Should I bother with an old/crappy amp?

[karter74 10+ year member]

Quick question,

I'm starting to get back into car audio now, and have purchased a new Kenwood DDX514 headunit along with some PG RSD6.5 speakers. I have a set of older pioneer speakers I will be using as rear fill and would like to hook up an amp to all four speakers. Cash is rather low right now and I happen to have a brand new (but 6 year old) crappy Mobile Authority A1000 4 channel amp.

Yes, I know the brand is bottom of the barrel, but would it be better to run that instead of just running the speakers off HU power alone? I would probably need to wait a month before buying a decent amp, so it would have to do.

Cliff notes: Have old crappy amp, want to hook it up to new speakers. Is it worth hooking up or just waiting until I can afford a decent amp?

Also, where does everyone typically buy their wiring from?

Thanks for all your help!

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[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

i buy my wires from Knu Konceptz, only the Fleks though

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

its gotta be better than your head unit even if it is mobile authority. might as well hook it up and then just swap in your new amp when you can.

 

[karter74 10+ year member]

So would everyone agree the general consensus is to just run it until I can afford a better amp?

 

[gentlejax 10+ year member]

just do it.....it has to be as good as your deck at least....how can you go wrong?

 

[dkdub 10+ year member]

use the amp. start saving for whatever amp you want and swap it in later

 

[o. l. t. 10+ year member]

If it is all you have you should use it, however you have managed to find an amp that is old school that I DON'T like which is hard to do. LOL! Mobile Authority was just so far beyond trade show quality it was ridiculous they didn't come with a free fire extinguisher. Take the bottom off that amp and you'll see why. The fit and finish was pretty scary when how close the connections are to some things inside. Another funny is how big the shell is and how small the board is.

I wouldn't be telling you any of this if you hadn't said it was crappy first, but hell I agree. I can tolerate anything old school..... hell I can run an old Sherwood if I have to for a week or two, but Mobile Authority is where I draw the line. LOL.

Now that the lolz are out of the way let's get to the question..... Assuming you don't have an EXT/EQX/EQL laying around, you are actually probably going to get worse sound out of the Mobile Authority amp than you would just running bare bones off the headunit. Input resistance, filters, and equalization on the amp usually boot the unpleasant frequencies and without an EQ it can be hard to work with. Cheap amps boost those particular annoying frequencies worst. Channel separation plays a part in this and S/N. Due to the high THD you also run a risk of overheating the voice coils on the mids.

This is one of those "hook it up and try it" kind of things. If you look down a thread or two, I just bought a coustic 460 off Fleabay for $20 and I can promise you that amp will run another 10 years here on my workbench powering this sub and mids in my work room while sounding great doing it. So consider pawn shops in your area and keep an eye on the bay, great amps for the low low are out there. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Good luck!

 

[AQHDC3 10+ year member]

Use the amp

 

[gentlejax 10+ year member]

amps can be had for cheap...hell....if its so bad then just save up $50 and get something else off ebay.....infinity amps are cheap from Harmon on ebay....even a cheap Sony would be within your budget...

I know I said use it ...but that statement above made me think ..fire hazard or something...if its that bad of an amp I wouldnt risk burning up my car.....

I dont really know anything about MA audio amps....haha

 

[o. l. t. 10+ year member]

Here man, the first search I did on ebay came up with the perfect amp. http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-School-Coustic-Power-Lodgic-AMP-265-4ch-amp_W0QQitemZ180452275668QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCar_Amplifiers?hash=item2a03cb35d4#ht_500wt_1182

 

[Rodek 10+ year member]

Go ahead and use the amp. If anythig, you'll benefit from having the wiring installed if you choose to upgrade from the Mobile Authority amp. I say "if" because it may actually suit your needs. It may have a noisy preamp section compared to today's more advanced preamp sections and it may not offer numerous sound processing adjustments but, should enough power to get fairly loud.

I have a 1984 Pyramid PB400a that get's used daily on my work bench. It does not have any signal processing except for seperate gain controls for the left and right channels. It actually sounds good and has been reliable for 25+ years. I've installed it in several project cars over the years just to have something to listen too. The amp stayed in one car for 3 years!

Cliff Notes: Use the amp.