Advice on 4-ch front amp, $173, Boston Acoustics GTA-704 4-channel car amplifier

[MediumTech 10+ year member]

Advice on front 4-channel amp?

Edited: 2012-01-02 1030- don't bother reading this post. The helpful folks here have already helped me move beyond these newbie questions. I am now a newbie with enough info be be dangerous!

Boston Acoustics GTA-704 4-channel car amplifier — 70 watts RMS x 4, $173

Crutchfield. (I'm not allowed to post links yet)

This should give me all the loudness I want. I driving Hertz ESK-165L's front doors, and Infinity Kappa 3-way's rear doors.

Is this decent bang for the buck? Should I look at something else?

Click to read more...

 

[disturbed471985 5,000+ posts]

Its a decent amp nothing special.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

ok amp,your mostly paying for the name

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

I have a DB drive A5 90.4, it pushes my herts 165 and DD t2's VERY well. WHiched to it from a old school memphis 50x4, and could believe how much louder they got, tiny azz amp too

 

[MediumTech 10+ year member]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I'm glad that I'm clicking and typing, before buying and paying.

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

Thanks for the advice guys.
I'm glad that I'm clicking and typing, before buying and paying.

lol thats a very good idea. Just sold my sub because i bought it before doing enough homework. Really research your stuff man, otherwise u may end up buying it twice

 

[MediumTech 10+ year member]

I have a DB drive A5 90.4, it pushes my herts 165 and DD t2's VERY well. WHiched to it from a old school memphis 50x4, and could believe how much louder they got, tiny azz amp too

Are you also impressed with the Hertz 165's?

I did alot of homework, and pre-listening before I chose them. I'm amazed at how good they sound on my stock Toyota head unit. I'm looking forward to hearing them on an amp.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

it will wake those bad boys up alot

 

[JoshC 10+ year member]

Omg i love them, They honestly sounded like **** on my HU, with a rms of 100watts my HU barley made them do anything. THey sounded pretty decent on my 50x4, very clean and crisp sound. THen i put them on the 90.4 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif and my entire doors vibrate, really need to get my deadner in. BUt with the 80hz and up bass it almost sounds like i have an 8 in my dash, really get a nice lil boom out of them lol but yes they sound very good. IM also impressed with DDs T2 tweets, super smooth clear highs

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

glad you like them josh

 

[MediumTech 10+ year member]

Thanks again guys.

I'm willing to consider used equipment, and I value your advice because it's much faster than my learning curve.

I'm thinking about this one now. Used Scosche EFX Hyperdrive HD4300 - amplifier 60x4

Any other advice?

I'll have to meander over to the for sale stuff in this forum.

I appreciate all the help and advice guys. Please let me know if you know of any new or used stuff I should look into.

 

[xmakeafistx 10+ year member]

If I recall correctly somebody on the Classifieds was selling one of those Audio Systems twister amps, those are seriously amazing. I think it was around the price range of the BA too. I would search through, I would find the link if I wasn't in such a rush.

 

[zako 10+ year member]

Scoche as a good brand for anything audio related (besides installation accessories)? puhlease..

$173 seems like a fair price Boston Acoustics GTA-704. Sure, you can pick up an amplifier with more watts for the price (e.g. MB Quart ONX4.125), but sometimes I can see the value for car installation in an amplifier that measures under 15 inches in length vs one that measures >20 inches in length.

By the way, have you looked at the MB Quart Formula series amplifiers? The 4x100watt version looks good for the price. If they're anything like the REF like which I think they are replacing, those are decent value. The small heatsink area is telling me that I probably won't run these for subwoofer duty without good coling, but they could be good speaker amps. I have a REF4.80 powering my fronts in active mode. REF4 were quite underrated (by at least 30%) and produced very clean wattage (SNR, THD, stereo separation, etc) on the bench. If you can find a new REF4.80 for 100-150, just go for it and not look back.

But the really good reference quality speaker amplifiers cost over $300 a piece. Some examples are Alpine PDX, PPI "Power Class", Boston Acoustics GT, JL HD, etc.

 

[MediumTech 10+ year member]

Thanks again for the help guys.

A few days ago, I pulled the trigger on a used Scosche EFX Hyperdrive HD4300 - amplifier 60x4 for $110 shipped (reported to be underrated, actual closer to 100x4)

I'm expecting to be happy with it, and if I decide I want something fancier, I'll ask for more help.

I'm building the entire system from stock / scratch, and I don't want to spend all my toy money at once.

I should be making sound waves with the new toys in about a week.