bought a jl 300/4 on ebay, turns out it was a refurb..getting money back..running a jensen amp xa4150..(4ohms) 75watts per channel rms <0.08% thd have infinity 605, 6000cs reference speakers..alpine cda-9833 h.u. good rca's..12" reference sub with bazooka amp..and an audiobahn ?? 2 channel amp powering the 2nd rear set of components..
the truck sounds pretty good with the jensen amp...
the question is?..how much cleaner?, would you be able to hear the differnce? in an amp with 0.05 less thd...or is it just a waste of money to go with an amp?..would I be better off investing in some better speakers? not looking for slamming bass..listen to mostly live bootlegs, jazz, blues rock,bluegrass.... i'm after that crisp clean sound where you can hear every little detail.. any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated...the more threads i read, the dummer i get...thanks folks
Where specifically did you purchase the amp off ebay?
dummy
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I bought the amp from an individual, in the listing he said new, never used, it turns out after inspecting the amp and calling in the serial number to jl, it was a refurb, the seller got in contact with the store he bought it from, said the salesman has been fired and they will give him a full refund..oh! and by the way, I'm so dumb I don't even know how to spell dummer..lol
All I am going to say is that a JL 300/4 refurb or not will slaughter the other amps you mentioned. Jensen and bazoka are no were close to the quality and design of a JL amp.
dummy
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sure, quality and design is one thing, sound is another, if the ear cannot hear distortion(not sure the specific) say under 1%..then how much cleaner would, I mean you cannot hear that level of distorion, am I missing something?..I'm sure the jl amp would be louder. but how much clearer? oh! and by the way, thanks for the follow ups
JLs amps actually perform to the specifications listed, I highly doubt the Jensen is only .05% more. Car audio companies are pretty much allowed a field day when it comes to specifications, so you can't trust specs from a company as unreliable as Jensen, and you really can't accurately compare specs between manufacturers. At levels under clipping, you wouldn't be able to perceive a difference in sound quality, anyone who wants to contest that needs to take the Richard Clark challenge. At or near clipping levels, however, the amplifiers will perform a lot differently. Amps clip more often than you think they would, and that is the difference you'll hear in an amplifier, same reason that tube amps sound different than solid state amps, because of even-ordered harmonics (distortion), and tubes overload a lot softer than transistors, even though they have a higher initial THD. Transistors, on the other hand, don't raise distortion gradually, they keep a low THD and the when they clip, they clip HARD. The power supply to an amplifier is the biggest factor in it's sound at clipping levels, the JL amplifier has a better power supply and overall will handle distortion a lot better than that Jensen will. It is also underrated and will provide more power than the Jensen, and that will be an audible difference.
I have tested Jensen amp, almost the same amp you have. Here's the result. Jensen's performance is "good" when used as a mid bass. However, for powering mids and highs, it's not good at all. In fact you will be able to tell the difference even under normal listening volume level. Find a CD/DVD with high quality sound with variety of instruments. Play the cd with Jensen powering the components. Turn up the volume to mid level. Now try and pick out all the mid and high instruments. You'll notice that most of the highs will sound like one tone and have no details. On your 2nd pass, replace Jensen with a high quality amp like Zapco, Orion HCCA, PPI art series, PPI PC and PCX series. JL amps are suppose to be great, but I'm not convinced, maybe they perform well as a sub amp. Listen to the mids and highs again. This time you WILL be able to pick out the individual instruments. It's not much, but that's the summary of cheap amps vs great amps, being able to hear fine details. Bass on the other hand, will sound good from most amps. It's not as noticeable as mids and highs. One more thing, great amps will make each note sound like "live" concert.
dummy
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Ok.. now that's what I wanted to hear,thanks for the info.any idea on a reliable source to purchase one of the amps listed, or if I like it...two...lol..I could search ebay,unfortunately my luck hasn't been so well there, nothin like buying someone elses junk..once again,. thanks for the help...