should i buy old school or new school

[univ2859 10+ year member]

i used to be heavy into the car stereo market, but have been away for a while . anyways im putting new components in my car, deciding between the focal k2p , cdt, and the diamond hex,6 and 1/2 btw ive beem looking for a good 4 channel amp to power them, and it seems like all these new amps have very high thd and very low s/n ratio. i was at the local car stereo shop and i asked for the top of the line amp and this guys shows me an alpine with a thd of >1% and a s/n of 80. He then told me that they rate the amps differently now .I remember when i had my old system i had a hifonics zeus generation x and it was something like .003% thd and 103 s/n. I cant seem to find any new amps that even come close to these numbers!!! any help??? or should i just go with an old school hifonics or ppi or something.

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[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Nothing wrong with the new equipment. As long as you do your research on the brand at hand. Newer Hifonics is no longer as good of a product as the old. I would not base your buying preference on company rated THD and S/N ratios.

And when shopping @ shops, be leary. They are only trying to make a quick buck. I can't see why a Alpine would be top of the line. Great amps just not the best.

What are your requirments? Power, features...

 

[univ2859 10+ year member]

well im trying to get 200 watts rms x4 or in that range maybe 150, but im concerned with clarity, i want the cleanest amp possible . not really concerned with bells and whistles jus accurate sound reproduction, im a rapper so im always in the studio and after hearing studio monitors all day , getting into your car with shitty speakers doesnt cut it!!

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

Nothing wrong with the new equipment. As long as you do your research on the brand at hand. Newer Hifonics is no longer as good of a product as the old. I would not base your buying preference on company rated THD and S/N ratios.
And when shopping @ shops, be leary. They are only trying to make a quick buck. I can't see why a Alpine would be top of the line. Great amps just not the best.

What are your requirments? Power, features...

It may have been the best out of what that particular shop offered...

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Well as long as you purchase a high quality amp, you should be fine.

Depending on your budget here are a couple brands worth looking in to.

Zapco

Arc

Brax

JL

USamps

Kicker

Fosgate

Alpine

PPI

JBL

Orion

All great products.

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

It may have been the best out of what that particular shop offered...

True.

To the original poster. Just make sure to do your reaserch on the product. And remember in most cases, you get what you pay for.

 

[univ2859 10+ year member]

yea i know that, im not worried about price thst much i mean im not goona go buy a mcintosh which id love too but i mean ill spend 700- 800 on a good amp

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

I will be hard to find a good 4 channel amp that puts out 200 watts x's 4 into 4 ohms. I would look at two 2 channel amps. What are you going to be running with those 4 channels, 4 sets of speakers? I would skip one set of speakers (the rear) and concentrate on your fronts, there is no need to spend double money on an extra amp and rear speakers. Here is the two channel amp that I use and would recommend ( this is a great price). Also remember that the install on your front speakers and the placement will have much more to do with the way they sound than the THD and S/n ratio of an amp. I would not buy one that has greater than 1% but anything below that would be fine. Run this with those Hex's

http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/Shop/Control/Product/fp/vpid/1454978/vpcsid/0/SFV/30046

 

[Bake 10+ year member]

Most are not what they used to be. Hifonics is one that has fallen off quite a bit. There are still some good amps being made. Zapco is one that comes to mind. DLS is another that seems to get good reviews. I prefer the older PPI myself. Thats probably only because I have been using them forever. If you decide to go old school send me a pm. I have a PPI four channel (4x100@4ohms) that I need to sell.

 

[univ2859 10+ year member]

I will be hard to find a good 4 channel amp that puts out 200 watts x's 4 into 4 ohms. I would look at two 2 channel amps. What are you going to be running with those 4 channels, 4 sets of speakers? I would skip one set of speakers (the rear) and concentrate on your fronts, there is no need to spend double money on an extra amp and rear speakers. Here is the two channel amp that I use and would recommend ( this is a great price). Also remember that the install on your front speakers and the placement will have much more to do with the way they sound than the THD and S/n ratio of an amp. I would not buy one that has greater than 1% but anything below that would be fine. Run this with those Hex's
http://www.hifisoundconnection.com/S...id/0/SFV/30046

That amp has great specs, is diamond accurate with those specs, because it sounds too good to be true for 297 bucks!!

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

this guys shows me an alpine with a thd of >1% and a s/n of 80. He then told me that they rate the amps differently now .I remember when i had my old system i had a hifonics zeus generation x and it was something like .003% thd and 103 s/n.

While the numbers "look" better, you won't hear an audible difference between them. In reality, it's not really that big of a deal.

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

Diamond makes great great amps. This model is the D5 and they now have a D6 which is newer and that is why the older model is so cheap now. Plus this site has really cheap prices anyways. I would snatch it up if I were you.

 

[univ2859 10+ year member]

is the d 6 much improved??

 

[DFW40 10+ year member]

Not that I am aware of, probably mainly cosmetic differences. You can find the D6 online or go to Diamond's site and compare the two. I am not sure if they made a newer model of the D5, here is another D5 with a higher price to show what a good price the HIFI site has.

http://www.woofersetc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=190

 

[tRiGgEr 5,000+ posts]

Diamond amps = sexy.

Worth buying IMO.