APSM-1500 has changed my mind..

[AwesomeStranger 10+ year member]

So I got my APSM-1500 finally today. Installed it and wow, it blows my brz 1200d out of the water. (at least it seems that way)

I thought it would be a peice of junk for $115 shipped to be honest. On the brz I had to have the headunit bass boost and amp bass boost turned up to hear anything decently loud. Now, with this amp the bass boost is off on both head unit and amp. I just have the gain maybe half way if even that. The "Bass volume" +3/8 which seems respectable.

I have some ideas to keep the amp off the carpet, which sort of defeats the purpose of the fan when your getting no airflow. Fabricating some sort of mount to keep the amp off the carpet, shouldn't be too hard.

I know there is better amps out there, but for this price it seriously can't be beat (new) and probably used.

Now, lets see how long the amp lasts. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/clap.gif.178cba2c538c68e720c727fcb024b19c.gif

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[quackhead 10+ year member]

So I got my APSM-1500 finally today. Installed it and wow, it blows my brz 1200d out of the water. (at least it seems that way)
I thought it would be a peice of junk for $115 shipped to be honest. On the brz I had to have the headunit bass boost and amp bass boost turned up to hear anything decently loud. Now, with this amp the bass boost is off on both head unit and amp. I just have the gain maybe half way if even that. The "Bass volume" +3/8 which seems respectable.

I have some ideas to keep the amp off the carpet, which sort of defeats the purpose of the fan when your getting no airflow. Fabricating some sort of mount to keep the amp off the carpet, shouldn't be too hard.

I know there is better amps out there, but for this price it seriously can't be beat (new) and probably used.

Now, lets see how long the amp lasts. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/clap.gif.178cba2c538c68e720c727fcb024b19c.gif

This..no doubt the power is there....and maybe you will be one of the lucky 50%.

 

[AwesomeStranger 10+ year member]

I bought the amp seriously not thinking it would last long, but wow the power surprised me.

 

[quackhead 10+ year member]

I bought the amp seriously not thinking it would last long, but wow the power surprised me.

You never know...I imagine by allowing good airflow through the bottom amd with good electrical, your odds of success increase exponentially. I do have a question though..have you heard any system noise like a audible hiss at lower volumes or between heavy bass notes? The thing that really throws the red flag at me is the 70 db S/N..one of the lowest I have ever seen. I like to see 90 db +, but a lot of Class D's are in the mid to upper 80's... And I understand it is more critical with tweeters, but I was just curious.

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

The hifonics BRZ is hot garbage, I hated that amp and so did the guy who bought it off me. I don't know why that amp was ever recommended.

A couple of my friends have APSMs though and from playing with them they seem ok for cheap, meh, power. At most, it'd be a temporary amp in any of my setups though.

 

[AwesomeStranger 10+ year member]

Well the hifonics amp was my first amp *this is my first setup* and it seemed OK, but I always knew these sa-8 v's were not getting 1200w @ 1 ohm at all lol. The audible hiss, yeah I think I have heard that but I may be wrong. One thing I did notice is if I don't have both back seats down I get a ton of what seems like port noise it goes away once they both go down.

Here is a simple MS paint idea I sketched up to keep the amp cool. Might make some spots for some 12v fans.

 

[gramser57 10+ year member]

My friend is running one and it powers his SA-15 nicely, the only annoyance is the fan is a bit noisy.

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Well the hifonics amp was my first amp *this is my first setup* and it seemed OK, but I always knew these sa-8 v's were not getting 1200w @ 1 ohm at all lol.

The BRZ was my 3rd IIRC right after a Kicker ZX750.1. I read online about how "overrated" Kicker was and how Hifonics does "so much better for so much less" and that I'll never run Kicker again after trying "underground" brands. Big fat hunk of BULLSHIT! You're right, that Hifonics does not sound like it puts out nearly what it claims and yes u do have to crank the gain and bass boost to get anything out of it. I replaced my BRZ1200 with a JL 500/1 and the difference was night and day with the same exact setup.

I can honestly say I'd trust an APSM over a BRZ any day. I've actually seen those do work in person.

 

[AwesomeStranger 10+ year member]

Yeah I have some tweaking to do on the LPF and subsonic (might have these confused) but other than that I really like it so far. Thoughts on my little amp frame idea?

 

[pro-rabbit 5,000+ posts]

Instead of using a "frame" to lift the amp, I would just life the feet. There are several ways to do that, it is typically has better results for air flow over boxing where the fan is.

 

[Why So Cereal? 5,000+ posts]

Seems like it'd help. Keeping it up slightly off the carpet in any way should help with cooling I would think.

 

[AwesomeStranger 10+ year member]

Instead of using a "frame" to lift the amp, I would just life the feet. There are several ways to do that, it is typically has better results for air flow over boxing where the fan is.

Could do some simple spacers out of some pipe huh? the diameter of the screw mounting hole, That actually makes it super easy. Could even do it out of some cheap pvc pipe or something..

 

[gckless 5,000+ posts]

Ideally you want the fans blowing over the heatsinks. If you can, somehow mount the fans on the side of the amp blowing at it, instead of blowing up towards the bottom. It can't always be done that way, but it's the best way. But any airflow is better than none.

 

[av83 10+ year member]

Ideally you want the fans blowing over the heatsinks. If you can, somehow mount the fans on the side of the amp blowing at it, instead of blowing up towards the bottom. It can't always be done that way, but it's the best way. But any airflow is better than none.

what amp is in your avatar?

 

[AwesomeStranger 10+ year member]

Ideally you want the fans blowing over the heatsinks. If you can, somehow mount the fans on the side of the amp blowing at it, instead of blowing up towards the bottom. It can't always be done that way, but it's the best way. But any airflow is better than none.

If I made this "frame" or whatever I could easily put some fans on it from the side, have a bracket coming out. Don't think ti will be necessary though.