Cadence Acoustics "Boston" 5-channel AB class amplifier?

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

Does anyone have any experience with these? It's reduced to about $200 on Amazon, the other amplifiers of this series are being sold for at least $400. I've been pondering going with a one amp solution but wanted to see if it was worth the money. I would be pushing two pairs of 6x9s and a couple 10s with it so power-wise it seems alright. Here's the link to the Cadence website:

Cadence Acoustics United Series Boston

Click to read more...

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

The United series is a great set of equipment. If you can get a good deal, I wouldn't hesitate to get it. They have great customer service too

 

[pickup1 5,000+ posts]

Find somethin with more power..

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

Yeah, I know the power isn't the best but the specs are pretty good. Dampening factor >200 @ 100hz, S/N ratio of>100DB and THD of 0.01%...seems like a pretty nice amplifier, and a one-amp solution that doesn't require a substantial amount of electrical. I may pull the trigger on it...I'll wait for a little more feedback //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/up2something.gif.dd110ecf3ae4b76050d87598f2f8de7c.gif

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

And, if I end up buying this then I'm for sure going to be off-loading a crap-load of stuff to make it up to my wife //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/scared.gif.f134e57c6c93ccd0f15aa5ac32c7d4a0.gif

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

Alright, well I just spent 30 minutes explaining to my wife why I should buy this amp and she bought off on it. I pulled the trigger and will be putting it in on Thursday. I'll update this thread to let everyone know how it sounds.

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

I plan on running a PG Octane ZR-10D on the sub channel, it should sound great...I'm excited, I've never run a Cadence amp and this deal was just too good to pass up. I haven't seen THD ratings at >0.01% before, this thing should be clean as a whistle. I'll be listing a number of things when I get this thing hooked up...I'll give the prices now and post the pictures later in the F/S threads:

JBL P80.4 and 180.2: 8/10 cos, function 100%, $110 shipped

2 x Sony ES XM-3046: 8/10 cos, function 100%, $100 shipped

Carver PMA-2150: 8/10 cos, functions 100%, $70 shipped

2 x PPI A.8SQs: 9/10 cos, function 100%, $70 shipped

PG LPL-44: BNIB, $30 shipped

PG Octane ZR-10D: 8/10 cos, functions 100%, $50 shipped

I'll have everything up for sale tomorrow (with pics and username), but if there is anyone one interested before-hand feel free to shoot me a PM for pics. Thanks again everyone for threading in.

 

[zako 10+ year member]

Yeah, I know the power isn't the best but the specs are pretty good. Dampening factor >200 @ 100hz, S/N ratio of>100DB and THD of 0.01%...seems like a pretty nice amplifier, and a one-amp solution that doesn't require a substantial amount of electrical. I may pull the trigger on it...I'll wait for a little more feedback //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/up2something.gif.dd110ecf3ae4b76050d87598f2f8de7c.gif

There is no way to verify any of those claims, including the RMS wattage rating, without specialized measurement equipment, so all those claims should be taken with a grain of salt...

Another concern is that this is a Class A/B amplifier, so adequate installation is recommended if you will drive it hard. Ideally placed on a flat surface, like a board, with heatsink facing up and some open space around it to allow for air circulation. If you asked me for an amplifier with similar specs, I might have recommended the Boston Acoustics GTA-1105. It has similar specs, but they have been verified, sort of (russian magazine test the 4-channel GTA), and the subwoofer section is Class D.

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

Yeah, I understand your concerns. I think it'll be a fine amplifier for what I want. I do plan on mounting it to a board in my trunk facing upward, it will have plenty of space for ventilation. I won't be running it too hard either, and I'll use a DMM to set the gains properly as well. I should be getting it today so I'll update the thread after tuning it to let everyone know how this amp sounds. Thanks again man!

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

Not a bad lookin' amp. I've been pondering switching to a 5ch myself the last month or two. Let us know how it works out for ya.

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

I'll definitely update the thread tonight after I get it tuned and take it for a test drive. I've always liked 5-channels, not as much power to play with but more simple and to me less of a hassle with electrical and power distribution. A buddy of mine had a small cadence 2-channel in his truck a while back (the one with the short heatsink fins, I think it was a TXA3002) and it sounded pretty good. That's the only experience I have with Cadence amplifiers but I've heard good things about them. I'm in Arabic language training right now and can't concentrate, I'm looking forward to hooking it up!

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

Just got the amp. The box it came in was very nice, thick cardboard with a carrying handle. The amp was wrapped in plastic and then covered with soft cloth, all the screws to mount the amp and allen wrenches to plug everything in were included. The amp is beautiful, matte blue and silver finish. It's pretty heavy too, probably 15 pounds or so and evenly distributed. It has 80 amps of fusing which is right on with the power ratings (75 x 4 @ 4-ohms and 400 x 1 @ 2-ohms). It's not as big as I thought is was going to be...I knew what the dimensions were when I bought the amp, and it does have some size to it but not overwhelming by any means. It should fit nicely mounted to the floor in the pass-through between the trunk and the back seats (2009 Camry). I'm gonna eat some dinner and then get started dismantling my wall, I'll update everyone when it's installed.

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

Looking forward to it!!!

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

Well I got it hooked up...I'm half-way drunk and tired so I didn't really tune it that much, but what I did hear was great! On top of being mildly drunk my IPod died earlier today so I tuned it on the radio. With all that being said though, it does have volume, and the radio sounded very clear. My Eclipse Point Source 6x9s were definitely making some good sound, the mid was pronounced and the tweeter was crisp but not over-bearing. I would say that my mids/highs were louder before, but I had a JBL P80.4 bridged on the fronts (160 x 2) and a Carver PMA-2150 running the rears (75 x 2). I'll really fine tune it tomorrow and give everyone an update. I do REALLY like the look of this amplifier, it has a really nice finish and lights up nicely when turned on. It fit perfectly in the spot I picked for it as well. Furthermore, I played it at a pretty high volume for about 10-15 minutes and it got barely got warm, despite it being an A/B amplifier it doesn't generate all that much heat.

Is there a burn-in time for amps like there is for subs? I don't want to mess this thing up.

 

[reible82nd 10+ year member]

So...I ended up taking it out. It didn't make nearly as much power as advertised, maybe 25-30 x 4 and 200 x 1. To say the least I was disappointed. I recommend not buying the "United" series amps, as they DO NOT make rated power.

For all the Cadence fans out there, don't say that my electrical was inadequate or my tuning was off. I had a Cadence 4 gauge OFC kit with Knu Karma SS cables running the front and rear and Ixos 600 series cables running the sub channel. My HU is an Eclipse CD5435 as well...12 gauge wire running on all the speakers. The amp just didn't perform.

I ended up installing 2 runs of 4 gauge power and ground, running my fronts with a JBL P80.4 bridged (160 x 2), running my rears with a JBL P180.2 (90 x 2), and running 2 MB Quart RWE-352s on a MB Quart Onyx 1500.1D...needless to say, I have all the volume I need now with enough SQ to hear fingers sliding up a fret board.