Mature Amp Advice

[Mattymatt]

I can't seem to find anywhere to find a CT amp. No dealers in Indiana at all. Nothing on Amazon. Guys in Michigan apparently don't exist, and I haven't been able to locate anyone in Illinois. Where can I find these?

 

[bbeljefe]

I can't seem to find anywhere to find a CT amp. No dealers in Indiana at all. Nothing on Amazon. Guys in Michigan apparently don't exist, and I haven't been able to locate anyone in Illinois. Where can I find these?

Do you mean KB Customs in Michigan? If so, how did you try to contact them? Also, there is a dealer in Chicago called S&A Autosound (773-772-5424) and one in Lansing called Bass Addiction (708-218-1454).

If you have any trouble reaching those guys let me know and I'll see to it that you get what you need.

As for the company, CT Sounds is formerly Audio Technix and is a relatively young company. However, the owner (Coleman Thedinger) is well known in the car audio industry, he's very keen on innovation and his products have always been of exceptional quality. The company is also we financed, so there's not much danger of it going under any time soon.

But let's say you buy and amp and CT Sounds goes out of business in two years. You still have the amp and it's no less a quality amp because the company closed down. Seriously, people buy homes and never even know the lender they bought from went out of business and sold their mortgage to someone else who went out of business and sold it to still someone else. But they still have a house. ;-)

And you mentioned build houses. Pretty much everything is made in a build house of some sort and almost no one in the electronics industry manufactures their own products. That's been the case for a long time now. In car audio, if you're looking for a good amp you want to find one that's built on a Korean designed board. It can be assembled in Korea or China or Japan and that doesn't matter. But the best designs are Korean and probably 95% or more of the amps in the winners circle at car audio shows are Korean designs.... many may even be different branded amps on the same board.

So if you're really concerned about the manufacturer of your amp going out of business, find out which build house it came from.

 

[JFOODSTAMP 10+ year member]

There is a guy in Chicago S & A Autosound. He is a dealer for them. I too am an Old school guy as well. My first amp was a Rockford Punch 45 hd. Most mid to higher end amp companies use and share buildhouses. I wouldn't shy away from a brand that uses them. I have ran the crescendo 3500.1 before with good success so they are nice. I am Currently running a CT Sounds 7000.1 one and they are awesome amps as well. Back to your question. There are lots of nice amps out there that will do the trick. I would consider both the Crescendo that has been mentioned and also look at the CT Sounds. Last comment is most new Soundstream stinks but the new Reference line is top quality and available cheap online

 

[Mattymatt]

@ bbeljefe...

Thanks for the information. I appreciate you taking the time to respond as you did. I tried contacting them via website but never went beyond to actually call them. I haven't heard a lot about build houses, but the only info I had read about them was not positive. I'm hearing very different perspectives from this group (also appreciated). I need to do more checking.... what am I looking at retail for an amp that meets my specs (1,000-1,500 @ 1 ohm) with a CT amp? List price is $519.99 on their website for the AT1400.1D; any idea what retail is? (Nothing against eBay, but I'd rather buy new if possible)

 

[So Low iT Hz]

Symphony S1500.1 - Crescendo Audio | Online Store
there ya go

Excellent recommendation. Just get this amplifier, crescendo is one of the most reputable brands there is, and they have a minimal profit margin compared to other companies and are willing to let you save a few bucks for really nice equipment. Look into their speaker lines as well as their batteries, but they are best known for their rock solid amplifiers. I ran a bc5500 at .35 ohms on only two smallish batteries (big alt tho) and it kept up with every note. Never got hot

 

[Mattymatt]

Dude, your amp is a beast. What kind of power were you pulling at .35 ohms?

 

[Dmac1991]