Uh, what?
Amps don't have SQ? I guess Sinfoni should close it's doors then. It's all been a waste.
they take the signal that's delivered to them and make it louder. SQ is not part of the equation.
Let's face it, Hifonics *****. Sure, it sounds fine when you have only run other Hifonic amps, Alpine, Pyramid, or crap alike.
The fact of the matter is - regardless of what magical amps you run -- a properly set up HF or Alp that is capable of the power of your magic SQ amp would sound identical aside from advanced processing and/or crossover slopes.
What is assumed to come along with a big price tag is long life of the amp, and better resistance to high stress usage.
People are better off investing in a quality amp. It may cost an extra $150, but atleast it does rated power and has atleast decent SQ. Not to mention, it might actually last you more than a a year or two unlike most of the budget amps.
Ah, an attempt at using your brain.
The reason amps like this exist is to be cheap for people who don't want to spend money.
Wow, really dropping the brilliance on us.
With cheap, means built cheap, means crap. Simple logic.
It's all relative.
So what everyone is telling me is that there is no point in buying anything better than a Hifonics? That is as good as an amp can get in terms of SQ?
Ahh, the using your brain thing was as I first suspected -- just a fluke, but I don't believe you're truly that stupid.
If a person wants to go 160mph do they HAVE to buy a 1.2 mil Bugatti? If a person wants comfort do they HAVE to buy a 385k Maybach?
If a person wants excellent SQ do they HAVE to buy a Brax or a Zapco?
Figure it out.
Hifonics doesn't have some sort of secret to mass producing inexpensive amps that put out power and sound good while doing it. The secret is, silly consumers, misinformed consumers, or just people who don't care.
The SECRET is, some people with money have an undying NEED to believe that the stuff they waste their money on in some way entitles them to have a better experience than those who buy similar but cheaper products.
The people you consider silly and misinformed may in many cases have spent their money MUCH wiser than you - and could in fact experience every bit of sonic bliss that you - the privelaged "high end" listener - believe is reserved only in your name.
At the very least, and this is the very least, get a JL.
Arrogance AND ignorance -- beautiful. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif
So why was he running only the top of the line Alpine amps in his GN if there was no difference in sound quality?
He should have saved himself a few thousand dollars and used Kraco.
MrDave - read and learn...
It's what the car came with when he purchased it from speaker works, but the reason is simple - alpine was one of the few comapnies back then that sold amp that powerful. There were 5 350 watt/ch amps, 4 of them bridged for each of 2 subs and 2 midbass, the horns had the 5th one playing in stereo. They needed that much power because in the old days you didn't compete in sq OR spl, everything was added together. You had to run thru the lanes and get judged in sq, then spl, then rta ..... with NO adjustments in between. Since the spl cap was originally 140 dB, your vehicle had to play FULL SPECTRUM up to at least 135 dB or you wouldn't have a chance at anything but local events.
As for the amp thing, pls notice that I NEVER said there was no difference, I can pull out some test equipment and prove quite plainly that there are differences. The point is that these differences are not so easily (if at all) perceivable by human hearing. The other problem is that the typical distortion of speakers would most likely mask any differences anyway since speaker non-linearities are typically several orders of magnitude higher than even the cheapest of amps. Btw, Richard replaced the Alpine amps with some Kenwood amps at one time for some marketing thing, apparently didn't hurt the sq any.
As for why I use more expensive brands, it has more to do with reliability and ability to handle transients, etc ..
Nowhere near the product support? Seriously? Alpine is a box mover, nothing more.
In one simple product line (PDX) they've done more R & D than many companies do in their entire life span.
But we should all refer to you, the great omniscient one.
RC challenge was a joke and RC even admitted it.
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif Reference?
It tested power. It did nothing to measure the value of one amp over another - only that the power of a Pyramid producing 100w sounded identical to that of a McIntosh producing 100w.
Several people have stepped up for this 'challenge' and were told they could not participate OR new 'rules' were set. When you can set your own rules as you play - a man and his money will never be separated.
Again -- for that to be of any value it would need to be known exactly what the issue was. I know that several hundred people - many being engineers and industry professionals - agreed to the terms of the test and could not disprove the power vs power theory.
I would have to guess eventually people found amps that had hard wired devices meant to intentionally color the sound.
Number 1 in what? Sales? Sure. Marketing? Sure. Invest into a good marketing campaign and the sales follow. Which leads to your next statement about the cost of their demo vehicles... Who do you think pays for them? YOU When a company has an extra, yes extra after overhead to drop EVERY YEAR on demo vehicles wouldnt that give you just a slight hint they are profiting off of you just a bit too much?
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif
So it's wrong for a company to profit from good quality, technologically leading edge products?
Move to China.
The Speakerwork GN had the Alpines simply for power. They were about $1200 a piece IIRC. One of the more expensive amps out there at the time.
Some amps do have a sonic "character." Those that do don't fall into what I would consider "high-fideilty" because any sonic character is either adding to or taking away from the orginal signal. Why people who call themselves "audiophiles" would pay extra for this is beyond me. Most of them only judge a system on the number of zeros on the end of the price anyway.
In the overall scheme of what's important in building a good SQ system the amps rank only above the wires. The most important piece of equipment is the speakers, but even they are eclipsed by the install and tuning. Anyone who thinks that you have to drop over $1k per amp to have a SQ system is trying to rationalize why they spent that much or is trying to brag aout how much disposable income they have.
What he said.
