Best bang for the buck amp?

[Swedish Mike]

I´m looking for a good 4-channel amp but I´ve been away from car audio for a few years and don´t know the new brands.I just bought a DLS Reference 6.5" front system and JBL GTO 10" sub.Any ideas, around $200 would be great since it´s for my daily driver.

When I competed I had DLS speakers and Rockford Fosgate and DLS amp´s.

[krimsonviper]

elemental designs are pretty good, damn near the best customer service i've seen. it beats all the stores and people i've dealt with in customer service. $200? umm, i dont think you'll find much, maybe an alpine, rule of thumb is basically $1=1watt

[Swedish Mike]

elemental designs are pretty good, damn near the best customer service i've seen. it beats all the stores and people i've dealt with in customer service. $200? umm, i dont think you'll find much, maybe an alpine, rule of thumb is basically $1=1watt

I found a bunch of RF and Pyle amp´s on ebay, is Pyle good?

[Rex]

, is Pyle good?

I'd say no.

Autotek would be a better option than Pyle, IMHO.

[Swedish Mike]

I'd say no.

Autotek would be a better option than Pyle, IMHO.

Thanks, I check the Autotek ones.

Also found this -> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

And Sony, Kenwood, Alpine, Jensen... A lot of amp´s out there!

[krimsonviper]

Thanks, I check the Autotek ones.

Also found this -> http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...ZWDVW

And Sony, Kenwood, Alpine, Jensen... A lot of amp´s out there!

Sony-many problems with sony, i used to work for an electronic store and sony constantly came back for repairs

Kenwood-same problem as sony only more with their decks

Jensen-we didnt sell jensen

alpine-is the only thing you said that was good in that list. the only problem i see with alpine is that they dont put out alot of wattage IMO

[phuphyter]

I agree. Go elemental designs. NINe.4Very underrated from what I hear. They're also DLS dealers, so you can call/email them and ask them what amp would complement those speakers.

And congrats on finding a job here in the U.S.!

[Swedish Mike]

I agree. Go elemental designs. NINe.4Very underrated from what I hear. They're also DLS dealers, so you can call/email them and ask them what amp would complement those speakers.

And congrats on finding a job here in the U.S.!

Thanks! Unfortunatly it looks like it´s a waste of time, the lawyer said 5-6 years to get a Visa and the job and my spirit is gone by then.

It´s between Rockford Fosgate 450W and Alpine 400W now, both good brands that I´ve used before.

Do you guys have DLS in USA? My buddy is working at HQ in Gothenburg.

[phuphyter]

Sorry to hear about the visa situation.

Yeah, we have DLS in the US. You have a buddy that works there!? Have him hook you up! Don't bother with the other brands you mentioned.

[Swedish Mike]

Sorry to hear about the visa situation.

Yeah, we have DLS in the US. You have a buddy that works there!? Have him hook you up! Don't bother with the other brands you mentioned.

I buy the speakers from him but the amps are expensive, even with discount. Wish I had a nice DLS amp, one of the best out there.

Did you see this? -> http://www.dls.se/econtent/fil...6.pdf

They are getting bigger.

[krimsonviper]

If you can find someone here in the states to sponsor your for work in a degree that you earned form school, you can get a job here quicker. a laywer will know more about it, i heard it from a phillipino lawyer show my grandma watches alot, its about immigration

[Swedish Mike]

If you can find someone here in the states to sponsor your for work in a degree that you earned form school, you can get a job here quicker. a laywer will know more about it, i heard it from a phillipino lawyer show my grandma watches alot, its about immigration

This is exactly what I planned to do but the lawyer gave me 5-6 years in paper work.I got a sponsor and I went to car tech school for 3 years.

[krimsonviper]

I'm not a lawyer, but the guy on TV said 3-4 years. I believe TV, it was my parent/teacher all my life

No but serious, i remembered dude said 3-4 so one of us is right and its only like a year difference. Good luck man, when you make and im still around, email me, we can get some drink and you can tell me what you swedes do for fun

[PoorManQ45]

Nice to see someone that knows and Respects DLS.

Not too many people over here(outside of competitions) know about DLS's amazing quality.

I rank DLS one step below Morel and Scan Speak

That's saying alot considering DLS costs about 1/10th the price.

For amps in your price range i'd check out Hifonics

[joe603]

MTX amps have always been good to me...

[PoorManQ45]

I'll recommend the Hifonics TX8805 listed in my sig. It puts out a good bit of power.

[davidahn]

Many people believe that amps have sound quality characteristics, but they do not. Buy the power you need at the price you want. All solid-state power amps sound identical in blind listening tests. Only tube amps have "different" sound characteristics, but that's only because it adds analog noise which adds "warmth." You should choose a reputable company for possible warranty repairs, though.

For those of you who think you can tell the difference between your brand X "high end" amp and a Hong Kong special, before you flame me, put your money where your mouth is. For $200, you can have a chance to win $10,000; just identify your amp vs. another amp: http://www.tom-morrow-land.com...x.htm. Thousands have taken the test and NONE has successfully won the money.

David

[Looneybomber]

They are getting bigger.

On front systems, Scan Speak had 5 times more users than Seas!? WTH! Scan speak also had no placements, yet Seas had a 1st and a 3rd. Not bad when only 1% of 255 cars is 2.55 systems. So 2 or 3 people used Seas products and they took a first and third.

[PoorManQ45]

For those of you who think you can tell the difference between your brand X "high end" amp and a Hong Kong special, before you flame me, put your money where your mouth is. For $200, you can have a chance to win $10,000; just identify your amp vs. another amp: http://www.tom-morrow-land.com...x.htm. Thousands have taken the test and NONE has successfully won the money.

David

You are correct. I wonder if they check the amps before the test(contest). If not you can add a harmonic distortion modulator to the output circuit to cause a solid state amp to sound like a tube amp.

I bet that would freak the people out

[EW]

Quote »Do the results indicate I should buy the cheapest amp?

No. You should buy the best amplifier for your purpose. Some of the factors to consider are: reliability, build quality, cooling performance, flexibility, quality of mechanical connections, reputation of manufacturer, special features, size, weight, aesthetics, and cost. Buying the cheapest amplifier will likely get you an unreliable amplifier that is difficult to use and might not have the needed features. The only factor that this test indicates you can ignore is sound quality below clipping.

If you have a choice between a well built reliable low cost amp, and an expensive amplifier that isn't reliable but has a better reputation for sound quality, it can be inferred from this test that you would get more sound for your money by choosing the former.[/quote]Taken from the link posted above. There is a huge build quality difference between amps including amps that come out of the same factory. I'll pass on the cheap stuff.

[davidahn]

You are correct. I wonder if they check the amps before the test(contest). If not you can add a harmonic distortion modulator to the output circuit to cause a solid state amp to sound like a tube amp.

I bet that would freak the people out

They do check them with signal analyzers to make sure they aren't tampered with.

David

[davidahn]

Taken from the link posted above. There is a huge build quality difference between amps including amps that come out of the same factory. I'll pass on the cheap stuff.

I did mention choosing a company factoring in reliability and warranty support in my post. In addition, there may be audible differences in the non-amplifier components such as the crossovers and even possibly volume controls.

That said, I'd still opt for the cheapest stuff from a reliable company because I don't believe in buying extended warranties (paying for a more expensive amp in case you need repair is essentially the same thing). Say you bought two amps at $100 each, then one needed to be replaced in 6 months. You're still out $300 total, rather than paying two amps at $300 each; even after a free warranty repair, you're still out $600 right off the bat! Put the $300 savings into better speakers and sub, and you're WAY ahead in sound quality.

David

[the converted]

Many people believe that amps have sound quality characteristics, but they do not. Buy the power you need at the price you want. All solid-state power amps sound identical in blind listening tests. Only tube amps have "different" sound characteristics, but that's only because it adds analog noise which adds "warmth." You should choose a reputable company for possible warranty repairs, though.

For those of you who think you can tell the difference between your brand X "high end" amp and a Hong Kong special, before you flame me, put your money where your mouth is. For $200, you can have a chance to win $10,000; just identify your amp vs. another amp: http://www.tom-morrow-land.com...x.htm. Thousands have taken the test and NONE has successfully won the money.

David

That test is the worst example of stacking odds against you that I have ever seen. They take the amps and EQ them to sound the same and then A/B them. Well of course your not going to be able to hear the difference after they have been made to sound as close to each other as possible. So if you want to drop coin on a 31 band parametric Eq and have the experience to tune it......all amps sound the same.

[davidahn]

That test is the worst example of stacking odds against you that I have ever seen. They take the amps and EQ them to sound the same and then A/B them. Well of course your not going to be able to hear the difference after they have been made to sound as close to each other as possible. So if you want to drop coin on a 31 band parametric Eq and have the experience to tune it......all amps sound the same.

An amplifier's job is to amplify the exact sound wave, not change its characteristics. The only time a solid-state amp colors the frequency response is when crossover/bass booster/equalization circuits aren't fully defeatable; that's when EQ is applied to compensate. So you're saying the only way your brand X amp can sound better than a cheap amp is by changing the frequency response curve non-linearly?

[PoorManQ45]

Will ya'll just shutup.

The ONLY time you MIGHT ever hear a difference between two amps(lets say of similar quality like Focal and DLS) would be in a listening room that is sound dampened. In the car there is always outside noise interacting with the music. This causes a perceived change in the sound.

Are there differences between amps? Yes. Are these differences actually perceivable(assuming amp is operating properly)? No!

In an ABX test a Behringer A500($99~$199) with Home Depot wiring was put up against some uber expensive amps with crazy expensive wiring. The results of these tests showed that the different setups could not be discerned.

I personally am using two MA Audio HK798 amps. They're bridged. One per sub. They're each feeding a TC Sound DB500 12" sub. Well, you know how people always say JL Audio power is so much better then everything else. Well, I tried a JL 500/1 on these subs. Then on one sub. No noticeable difference when running one sub. Noticable drop when running both subs.

Note: MA Audio is a supposed flea market brand.

[EW]

You know Mobile Authority is a flea market brand.