Prev: No sound rear speakers Jensen VM9510
Next: Sparkomatic SS65 Subwoofer instructions
From: Lou3 on 15 Mar 2007 01:33
While doing some research at Circuit City to upgrade my stock audio system,
the sales associate enlightened me on the benefit of an amp by playing a
head unit and speakers with and without an amp. I was immediately sold. I
don't want to go nuts with multiple amps and specialized alternators, but
just run a modest amp that will bring out the best in my upgraded head unit
and door speakers. Here's the plan thus far:

head unit: Sony CDGTX310
front and rear doors: Infinity 6812 (installed fronts yesterday and am
smitten)
amp: ?
sub: if the above doesn't give me enough bass to fill in my music, I'd go
for a compact powered sub that can fit under my seat.

Can you recommend some good amps for the setup above? I know that a well
engineered amp is worth the extra money, but I don't need a competition rig
either. I just want a well made, reliable amp that will bring out the best
in the components above. My ultimate goal is all-around fidelity at no more
than moderate volume.


From: D.Kreft on 15 Mar 2007 01:57
On Mar 14, 10:33 pm, "Lou3" <l...(a)poolgods.com> wrote:
> While doing some research at Circuit City to upgrade my stock audio system,
> the sales associate enlightened me on the benefit of an amp by playing a
> head unit and speakers with and without an amp. I was immediately sold. I
> don't want to go nuts with multiple amps and specialized alternators, but
> just run a modest amp that will bring out the best in my upgraded head unit
> and door speakers. Here's the plan thus far:
>
> head unit: Sony CDGTX310
> front and rear doors: Infinity 6812 (installed fronts yesterday and am
> smitten)
> amp: ?
> sub: if the above doesn't give me enough bass to fill in my music, I'd go
> for a compact powered sub that can fit under my seat.
>
> Can you recommend some good amps for the setup above? I know that a well
> engineered amp is worth the extra money, but I don't need a competition rig
> either. I just want a well made, reliable amp that will bring out the best
> in the components above. My ultimate goal is all-around fidelity at no more
> than moderate volume.

I can't make any brand recommendations because I'm a little behind the
times, but I can tell you that for the most part, you get what you pay
for. A really high quality 25W x 2 (@ 4 Ohms) would probably do
wonders for your system. Back in the day, I started with a Soundstream
D60II (back before Soundstream went all cheese ball). It sounded
really good with its 30Wx2 and I had no intentions of upgrading. Then
at the insistence of a salesman (who later became my co-worker), I let
him put a Precision Power 25Wx2 in my car out in the parking lot. The
two amps were comparably rated, but the PPI was a bit more expensive,
and I instantly fell in love with that amp (a 2025AM)--it was like
someone had taken a pair of cotton balls out of my ears! As soon as I
could come up with the money, I bought one and then went on to outfit
the rest of my car with PPI electronics.

Why do I share this story with you? Basically to point out that there
are some not-so-subtle differences between amps, and that just
because an amp may seem pretty expensive for the amount of power it's
rated to deliver (IIRC, the PPI was about 2x the price of my
Soundsteam), it can really pay off in terms of the enjoyment you can
get out of the system. So buy the nicest small amp that you can
afford--don't be suckered into buying a cheap-O amp because it has
bigger numbers--you'll actually save more money in the long run if you
do it right the first time and don't have to keep upgrading.

-dan

From: Matt Ion on 15 Mar 2007 04:00
D.Kreft wrote:
> On Mar 14, 10:33 pm, "Lou3" <l...(a)poolgods.com> wrote:
>
>>While doing some research at Circuit City to upgrade my stock audio system,
>>the sales associate enlightened me on the benefit of an amp by playing a
>>head unit and speakers with and without an amp. I was immediately sold. I
>>don't want to go nuts with multiple amps and specialized alternators, but
>>just run a modest amp that will bring out the best in my upgraded head unit
>>and door speakers. Here's the plan thus far:
>>
>>head unit: Sony CDGTX310
>>front and rear doors: Infinity 6812 (installed fronts yesterday and am
>>smitten)
>>amp: ?
>>sub: if the above doesn't give me enough bass to fill in my music, I'd go
>>for a compact powered sub that can fit under my seat.
>>
>>Can you recommend some good amps for the setup above? I know that a well
>>engineered amp is worth the extra money, but I don't need a competition rig
>>either. I just want a well made, reliable amp that will bring out the best
>>in the components above. My ultimate goal is all-around fidelity at no more
>>than moderate volume.
>
>
> I can't make any brand recommendations because I'm a little behind the
> times, but I can tell you that for the most part, you get what you pay
> for. A really high quality 25W x 2 (@ 4 Ohms) would probably do
> wonders for your system. Back in the day, I started with a Soundstream
> D60II (back before Soundstream went all cheese ball). It sounded
> really good with its 30Wx2 and I had no intentions of upgrading. Then
> at the insistence of a salesman (who later became my co-worker), I let
> him put a Precision Power 25Wx2 in my car out in the parking lot. The
> two amps were comparably rated, but the PPI was a bit more expensive,
> and I instantly fell in love with that amp (a 2025AM)--it was like
> someone had taken a pair of cotton balls out of my ears! As soon as I
> could come up with the money, I bought one and then went on to outfit
> the rest of my car with PPI electronics.
>
> Why do I share this story with you? Basically to point out that there
> are some not-so-subtle differences between amps, and that just
> because an amp may seem pretty expensive for the amount of power it's
> rated to deliver (IIRC, the PPI was about 2x the price of my
> Soundsteam), it can really pay off in terms of the enjoyment you can
> get out of the system. So buy the nicest small amp that you can
> afford--don't be suckered into buying a cheap-O amp because it has
> bigger numbers--you'll actually save more money in the long run if you
> do it right the first time and don't have to keep upgrading.

I'll second all that. One of the best amps I've ever run was a Rodek RA-230.
They originally retailed for something like $500, as I recall, and were rated at
a whopping 2x30W (granted, it had a regulated power supply)... but I used to run
a pair of 8" Orion subs on it, parallelled to a 2-ohm load, and ran the amp
bridged, and for a theoretical max output of 120W (give or take), it shook my
little hatchback like you wouldn't believe. Needed a LOT of cooling to keep
from blowing up (fortunately the power transistors were readily available for a
relatively low cost!) but it blew the doors off the bigger "LearJet"-branded amp
I had running the front 6.5s and rear 5.25s at a rated 2x75 (which probably
retailed for around $150, although I had it given to me, so I can't really say).

Of course, the Rodek having 4ga. power leads stock vs. the 14ga. leads on the
LearJet is a good indication too...
From: Captain Howdy on 15 Mar 2007 08:27
Dan, dont ya know that all amps sound the same?


>I can't make any brand recommendations because I'm a little behind the
>times, but I can tell you that for the most part, you get what you pay
>for. A really high quality 25W x 2 (@ 4 Ohms) would probably do
>wonders for your system. Back in the day, I started with a Soundstream
>D60II (back before Soundstream went all cheese ball). It sounded
>really good with its 30Wx2 and I had no intentions of upgrading. Then
>at the insistence of a salesman (who later became my co-worker), I let
>him put a Precision Power 25Wx2 in my car out in the parking lot. The
>two amps were comparably rated, but the PPI was a bit more expensive,
>and I instantly fell in love with that amp (a 2025AM)--it was like
>someone had taken a pair of cotton balls out of my ears! As soon as I
>could come up with the money, I bought one and then went on to outfit
>the rest of my car with PPI electronics.
>
>Why do I share this story with you? Basically to point out that there
>are some not-so-subtle differences between amps, and that just
>because an amp may seem pretty expensive for the amount of power it's
>rated to deliver (IIRC, the PPI was about 2x the price of my
>Soundsteam), it can really pay off in terms of the enjoyment you can
>get out of the system. So buy the nicest small amp that you can
>afford--don't be suckered into buying a cheap-O amp because it has
>bigger numbers--you'll actually save more money in the long run if you
>do it right the first time and don't have to keep upgrading.
>
>-dan
>
From: Lou3 on 15 Mar 2007 19:43
Thanks for your reply. I definitely won't buy an amp from the bargain bin.
I researched online today and liked what I saw from makers like JL and ARC.
How would rate Rockford Fozgate and Infinity amps?

After reading Crutchfield's advice to match the amp's power output to the
speaker's power handling, I thought I needed an amp with at least 60W per
channel to match the 60W RMS of my speakers. I guess I misunderstood that.

Some places recommend a 4-channel amp for powering four door speakers, and
others go with a 2-channel amp. Are there any real advantages to one or the
other for powering four 2-way door speakers?

"D.Kreft" <dkreft(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1173938257.972062.73770(a)y66g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 14, 10:33 pm, "Lou3" <l...(a)poolgods.com> wrote:
>> While doing some research at Circuit City to upgrade my stock audio
>> system,
>> the sales associate enlightened me on the benefit of an amp by playing a
>> head unit and speakers with and without an amp. I was immediately sold.
>> I
>> don't want to go nuts with multiple amps and specialized alternators, but
>> just run a modest amp that will bring out the best in my upgraded head
>> unit
>> and door speakers. Here's the plan thus far:
>>
>> head unit: Sony CDGTX310
>> front and rear doors: Infinity 6812 (installed fronts yesterday and am
>> smitten)
>> amp: ?
>> sub: if the above doesn't give me enough bass to fill in my music, I'd go
>> for a compact powered sub that can fit under my seat.
>>
>> Can you recommend some good amps for the setup above? I know that a well
>> engineered amp is worth the extra money, but I don't need a competition
>> rig
>> either. I just want a well made, reliable amp that will bring out the
>> best
>> in the components above. My ultimate goal is all-around fidelity at no
>> more
>> than moderate volume.
>
> I can't make any brand recommendations because I'm a little behind the
> times, but I can tell you that for the most part, you get what you pay
> for. A really high quality 25W x 2 (@ 4 Ohms) would probably do
> wonders for your system. Back in the day, I started with a Soundstream
> D60II (back before Soundstream went all cheese ball). It sounded
> really good with its 30Wx2 and I had no intentions of upgrading. Then
> at the insistence of a salesman (who later became my co-worker), I let
> him put a Precision Power 25Wx2 in my car out in the parking lot. The
> two amps were comparably rated, but the PPI was a bit more expensive,
> and I instantly fell in love with that amp (a 2025AM)--it was like
> someone had taken a pair of cotton balls out of my ears! As soon as I
> could come up with the money, I bought one and then went on to outfit
> the rest of my car with PPI electronics.
>
> Why do I share this story with you? Basically to point out that there
> are some not-so-subtle differences between amps, and that just
> because an amp may seem pretty expensive for the amount of power it's
> rated to deliver (IIRC, the PPI was about 2x the price of my
> Soundsteam), it can really pay off in terms of the enjoyment you can
> get out of the system. So buy the nicest small amp that you can
> afford--don't be suckered into buying a cheap-O amp because it has
> bigger numbers--you'll actually save more money in the long run if you
> do it right the first time and don't have to keep upgrading.
>
> -dan
>


 |  Next  |  Last
Pages: 1 2
Prev: No sound rear speakers Jensen VM9510
Next: Sparkomatic SS65 Subwoofer instructions