Sundown VS Soundstream!?

[Annnarbor84 5,000+ posts]

Why does everyone think Sundown is overpriced?
Seems to me all zenon board amps cost the same regardless of company

RD, Sundown, IA, Atomic all seem to be right around the same price....

RD audio shit is just stupid when it comes to their pricing. Makes Sundown look cheaply priced. As far as Atomic, I dont know where you got your quotes at, but they are far from expensive and do not even need to be lumped in the same category as the other 3. IA is a little expensive on their amps also, but they have ran a few different sales where you scoop up the 20's for a decent price.

 

[sundownz Pro Seller]

I respect your loyalty to a brand that you have no issues with, but have you dealt with Soundstream's customer service? And this "replacement amp" thing you speak of........ Would that apply to everyone? No disrespect, I'm just wondering is this just the way Jacob operates or are only a select few treated this way. Maybe your Sundown experience is different from another's.

Most of the time we send a replacement amp rather than having a customer wait on a repair. Some cases call for a repair but most ofter we do a replacement.

Even if a customer abused their amp... we offer a replacement within the 2-year period for $30 on our smaller amps and $50 on amps up to the SAZ-3000D as long as the amp is not beat all to hell physically. If the amp looks like you ran it over with your car it does cost a little more than that because the blown amps get re-built and re-sold as refurbished and beat up amps obviously re-sell for less **

After the 2-year period is up the 5-year discount replacement plan is in effect and we will pro-rate your return for a replacement amp or even an upgraded amp - say you blow an SAZ-3000D that you bought 3 years ago and want an SAZ-4500D... we'll pro-rate the blown 3000D for credit towards the purchase of an SAZ-4500D.

** -- I see this brought up alot on the forums - "Why are there so many refurbished Sundown amps?" - Well... when we get amps back from dealers, regardless of what happened to them, we send new amps back to the dealer so we then have blown amps that need to be dealt with. dB-R fixes and re-sells most of them to customers... I feel it is a win-win since new customers get a good deal, the original customer gets a new amp, and everyone is happy.

 

[TurdFergueson2 5,000+ posts]

Most of the time we send a replacement amp rather than having a customer wait on a repair. Some cases call for a repair but most ofter we do a replacement.
Even if a customer abused their amp... we offer a replacement within the 2-year period for $30 on our smaller amps and $50 on amps up to the SAZ-3000D as long as the amp is not beat all to hell physically. If the amp looks like you ran it over with your car it does cost a little more than that because the blown amps get re-built and re-sold as refurbished and beat up amps obviously re-sell for less **

After the 2-year period is up the 5-year discount replacement plan is in effect and we will pro-rate your return for a replacement amp or even an upgraded amp - say you blow an SAZ-3000D that you bought 3 years ago and want an SAZ-4500D... we'll pro-rate the blown 3000D for credit towards the purchase of an SAZ-4500D.

** -- I see this brought up alot on the forums - "Why are there so many refurbished Sundown amps?" - Well... when we get amps back from dealers, regardless of what happened to them, we send new amps back to the dealer so we then have blown amps that need to be dealt with. dB-R fixes and re-sells most of them to customers... I feel it is a win-win since new customers get a good deal, the original customer gets a new amp, and everyone is happy.

I honestly don't think that Soundstream can top that. That is a great warranty. I will PM you another question I had as well.

 

[dragnix 5,000+ posts]

How many companies support their dealers as well as Sundown?Supporting local dealers = supporting the local economy.

How many other companies send you a brand new amplifier if yours needs warranty repair?

Sundown Audio deals with the hassle of getting amplifiers repaired so you don't have to.

How many other companies offer a discount replacement warranty that allows you to trade in amplifiers that have been damaged by your own fault running the amp out of rated specifications?

None other than Sundown that I'm aware of.

Is it worth it for the extra quality/warranty/service that comes with it? That's a matter of opinion. It's not just great customer service though. These really are great amps that are built like tanks. So is it also worth the piece of mind that you bought a great reliable product? Is it worth the piece of mind that if for some strange reason something does go wrong you will receive a brand new amplifier?

There are other companies out there with good customer service but Sundown Audio does a lot of little things that go way above and beyond that most people don't see or pay attention too. I see people online everyday wanting to know how to get in contact with a certain manufacturer or wanting answers to questions because they couldn't get an answer from a certain manufacturer. Jacob is online everyday answering questions & emails and overall doing everything he can to support the local car audio community with his knowledge. He shows up at lots of local events to chat, hangout, and help people in anyway he can. He also donates a lot of products to the local competition scene.

A few years back my bro & I went the "cheap" route and bought 8 Hifonics Brutus amps and a 4ch Zeus for a build. We got them for no other reason than they were cheap and cheap shit is what we got. Two of the 9 brand new amps broke immediately and it took over a year to get them back from the official Maxxsonics repair facility and even then they still didn't work properly. It was the most horrible experience and I'll never take the cheap route again. If 2 out of 9 brand new amps are busted from the start then that's some piss poor quality control. If it takes a year to get amps warrantied because of a shortage of parts then thats a piss poor warranty.

Between my bro & I we own or have owned

1 sax-125.2

1 sax-50.4

2 sax-100.4

2 saz-1000d

14 saz-1500d

10 saz-3000d

10 saz-3500d

No exaggeration & no BS we've been through 40 amps from Sundown Audio. Not one has been faulty and not one has given us any trouble. That's extremely good quality control. It's also nice to know that if for ANY reason something were to happen (even at my own fault) that I won't have to go through some year long ordeal of getting my amps warrantied. That's because if you send a bad amp back to Sundown you will receive a brand new replacement amplifier immediately.

I push my amps far past their rated specs. It seems Jacob & Team Sundown has given the nickname "Mr. 0.25ohm" because that's where I like to run my amps. They take it like champs. What does that mean for the average consumer? Well if I can get away with beating on my amps @ 0.25ohm without any issues then you sure won't have any problems running them at their rated impedance of 1ohm daily. That's how overbuilt Sundown Audio amplifiers are.

I didn't read that, just felt like quoting it.

you like your boners managable huh

You know it, gotta keep shit under control.

not sure which one i'd pick.

You'd pick ID

LOL at the dummies in this thread...has anybody ever talked with soundstream directly?they have very good CS and can give good pricing.the new rubicon series amps are no joke,they do rated and can take loads far below their rated.the d-towers and the XXX series are also true monsters.
imo sundown makes very nice stuff and Jacob is a great guy.i recomend Niteshades alot to local friends.i have talked with a few of his team members and some of them feel like they could do better (price wise) with other stuff.

to the guy that said atomic amps arnt in the same ballpark or whatever read this ---->they are the same,xenon based...

for me ill stick with my Zed built stuff for now because my 3kw amp cost 1/2 of what the sundown 3Kw runs.

People often assumes that when a company is bought out, their stuff starts becoming shitty. They do have their shitty lines, but they do have a higher up line.

Btw, what is this 3kw Zed amp that you speak of?