I heard that Orion went bankrupt and was bought out by some no name and now the products being produced in their name are terrible. any one else heard that?
Orion was bought by DEI (Directed Electronics Inc) along with PPI, Phoenix Gold, a/d/s, Viper, Clifford, and several other companies. Orion's products are still decent for the price, and perform as well as any of the other DEI brands. They just don't have the hand built quality they did when they were a self owned company in Tempe, AZ in the 80s and 90s. They are no longer made in the USA now that production facilities were moved overseas for cheaper labor.
hmmm for my own car? no. then again, I stick to pretty high end stuff for my cars. would I recommend the stuff for the price range they fit? sure. I'd use them in friends' cars. Orion is still reliable. I just prefer other brands if the people can afford them. I've always had sort of expensive tastes though, so I point that out when I'm asked what I personally prefer to use.
From that arises a new questions about your opinion. I guess you can formulate it like this: Amp-wise, what is the stuff that's better than orion that you would get for yourself? I guess the cheapest high end stuff that you'd get for yourself? Is it like zapco, memphis? I may be off. Give me as much as you can, i'm interested in your opinion. Thanks
yeah I like Memphis. I'd consider their stuff. Zapco's Reference line is terrific, and relatively cheap with amps in the $350 range.
amplifier wise, I like the old Orion, PPI, and RF stuff from the early 1990s if you can find them. Those are affordable if you buy them used, but that's a matter of if you want to go that route. That stuff was made like a tank back then. bipolar transistors, milspec components, etc.. they just didn't have all the features of amps today like the built in crossovers and subsonic filters etc. newer stuff? I like.. Brax McIntosh Arc Audio Tru Technologies Zapco C2K series Sinfoni US Amps stuff like that. none of it is very reasonable though price wise.
I'm still a fan of class AB amps for everything. I'm old school mindset, so I'm very critical of class D and class T amps in regards to their performance, even if it's just on paper. I'd rather have to upgrade the electrical system to handle added current draw to get a class AB amp instead of using a class D to cut down on draw and heat and sacrifice distortion and SQ for the reduction in cost.
It's like anything though.. how much are you willing to spend to reach the performance you desire? an old saying I always thought was amusing went, "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?"
Thanks Glass. So in comparison, you buy 1000W US amps amplifier and a kicker 1000W amplifier. Kicker will obviously be cheaper, so will the build quality be the difference? How about power wise and sound quality? I'm giving kicker as an example of a moderately priced good amp, feel free to compare to others in similar category.
US Amps makes class AB and class D or T amps as well as their tube amps.
that being said, the US Amps products will use more expensive components inside the amplifier which will yield closer tolerances and the ability to be cleaner under more extreme environments or operating conditions. This also tends to improve longevity if you plan to keep the amps for ten or more years, like I tend to do. As fat as audible sound quality or the actual power either brand would offer? I doubt you'd be able to really tell the difference listening to them in similar systems, so for probably 90+% of the people in the market, the Kicker is fine, or even more than fine for their needs. A lot of folks upgrade more often than I do too, always wanting the latest and greatest flashy toys that come out. I try to build a solid system that'll last me for a long time, and then I rarely upgrade or touch anything unless I really see a need to change a component. A lot comes down to school of thought or philosophy more than anything else I suppose.