I want your opinion on this amp! Soundstream TRA960.4
- Thread starter BlkonBlkFG
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- #2
bump...nobody huh?
- Thread Starter
- #3
somebody...anybody...
- Thread Starter
- #4
Up to the top again...nobody knows about this amp?
It'll sound like your speakers sound. Amps have very little, if any, discernable effect on sound. If the power is enough to satisfy your needs, and you trust the brand, it'll do fine.
The newer Soundstreams aren't as good as Soundstream was in its heyday. Don't expect it to be "underrated." These newer amps are probably built without much overkill in the circuitry (the old SS amps were very overbuilt). But they're much better than the amps Soundstream was making shortly before the takeover and sell at a lower pricepoint. The numbers are probably more or less where they should be.
In short, it's probably a fine amp for the money and should do. Don't get wrapped up in the "SQ" from your amp. Sound quality comes from your speakers, sound processing, and install. It isn't inherenet to the source unit or amplification.
When you buy a Zapco or a Brax, for example, you're paying extra for asthetics, build quality, and service network, not "better SQ."
The newer Soundstreams aren't as good as Soundstream was in its heyday. Don't expect it to be "underrated." These newer amps are probably built without much overkill in the circuitry (the old SS amps were very overbuilt). But they're much better than the amps Soundstream was making shortly before the takeover and sell at a lower pricepoint. The numbers are probably more or less where they should be.
In short, it's probably a fine amp for the money and should do. Don't get wrapped up in the "SQ" from your amp. Sound quality comes from your speakers, sound processing, and install. It isn't inherenet to the source unit or amplification.
When you buy a Zapco or a Brax, for example, you're paying extra for asthetics, build quality, and service network, not "better SQ."
bri487
5,000+ posts
Banned
so you are telling me that i can swap my reference dc's with an old power acoustic and sound just as good? that is a pretty genera; statement you made.
I'm saying that if you didn't know which amp you were listening to, and all output settings were equal, you probably wouldn't be able to tell which was which. And it certainly wouldn't make anywhere near the difference that your speakers would make, so if I was going to spend extra money on gear, driver selection would be the priority, not amplification.
Edit:
I used to be skeptical, and some people are going to say I'm parroting Richard Clarke, but I tried this myself and I think there's some truth to it. A home audio magazine I once flipped through at Borders did a similar experiment with home audio gear. They found that the golden ears in the experiment couldn't tell the difference consistantly between an average Pioneer amplifier and some esoteric luxury amp. In some instances, the so-called golden ears preferred the Pioneer, saying it sounded more accurate and natural. That's when I realized that my suspicions probably hade some truth to them and a lot of the "sound quality" claims are just marketing.
I've opened up my fair share of amps, and I know there are huge differences in build quality. But electrically, these things can make very little difference, so I'd say when you buy an expensive amp, don't fool yourself. Know what you're paying for. If I pay extra, it's because an amp is well-made and is more reliable, not because they made some abstract claim to sounding better or "being cleaner."
I don't mind paying for craftsmanship, but paying for marketing claims...
Edit:
I used to be skeptical, and some people are going to say I'm parroting Richard Clarke, but I tried this myself and I think there's some truth to it. A home audio magazine I once flipped through at Borders did a similar experiment with home audio gear. They found that the golden ears in the experiment couldn't tell the difference consistantly between an average Pioneer amplifier and some esoteric luxury amp. In some instances, the so-called golden ears preferred the Pioneer, saying it sounded more accurate and natural. That's when I realized that my suspicions probably hade some truth to them and a lot of the "sound quality" claims are just marketing.
I've opened up my fair share of amps, and I know there are huge differences in build quality. But electrically, these things can make very little difference, so I'd say when you buy an expensive amp, don't fool yourself. Know what you're paying for. If I pay extra, it's because an amp is well-made and is more reliable, not because they made some abstract claim to sounding better or "being cleaner."
I don't mind paying for craftsmanship, but paying for marketing claims...
bri487
5,000+ posts
Banned
so an amplifiers specs dont mean anything? dampening factor and such things dont matter?
Within certain limits, they do. But you get into a situation where what's measurable isn't necessarily audible, especially with the crappy acoustics and noise floor in a vehicle install.
Dampening factor, for example, is particularly useless because probably every amp on the market has a strong enough dampening factor to be adequate within the realm of human hearing. If one amp claims to have a dampening factor of 900 and another amp claims 300, you shouldn't assume the latter is inferior. Both of them are good enough that you aren't going to notice the difference either way.
The same is true for signal-to-noise ratio. Can anyone really tell the difference between 90db and 120db? A computer could tell, but not the human ear. Again, probably every amplifier on the market has a SN ratio good enough that it isn't a real factor in how the amp sounds. Diminishing returns.
Now, an amp with a 20db SN ratio would sound bad. But when have you ever seen an amp for sale that's that bad? Probably never and there's no reason for there to be. It's easy enough to take an amp, copy the architecture and mass produce it. Amplifier design isn't new. There aren't any magic tricks one company knows that another doesn't.
I'm sure an electrical engineer could explain this better than I, but there's no mystery in amp design. I think there are certainly differences in how the amps are built: One company may use better parts and have tighter tolerances and quality control, while another brand may cut corners and use cheaper parts and do a sloppier job of putting the amp together. In the end, I think that's what you're paying for with an established, high-end company like Zapco, etc.
At least, that's what you ought to be paying for, not some arbitrary numbers on the amp's box.
Dampening factor, for example, is particularly useless because probably every amp on the market has a strong enough dampening factor to be adequate within the realm of human hearing. If one amp claims to have a dampening factor of 900 and another amp claims 300, you shouldn't assume the latter is inferior. Both of them are good enough that you aren't going to notice the difference either way.
The same is true for signal-to-noise ratio. Can anyone really tell the difference between 90db and 120db? A computer could tell, but not the human ear. Again, probably every amplifier on the market has a SN ratio good enough that it isn't a real factor in how the amp sounds. Diminishing returns.
Now, an amp with a 20db SN ratio would sound bad. But when have you ever seen an amp for sale that's that bad? Probably never and there's no reason for there to be. It's easy enough to take an amp, copy the architecture and mass produce it. Amplifier design isn't new. There aren't any magic tricks one company knows that another doesn't.
I'm sure an electrical engineer could explain this better than I, but there's no mystery in amp design. I think there are certainly differences in how the amps are built: One company may use better parts and have tighter tolerances and quality control, while another brand may cut corners and use cheaper parts and do a sloppier job of putting the amp together. In the end, I think that's what you're paying for with an established, high-end company like Zapco, etc.
At least, that's what you ought to be paying for, not some arbitrary numbers on the amp's box.
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