Anybody ever used a oldschool hifonics zeus VII or VIII amp for front 2 way or 3 way

[coomaster1 10+ year member]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone here has used an oldschool hifonics zeus VII or VIII amplifier to power there 2 way or 3 way component sets. I was looking to replace my alpine 3544 amplifier which is 300 rms watts. My 3 way front components take up all of the 300 watts, and actually need about 350rms watts just to give them what is the minimum listed wattage on each speaker totaled up. This causes the alpine 3544 amp to heat up very quickly when I decide to turn up the stereo to reference levels. Though there is no distortion,and everything sounds very lively ,smooth,and detailed when listening at the high volumes.I'm not able to enjoy it for long,since the amp starts getting very hot very quickly since I barely have enogh power to power the speakers. I would like to try the hifonics zeus VII or VIII for my three way with the amp gains on the hifonics turned right down or close to right down,So the amp won't overpower my speakers,and so the hifonics amp will never get warm.Alowing me for the first time to finally enjoy my stereo at the high volume listening levels. I am used to the alpine 3544 amp sounding very full,clean and detailed when turned up,and worry that though the hifonics zeus amp will give me the headroom I desire to keep the amp cool at all times,I will drastically loose my sound quality I am used to,since I never hear of people ever using these hifonics zeus amps for anything but subwoofers. Part of me says this should not be the case since the extra headroom will mean everthing is working easy,and there is extra power left to be even more dynamic sounding than the alpine 3544 amplifier. Can the hifonics zeus VII or VII amps keep up to the alpine 3544 amp for sound quality,whlie kicking the crap out of the alpine in the headroom department. I am not willing to take a step back from the sound quality I have now. Feel free to chime in,and let me know about your experiences with the oldschool hifonics zeus amps. Thanks

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[garychoffmann 10+ year member]

Having the gain all the way down does not equate to lower power depending on your input voltage. I assume you are running passive crossovers. The alpine is an sq amp. I can't really tell you about the hifonics being great for sq, but there is a 3545 on ebay right now. Consider going to a newer high end amp?

 

[coomaster1 10+ year member]

Hi, Thanks for your reply, I am running alpine spx-f17t passive crossovers. I talked with a few other forum members,and they said they used the smaller versions of the hifonics amps ,and said they were great sounding amplifiers,for front 2 way,and 3 way listening. But for me,I would need the extra power.So I was hoping to use the hifonics zeus VII or VIII amp with the extra power. 1moreamp said the internals for the hifonics are better than the alpine 3545,and he said parts are almost impossible to get for the alpine. I will stick with trying to find someone who has used a hifonics Zeus VII or VIII for a 2 way or 3 way since this is an all oldschool build. I'm strickly looking to talk to someone, that has used the hifonics zeus VII or VIII, for what I am desiring it for .Thanks