Rainbow Germs : Zapco amp or JL for sound quality ?

[Jumbo Jet 10+ year member]

Plan on buying a set of Germs later this month. Going for SQ, would I be better off going with a Zapco REF360.4 bridged to 180w each, or a JL 300/4v2 bridged to 150w each ? I keep hearing that Zapco makes amazing SQ amps, but JL is nice as well...... are they even in the same league?

Again, I'm looking for as much SQ as I can reasonably afford.

Thanks guys

Zapco : http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=598

JL : http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=5761

Click to read more...

 

[shaneb 10+ year member]

Different league altogether. Zapco is way better.

 

[Jumbo Jet 10+ year member]

haha, that didnt take long..... thanks. Am I on the right track with a REF360.4 or is there a more suitable Zapco for Germs ?

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Zapco.

Try to find it used. It'll be cheaper.

 

[Toomnymods 10+ year member]

Zapco 4.0 imo and ditch the crossovers and run all the crossover points thru the amplifier, that's what i plan on doing

run 2 channels for the mids and 2 channels for the tweets

 

[Jumbo Jet 10+ year member]

Is there another Zapco that you all recommend besides the REF 360.4 ? I just kinda picked that one based on my budget...... what should I be looking for in a Zapco, do they have a less expensive one that'll be just as nice ? Is 180w too much for a set of Germs?

 

[andrew2944r 10+ year member]

Zapco for sure

 

[Toomnymods 10+ year member]

Is there another Zapco that you all recommend besides the REF 360.4 ? I just kinda picked that one based on my budget...... what should I be looking for in a Zapco, do they have a less expensive one that'll be just as nice ? Is 180w too much for a set of Germs?

the C2K line is as good as it gets.. Total harmonic distortion on the 4.0 i believe is something like .0009 or something crazy like that..

dont be scared off by the MSRP you can get these for about 1,200-1,300 and is the best 4 channel amp i have ever owned

here is the link

http://zapco.com/prod/comp_prods/c2k40Frame.htm

 

[edzy 10+ year member]

If your going for Pure sq, look at MacIntosh amps.

MC427

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

I had a 300/4v2 bridged to Focal 165K2P and also tried them with a Zapco 1000.4. Both sounded great, you would be happy with either.

 

[Jumbo Jet 10+ year member]

Some of those Zapco's are a little out of my budget..... but thanks for the responses, I really appreciate it. The Zapco REF360.4 is in my budget, as well as the JL 300/4v2 so it'll be a toss up between those two. Again, I'm looking for as much SQ as I can reasonably afford without needing a second mortgage on my house.

Does anyone have any objections to the REF360.4 ? Is that Zapco's low end amp.... but still in a different league than a JL ?

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

Either one will work just fine. Flip a coin.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

Power/price = the amp you should buy.

Don't buy amps on "SQ" or you'll be disappointed. The level of distortion at the same level output between your two choices will be inaudible. If someone tries to tell you one amp sounds better than another without giving you the unique parameters/conditions in which they heard it, ignore them.

 

[FoxPro5 5,000+ posts]

Zapco : http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=598

JL : http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=5761

Woofersetc is not a wise place to be buying either Zapco or JL products from. If the amp shows up DOA, you're screwed. Woofers might say they warranty it, and you'd be lucky to get a replacement, but it's not like they'd send it back to either company because neither would touch it. Chances are the amps have been tampered with and serial numbers removed.

Plus, you might even get a better price by buying from a Zapco or JL AD. Try that avenue first.

 

[Toomnymods 10+ year member]

why would they remove the serial numbers??