whats the difference in 12vsolid state amps?

[scampo77]

how different is the audio section of most 12v solid state amps? is there ones that are better at sound quality and still solid state?

im having a hard time understanding where i should upgrade. all i have out of the headunit is 4 RCA jacks that plug into amps. if the sound quality is already decided by this point is it a waste to buy a amp with a reputation for sound quality?

it would make sense that if one amp guy designed something that sounded better then everyone else would just copy that design. no?

where do tube amps come into play? are these for quality amps or quality head units? and do tubes just replace the audio section of a solid state amp, do they still have transistors for outputs?

PLEASE! i have no intention of turning this thread into what is the most awesomeest thing ever, tubes vs solid state, or this brand vs that. there is enough of that out there already.

i realize this is a lot of questions for one post but please pick and choose any of them i would love to hear any feedback.

[Perry Babin]

The actual power amplifier section of one solid state amplifier is going to sound essentially identical to any other solid state amplifier that uses significant feedback (most all use significant feedback). The difference in sound quality is often the quality of the crossover or equalizer circuit.

Tube amps are entirely different. Some tube amps will sound great with one pair of speakers and not so good with a different pair of speakers even if both pairs of speakers sound very good on other amps.

There may be a few car audio amps that use tubes in the output stage but I've never seen one. Most have the tubes in the preamp circuit and are there to alter the sound (although I've never heard much of a difference in them on the bench).

In virtually any system, the speakers are the weakest link by far. They introduce more distortion and alter the frequency response more than any other component.

[scampo77]

Originally Posted by Perry Babin

The difference in sound quality is often the quality of the crossover or equalizer circuit. .

do you mean the external one bolted to the dash or all the the knobs right in the amp?

[Perry Babin]

Any crossover or equalizer in the audio chain but more specifically, those built into the amp, since you're asking about the difference in sound quality between amps.

[scampo77]

what are the different styles to look for? the only ones i have seen look just like little rheostats. i have noticed that when i play with the gains i get horrible scratchy sounds into the speakers and i never really gave it any thought

is it possible to bypass this part of the amp and just yank them out and use an external EQ or cross over?

[Perry Babin]

The potentiometers won't have any significant effect on the sound quality (unless they're dirty or otherwise defective). The problem would be with the circuit design (slope of filters, center frequency of equalizer filters...).

Most amps have the ability to bypass the crossovers by setting them to flat or full range. To eliminate virtually all of the effect of the equalizer, set the controls to flat (0 boost/cut). Most amps have only one or two EQ circuits so it's unlikely that bypassing the circuits internally would make a difference. If you had an amp that had 10 EQ circuits (10 different frequencies per channel), bypassing those circuits 'may' lower the noise floor slightly but probably wouldn't be worth the effort.

[scampo77]

i know people will love to pull apart this statement but i am about to make it anyway.... with the EQs set to the off position most all solid state amps are equal as far as sound quality is concerned?

the reason i ask is because i intend to upgrade my speakers and i dont want to buy speakers that will never reach their full potential due to the amps i am running. with a good head unit and a good crossovers i should see the return on good speakers?

does "gain" count as a eq crossover?

[Perry Babin]

The gain control shouldn't affect the frequency response. It should simply vary the gain of the amplifier.

[jol50]

Originally Posted by scampo77

i know people will love to pull apart this statement but i am about to make it anyway.... with the EQs set to the off position most all solid state amps are equal as far as sound quality is concerned?

the reason i ask is because i intend to upgrade my speakers and i dont want to buy speakers that will never reach their full potential due to the amps i am running. with a good head unit and a good crossovers i should see the return on good speakers?

does "gain" count as a eq crossover?

#1 Mostly yes excepting a really junky amp, that is until an amp clips. Better amps do tend to be more durable, more resistant to electrical noise, may have some more power compared to a cheap amp rated the same, etc....its just that actual sonic quality is mostly easy to get even with an off the shelf design. Quality of the build and parts is another story. However a car is such a bad environment, it is hard to do a system with no EQ. It is important to have a good EQ/crossover that does not make noise.

#2 Higher power rated speakers tend to be less efficient, that means it takes more power to make the same volume of sound. Otherwise they will work, or if you overpower they might blow up. Try to find ones that make the best sound in your car. Certainly I would say for SQ you need a good HU, then as good processing, and then the front mid/highs speakers. The rest is less important to SQ, use your budget on the above first and fill in with used stuff if you need to. Investigate deadening or otherwise proper install of speakers.

Use the gain to set max output when you turn the HU way up, and to balance amps. It is hard to set exact due to different sources recorded or playing different levels into the system.