If you're looking at amps in that price range, I'd recommend that you stay away from the Planet Audio RXD series amps. They changed from a design that had problems but was repairable. Beginning with the RXD line, they began using proprietary parts that they will not supply so you have to send it to them for repair. I don't know how many of their amps are using these parts now but there's a good chance all of them are.
Power Acoustik is middle of the road in the budget amp market. They have relatively good tech support (they've always done their best to help me) and offer schematics for most of their amps.
You may do better finding a used Rockford in good condition.
Power Acoustik is middle of the road in the budget amp market. They have relatively good tech support (they've always done their best to help me) and offer schematics for most of their amps.
You may do better finding a used Rockford in good condition.
I fixed some of the class AB 2ch '980' and '1000watt' power acoustic and they were the same as some spl and insignia, but they seem to change boards. The insignia 1000 (peak) is rated at 115rmsx2 at 4 ohms IIRC and I would guess many of those amps are close to that. I depends on what you want to spend and what rms power you need. I like the kenwood 91xx class d amps for cheap on subs but any cheap amp is more likely to break on you or not make max power they list. I posted a 'what amp would you buy new' thread here and I think the cheapest one someone listed was an mtx. Rockford always has been considered a good amp far as I know. If you don't have the cash I would go used and better brand IMO. I bought some insignia 500rms for <$40, so you can find deals if you look. Mind you I have no idea how close to 500rms that AB 2ch amp makes, but I still have one if I ever get my test bench set up. It does have 6 outputs per channel unlike the 1000w that have four. The class D do take less power, less wire, so that is nicer. A couple weeks ago an alpine M1000 went for 130 missing the corner bracket, that was cheap if you don't care about looks. M500s were around 60 I think, but I didn't need one.
I've seen a pioneer with a cracked one but not a kenwood, yet. I actually had a kenwood that had 12v hooked to the speaker I think, it bubbled up the traces all the way across the amp. It looked ugly! I fixed the traces where they blew out and the thing worked!
For my .02 I'd rather have a kenwood than a power acoustic, but not sure they are that far apart. Maybe I just trust kenwood more because they have been around forever like Alpine, mtx, RF, pioneer, etc. companies that don't seem to have taken turns in quality of their products like say ss.
For my .02 I'd rather have a kenwood than a power acoustic, but not sure they are that far apart. Maybe I just trust kenwood more because they have been around forever like Alpine, mtx, RF, pioneer, etc. companies that don't seem to have taken turns in quality of their products like say ss.power acoustik amps
I am running a Power acoustik 2400w monoblock on a pair of audiopulse revo 15"s and doing 146.3 all day long with 154dB burps! The amplifier can pull up to160 amps of current and it's class D so you can achieve full power from one of these amps at 2 ohm. When looking at power acoustik products beware of the fuses on the side of the sink, some are powerful amplifiers, and some are junk! If there is only 1 20 or 30 amp fuse it's junk, on the other hand there's one bigger than mine that pulls up to 220 amps rated at about 3500w rms.
Power Acoustik just made a knock off of a Rockford amp, the BAMF series. Very powerful amps in a more compact heatsink. The BAMF series are good amplifiers and deliver plenty of power, but again double check those fuse sizes, the BAMF5000 says it's a5000w amp, but it is actually the same as my 2400w but a little more efficient and things a little closer together on the board.
Basically you can buy a name brand amplifier at top dollar, or a name brand knock off, that essentially has damn near the same parts for 1/2 or 1/3 of the price!$950 for Rockford, $300 for Power Acoustik. 99% of all the brand name companies have all their equipment made over seas now, so if you're going to pay for shotty Chineese labor anyways, it may as well be the much lower price right!!!
I am running a Power acoustik 2400w monoblock on a pair of audiopulse revo 15"s and doing 146.3 all day long with 154dB burps! The amplifier can pull up to160 amps of current and it's class D so you can achieve full power from one of these amps at 2 ohm. When looking at power acoustik products beware of the fuses on the side of the sink, some are powerful amplifiers, and some are junk! If there is only 1 20 or 30 amp fuse it's junk, on the other hand there's one bigger than mine that pulls up to 220 amps rated at about 3500w rms.
Power Acoustik just made a knock off of a Rockford amp, the BAMF series. Very powerful amps in a more compact heatsink. The BAMF series are good amplifiers and deliver plenty of power, but again double check those fuse sizes, the BAMF5000 says it's a5000w amp, but it is actually the same as my 2400w but a little more efficient and things a little closer together on the board.
Basically you can buy a name brand amplifier at top dollar, or a name brand knock off, that essentially has damn near the same parts for 1/2 or 1/3 of the price!$950 for Rockford, $300 for Power Acoustik. 99% of all the brand name companies have all their equipment made over seas now, so if you're going to pay for shotty Chineese labor anyways, it may as well be the much lower price right!!!
big brand garbage
[ For my .02 I'd rather have a kenwood than a power acoustic, but not sure they are that far apart. Maybe I just trust kenwood more because they have been around forever like Alpine, mtx, RF, pioneer, etc. companies that don't seem to have taken turns in quality of their products like say ss. [/B][/QUOTE]
Here's the funny thing about that: alot of the cheaper companies like power acoustik are buying a brand name amp and sending it to china to have it reproduced, so you can go waste money on the same amp, with the same sink, and the same board both from china, and pay twice as much just for that brand's logo on the heatsink.
You may want to research some of those companies listed above:
Alpine,MTX,RF,Pioneer,Kenwood. Yes they've made a good name over the years, but the only one of those companies that still makes their own products is MTX, all the rest is made over seas with very little quality control especially RF, their stock is down to like 18 cents per share, and they closed all the rockford buildings in Tempe AZ, They had their own street Rockford Dr. now it's just empty buildings after the move to China.
[ For my .02 I'd rather have a kenwood than a power acoustic, but not sure they are that far apart. Maybe I just trust kenwood more because they have been around forever like Alpine, mtx, RF, pioneer, etc. companies that don't seem to have taken turns in quality of their products like say ss. [/B][/QUOTE]
Here's the funny thing about that: alot of the cheaper companies like power acoustik are buying a brand name amp and sending it to china to have it reproduced, so you can go waste money on the same amp, with the same sink, and the same board both from china, and pay twice as much just for that brand's logo on the heatsink.
You may want to research some of those companies listed above:
Alpine,MTX,RF,Pioneer,Kenwood. Yes they've made a good name over the years, but the only one of those companies that still makes their own products is MTX, all the rest is made over seas with very little quality control especially RF, their stock is down to like 18 cents per share, and they closed all the rockford buildings in Tempe AZ, They had their own street Rockford Dr. now it's just empty buildings after the move to China.
Re: big brand garbage
I have a newish Terminator, Thunder, and Jackhammer sub amps sitting here and all are made in China. Not looked closely at the mtx but some are pretty good quality. I looked at an alpine M650 and the thing has a four layer board, it is made like a PC looks like near the whole board is machine made. Very different than PA amps I've seen that are hand made and no smd (class AB). The kenwoods still look very similar to older kenwoods, have not seen any newer RF. The smd made amps appear much neater than the thru hole, though that is only assembly. Some of the hand made ones I've seen bad solders, over solders, broken parts due to banging it into the case, etc sloppy work. Those are the cheapest amps. Korean amps are much nicer looking in comparison, though most of the amps I see are not new. The cheap brand large class D do appear to (many of them) be bought amps and often much different than the class AB. I saw a pic of a SS amp the other day and it looked so much like a PA or bazooka. They have a new line that is expensive, and also imported, that is supposedly well built but have not seen one yet.
This industry is no different; all the appliance manufacturers here closed and went away, some furniture, a lot of industry is gone. It is the downfall of MI and the negative effects are spreading. Those were good income jobs, now people will reap what they sew. Funny how few are interested in changing that paradigm however, they would dump the automakers as well and get rid of our largest industry left. I fail to see how consumers that are 70% of the economy are gong to spend with no income. I mean MI was the boating capitol of the country and they are no longer, I don't even know if any boat makers for middle class are even left here. Poof, its gone.
I have a newish Terminator, Thunder, and Jackhammer sub amps sitting here and all are made in China. Not looked closely at the mtx but some are pretty good quality. I looked at an alpine M650 and the thing has a four layer board, it is made like a PC looks like near the whole board is machine made. Very different than PA amps I've seen that are hand made and no smd (class AB). The kenwoods still look very similar to older kenwoods, have not seen any newer RF. The smd made amps appear much neater than the thru hole, though that is only assembly. Some of the hand made ones I've seen bad solders, over solders, broken parts due to banging it into the case, etc sloppy work. Those are the cheapest amps. Korean amps are much nicer looking in comparison, though most of the amps I see are not new. The cheap brand large class D do appear to (many of them) be bought amps and often much different than the class AB. I saw a pic of a SS amp the other day and it looked so much like a PA or bazooka. They have a new line that is expensive, and also imported, that is supposedly well built but have not seen one yet.
This industry is no different; all the appliance manufacturers here closed and went away, some furniture, a lot of industry is gone. It is the downfall of MI and the negative effects are spreading. Those were good income jobs, now people will reap what they sew. Funny how few are interested in changing that paradigm however, they would dump the automakers as well and get rid of our largest industry left. I fail to see how consumers that are 70% of the economy are gong to spend with no income. I mean MI was the boating capitol of the country and they are no longer, I don't even know if any boat makers for middle class are even left here. Poof, its gone.
Re: Re: big brand garbage
I have a newish Terminator, Thunder, and Jackhammer sub amps sitting here and all are made in China. Not looked closely at the mtx but some are pretty good quality. I looked at an alpine M650 and the thing has a four layer board, it is made like a PC looks like near the whole board is machine made. Very different than PA amps I've seen that are hand made and no smd (class AB). The kenwoods still look very similar to older kenwoods, have not seen any newer RF. The smd made amps appear much neater than the thru hole, though that is only assembly. Some of the hand made ones I've seen bad solders, over solders, broken parts due to banging it into the case, etc sloppy work. Those are the cheapest amps. Korean amps are much nicer looking in comparison, though most of the amps I see are not new. The cheap brand large class D do appear to (many of them) be bought amps and often much different than the class AB. I saw a pic of a SS amp the other day and it looked so much like a PA or bazooka. They have a new line that is expensive, and also imported, that is supposedly well built but have not seen one yet.
This industry is no different; all the appliance manufacturers here closed and went away, some furniture, a lot of industry is gone. It is the downfall of MI and the negative effects are spreading. Those were good income jobs, now people will reap what they sew. Funny how few are interested in changing that paradigm however, they would dump the automakers as well and get rid of our largest industry left. I fail to see how consumers that are 70% of the economy are gong to spend with no income. I mean MI was the boating capitol of the country and they are no longer, I don't even know if any boat makers for middle class are even left here. Poof, its gone. [/B][/QUOTE]
OK, so MTX is gone over seas too, Last time I visited the Mitek factory (MTX, Xtant, Coustic,Street wires) in Phoenix they were still building there. I can't really say I'm suprised Mitek would follow the bandwagon.
You said there are no more middle class boat makers left in MI, There are a bunch out here in AZ, but there's no water in AZ to put your boat in!!!! Ironic wouldn't you say
I have a newish Terminator, Thunder, and Jackhammer sub amps sitting here and all are made in China. Not looked closely at the mtx but some are pretty good quality. I looked at an alpine M650 and the thing has a four layer board, it is made like a PC looks like near the whole board is machine made. Very different than PA amps I've seen that are hand made and no smd (class AB). The kenwoods still look very similar to older kenwoods, have not seen any newer RF. The smd made amps appear much neater than the thru hole, though that is only assembly. Some of the hand made ones I've seen bad solders, over solders, broken parts due to banging it into the case, etc sloppy work. Those are the cheapest amps. Korean amps are much nicer looking in comparison, though most of the amps I see are not new. The cheap brand large class D do appear to (many of them) be bought amps and often much different than the class AB. I saw a pic of a SS amp the other day and it looked so much like a PA or bazooka. They have a new line that is expensive, and also imported, that is supposedly well built but have not seen one yet.
This industry is no different; all the appliance manufacturers here closed and went away, some furniture, a lot of industry is gone. It is the downfall of MI and the negative effects are spreading. Those were good income jobs, now people will reap what they sew. Funny how few are interested in changing that paradigm however, they would dump the automakers as well and get rid of our largest industry left. I fail to see how consumers that are 70% of the economy are gong to spend with no income. I mean MI was the boating capitol of the country and they are no longer, I don't even know if any boat makers for middle class are even left here. Poof, its gone. [/B][/QUOTE]
OK, so MTX is gone over seas too, Last time I visited the Mitek factory (MTX, Xtant, Coustic,Street wires) in Phoenix they were still building there. I can't really say I'm suprised Mitek would follow the bandwagon.
You said there are no more middle class boat makers left in MI, There are a bunch out here in AZ, but there's no water in AZ to put your boat in!!!! Ironic wouldn't you say
I quit running my boat when gas hit 2.30, I fully expect it to go $3 this summer or more. The lake has been dead for years, you don't see over a 40hp motor out there excepting an inboard ski boat who must have quite an income. I can do a lot of other things for that money, between gas and the economy <30' boats are dead here unless it is a fishing boat. Just seems a shame nobody looks at the cause and tries to do something about it. Making amps is going to be hard to do here unless you do it by machine, but I guess we can't.
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