Old Man looking for new amps. concerned about quality

[xBlitzkriegx 10+ year member]

hey guys,

i did a search but i couldnt find anything useful.

i used to have Orion amps around 2000 or so, before they were sold or whatever happened. since then ive not kept up with the name brands that still sell quality items. ive noticed that RF seems to have gone downhill, orion too. MBQuart's name got ***** by maxxsonics and is now chinese junk. seems nothing is sacred anymore.

im looking for a solid 4 channel amp thatll power 6.5" component sets with at least 70rms per channel. alot of the amps i see just dont have the same specs or put out the same power like the good amps from back in the day. im tired of seeing amps that have small fuses and low SN ratios. help! thanks. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

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[DarkScorpion 10+ year member]

hey guys,
i did a search but i couldnt find anything useful.

MBQuart's name got ***** by maxxsonics and is now chinese junk. seems nothing is sacred anymore.

Seems like in your old age, you've forgotten how to read. MBQuart is quite popular on these forums, and for good reason. RF is simply overpriced, but I would still consider their higher end equipment very nice.

Consider Sundown, Audioque, MBQuart (yes, MBQuart) and Crescendo. These brands have amps that will fit your needs, and then some.

Unless, of course, you want to be mIsTeR SQ; go the route of Audison, Hertz, Zapco, Zuki, Arc, DLS, or Tru. Even Genesis or Sinfoni, if you feel like pissing more money away.

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

Crescendo Audio :: Amplifers :: 1000C4 4 Channel Amplfier /thread

 

[xBlitzkriegx 10+ year member]

lol. thanks for the warm reception.

iirc, RF makes MBQ amps and MB's amp specs are not that impressive. RF's recent amps make good power for sure but they do not compare to my old Orion from back in the day when it comes to SQ. also, MBQuart's speakers are now made in China and the lack of quality shows in thier speakers. they still use the decade+ old tweeter design ( which is still good ) and in at least some of thier lines theyve switched to a cheap, thin plastic speaker basket that flexes when the wind blows. they can argue SQ all they want, profit margin and greed drove that decision.

ive not heard of the others. thanks for the heads up. well, ive heard of sundown amps but i honestly forgot about them.

im not in to pissing money away for a name in the pursuit of SQ but i am prepared to pay what it takes to get good sound.

Still, that amp you posted seems to be pretty good specs wise, do you know if the S/N is rated at 1-2 watts or at full power?

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

I'd assume it'd be 1w

 

[DarkScorpion 10+ year member]

iirc, RF makes MBQ amps

False //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Let's get this out of the way. When you're looking at amp "specs," what specifically are you looking at?

 

[KINGDELL91 10+ year member]

I have a Hifonics XX-Olympus

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Unless you're looking for 10 bazzilion watts why not buy used old school amps?

They will be exactly what you're looking for.

 

[DerekSmith07 10+ year member]

really just depends on what your budget is.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_13498_MB+Quart+DSC+480.html]MB Quart DSC-480 (dsc480) - 4 Channel Amplifier | Four Channel Amp - Sonic Electronix

http://www.woofersetc.com/p8938/i4500--Image-Dynamics-4Channel-460-Watt-iSeries-Amplifier.htm]i4500 - Image Dynamics 4-Channel 460 Watt i-Series Amplifier

http://www.woofersetc.com/p4482/FP475--Focal-4-Ch-4x75-Watt-RMS-Power-Amplifier.htm]FP4.75 - Focal 4 Ch 4x75 Watt RMS Power Amplifier

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/store/products/Sundown-Audio-SAX%252d100.4.html]SSA Shop - Sundown Audio SAX-100.4 amplifier

http://www.woofersetc.com/p6858/FD-4150--ARC-Audio-4-Channel-640-Watt-Amplifier.htm]FD 4150 - ARC Audio 4 Channel 640 Watt Amplifier

http://www.woofersetc.com/p6999/RA40--DLS-Reference-4-Channel-440-Watt-Amplifier.htm]RA40 - DLS Reference 4 Channel 440 Watt Amplifier

http://www.woofersetc.com/p7093/KW4150--Rainbow-Kraftwerk-4-Ch-520-Watt-Amplifier.htm]KW-4150 - Rainbow Kraftwerk 4 Ch 520 Watt Amplifier

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_7734_Rockford+Fosgate+Power+T8004.html

http://www.woofersetc.com/p8624/GT475--Boston-Acoustics-4-Channel-500W-GT-Series-Amplifier.htm

http://www.woofersetc.com/p3406/Dark-Blue-4--Helix-4-Ch-720-Watt-Amplifier.htm

http://www.woofersetc.com/p245/300-4--JL-Audio-4-Ch-Amplifier.htm

http://www.woofersetc.com/p5359/MD42--US-Amps-4-Ch-MD-Series-Amplifier.htm

 

[SoundWave.Co 10+ year member]

I have a rock solid JL 300/4 that will work great for your components, and has a switchable input mode from 2ch/4ch

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

lol. thanks for the warm reception.
iirc, RF makes MBQ amps and MB's amp specs are not that impressive. RF's recent amps make good power for sure but they do not compare to my old Orion from back in the day when it comes to SQ. also, MBQuart's speakers are now made in China and the lack of quality shows in thier speakers. they still use the decade+ old tweeter design ( which is still good ) and in at least some of thier lines theyve switched to a cheap, thin plastic speaker basket that flexes when the wind blows. they can argue SQ all they want, profit margin and greed drove that decision.

ive not heard of the others. thanks for the heads up. well, ive heard of sundown amps but i honestly forgot about them.

im not in to pissing money away for a name in the pursuit of SQ but i am prepared to pay what it takes to get good sound.

Still, that amp you posted seems to be pretty good specs wise, do you know if the S/N is rated at 1-2 watts or at full power?

I'd agree that most of the old brands have gone down the hopper. The high end RF amps are very solid but will set you back a LOT of coin.

On the bright side a LOT of old school killers come up for sale on eBay and these forums from legit sellers (if you're not sure ask) so you can often get a 700$ amp (mid 90's price for 250hcca) for 150$. Some of the super rare ones like the old limited edition Phoenix Golds go for a premium still, but less than retail then...with inflation still a bargain.

Arc, Zapco, Audison, and Mmats are still the same quality amps. Zed audio (guy who made the original hifonics, lanzar, ESX, Nakamichi, Crunch 50, Alphasonic, Planet Audio, etc. etc. amps) makes his own line of full range class D amps that are very nice and built in USA. JBL teamed up with Crown to make a line of amps too that still can be found and are well regarded. Also the RF 25 to life series of re-issues of their original Punch amps were very nice and can still be found here and there online.

Almost all speakers are made overseas or from at least some foreign parts. The big companies mostly cut quality but sometimes they do actually get a good product so doing a little research on things might net some great components (I think Pioneer made some that were highly regarded recently, and I know the Alpine Type X's were some very highly regarded SQ components and used a very high end tweeter). Most "SQ" guys do active crossovers and pick up components from Madisound or Partsexpress where you can pick up raw drivers (many of which are American or European built) for short money and since lots of DIY guys use them reviews of anything worth owning are really easy to find.

The top end Boston Accoustics are supposedly still made in the USA (I wouldn't really mess with the lower models). Atomic still makes speakers (and very good ones) in the USA, and most of the small subwoofer companies that people get hardons for around here use a lot of foreign parts but build here.

Anyway, don't let country of origin get you down too much. Korea is now what Japan was in the 80's...building some rock solid electronics. I NEVER thought I'd use korean amps, but I have been using them on my subs for a while now and I have to say they're **** good. Even my components are made in China ( my tweets are Danish made VIFA) and I must say they're excellent.

You have a wealth of information here though for reviews and such. Good luck and post build logs.

 

[xBlitzkriegx 10+ year member]

thanks everyone for the solid replies.

i was under the impression that RF made the MB amps, ir theyre just rebadged units. i guess i was told wrong and believed it.

DarkScorpion, the specs im interested in are S/N ( better if i can find out where its spec'd at, 1-2watts or full power ), channel seperation, THD under 1% at all channels driven and at 20-20K, and a decent damping factor. after all that then comes RMS power and then i look at the rating of the fuses to make sure the mfg isnt trying to BS. i understand that all that stuff can be fudged to say whatever ppl wanna see and it ultimately comes down to what your ears hear. if it sounds good to you then thats all the matter no matter what the specs show you.

its not that im afraid of anything foreign. its more that i dont want any cheap, low quality junk.

i am familiar with partsexpress as i frequent AVS forum quite a bit for my home theater stuff. most of those DIYers use dayton for thier subs. im a bit leary of them but they give consistent highreviews so who knows.

This amp from Alpine seems very promising. it seems new so i wasnt able to pull up anything on it in these forums or on google.

again, thanks for the info. im off to do some research on a head unit and subs now. i dont even know who makes decent stuff anymore besides JL. i dunno if Orion is still putting out quality subs anymore of it the newer Kicker stuff is good or not. i helped a friend install a Kicker comp VR in hsi truck and it seemed decent enough but he just wanted some noise in his truck, not super SQ stuff or high spl. thats a thread for another sub forum though!

 

[tenbux1970 10+ year member]

Just a question...How old is Blitzkrieg? Sounds like an old Metallica song from when they were good.Before they thought they needed a 200 piece orchestra to get by,and before they were whiny *******.

There are a lot of choices out there that are fairly easy on the wallet that still sound good.

 

[xBlitzkriegx 10+ year member]

Blitzkrieg first appeared on a B side of the Creeping Death single. Blitzkrieg is a cover of the song of the Band with the same name. Metallica did a great job of covering the song. imo, James' voice on the song is better than the singer for Blitzkrieg.

Metallica -