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paultle Unregistered guest | I believe all these amplifiers are good: Avionixx, Cadence, JBL MTX, Kickers US Amps, JL Audio, Zapco In your opinion, please rank them in the order of quality regardless of price for mutichannel amps and subwoofer amp. Which one do you think is best bang for your buck? Thank you very much for your time. |
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Gold Member Username: GlasswolfPost Number: 1246 Registered: 12-2003 | Zapco is probably the best one there, if you go with their higher end models, and use the SymbioLink interface with it's 15V line driver and balanced inputs. That virtually eliminates noise and gives fantastic signal resolution. Price is high, usually in the four figure range. JL Audio has the next best amps in their slash series, offering regulated power supplies, and regulated output to give the same power with any input voltage and load within spec. very well made products, and very underrated for power. US Amps has always made very good, very powerful amplifiers. Kicker and MTX are about on par with each other, and offer similar product lines for power. Both are very solid amplifiers, at reasonable prices. Avionixx is a good company, affordably priced, and are now selling factory direct. Elemental Design is also now using these amplifiers. I great choice for a budget system. JBL has very solid, very affordable amplifiers in the P and BP lines. The only downside some feel, is the lack of a subsonic filter for the BP series sub amps with vented enclosures. Cadence is making good amps these days, and also very affordable. Their older amps weren't always as good, but things change and the company has stepped up to making a good product these days, well worth looking into for a budget system. that's in order more or less, and all of them are good amplifier lines. |
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New member Username: JosebyronPost Number: 1 Registered: 03-2004 | GlassWolf, sir...! As one of the very few people here who actually knows what s/he's talking about and who can express it clearly, I wonder if you could please give me your opinion/rating on some new amplifier brands (seems like everyone makes then now!). I am somewhat new to the car audio game and on a budget. Started looking at the usual "entry level" stuff: Pyle, Rockford Fosgate, but want to do better now. In my brochure collection travels, I've come accross: 1. Audiobahn 2. Planet Audio 3. Orion 4. Directed 5. Precision Power 6. Soundstream 7. Hifonics 8. Profile 9. US Acoustics 10. All other brand-name: Clarion, Pioneer, etc. Thank you very much, in advance. JoseByron |
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Silver Member Username: Its_bacon12Post Number: 188 Registered: 12-2003 | audiobahn isnt good really....orion and hifonics are really the only 2 on your list that are really wort the money, with an exception of PPI...they used to be but no so much anymore |
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New member Username: JosebyronPost Number: 2 Registered: 03-2004 | Thanks, Bacon! You're one of the others. In reading these brochures, it seems that Orion and PPI (Precision Power) are part of Directed Electronics, who also make and sell equipment under their name. I also see, from other posts, that Orion is not what it used to be some time ago. Reason is ask all this: I need a 4-channel amp for my Focus. Thanks, JBG |
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Bronze Member Username: TbonePost Number: 42 Registered: 02-2004 | Adcom and Autotek? |
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Gold Member Username: GlasswolfPost Number: 1452 Registered: 12-2003 | http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcaraudiotalkfrm27.showMessage?topicID=27.topic |
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New member Username: JosebyronPost Number: 3 Registered: 03-2004 | GW: You rock! - thank you very, very much. TBone: I've heard of Adcom, their home components are supposed to be very good. never heard of Autotek, though. American company? Best regards, JBG |
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Bronze Member Username: TbonePost Number: 62 Registered: 02-2004 | Yes, used them in my past IASCA vehicle. used the XX series on my subs, and they sounded perfect. They now have the X-Class Amplifiers which I am playing with, but it so far is great. As for the Adcom, I have one of their older models that was supposed to be stable down to 1/2 ohm, don't now though, I am running it a 2 ohm bridged, and haven't had a problem. |
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Gold Member Username: GlasswolfPost Number: 1463 Registered: 12-2003 | yes autotek is an american company. in the early 90s they developed a reputation as a cheater amp company by underrating their product power ratings for "cheating" in competition. good mid level products in general. |
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New member Username: JosebyronPost Number: 4 Registered: 03-2004 | Well, that's the kind of cheating I like! - apparently Adcom does not make mobile audio anymore, unless I went to the wrong website. Excellent, Autotek shall be added to the "wish list" - on the other hand, I have heard and read opinions on Hifonics and PPI ranging from "questionable" to "best of class" - what gives? Thanks for your time. If no one else has said it before, I appreciate your dedication and endless patience in helping so many of us newbies. Regards, Jose |
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Bronze Member Username: TbonePost Number: 68 Registered: 02-2004 | Yeah, I think their new X-Class amps probably quality as "cheaters" also, I have one that is destroying four Savard Rap 15's. |
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Silver Member Username: HydroPost Number: 145 Registered: 12-2003 | Savard Subs huh how'd you manage to get a hold of some of those?I talked to Bill Savard a while back and he has talked about maybe bringing Savard back into production. |
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Gold Member Username: GlasswolfPost Number: 1469 Registered: 12-2003 | HiFonics, it depends on the amp/line of amps in question. Some aren't that great, others are pretty solid performers. PPI presently, makes pretty decent amps. Not terrific, but good middle of the road stuff. Their older early 90s "Art" series amplifiers were some of the best products on the market. At the time they were a fairly new company, made in the USA, and founded by the same guys who started Rockford Fosgate and Orion. At the time, those three companies dominated the car audio market for high end amplifiers and speakers. That's why the opinions vary so much. There are still a lot of loyalists, there are a lot of new school kids, and there are a wide range of products spanning the years that have various levels of goodness. |
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Bronze Member Username: TboneOK United States Post Number: 79 Registered: Feb-04 | Yeah, I had those Savard's quite awhile, and put them in my competition vehicle, but sadly, hit a deer last night while on the way to the carwash. The deer hit the front drivers side fender and flipped over the cab, thank god, and landed squarely on the bed, destroying the box and the subs, sob, not to mention the car is totaled. Now only rolling my commuter truck. |
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New member Username: JosebyronPacoima, California USA Post Number: 5 Registered: Mar-04 | G-wolf: thanks for your replies. Is there any way in particular to determine WHICH lines fall into the "decent" category for Hifonics? One can pretty much tell just by looking at them that the new RF stuff is "crap" to put it politely. Build quality is terrible! Actually, is there one (or many) specific details or specs that make a good amplifier, from your perspective? Like, for instance, researching all the brands you and T have recommended above, they all seem to have S/N Ratios over 100 db and equally broad bandwidths. Considering, of course, the ultimate factor is how it sounds to (rhetorical) YOU... what do you look for in an amplifier or is it just personal preference? For instance, let's say for exactly the same money I can get a 4 channel PPI (US made and all, from their current lineup), the JL 300/4, an Orion and a cheater Autotek... they all have roughly similar specs... which would YOU pick? Thanks, JBG |
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Gold Member Username: GlasswolfNorthWest, Michigan USA Post Number: 1478 Registered: Dec-03 | I determine amp quality by how they're built, but I've been inside most of them, and I know electronics, so that helps. Another way is by reading reviews, and owner feedback. |
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New member Username: JosebyronPacoima, California USA Post Number: 8 Registered: Mar-04 | Thanks for your patience and replies. I have a list of finalists, now price will determine which one wins, in the end. regards, JBG |
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Gold Member Username: GlasswolfNorthWest, Michigan USA Post Number: 1492 Registered: Dec-03 | be careful letting price dictate too much of your decision. you can always wait a bit longer and save a little more, if the difference isn't that much. I mean $50 isn't that big of a deal between two products if one is significantly better than the other for example. It's not like a $300 difference. That I could see being a bigger factor. |
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Bronze Member Username: JosebyronPacoima, California USA Post Number: 11 Registered: Mar-04 | G-wolf... If the specs, reputation and pretty much everything else (except side by side sound comparisons, which would be almost impossible to arrange), what else but price would determine the final decision? As I was asking above: let's say a JL 300/4, a PPI, an Autotek, etc. are within $50.00 of each other... what to choose? - go for the lowest priced one and invest the $50.00 in better cabling? - go for the most expensive one and hope the quality makes up for generic connectors? I know what you mean, don't get me wrong, but the whole exercise brings me precisely to a narrow range of quality and price. Thanks, JBG |