soundstream rubicon amps

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

Review of Amplifier: I made the mistake of purchasing 2 soundstream rubicon amps.. the 4.5 and the 2.25. both units functioned normally and adequately for a year and a half. they both "died" a couple weeks apart despite Pristine wiring, power -ground-rca's etc, and never driving the hell out of em.. now i know why i got them for a total of $335.. I guess you get what you pay for, eh? Still, the low price should reflect the overall performance level of a product, not a limited lifespan. I also have a soundstream cap that worked for a grand total of 10 minutes before the volt/amp l.e.d's stopped working. Moral of the story.. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON SOUNDSTREAM CAR AUDIO.

look at tdis niqqa... joined just to bitch then cut out...

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

Have one in the bosses ride and its running great so far....

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

I'm not familiar with the newer SS stuff, is it made in China? That country isn't exactly known for their tight engineering & manufacturing tolerances.

The things that would smoke old SS amps of yore were your usual suspects; kids trying to find the elusive ZERO Ohm, poor grounds/chassis ground on speaker wire, 10ga power wire, and throwing crap on top of them so they'd overheat. Rarely would a Soundstream amp just let out the smoke a year later without something gone awry. If they lasted a year, they'd last forever. Look on eBay and you'll see the $$$ they fetch...even the blown ones.

If the new ones are anything like the old ones; you probably have a wiring issue. Either your ground screw backed out causing the power supply to really strain or your positive battery lead is corroded and/or loose. Since the amps are powering different drivers, the chances that something on the output side of the amp blowing in both is quite slim. So it's the power supply that's probably roasted and the most common causes for that would be the install. CCA wire might also be a culprit as that crap can corrode & start to react to the insulation anywhere within the run. Might look good under the hood and a 4-5" section under the back seat may look like it came out of the Titanic. That would choke a power supply too.

 

[BreakinTHEbank 10+ year member]

So, if you were going to try your luck on a Soundstream, would one of the new RUB class Ds be something to look at? The lower end ones, I think 1.400 and 1.700 have THD .02% (same as the whole REF line), while the higher power models jump to .5%. Not that My ears could tell the difference. I was actually contemplating the RUB1.700 and either the TX1 or PX1.1300. That TX1 or PX1.1300 fuse ratings seems to suggest they might be slightly over-rated, while the RUB series looks right on or a little under-rated.

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

Well, I cant discern the difference between my 5% THD XXX4000D and my __% THD on the Rubicon 2500d in my car @ .67 ohm right now. I like these amps, dont know about the lower power ones though.

 

[BreakinTHEbank 10+ year member]

I wish the logic worked that if the higher power onces are good, then the lower power ones should be just as good! I think I'm just gonna pull the trigger and see. I get 45 days to make sure I want it.

 

[ChevyRidinLow]

Review of Amplifier: I made the mistake of purchasing 2 soundstream rubicon amps.. the 4.5 and the 2.25. both units functioned normally and adequately for a year and a half. they both "died" a couple weeks apart despite Pristine wiring, power -ground-rca's etc, and never driving the hell out of em.. now i know why i got them for a total of $335.. I guess you get what you pay for, eh? Still, the low price should reflect the overall performance level of a product, not a limited lifespan. I also have a soundstream cap that worked for a grand total of 10 minutes before the volt/amp l.e.d's stopped working. Moral of the story.. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON SOUNDSTREAM CAR AUDIO.

ive run lots of soundstream, even their cheap lines go forever and provide very clean power. their subs are great and their amps are even better, rubicons are one othe best lines they made. you either messed em up or got them messed up. i hope you didnt secure them to the box...

 

[knightsdaze 10+ year member]

Wow. I just happened to see my old review here today, and the responses to it for the first time. I guess that I shouldn't have been critical of Soundstream as a whole. My REVIEW was intended to be for the RUBICON 4.5 and 2.25. The amps didn't fail because of a wiring issue, and not cuz i'm a ******* either, Enchalada. Great input from an Elite member though. To note, the cap worked fine.. there was loose wire in the l.e.d. display which was an easy fix, BUT it has a cheap plastic housing, and for the price I paid I found it to be sub par as well.

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

to many factors to know if it was amps or not, It is very highly unlikely that both amps would die at same time.

 

[Clifff150 10+ year member]

I don't think name calling is required. I almost bought a rubie but got a **** good deal on a older amp with more power. It ***** you are out that much money. After everything I read I figured they would last longer than that

 

[brodeisel 10+ year member]

user error was the problem but no one will want to admit it.

 

[05fronty 5,000+ posts]

electrical probs maybe?

 

[knightsdaze 10+ year member]

IT'S NOT USER ERROR.. CERTAINLY NOT A POWER OR GROUND ISSUE.. 200 amp alt-optima yellow top- 4awg stinger to each amp(from batt)+big 3-hpm3 rcas-chassis grounds are bolted thru w/ bench soldered ring terminals-2ohm load on 2 ch and 4ohm on 4ch.. i dont hack. i prefer overkill on power+grnd. the amps DIDN'T die at the same exact time, but about month apart.. I put a pdx 4.150 and 2.150 in the same spot after the rubi's went with zero problems or alterations to power or ground scheme.. they're working just fine.. believe what you want though.