Suggestions for 2000+W w/ stock alternator

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Amps don't have sq....

Huh?

 

[Fitz 10+ year member]

amps do NOT have SOUND QUALITY. they just handle electricity, and sometimes add distortion (thd). http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf read no. 4. At the same watt output, on the same driver, with no clipping and inaudible thd, a legacy amp will sound the same as a genesis.

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

amps do NOT have SOUND QUALITY. they just handle electricity, and sometimes add distortion (thd). http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf read no. 4. At the same watt output, on the same driver, with no clipping and inaudible thd, a legacy amp will sound the same as a genesis.

I don't know where that document comes from...

I may be a newbie to this forum, but I am not a newbie to car audio, and have about 20 years of it under my belt. I've taken a break from the scene for a while to build my family, but I'm back to clean up the system in my current vehicle and thought I'd contribute to the fun here by being a part of it.

The fallacy that all power comes out sounding the same is exactly that (a fallacy). If that were truly the case, do you honestly belive there would be so many hundreds of models in the same power range to choose from? It's a consumer market. It does have something to do with marketing (a large part, I'll agree) but the consumer drives the manufacturers. Without their wanting something better [sounding] there wouldn't be much progress.

I've replaced amplifiers that produce exactly the same power as the previous and experienced for myself a significant improvement in fullness and accuracy. Other benefits can be efficiency and cost. The same can be said for home theater/audio. It's not all hype (although agreeably, some is).

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

... additionally, a class A/B amp is going to sound very different from a tube amp of exactly the same power output specifications.

 

[chinny 5,000+ posts]

oh lord

 

[Fitz 10+ year member]

oh lord

Yeah, I'm sorry, this might get ugly.. (it always does...)

Listen: Richard Clark (I think that's his name..) runs a shop down in NC. He has a bet with anyone who wants to take it:

You put up $100, he puts up $10,000. You bring two amps or pick two of his, he sets them both up with no clipping and inaudible thd at the same volume level on the same drivers. You sit there for 2 sessions, 12 tests a session. You can nail which amp is which all 24 times, you win 10k. If you don't believe me, try it, 10k is more than enough to pay for the airfare/hassle of goin down there. One thing, 3000 ppl have tried it w/out winning. Amps don't have sq. It's all hype. Amps have all sorts of features that make them differ from eachother/make them more expensive, but sq is not one of them. Why is this so hard to swallow?

EDIT: NM, I've had this argument too many times, it gives me a headache. Believe what you want.

 

[btnhfan 5,000+ posts]

There are lots of competitors running the xx line from hifonics. Check the termpro forum. They are supposedly the strongest amps ever tested at 12v

 

[Fitz 10+ year member]

snova031 is runnin xx's in his comp vehicle now.. I think he likes em a lot (but I ain't speaking for him)

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Amps don't have sq. It's all hype. Amps have all sorts of features that make them differ from eachother/make them more expensive, but sq is not one of them. Why is this so hard to swallow?

Pyramid it is, then!

I'm all over it.

"Richard Clark" is the correct name, BTW. He has, probaby, the winningest IASCA comp vehicle in history and it only had (I think) 6 speakers... 2 compression horn drivers up front, 2 large midbass drivers, and 2 subs in back of a Buick Grand National. He's a genius and a "hero", of sorts, to me.

Now, I completely agree with the argument that a good installation can make crap components sound better than a shaky installation of top-shelf components, but when replacing a top-shelf amplifier, in an identical system with a flea-market amp of the same output on the exact same cabling and speakers, in the exact same environment, if you don't hear a difference in sound quality, I'd be seriously surprised. Like I said, I've been there and happily choked down the cost of the upgrade because of the sound improvement.

Just for the sake of conversation, do you believe that 2 (measured) identical amplifiers with only 1 difference: one has a damping factor of 50 and the other has a damping factor of 200... Would they have the same sound quality?

 

[Fitz 10+ year member]

It's all just how well amps handle power, not direct sq. Like I said, this argument gives me a headache, so either go win yourself 10k, or drop it.

 

[Mr. Loki 5,000+ posts]

my electrical dosent like a single pa a3000db, im getting a 200-250 alt soon

That must **** for you, because in my stock 2004 crown vic 135amp alt my pair of a3000dbs work just fine with little dimming.

I know alot of people diss the name, but I for 1 know its a good amp for the price and does its power, plus it has a little pair of brothers that are a 2channel and a 4 channel. Should give you 2000@1ohm no problem.

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

Dropped. I know it seemed argumentative, but I sincerely appreciated the brain storm. Thank you.

So, anyway, I'm almost certainly going to buy an amp or a pair to power these monster 12"s this Independence Day weekend or next several days. I plan to drop some good bux but I don't want to throw money away either. I'd like to feed them at least 1000W each (preferably a tad more).

 

[Mr. Loki 5,000+ posts]

Look into the Power Acoustik a3000db. You can get them very cheap. If im not mistaken you can pick one up for 325$ with a warranty from monte_carlo here on the forum

 

[impalafan95 10+ year member]

I think they autotek mean machine amps are some of the most attractive amps out there, I would go with a xx hercules or that MM2000.1d you mentioned.

 

[HeatSeeker 10+ year member]

orion 2500d will weck ur cars elec system, just a heads up.

**** and I'm getting a 2500d to power 2 mag d2's soon, but it will be at 2 ohms so it'll only be pulling 1700w. Then again im probably getting the 200x4 orion for my 4 xxx mids, **** my electrical system is gonna hate me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/satan.gif.9c6a335ed7aeeed3ee273e573f1fcaac.gif