What do you guys think of the Boston Acoustics GT-2300, open box but not really used, for $360, is that a good deal?
It's $350 new shipped at onlinecarstereo
-- i read a review that the fans get noisy. are they on all the time? and will i really be able to hear them in a wagon/SUV or was the guy just being fickle?
didn't find any info on when they run. Some run all the time, some have temp sensors that turn on at a preset temp. I would think it would be less irritating if they just ran all the time vs switching on and off.
-- it seems suspiciously light. but maybe that's because heavier heat sink replaced by fan(s)?
13 lb doesn't seem that light to me
-- it has no preouts. suppose i absolutely wanted the same signal for something else, like my sub, is there a solution to this? if i split the signal cables, does it degrade resolution, or lower the volume, etc?
Y cables are fine. No noticable effect on signal quality.
-- BA recommends 0 gauge power cable. now i probably won't be pushing this to its limits, but will using 4 gauge power cable distributed into 8 gauge (which would connect to the amp) affect the performance or durability of the amp?
documentation says it has dual 4 awg inputs. Only at 4 ohms stereo would I consider 8 gauge, even then only if the 8 gauge is very short. It would probably create more voltage drop in the wire than what you want to see. I'd run 4 if at all possible, and if you're going to run it harder than 4 ohms stereo definitely 4. If you're going to be running it to its limit (1 ohm stereo/2 ohms mono) definitely do the 2x4 awg.
FWIW - I agree w/haunz that it seems more likely you've reached the output limits of the Alpine speakers rather than proven HF's amps are poorly rated. That amp might not do advertised power in the car, but I bet it's pretty close at 4 ohms. I bet it falls short at 2 ohms. The cea-2006 cert only holds them to their 4 ohm stereo rating if my understanding of the spec is correct.
I'll stick my neck out and plug my component set -- Opti6c.
It's cheaper than what most people would consider "quality", but the woofer is built using a 3" voice coil -- that's the size you see on a lot of 12" and 15" subs. It can handle a ton of power, get very loud, and stay clean doing it. The comp set is rated for 250w rms per side. The woofer a clone of a morel woofer used in their $1600 comp set. Soundstream has a version as well.
I'm driving mine with an opti4x400d amp bridged. Rated at 360x2. I expect it is over-rated, but I wasn't planning to use 360w anyway. I'm sure they're getting something near thier 250w rating. Been running for a couple years and I've been really happy with them. You can buy just the woofers for
