i am currently running mb quartz rce 216 components on a zapco i force amp, which powers it fine but im looking for a bit of an upgrade ( i know zapco is great but its an entry level model) I have been looking hard at the ref 350.2, the 300/2 and the eclipse PA 4212
they price out to 370 for the zapco 300 for the slash series and 200 for the eclipse
im fairly certain that each of these would be an upgrade and sufficent to power the comps, but would the sound quality and system noise be lowered significantly. I also have some concerns that these amps are all older models...the slash series and ref series have all been out for some time and the pa4212 is atleast 2 years old, are there any other comprable newer models or other brands you would consider (us amps, arc etc)
It wouldn't be a humungous difference, but an improvement. Out of the list I'd go for the Reference 350.2. It'll leave you the chance for a future upgrade to Symbilink to assure a noise free line.
thanks buddy - I read a ton about the symbilink upgrade, how expensive is it and is it just basically plug and play or is it a pretty extensive install
It depends on how you do it. Me personally, I would buy the SP4-SL preamp and use that to convert to Symbilink, then buy the cables. It retails for $400, but can be had cheaper online. Say $500 all in all, that's about right for cables and the preamp. The preamp has a 4 band EQ, subwoofer crossover, sub level control, fader control, overall system volume control, and symbilink conversion. The symbilink processors themselves are cheaper, can't remember the prices, though. You could email Zapco and get them.