amp that worked no matter how cheap, but it seems that only a few cheap amps on mid/highs made me happy. I bought a new kicker and the sub works great but the highs are not pleasing me in this setup.
I have no idea what new amp I would buy, I'm going back to old amps for a while.
Good point on the older MTX amps.
Sound Q. is excellent.... For mosfet outputs
Power output is 50% more than its rated at. Check-out some of the older Car-Sound test reports
And they are installer friendly (very thin compared to todays standard)
Almost a give away on E-Bay!
But if I had to beat the bullet and buy one manufacture for all of my ampifcation. I could compromise and live with DLS,ARC,(Zapco)
Sound Q. is excellent.... For mosfet outputs
Power output is 50% more than its rated at. Check-out some of the older Car-Sound test reports
And they are installer friendly (very thin compared to todays standard)
Almost a give away on E-Bay!
But if I had to beat the bullet and buy one manufacture for all of my ampifcation. I could compromise and live with DLS,ARC,(Zapco)
I never tried MTX amps. I have a blue thunder pro 754 I was going to let go, you mean I should keep it? 
It does look pretty nice inside but I thought it might not be big enough. My 4x70 kicker is a little short on power, but the 754 is rated 37x4 IIRC since I need to run 4x4 ohms...so I figured it was around 4x50+rms compared to other amps. It has similar guts to a JL 4ch, the same pair of mosfets per channel.
It does look pretty nice inside but I thought it might not be big enough. My 4x70 kicker is a little short on power, but the 754 is rated 37x4 IIRC since I need to run 4x4 ohms...so I figured it was around 4x50+rms compared to other amps. It has similar guts to a JL 4ch, the same pair of mosfets per channel.Working on an alpine 3555 have to get some parts for it, but not sure how that would compare. I will try the 754 though, soon as I get time to run the heat in the garage. I'll have to put a sub amp in at the same time.
Having a hard time piecing this together, but my latest thought is I want an amp that distorts gracefully. The kicker does not by far, another old alpine I have sure does. I know today's model for car audio is just put a 2x200rms on your highs and set the gain low, but maybe I just can't get out of the old school way. I'd rather have a smaller amp since I never have room for large anyway, one that just lets me know its done on the occasion I push it to the limit. Something like 50-75rms/ch@12v amp is usually loud enough to overcome any unreasonable noise floor a car can have. I can never get the gains right with the range source material is anyway, why not let the amps do it. If you do distort these big cheap amps they are like a bomb and shred your drivers, and in the case of this kicker it sounds nasty a ways before outright distortion so you can't use its power anyway. Sounds like the preamp is distorting, for lack of better description. I read up on it before buying too, most said it was a good amp in that price range. Don't tell anyone, they do pretty good on epay....
Having a hard time piecing this together, but my latest thought is I want an amp that distorts gracefully. The kicker does not by far, another old alpine I have sure does. I know today's model for car audio is just put a 2x200rms on your highs and set the gain low, but maybe I just can't get out of the old school way. I'd rather have a smaller amp since I never have room for large anyway, one that just lets me know its done on the occasion I push it to the limit. Something like 50-75rms/ch@12v amp is usually loud enough to overcome any unreasonable noise floor a car can have. I can never get the gains right with the range source material is anyway, why not let the amps do it. If you do distort these big cheap amps they are like a bomb and shred your drivers, and in the case of this kicker it sounds nasty a ways before outright distortion so you can't use its power anyway. Sounds like the preamp is distorting, for lack of better description. I read up on it before buying too, most said it was a good amp in that price range. Don't tell anyone, they do pretty good on epay....
This is horrible of me to say, but I would rather an old school amp to run on my mids and highs over purchasing a new production amp. Most of the current production lower to mid range cost amps have features I don't need and they appear to be marketing them to the younger generation. I don't need a stinking logo that lights up or lights that flash to the music.
With that said, I would probably choose between Tru Technology or MMATS SQ line as a current production amplifier for my mids and highs if I wasn't busy scooping up old Linear Power amps
With that said, I would probably choose between Tru Technology or MMATS SQ line as a current production amplifier for my mids and highs if I wasn't busy scooping up old Linear Power amps
Looks like MTX is the only lower or mid cost brand so far. I hear you, old amps do the job just fine for me but I was thinking all new amps can't be junk...I hope. Just looked at some newer MTX sub amps that are all made in China but not looked at guts yet. All have fan and a cpu type sink in the middle of the amp, with a pain thin metal case and plastic ends. Seems like they could have made them smaller with that setup. I have a sort of new alpine I will try in the car soon, compare it to some others, a f345. I would have to sell a lot of amps to buy a set of the ones listed here so far... ,not that I object to those selections. Also read on another site SS has a new Reference amp that they say is good, it is very pricey but still imported, just came out.
If it warms up I have bunch of new and old amps to try in the car, some good some not. Then I have to dump some I'm out of room here. How about a pair of SS rubicon 302, the first flat fin ones? I ran a 12 on one and it had some power but not tried on highs. Have a pile of class D to choose from for subs. Really I'd rather run a 4ch to save room right now on highs, but the few I've tried did not work well. Have some of the blue lightning audio strike amps too, kind of large things not used one yet.
,not that I object to those selections. Also read on another site SS has a new Reference amp that they say is good, it is very pricey but still imported, just came out.If it warms up I have bunch of new and old amps to try in the car, some good some not. Then I have to dump some I'm out of room here. How about a pair of SS rubicon 302, the first flat fin ones? I ran a 12 on one and it had some power but not tried on highs. Have a pile of class D to choose from for subs. Really I'd rather run a 4ch to save room right now on highs, but the few I've tried did not work well. Have some of the blue lightning audio strike amps too, kind of large things not used one yet.
jol50 said:Ok, there has to be more of you with an opinion on this...
How about JL, a lot of people say they are good. Still see them blown all the time but could be the users too.
Idiots abound everywhere, and ANY amplifier can be blown by abuse and improper install.
Seen it a million times in 30 years. Everybody "thinks" they can save a bunch of money by installing high end gear themselves.
As a golden rule if you can't repair it then you don't understand how it operates. And when this collision occurs you get sad sack stories at the repair bench
JL is incorporating some new class D designs in there new gear. By spec it should be interesting as its state of the art for class D. But durability to abuse will most likely be about the same.
Every Engineer that designs this stuff has to build in weak links that protect the unit from causing too much damage to its owner or his ride. I like to call it "Engineered fire protection". Without this sort of failure by design you would be hearing about people getting hurt or auto's burning up by the dozens.. So don't ever think you will find a bullet proof amp. They all have engineered weak links inside to prevent catastrophic damage to both the owner/user, and the property it is used in, along with the Industry it is marketed in also.
I have yet to see ANY brand name amp that could not be blown to kingdom come at the hands of a fool, and there be plenty of those types out there trying there best for the "Darwin Stupid Award"
The last offshore amp I bought was the PG Xenon 200.4. I own three and paid less then even the ebay price for them. and operated within there respective power ranges I have had Excellent results with them < I.E. no failures or problems at all>
But I have repaired a few that in the hands of the ill equip minds were very badly damaged in every case running "Trunk" bassline of course.
When all the companies went offshore it was a terrible time. There were all sorts of issues from QC to overall design concept, and final delivered product. Even PG had troubles and had to replace the entire first batch of Xenon amps that came ashore.
But things are getting better now if your careful you can get a good quality amp from offshore. But it will take electronics based knowledge to be able to get you through that hurdle.
Names like Hifonics have completely gone south so buying there products will be a gamble as there company has changed hands and the old Hifonics as we knew it is nowhere to be seen anymore. Just a name now...
On a great note I heard Audiobahn has gone belly up < thank God > I hate chrome, and I hate cheap electronics also , so they had two strikes from me the entire time they were in business.
There CEO once said "You can't paint a turd, but you can chrome it"... You gotta love a company with that kind of thinking behind it LOL LOL LOL
All in all with the current down turn in the US and around the world I think we will see many other names going by the way side in the very near future. Modern auto's are designed in such a way now that you can't incorporate new aftermarket designed equipment in them. The gear just will not fit in the dashboard let alone be powered by the stock charging systems..
I fear we are all seeing the end times to what was once a Great American past time and business.....
Oh, and don't continue searching for amps that last 15 years anymore either. Electronics Engineers have cut corners now adays till the best you can get is about 3 to 5 years before the entire amp will need a complete overhaul inside. New caps, Cleaning and reassembly, new pots, and connectors of all kinds... The Built like a brick designs are GONE for good. And if you keep a amp for 15 years you will rebuild it at least once most likely twice in that time period....No one is building aerospace quality in these things or anything used on a end user retail level.
And if they did, you would not be able to afford it...It sort of like why Detroit does not build life long cars and trucks < mine is 19 years old> And I have rebuilt several parts twice just to keep it running.
Its just not good business sense to build things that last longer then the cars they work in. Face it gentleman, We live in disposable times, with disposable things around us. And if it were based on the Personal Computer and software business you would be all switching gear every 18 months just to keep up....
Good luck to you all in your quest for the grail... I fear it is long gone...
Probably no Holy Grail but very good stuff is made by Genesis in UK.
Owned, installed and in my time retailed many of them. Series 3 and Profile series provide very good sound quality and although not like brick they have had very low repair rate even here in the land of snow and ice. They have very good sounding speakers, too.
See: http://www.genesiscaraudio.net/
I also like Audison Thesis, LRx and VRx series, and JL Audio Slash series. With these you can't go wrong.
Owned, installed and in my time retailed many of them. Series 3 and Profile series provide very good sound quality and although not like brick they have had very low repair rate even here in the land of snow and ice. They have very good sounding speakers, too.
See: http://www.genesiscaraudio.net/
I also like Audison Thesis, LRx and VRx series, and JL Audio Slash series. With these you can't go wrong.
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