Does any company make small amps? Most amps available now are large, showy, and aimed at the image/shiny lights crowd. I'd like an amp that can EASILY be hidden anywhere in a car. So any options available to me? At the moment I have a Sony Mobile ES series 4ch. measuring about 7x2.5x10.5" without endcaps that works great but is tricky to put anywhere in my small car without taking up valuable space and kept hidden.
The problem is heat. Most car amps are class ab and highly inefficient, in the range of 20-30% most of the time. With that much heat being burned off in the amp, they need a reasonably large heat sink, and they also need to be mounted in a place with adequate ventillation. The smaller the chassis and the more "hidden" the amp is, the higher the risk of frying the amp.
Anyway, Linear Power used to make some small amps, you can still find them on ebay or the FS section of many car audio forums. Xtant had/has a small full range mono, but since it's mono you'd need several of them, which kind of defeats the purpose.
Anyway, Linear Power used to make some small amps, you can still find them on ebay or the FS section of many car audio forums. Xtant had/has a small full range mono, but since it's mono you'd need several of them, which kind of defeats the purpose.
If your are thinking of building one yourself, http://www.41hz.com/ have some class d amps fairly cheap..
And then you can make a custom case for your car that could fit in anyway you want
Im thinking of getting the amp2 myself for a bassamp for my band.
And then you can make a custom case for your car that could fit in anyway you want
Im thinking of getting the amp2 myself for a bassamp for my band.
fury said:
They are small for the amount of power they put out. But unless the Alpine website is wrong they still are close to the size of A4 paper....
Dimensions
• Width .................................................................257mm (10-1/8”)
• Height ............................................................... 62mm (2-7/16”)
• Depth ............................................................... 192mm (7-9/16")
http://www.alpine-usa.com/images/products/documents/OM_PDX-4_150.pdf
Not trying to start an argument, but just getting facts straight.
Theli said:
hmm the Sony ES amp you have is a good amp, however for car its one of the smaller amps to this day. You are probably not going to find many smaller than that. I have a hatchback as well a GTi, what kind of car do you have? Maybe this way we can figure out a way to hide it somewhere without compromising the quality of your amp selection. BTW the Alpne PDX are nice amps from what I have heard, however they do get warm, so if you do plan on using them make sure that they are well ventilated. I would avoid the Blaupunkt amps, they are very small a good size, however the SQ of it is a little lacking. Celestra amps are nice, but I think very pricey for the money and a little overrated, also you would probably have to buy direct from Italy. And soundstream? eh they were an okay company, I have had a few that blew up on me, and also being that soundstream now isnt owned by soundstream anymore quality is probably compromised. I don't know how much smaller 4 channel amps are going to get, but let me know what you have maybe you can make a false floor or something where it doesn't take up room.
Toyota Corolla GTS coupe:
it would be easier if I had a hatch, or if the rear seats didn't fold down but I like to keep the functionality of the trunk. I've managed to do away with a subbox by using a pair of 6.5" subwoofers in the rear deck. They may not be the loudest or deepest but so far most of my music comes through very well. Though some of the rawer production black metal doesn't play too well at lower volumes.
Solutions I came up with are to mount the amp to the trunk lid, and create a cover, or go with something like the 41hz.com amps and modify for my purpose. Or something funky on the back of a seat...that may be something to think about some more...screw rear seat passenger leg room
I just had to add this pic of a local rallycross.. that was much fun
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
it would be easier if I had a hatch, or if the rear seats didn't fold down but I like to keep the functionality of the trunk. I've managed to do away with a subbox by using a pair of 6.5" subwoofers in the rear deck. They may not be the loudest or deepest but so far most of my music comes through very well. Though some of the rawer production black metal doesn't play too well at lower volumes.
Solutions I came up with are to mount the amp to the trunk lid, and create a cover, or go with something like the 41hz.com amps and modify for my purpose. Or something funky on the back of a seat...that may be something to think about some more...screw rear seat passenger leg room
I just had to add this pic of a local rallycross.. that was much fun
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I guess if you wanted to keep your trunk, you can mount it on the trunk lid, just make it real real sturdy as the trunklid will become very heavy and will have a tendency to slam with that much weight. What if you were to make a rack off the rear deack between your rear subs under the rear deck suspended? So your trunklid wouldnt slam. Also look into xtant 404m they are full range class D I belive, but still sounds pretty good and very small.
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