amp suggestions. what do you like?

[kami240sx]

Hi, I'm new to the in car audio forum of NICO and I don't know much about audio stuffs. I'm looking for an amp for my new speakers. they're the mb quart reference line with tweeter and crossovers. RCE-216, 60 to 130 watts

for my headunit, I have this alpine, CDA-9815.

I'm looking to have two amps, one multi channel for my 4 speakers and one later for my sub.I'm pretty much looking at amps. The JL, audio bahn, or alpine one.

JL 300/4 300 Watt, 150 W RMS x 2 @ 3 ohm-8 ohm Audiobahn 6004T 150 watts RMS x 4 at 2 ohms Alpine MRV-F540 100 watts RMS x 4 at 2 ohms

I'm looking to see which one would be best, what you guys prefer, and if there's another brand/model that would be better than the ones I picked.

any help would be great!

[ayjay]

well i could list off a tonne of different amps that you could run for those speakers, but i won't... but i will list some manufacturers that you should look into that offer nice amps which you can all find for a decent price on eBay:

U.S. AMPS - make some really beefy/quality amps, made in USAZapco - a bit pricey but really niceAudison - made in ITALY, enough saidU-Dimension - high quality amps from Japan, pricey & rarePPI - you should look for their older Art Series amps, really good sound qualityOLD Sony - their older Mobile ES stuff is nice but rare...Memphis - have some decent amps for the pice, look into their Memphis Belle 5 channel amp (75x4 @ 4 ohms + 1100x1 @ 1ohms sub channel)

i would honestly stay away from Audiobahn if possible, haven't heard too many good things about their amps, other than most of the money goes into making their amps look BLING BLING... but if you can find any amps from the manufacturers i listed above that will suit your setup for a decent price, go for it... JL's & the Alpines aren't bad amps either

[Simmsled]

Agreed. I would also say if you can find the old "pill" style Rockford Fosgate or the Rockford Fosgate with the gold color end caps to get them.

PPI Power Class that does not have the PCX or the PCXXXX.2 designation are sweet too. The original Power Class amps that do not have those designations in their model name/number are bada$$.

The MTX Blue Thunder amps are a cool find as well. They are very similar in design to the early Rockford Fosgate stuff.

Xtant stuff is also a good find.

[Rex]

I'll weigh in with my standard "don't forget the Autotek's"

The SX & MX series is strong. A 5-channel like the SX-5150 can be a good system starter amp.

[MECPInstaller]

I've had decent luck with audiobahn lots of people trash them but if you can get a good deal on them on ebay they'll be worth it

American Bass, Phoenix gold(older lines), Soundstream (rubicons), Zapco, Dragster(not sure if you can get them in the U.S. can get them up in canada though), McIntosh, Denon and so on

[kami240sx]

what would be most important in looking for the right amp for my speakers? there's so many brands out there. what would be some basic things I should look for to help narrow down this monster list?

oh and price wise, i'm thinking under 700$

[ayjay]

well when lookin for an amp, you can't always rely on what the manufacturers say... sony explode might have great numbers/specs but they perform like uber shiit... so out of the manufacturers that we listed, when lookin at those amps, you want to look at the 4-ohm output of those amps for your speakers... for the sub you'll want to get a mono block amp which is basically devoted to driving subs...

for speakers a 50x4 @ 4ohm rating is decent... that will be plenty to power your speakers... any amp that puts out more power than that to 4 speakers @ 4ohm is going to be considerably more but if you can find one for a decent price ($250 or less), by all means go for it...

if you can tell us what kind of sub you're plannin on runnin we can suggest an amp for it.

[Silvia2b]

Check out Xtant, Diamond audio, and Boston Acoustics has developed a new amplifier line. Alpine of america has also done quite bit of research and engineering for their amps. I most cases you get what you pay for in amplifiers. Higher quality components are usually found on the best amplifiers, cheaper models use foreign made caps, resistor, coils and other chips for the crossovers etc. at very low cost to the manufacturer. developing custom components for a amplifier is not cheap. If you want your system to be noise and trouble-free. Find a quality brand for you amps. Speaker design hasn't changed much in 80 years same basic principles, unless your looking at like Martin Logan home Electrostatic speakers, slightly different than the normal design. But amplifiers have all kinds of different designs. There is different classes of amplifiers, like A/B and D. Do a little more shopping ask some more specific questions about amplifier constructions and design rather than take the salepersons recommendations. Most importantly compare the way it sounds when it is installed in a sound room. This will not sound the same as in a vehicle but pay attention to see what sounds good not loud and dirty. Good luck!

[diamondj30]

zapco

[Rex]

<Side bar> Amp guys, have you ever used Max Current Draw in your "Honesty Among Amp" ratings process?

[Camel]

xtant, nuff said.

[JESTER]

I like MTX amps.

[kami240sx]

i'm looking at that jl 300/4 ampthe guy at car toys it has this regulated intelligent power system that will give continuous power to the speakers.

he also recommended it over the alpine V12 and the xtant. amps

is the RIP feature any good?

[ayjay]

<Side bar> Amp guys, have you ever used Max Current Draw in your "Honesty Among Amp" ratings process?

yo rex... ya man... good way to tell if the amp is underated or not... my U-Dimension amp, 8k1, is a class D 800W RMS amp @ 1 ohm, but has two 40 amp fuses... i had ****ty Tsunami before this that blew up on me and it was rated at 1000W RMS with only two 30 amp fuses... you gotta wonder sometimes about the true power of some amps...

US Amps makes a 6000W @ 2ohms (bridged) high current competition amp with a fuse rating of 900 AMPS!! don't think that's an underated amp :pface

[ayjay]

i'm looking at that jl 300/4 ampthe guy at car toys it has this regulated intelligent power system that will give continuous power to the speakers.

he also recommended it over the alpine V12 and the xtant. amps

is the RIP feature any good?

go for the JL then... the whole RIP feature is just a selling point for the salesmen... that would be a shiitty amp if it DIDN'T give continuous power to the speakers :pface JL makes good amps though... you won't be dissapointed

[kami240sx]

I was getting ready to go in and buy the JL 300/4 until another guy started telling me about the Eclipse PA5422.

He said the THD on the eclipse was at 0.004% as opposed to the JL's 0.03%. And that the eclipse would give me a cleaner sound.

So now i'm leaning toward that eclipse one. What you guys think?

I live in texas so I only know about this small chain, Car Toys, and they don't seem to have most of those brands like zapco or u.s. amps. thanks for the feedback ayjay

[Rex]

IMHO, unless you're trying to build a national competion level system, you'd never notice the difference between 0.004% & 0.03%.

I'd say from a muscle stand point, the Eclipse is probably stronger, but I've seen more good "press" on the JL, to mee toss a coin or see which one they'll deal on better.

[Silvia2b]

I have had great results from the Eclipse amps, as long as you don't use the 5 channel models. The power amps like the PA5422, should perform well with your mb quart. which model/make rear speakers are you powering or none at all?

[zinkie13]

JBL 1200.1 all the way!

[kami240sx]

i'm using the pa5422 for all my components front and rear. will that not be enough power?

for my sub setup, i'm thinking JL 1000/1 and a 10w6v2i hear the w6 and w7 are only good for kicking and i should go lower if i want sound quality, like a w3.

i'm hoping to compete in sound quality. will the w6 be too much or too little?

[Jookmasta]

mtx 895 all the way. will run ur highs and subs. nothing like 400 rms out of that sub channel