Amps better than Arc Audio ?

[req 5,000+ posts]

i dunnaw man.

i think that when people get to the level of audio we are seeing here, more of it is physcho-acoustic than anything else.

i think most of this "airy top end" is not so dynamic than you are making it out to be. i have quite a nice frontstage IMO, its lacking because im lacking funds for the correct EQ and XOVER at the moment, but this whole "pure silver wire" and all this other mumbo jumbo is really starting to bug the crap out of me. i would love to do a blind test with you with a 100k HT system and 20 different sittings, 10 with the super wires and 10 without, maybe more, and see if you can tell the difference.

i dunnaw.

im going with DLS amps and hopefully a really nice HU [not decided on, i dont need features in the HU, my outboard EQ and Xover will do that for me - i just want to have DVD audio with hundreds of fully uncompressed WAV rips per disc.]

meh. sorry about the rant.

honestly, i am planning on going with DLS because it fits my install to a T

http://i3.tinypic.com/wjt2jl.gif

and by all means, i mean no offense. i would love to be there and have you proove to me what you are saying about all these things is true.

law of diminishing returns x2.

 

[kappa546 10+ year member]

you are so ignorant kid. i'm trying very hard to continute contributing... but i've come to expect that from this forum. anyways, if anyone would actually like to read an actual head to head comparison of some very reputable head units by some ears i personally trust check the link out. i'll just ignore the eclipse and panny comment bc i know better

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/showthread.php?threadid=121657&pagenumber=6

 

[DJGTSR 10+ year member]

Had a buddy ask me to design him a new system today. He kind of stumped me when he told me he didn't want to spend the HUGE bucks for Brax , Tru , ect ... But said he DID want amps better than the Arc Audio XXK series I use ....I'm not sure just where to tell him to look. After playing with them a lot , I don't feel the new Zapco comps to be even one bit better than the Arcs ....

I'm thinking maybe DLS ..... Any suggestions on amps that are better, but still aren't hyper expensive ?

USAMPS old school FTW

 

[blue 10+ year member]

you are so ignorant kid. i'm trying very hard to continute contributing... but i've come to expect that from this forum. anyways, if anyone would actually like to read an actual head to head comparison of some very reputable head units by some ears i personally trust check the link out. i'll just ignore the eclipse and panny comment bc i know better
http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/showthread.php?threadid=121657&pagenumber=6

Very good post ! No flame , just good data. I've owned both the MX-4000 and MX-5000 and thought they were great, if kind of uninvolving. If McIntosh made a unit with time delay , I would consider it again. When I owned my store , we sold the older flagship Clarion and the McIntosh products. Upon taking apart BOTH units we found them to be the exact same head unit inside !!! LOL Having said that , the new Clarion is MUCH better than the old one , so having owned all of the mentioned players, I will stick with my DRZ , firmly knowing it is the best of these particular units until McIntosh catches up with the times.

Once again , good post.

 

[alphakenny1 10+ year member]

this thread is getting very exciting. lol busting out the popcorn now!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/popcorn.gif.32dd9e22fd77e77bc3c907062768fcd2.gif

 

[blue 10+ year member]

Head units better than the Clarion ..... Read this :

http://www.nearfieldaudio.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=125&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=20

 

[kappa546 10+ year member]

cool. i do agree that the drz is better than the drx and although we disagree on it being the absolute best (note: i'm not discrediting it at all) its just our subjective opinion. i respect that.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Please enlighten me as to what much better front ends you have heard .... Cause NO Eclipse has ever sounded as good. And that Panasonic is a gimmik joke. Seriously waiting for a serious reply //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Lol. I see you got your panties in a twist.

Serious reply?

YOUR CAR IS WAY SHORT OF A REFERENCE POINT TO BE TRYING TO PINPOINT SONIC CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AMPLIFIER.

1. You run it bridged

2. You run PASSIVES ...lol...in stock locations

3. Your midbasses are thick and robust, taking air and space off your instruments and masking your midrange- all of this takes away from the whole.

4. Your beloved DRz is no top end king as you'd like to believe -as mentioned above it does everything well, but doesnt stand out in any dept.

5. Passives are designed primarily around on axis aiming. They way you place your speakers off axis and apart from one another all the passives create is serious overlapping and phasing issues that takes away from your topend based on the midrange to high end transition- but you are a 'pro' right? Then you should know this. Try running them active and underlapping your mid and tweet some, raise your tweeter up past 3k and listen to your top end clear up.

As far as the Panasonic goes, the only gimmick is your response. Until you've heard it or had experience with it, please dont judge. I however have REAL DRZ systems around me that I get to hear, that are setup properly and sound excellent- not running passive xovers. And yes the top end of the Panny smokes the DRZ, sorry to break it to you. If the DRZ was so great, I wouldnt be importing HU's-it is cheaply available to me

 

[blue 10+ year member]

Lol. I see you got your panties in a twist.
Serious reply?

YOUR CAR IS WAY SHORT OF A REFERENCE POINT TO BE TRYING TO PINPOINT SONIC CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AMPLIFIER.

1. You run it bridged

2. You run PASSIVES ...lol...in stock locations

3. Your midbasses are thick and robust, taking air and space off your instruments and masking your midrange- all of this takes away from the whole.

4. Your beloved DRz is no top end king as you'd like to believe -as mentioned above it does everything well, but doesnt stand out in any dept.

5. Passives are designed primarily around on axis aiming. They way you place your speakers off axis and apart from one another all the passives create is serious overlapping and phasing issues that takes away from your topend based on the midrange to high end transition- but you are a 'pro' right? Then you should know this. Try running them active and underlapping your mid and tweet some, raise your tweeter up past 3k and listen to your top end clear up.

As far as the Panasonic goes, the only gimmick is your response. Until you've heard it or had experience with it, please dont judge. I however have REAL DRZ systems around me that I get to hear, that are setup properly and sound excellent- not running passive xovers. And yes the top end of the Panny smokes the DRZ, sorry to break it to you. If the DRZ was so great, I wouldnt be importing HU's-it is cheaply available to me

Ok ..... Thanks for the serious reply. Now allow me to set you straight :

#1 - You have NO idea where my mid bass drivers are mounted.

#2 - You have no idea HOW my mid bass drivers are mounted.

#3 - You have NO idea what I have done do address phasing in my car.

#4 - You don'y know HOW my EQ is adjusted.

#5 - My speakers are NOT off axis , but you should know that ....

You have heard my car without ever having gotten near my car and judged it. WTF ???

I have heard your tube CD player and it has GRAVELY serious flaws .... But hey...

You must be the car audio GOD since you know what my system sounds like without ever hearing it ... LOL

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

Ok ..... Thanks for the serious reply. Now allow me to set you straight :
#1 - You have NO idea where my mid bass drivers are mounted.

#2 - You have no idea HOW my mid bass drivers are mounted.

#3 - You have NO idea what I have done do address phasing in my car.

#4 - You don'y know HOW my EQ is adjusted.

#5 - My speakers are NOT off axis , but you should know that ....

You have heard my car without ever having gotten near my car and judged it. WTF ???

I have heard your tube CD player and it has GRAVELY serious flaws .... But hey...

You must be the car audio GOD since you know what my system sounds like without ever hearing it ... LOL

So then please show us how you have your fronstage setup. All that needs to be true is that your mids are mounted on the doors to prove my point. Other than that no amount of EQ will fix issues you have based on those predetermined xover points and overlapping accentuated by your cars acoustics- EQ is a bandaid, not a tool to fix phasing/xover issues.

Me car audio God? Never claim anything like that. You however can hear differences in speaker wire:crazy:

'GRAVELY serious flaws'- come on, no need for the dramma queen bitterness. I spoke nothing negatively against your HU. Sorry I do not share the same fascination for it as you do.

 

[bri487 5,000+ posts]

zapco reference dc's will smoke the xxk's any day of the week. so much more tuning capabilites than the average amplifier.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

BTW heres a pic of a D9800.2....POS, since you are a big Diamond fan. That board is starving!

Tell me where they get the balls to ask near $1800 for this amp.

 

[3.5Max6spd 10+ year member]

zapco reference dc's will smoke the xxk's any day of the week. so much more tuning capabilites than the average amplifier.

His friend wants clean sound, not digitally induced noise via DSP.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[Hebrew Hammer 10+ year member]

Ok...this thread has been brought to my attention by a good friend of mine.....THANKS!!!!!!

Though the 9255 is a great H/U and a great bang for the buck, it is far from the best sounding...and to be honest the user interface sucks and I would take a P9 or a 701 any day of the week as far as ease of tunning....

What is funny to me, is that you seem to have all this exp with these ubber rare H/U's...and to my knowledge very few of these have ever made it to the states..Hence the Mx4000,Mx5000 and the Panny Tube...and you seem to have had them all? If I was a betting man, I would say that this 9255 was your first nice H/U and that you've not owned the mx4000,mx5000 or panny tube or have listened to any of them..

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

BTW heres a pic of a D9800.2....POS, since you are a big Diamond fan. That board is starving!Tell me where they get the balls to ask near $1800 for this amp.

Never understood it either //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif