Cheap Amps That Are Good.....Help!

[bones justice 10+ year member]

my fren want to get a good 4 channel to power his mids and highs. his rear speakers are JBL 3-way 6x9's (2ohm) at 100 watts rms. his fronts are Beyma 6.5" components (4ohm) 80 watts rms. Someone recommended Power Acoustik, The Gothic 1200 watt 4 channel amp. Also others recommended the Crunch Ground Pounder 440 watts rms 4 channel amp. Can anyone reccommend a decent amp that would perform well without breakin the bank? his budget is $200-$250. Thanx!!!!!!!!!!

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[MiniVanMan 10+ year member]

For that money, he can do a lot better than Crunch or the gimmicky Power Acoustik.

By, "perform well without breakin the bank" I assume you mean, good quality as cheap as possible.

I'm a big fan of Hifonics as a budget amp. Profile also makes a solid amp, and can be found for super cheap.

http://www.millionbuy.com is a good place to find the Profile line of amps.

Hifonics can be found on ebay for extremely cheap as well.

There are other brands, and a ton of options in his price range. Just the two you listed aren't very good for the kind of money you're talking about.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

^^^ I'll go along with the suggestion on Profile for a reliable amp on a budget.

I've owned several and never had issues with any of them. If you get them new @ retail pricing from Crutchfield they'll come with a 3 year manufacturer's warranty //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif.

If you don't want to pay retail they can be had for way cheap several places online. MillionBuy.com as already suggested seems to be a decent source for cheap gear.

If looking specifically for Profile the user barneyselectronics on eBay (a) always has Profile gear in stock (b) gives good service and © ships way quick. This is from personal experience rather than hearsay, btw. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Have a look around as they're easy to find.

The APA-series Clarion amps seem to be able to source fairly cheap and haven't suffered any bad press about them to my knowledge.

Hmm...lemme think on others.

 

[bones justice 10+ year member]

Ok Kool thanx for the info......i was wondering about Soundstream and also the MTX thunder X series. the new model MTX. its 70x4 @ 4ohms and sells for $250 at circuitcity. Also are Soundstream amps good quality products?

 

[hurricanes0688 10+ year member]

buy my old skool alpine 90 shipped. 2 x 40 rms (underated) prob does like 75-80 at least. 1x150 rms at 4 ohms. Cheap old power, sounds very clean as well

 

[MiniVanMan 10+ year member]

Ok Kool thanx for the info......i was wondering about Soundstream and also the MTX thunder X series. the new model MTX. its 70x4 @ 4ohms and sells for $250 at circuitcity. Also are Soundstream amps good quality products?

Depends on the Soundstream you're talking about. Soundstream was a top tier company for a while in the 90's. They rode that reputation for a while, while putting out mediocre equipment at best . They're on the comeback, and starting to make a quality product again.

I'm not saying their stuff is bad, but you just need to know what you're getting.

Here's a refurbished product from millionbuy as well. Not a bad price.

http://www.millionbuy.com/souega4220.html

It'll do rated power. It'll give you some headroom. Overall, not a bad choice.

Here's an amp that created a forum boner over on DIYMA. It's gotten rave reviews from those that own it.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_6755_Blaupunkt+VA4100.html

With free shipping it's a GREAT price.

As for MTX. I don't have an opinion on them. I've always been leary of them since the late 90s. I've heard too many people that have had problems with them, but at that time, I wasn't able to "consider the source". So, I reserve judgement. They've been a higher priced company for some time, so they must be doing something right.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Here you go:

http://www.millionbuy.com/inf7541a.html

 

[MiniVanMan 10+ year member]

Before this gets out of hand. Let me say that there are a lot of good amp companies out there that you won't be wrong for buying.

There are also a ton of companies that you would be wrong for buying.

Pyle

Pyramid

Boss

Legacy

Dual

Phoenix Digital

Soundstorm

Nitro

Powerbass

Hitron

Rockwood

SPL

And the list goes on, and on.

If the name sounds like a rip off of a higher priced brand, then stay away from it. (i.e. Rockwood, Sounstorm, Phoenix Digital, etc).

Remember, you do get what you pay for, but there is also a pretty clear point of diminishing returns on a piece of audio equipment that will be used in a location that hurdles down the expressway at 70-80 mph.

Find an amp that suits your power needs and your budget. But remember, just because it's more expensive doesn't mean it's better. There's a point when you just need to use your best judgement.

I've found most, and I do mean MOST people (here I am starting shit again) can't tell the difference between a Zapco amp and a Hifonics amp. I've found just about nobody can tell the difference when careening down the expressway.

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Before this gets out of hand. Let me say that there are a lot of good amp companies out there that you won't be wrong for buying.
There are also a ton of companies that you would be wrong for buying.

.

.

.

.

.

.

I've found most, and I do mean MOST people (here I am starting shit again) can't tell the difference between a Zapco amp and a Hifonics amp. I've found just about nobody can tell the difference when careening down the expressway.

Agreed 100% (well said, Mini).

Especially the last paragraph. Why get a premium amplifier when a more budget-conscious unit will fulfill your needs? Many will debate the reasons for doing so are 1.) build quality, 2.) longevity and reliability, and 3.) brand reputation. Most of these things are subjective to our own individual interpretations of given products based on research, personal experience, or information obtained from what we deem as a trustworthy source. Does it mean that more expensive amp A is better than less expensive amp B because amp A is very costly, very highly recommended, and very much used in the competition lanes? In many cases, no, of course not. But then that all depends on what specifically amp A and B are.

 

[tigerf117 10+ year member]

I have to strongly agree with that last 2 posts. I build a lot of custom computers for people and sometimes you get the person who brand As top of the line or close to yada yada, but when you actually look at their needs, they have absolutely no use for anything that fast. Why buy a $100 set of speakers, and push them with an extremely expensive all digital $800 amp, doesn't make sense. I generally recommend people to even out everything, don't get too nice of one thing to cheap out on another crucial part.

My buddy has an infinity 4ch and its very loud and clean, and for the price its extremely hard to beat. That would be first suggestion as DejaWiz had pointed out.

 

[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

Profile AP1040 would do you right. Bought one from millionbuy last year and very happy with it.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Pyles are cheap

 

[CGG318 10+ year member]

A couple I'm keeping an eye on:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Diamond-Audio-D3-400-4-4-Channel-Amplifier-D3-4004-NEW_W0QQitemZ130080859565QQihZ003QQcategoryZ39739QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=008&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=180100172629&rd=1,1

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

Before this gets out of hand. Let me say that there are a lot of good amp companies out there that you won't be wrong for buying.
There are also a ton of companies that you would be wrong for buying.

Pyle

Pyramid

Boss

Legacy

Dual

Phoenix Digital

Soundstorm

Nitro

Powerbass

Hitron

Rockwood

SPL

And the list goes on, and on.

If the name sounds like a rip off of a higher priced brand, then stay away from it. (i.e. Rockwood, Sounstorm, Phoenix Digital, etc).

Remember, you do get what you pay for, but there is also a pretty clear point of diminishing returns on a piece of audio equipment that will be used in a location that hurdles down the expressway at 70-80 mph.

Find an amp that suits your power needs and your budget. But remember, just because it's more expensive doesn't mean it's better. There's a point when you just need to use your best judgement.

I've found most, and I do mean MOST people (here I am starting shit again) can't tell the difference between a Zapco amp and a Hifonics amp. I've found just about nobody can tell the difference when careening down the expressway.

I agree with this, good stuff. Definetly need to find something that fits into your needs, not just whats the cheapest. Only thing I disagree with is powerbass being on that list. I've got the ASA 600.2, and granted, its probably a bit over-rated, but otherwise is a nice amp, and gets plenty loud for me. No reliability issues so far either.

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

A couple I'm keeping an eye on:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Diamond-Audio-D3-400-4-4-Channel-Amplifier-D3-4004-NEW_W0QQitemZ130080859565QQihZ003QQcategoryZ39739QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=008&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=180100172629&rd=1,1

That Zed Audio amp is some good stuff. Plenty of bang for the buck there.

Edit: That seller has a LOT of old Zed Audio/UsAcoustics stuff.....

/twitch twitch