Focal to JL or Alpine Amp?

[mdrums]

Hi, 1st post here and I am a car audio newbie. I have a new Mini Cooper that I had a system installed in.

Stock Head Unit

Focal FP4.75 Amp

Hertz High Energy Speakers

JL 10w3 Sub in sealed box

Alpine Imprint Processor

My Focal FP4.75 is shutting off after 20 or so minutes of high volume use. It is getting very hot and I can not get more air to it. So the car audio place that did the install said they would take it back and give me a deal on either a Alpine PDX 4.150 or JL HD600. They said either of these amps will work great and run a lot cooler under the sub floor in the rear of the car.

Being new at this...what is everyones opinion between the Alpine or JL amp? I like a warmer sounding amp. THANKS!

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[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

My honest opinion is check the grounds..

 

[mdrums]

My honest opinion is check the grounds..

OK...but I am confused by this. I see you are in Tampa...I had the install done at BLVD Customs over in Clearwater/St. Pete. They seem to be a top shop and know what they are doing.

The system is quiet, no hum or buzz, basically sounds really good except it will cut off in 20 or so minute at extreme volume and the Focal amp get to hot to touch.

 

[galacticmonkey 5,000+ posts]

Whats the gain set to? Whats your voltage at while playing it for a while?

Could be that the amp doesnt like being bridged as well.

 

[Alpineforever 10+ year member]

I'd recommend the alpine... but I'm a little biased

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

do you have a small fan or anything in there? get something to circulate airflow or any will get hot especially in the florida heat.. hell my amps are pretty warm to touch just chilling car off..

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

I'd recommend the JL, but go have a listen to them on the soundboard for yourself. The older full range Alpine PDX amplifiers had noise issues and sounded funny. I could never quite put my finger on what it is about them, but they just didn't sound right. I was even able to pick the PDX out of a selection of amplifiers with my back turned to the soundboard with a sales associate doing the selecting, yet I couldn't tell the difference between a JL and the Arc Audio that they had.

Then again, the OP may like the Alpine PDX.

 

[Fraze 10+ year member]

I've installed alot of HD600's and haven't had one come back that I can think of. There really efficient and run cool. The 600 has a better signal/noise ratio so it should be cleaner. Both amps have more power than the one you have now, so its a good upgrade either way.

But I think you have another problem. If its just getting hott, a fan would be a good start, better than having to swap your amp out.

 

[Ferendon 10+ year member]

My honest opinion is check the grounds..

Focal FP amps always run hot as ****. Nothing to do with grounds, lol.

HD600/4 is the better of the two, but even then it's arguable. HD series have a better SnR, but have a few reliability issues.

Honestly, I'd go with the PDX. I've sold hundreds of those amps in my store, and we've had next to zero product-related services on them. We've had to RTV a handful of the 600/4s and even had a batch recalled, but that was the first run we got. And, we've sold way more 4.150s.

 

[mdrums]

Whats the gain set to? Whats your voltage at while playing it for a while?
Could be that the amp doesnt like being bridged as well.

I have no idea what the voltage is at as I did not do the install. I know the gain pot is all the way up. When I got the car back a couple of weeks ago the gain pot was at 2 o'clock. I mentioned to my guy at Blvd Customs some of my older CD's and songs on my iPod would not play very loud. So I told him I turned the amp all the way up. He was fine with this and I adjusted the Alpine Imprint processor so that the volume on it would not distort my older cd's ect and am careful to turn the volume down before I play a new cd.

Maybe I am not under standing the gain pot on the amp....is this a input gain? If so then I understand and will turn it back down to 2 o'clock. So the out put of the amp is fixed?

Thanks for all the reply's!

 

[PaulD 10+ year member]

He may have no real way to put a fan on it without some extreme customization. Hiding the amp under a panel is nice for security but can be hard on the amp heat wise.

 

[mdrums]

He may have no real way to put a fan on it without some extreme customization. Hiding the amp under a panel is nice for security but can be hard on the amp heat wise.

There is no a lot of space to put a fan plus I use this car for work travel and my luggage and so forth would cover up any fan opening anyway.

 

[KyleBechtold 5,000+ posts]

aren't the pdx class D?

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

aren't the pdx class D?

Yep, full range Class D or sub amps which are class D too. Guess that is the D in PDX.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Turn your gain down. You are expecting way to much output from your sealed 10".

This is probably your cause. The shop just wants to make money off of you.