Best Sound Quality 4 CH amp aside from a JL 300/4

[BMW Sidewayz 10+ year member]

Wsup guys! I'm looking for advice on a 4 ch SQ amp. I have a JL 300/4, but ch 3-4 stopped working. I heard JL's are known for these problems, so I would like to try something new and better. Does anyone have any suggestions? Much appreciated!

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[SocMunky 10+ year member]

SQ really doesn't come from the amp, but if you are looking for some 4 channel amps that are built really well, check out the offerings by Zed Audio (http:http://www.zedaudio.com), Sundown (http://www.sundownaudio.com/), arc audio (http://www.arcaudio.com/), Audison (http://www.audison.it/), Diamond (http://www.diamondaudio.com/), Brax/Helix (http://www.audiotec-fischer.com/englisch/afstart.html) and Genesis (http://www.genesis-ice.com/).

Expect to pay major coin for all of these amps. Conversely, you could save a few bucks going with some kicker, phoenix gold, or another jl even. Heck, if your particularly brave, check the classified section, you can find a steal now and then in there. Good luck!

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Amps don't add SQ, good amps just don't add anything to the music. The job of an amp is just to increase the power and add as little as possible.

I agree with the above selections and i would add Tru technology, old school PPI (art series etc). Some will disagree with me on this one but I've always liked the sound of the older U.S. amps for sound quality as well and I like tubes (butler audio).

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

What is your budget?

What power are you looking for?

What will you be powering?

Do you have any required features that the amp must have (crossover features, etc) ?

 

[WLDock 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=218857

 

[Imshirazy 10+ year member]

I like the rockford fosgates, real sturdy and don't seem to break often, I don't care what anyone else says

I love the zed lines too

I do disagree with the others tho...amplifiers do indeed play SOME small factor in noise quality, or at least being able to avoid distortion

 

[chucku 10+ year member]

I notice a different sound when I have changed amps to my comps. Obviously they were of a different power range and other things, but they do sound different.

 

[BMW Sidewayz 10+ year member]

I heard Audison makes great sounding amps or well built amps, dont know much about the others. I strongly believe that amps play a Huge factor in SQ, SR aka Sound Reproduction for this matter. Class A/B, distortion levels and other literature that plays a enourmous amonts in SQ. rated power in real world systems, For example.. back in 1998 I had a Sherwood 450 CH WITH A FAN!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif (225x2) (yes, thats when I started so I 've experience many good products and have a good listening ear) and traded my friend for a RF Puch 60 DSM, and let me tell you, you didnt have to be a pro to notice the difference in bass sq. with the punch 60 the bass notes were just sooooooooooo much smother and cleaner! now take into consideration the difference in power in both amps and yet stil the punch 60 was hell of alot better in quality and sound. And im speaking from a real life experience that I lived, not just and opinion. I'll be running a pait of Focal K2P rated at 80 RMS

The main factor is:

I JUST WANT AN AMP THAT HAS A CLEAN OUTPUT SOUND. Then price. Im that simple. Thanks for the quick response guys.

Im an SQ kinda guy. Putting one together now. So far what I have from previous car. I got a Bimmer now 2000 328 and I gotta keep it classy.

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

I notice a different sound when I have changed amps to my comps. Obviously they were of a different power range and other things, but they do sound different.

Should not have...dare I say the only reason they sounded different was BECAUSE of the power range? I won't get into a 209 page argument here, but google the Richard Clark challenge, and see how that goes! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

All your really getting when you buy a "High-End Amp" is parts with better tolerances , better customer service, and possible better asthetics. All in all, not a bad reason to buy them, but only you can decide how much that is worth to ya.

At any rate, if you have a bit of money saved up, look into those Zed audio amps with the burr-brown upgrade. Otherwise, find a nice good midrange amp and pocket the extra monies! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Brax...last amp you'll ever need to buy.

These generalizations kinda worry me, it's reminding me of the "capacitors are useless" people; I get the feeling that newbies will read these threads and come off with the impression that all amps (are supposed to) sound the same, when in fact they don't. The trick is knowing when and how certain parts of an amplifier will effect its sonic character, such as the design of the output stage, solid state vs. tubes, etc...much more useful to say "all amps of an identical topology will sound the same" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

I heard Audison makes great sounding amps or well built amps, dont know much about the others. I strongly believe that amps play a Huge factor in SQ, Class A/B, distortion levels and other literature that plays a enourmous amonts in SQ. rated power in real world systems, For example.. back in 1998 I had a Sherwood 450 CH WITH A FAN!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif (225x2) (yes, thats when I started so I have plenty of experience) and traded my friend for a RF Puch 60 DSM, and let me tell you, you didnt have to be a pro to notice the difference in bass sq. with the punch 60 the bass notes were just sooooooooooo much smother and cleaner! now take into consideration the difference in power in both amps and yet stil the punch 60 was hell of alot better in quality and sound. And im speaking from a real life experience that I lived, not just and opinion. I'll be running a pait of Focal K2P rated at 80 RMS
The main factor is:

I JUST WANT AN AMP THAT HAS A CLEAN OUTPUT SOUND. Then price. Im that simple. Thanks for the quick response guys.

Im an SQ kinda guy. Putting one together now. So far what I have from previous car. I got a Bimmer now 2000 328 and I gotta keep it classy.

I had a punch 60 dsm ironically, back in the 90's when they first came out. That little amp hammered like it was no ones business. However, I can almost beyond the shadow of a doubt inform you of two reasons why you thought the 60 sounded better.

1) The punch 60 was under-rated like a mofo....and a big mofo at that.

Because of this, it made a lot more power before distortion set it.

2) The sherwood ( yeah, I had one, and I'm pretty confident in this statement) was a bit under rated......hence, more distortion before making full power....

Of course, I don't know how you had the gain settings on either amp, so this is all jsut a best guess, but I'd take the pepsi challenge on it. Not to say I wouldn't have taken the punch over the sherwood regardless, that puch was a hell of an amp, no two ways about it!

Class a/b is still great for mids/hi's, altho xtant has been chipping away at this with some nice class d mono amps.

I happen to have a BMW as well, here's an amp I am going with,(ASA 600.2) sounds good so far, and looks dam sexy to boot! Just food for thought.

http://www.powerbassusa.com/products/amplifiers/asa_class_ab.html

They also happen to make a 4 channel version! //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

Brax...last amp you'll ever need to buy.
These generalizations kinda worry me, it's reminding me of the "capacitors are useless" people; I get the feeling that newbies will read these threads and come off with the impression that all amps (are supposed to) sound the same, when in fact they don't. The trick is knowing when and how certain parts of an amplifier will effect its sonic character, such as the design of the output stage, solid state vs. tubes, etc...much more useful to say "all amps of an identical topology will sound the same" //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Ok yeah, thats true...I guess that would be more accurate...a tube amp would sound different than a transistor based one, and a class d will probably still sound different than an A/B at this point.....

Edit: Here is some good info if you want to read up more on the different amp classifications.

(For the OP)

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=206357

Also:

http://www.zedaudio.com/techtalk.html

 

[jblpower 10+ year member]

I have tried many amps from old school a/d/s and ppi, to brax and oldschool soundstream. funny thing is I keep going back to my jbl px300.4 because it sounds as good as any of the amps i have ever owned plus it's built solid and has good power and decent x-overs, Oh by the way I ran that very jl amp for about 6 months. I dont think you would be dissapointed in the jbl px300.4

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

I had one customer switch from a JL 300/4 for an SAX-100.4 and he told me he preferred the SAX-100.4 by a significant margin.

There are alot of nice amps out there. I had a Linear Power 2.2HV which I liked alot a few years ago //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[adas Pro Seller]

That's what happened to my 300/4 i just bought, the 3 and 4 distort like crazy, they're gone.

Just replaced it with a Rockford 2007 Punch 450.4......95w @ 4 ohms x4 birthsheet, hooked it up and the amp wangs Sounds great too, Onlything is the crossover knob, it's pretty fague. . I recommend that, or the Eclipse XA4000. Also, I've heard nothing but awesome things about the Sundown^^, I'm actually still considering one //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif