Top Brand Amplifier Rankings

[GeeTEye 10+ year member]

There are many threads on the subject, but I have not seen one that explains things in simpler terms. I'm a car guy so if someone could explain the differences in the higher brand amps listed below in term of cars, or on a scale of 1-100 it would help me understand if amp A is better than amp B, how much better is it. I'm from the 90's so back then the standard was PPI art, US Amps and P.G. The first thing that came to mind was Arc XXK vs Arc SE (Camaro vs Corvette). The XXK give you niiice bang for the buck (camaro), but you know you are not getting their top of the line (corvette). And you pay alot more for features but don't get much more wattage for your dollar. Here are some brands I'd like to hear about and how they rank against each other (since I've been hearing so much about them):

Genesis

Brax

Tru

Sinfoni

PPI Art

P.G. from mid 90's

US Amps mid 90's

Arc XXK and SE

Zapco (new)

McIntosh

Click to read more...

 

[loud-n-low 10+ year member]

US amps are still good, I like the ax line

 

[joek86 10+ year member]

might want to throw audison in there //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

+1

I am astounded by the Sound and build quality of these amps. I have the latest generation of these amps and love'm!

Joe

 

[zthumper 10+ year member]

IMO Kicker > every1 else

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Digital Designs makes nice amps.....//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

The first thing that came to mind was Arc XXK vs Arc SE (Camaro vs Corvette). The XXK give you niiice bang for the buck (camaro), but you know you are not getting their top of the line (corvette). And you pay alot more for features but don't get much more wattage for your dollar.

How are you not getting their top of the line when purchasing XXKs? In their time- '05 they were considered the top of the line. New year-new product and now the SEs are their "high line" offerings. The XXKs are just being sold as leftovers now, hence the lack of them being in current catalogs.

 

[azimuth 5,000+ posts]

xtant

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

How are you not getting their top of the line when purchasing XXKs? In their time- '05 they were considered the top of the line. New year-new product and now the SEs are their "high line" offerings. The XXKs are just being sold as leftovers now, hence the lack of them being in current catalogs.

I wish I had either one //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

 

[GeeTEye 10+ year member]

How are you not getting their top of the line when purchasing XXKs? In their time- '05 they were considered the top of the line. New year-new product and now the SEs are their "high line" offerings. The XXKs are just being sold as leftovers now, hence the lack of them being in current catalogs.

Well I'm talking what is currently top of the line. Like I said back in the day PPI was it, but they are not currently up to compete with Arc SE as I am told. I dont know please educated me. Still no one has ranked any of these amps I listed. Is Genesis twice as good as a Zapco, almost as good as Brax or half as good as the old P.G. amps? I know its subjective, but most things are. There does seem to be some obvious sound quality points, most would say that Alphasonic is not in the same category as Brax (duh). Not a hard fact just generally excepted amongst audiophiles. But thats why I asked to get some educated opinions. Sound quality is a very subjective thing.

 

[Towncar 10+ year member]

Genesis

Brax

Tru

Sinfoni

PPI Art

P.G. from mid 90's

US Amps mid 90's

Arc XXK and SE

Zapco (new)

McIntosh

Being an owner of new and old pg, I can safely say that the newer amps still match the quality of the older ones.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I've never owned the newer PG but have owned several of the original PG's...I loved the quality in those amps...

 

[ivanfbi 10+ year member]

I have a couple of Xenons and had a few MS and M, Ti and one octane R, and xenons are not worse than Ti's or MS, if not better. The new lines have more flexibility, features and offer gobs of power, and still have about same quality as older ones, and now they are cheaper as well, maybe not as classy looking. Octane R is a good amp too, but the fact that it's a entry line, and they rate it by max power makes me think twice. still good amp though.

Xtant...I have heard only good about them, so i bought one and can't wait to test it for myself and see what i think about it.

I have heard the best things about DLS A line and Memphis Belle. Also Boston acoustics GT line seems to be realy nice, but not popular at all and of course the JL is good too

 

[Worlddre 5,000+ posts]

xtant

pre-mitek //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[t0ny 10+ year member]

helix anyone?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

There does seem to be some obvious sound quality points,

Like.... ?

most would say that Alphasonic is not in the same category as Brax (duh).

Why?

Not a hard fact just generally excepted amongst audiophiles.

"Audiophiles" also tell you that marking on your CD with a green marker will enhance the sound.

"Audiophiles", while having an affinity for high quality sound, also sometimes allow that affinity to cloud their perception and judgment.......

Out of those amps you listed...if you do not have extensive external processing, I would give the Zapco DC series a good hard look. The "sound quality differences" are going to come down to the processing abilities of your system more than anything else (after having good quality speakers and a great install). And if not using extensive external processing and plan to only use what's in the amplifier, the Zapco DC series pretty much takes the cake. Along with the Kicker SX series.

Other than that....I would simply take whichever amplifier out of that lineup gave me the most power for my money, while still giving me the features I need/desire.