Amp opinions

[Unregistered]

As usual, I have gone about building my system backwards. For a 5th gen prelude, I have a Naka. cd45z, mb700, the external dual 24bit d/a converter, and polkmomo 12" sub and 6.5"separates (DX 6X9 rear fill).

Now I need to buy the amps-I said I did it backwards. I also have little $$$ left. What is a good low distortion series of "inexpensive" amps? I listen to Rock/Ska/Jazz so clarity is paramount, not announcing my presence 2 blocks away (sorry bass freaks). Please help.

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[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Is that Nak the one with no internal amp? If that's the case you need a big 2 ch. for your fronts, a small 2 ch for your rear fill, and a big 2 ch to bridge to the 12", right? Or maybe one 4 ch and one 2 ch. One more bit of info that would be nice to know is the rms rating for the 12".

Anyway...

For decent amps that anyone can afford, I always recommend Lanzar vibe. I've owned 4 of them, and outside of tech. problems with the 1200D I've never been disappointed. They're close to their ratings, they seem fairly durable, they look pretty good, and they're, well, cheap.

I would say the 430 will work for your sub and fronts. It's 100x4, bridges to about 300x2. You'd bridge 2 ch to the sub and run your fronts with the other 2. It can be found for about $150 shipped new. For rear fill the 210 would be about right. It's 50x2 and (I haven't really priced it) can probably be had for $60 or so new.

The general rule in car audio is "You get what you pay for", but personally I think the vibe's would be an exception to the rule.

 

[kyball 10+ year member]

I know you're looking for an cheap(price) amp. But i would suggest putting out a little more money and get a quality amp for that clearity you request. a good amp i suggest is 4 channel Helix precision amp. they have a THD .003%. it 60X4 at 4Ohms. high quality, but it's price tag is around $550. No, i'm not a seller, i just appreciate sound quality as you do. I hate to say but the n2audio is just trying to get ride of his equipment and is very one sided. out of all the forum i have seen his name in, he attempt to sell the lanzar equipment. i personally have nothing against lanzar. it's just that you get what you pay for. If your interested in real car audio equipment check http://www.ampman.com. compare all the specs on those amps and try to go back to rockford or PPI. the only problem is the price tag is a hefty one.

latta

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Wow, I don't even know how to respond to that. Here's the deal.

I spent about 5 years messing with car audio, having very little money, changing from this cheap amp to that cheap amp. Legacy, pyramid, targa, american pro, and currently Lanzar Vibe's. I've not personally owned, but have had the opportunity to hear RF and old school RF, old school optidrive, Alpine, ppi, and several others. Yes, I plug lanzar all the time. People ask for a suggestion for affordable amps. Well, my suggestion is vibe.

Kid, is that such an issue with you that you have to comment on it every time I make a suggestion?? I sense you paid hundreds more for your amps than your friends did and their set-ups sound just as good as yours do so you feel the need to defend your money "well-wasted". That is assuming you have friends.

Of course Helix would be a great amp. Why not Zapco? PPI? Maybe Xtant? Well hell, Mcintosh? (Insert ultra-expensive "all-image" amp brand here)

The point is the guy is obviously looking for something halfway affordable. Vibe simply fits the requirements. Would you want to go try to compete running all vibe amps? Probably not, but they will give you respectable sound, whether we're talking $100 or $500.

I'm going to stick my neck out here...The helix, rated at 60x4 says Kid, probably puts out closer to 75, maybe 85x4. The Vibe, rated at 100x4, will probably actually give you 80, maybe 90x4. I'd be willing to bet, well, I know, that the audible difference between the 2 amps with the crossovers turned off would be un-noticable, if anything the vibe may sound a little better. The money you spend on a $500 300 watt amp is not for sound quality, or "clarity", or "warmth" or whatever else you want to call it. It's for under-ratedness, precision x/o's, and the assumtion that it will last for years.

All I'm trying to say is, if you have $500, get a $500 amp and I'm sure it will sound great. But if you have $200, then the vibe's will work just fine.

I've said my peace...for now.

 

[crowbuum 10+ year member]

well dude, if clarity is what your after, id say theres only one wat to go, they've been known for it for years on end, they've been well known for it and i myself am a firm believer in em, "JBL", there the masters at clarity, they dont make the greatest low end power for subs with the "ghetto blasters" but they give u all the base u need and more if your going for that big crystal clear studio sound. i have a p80.4, and i love it, its pushing alpines. and they sound very pristine. and another word of advice, http://www.ebay.com, i got mine for $160.00 which isnt to terrible bad,

 

[mrray13 10+ year member]

i seen in this forum where other people have written about the SUPRISE quality of lanzar. so that seems to be a good choice for the budget minded.( i too have suggested them from reading here in the forum.) i ,personally have a legacy la320 500 watt(yea right!) amp pushing a single 12 (boston generator)in a sealed box in my wife's car. guess what? she loves it and won't let me spend the money to buy a new amp(that's okay, more money for my truck!!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif )

again, opinions and a**holes,everybody has one. me2

4 i forget there is a post in the forum about a jensen amp and a k-mart sub hitting 129 db. sometimes it ain't about the money!!