why sundown?

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

my powerbass xa3000d is running at .5 and doesn't get hot on the road probably because THEY PUT A FAN IN IT sundown u gonna have to buy a ns1 just to get an internal fan

My sundown SAZ 3k doesnt even get warm.. I see no need for an amp. My kenwood 4 channel gets crazy hot and it has internal fans..

 

[globalminds_ent 10+ year member]

what u run it at?

 

[dbeez 5,000+ posts]

Ran my 4500's at .5 strapped for a while and they stayed cool.

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

My sundown SAZ 3k doesnt even get warm.. I see no need for an amp. My kenwood 4 channel gets crazy hot and it has internal fans..

Doesn't even get warm? Hmm...

If that amp is as efficient as Sundown says it is, which it probably isn't, your 3kW amp should be radiating 5-600w of heat alone. That's about what you'd expect from a small electric heater. The tricky thing, really, is that the fets are not what gets the most hot in these amps...it's the toroid which isn't sink'd. So ya, your amp is getting hot, you just can't tell by touching the case.

 

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

Doesn't even get warm? Hmm...
If that amp is as efficient as Sundown says it is, which it probably isn't, your 3kW amp should be radiating 5-600w of heat alone. That's about what you'd expect from a small electric heater. The tricky thing, really, is that the fets are not what gets the most hot in these amps...it's the toroid which isn't sink'd. So ya, your amp is getting hot, you just can't tell by touching the case.

I remember you.. your the party pooper of this whole forum.

Well, when people say their amps are getting warm.. your telling me they take their amp apart and touch every component on the board to see what is? I thought that generally speaking, most people touch the outside of the amp case. Mine doesnt get warm, not sure why.

 

[FlexnInLa 10+ year member]

A watt is a watt is a watt, unless you are clipping it or processing it. Sad but true. You are spending the extra money for better build quality, warranty, support, nut-hugger appeal, etc. but a watt is in no way a measurement of sound quality. It is simply that. A Jensen watt is no different than a Zed watt. It's that simple, and it has been proven time and time again. Sad, but true.

 

[seedubs1 10+ year member]

Lulz.....love this thread.

And the above poster said it best. You pay for:

Build quality, warranty, support, nut higher appeal, and I'll add in ease of use, reliability, durability, and processing.

When I look at that list of things I'm putting the extra money for, I realize the only things the extra money goes for in the case of sundown is nut hugger appeal, and an extra year of warranty (2 year instead of the standard 1 year) if bought with warranty.

And that's why I'll never own sundown amps unless I get a screaming deal on a used amp. I mean really, why would I pick up a beat up saz 1500 when I can get a new elevation dx1500 for cheaper (same board for those of you that don't know).

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

I remember you.. your the party pooper of this whole forum.
Well, when people say their amps are getting warm.. your telling me they take their amp apart and touch every component on the board to see what is? I thought that generally speaking, most people touch the outside of the amp case. Mine doesnt get warm, not sure why.

Yours does get warm, it's just that the hot part is not attached to the case. Should I repeat this until you understand that simple fact?

Here's another fact; no amplifier is 100% efficient. That basically means that not all the energy flowing into the amplifier gets converted into a/c voltage feeding your speakers. So where does that 20-25% power go? Does it turn into light? Hardly. Is that energy converted into motion? My amp doesn't move around on its own anyway. Does it get converted into heat? You betcha!

A 3000w amp that claims to have 80% efficiency means that 3000/.8 is the power that goes in (3750w). That extra 750w is basically a space heater. Sundown claims higher % but I really doubt that's the case at the impedances most people run. 750w of heat is hot, open the case and feel for yourself.

Just b/c an amp case isn't hot does not mean there isn't a bunch of heat inside. If the case/'sink was attached to the hot bits in your amp you'd be singing a much different tune. Sorry to be a party pooper...

 

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

Yours does get warm, it's just that the hot part is not attached to the case. Should I repeat this until you understand that simple fact?
Here's another fact; no amplifier is 100% efficient. That basically means that not all the energy flowing into the amplifier gets converted into a/c voltage feeding your speakers. So where does that 20-25% power go? Does it turn into light? Hardly. Is that energy converted into motion? My amp doesn't move around on its own anyway. Does it get converted into heat? You betcha!

A 3000w amp that claims to have 80% efficiency means that 3000/.8 is the power that goes in (3750w). That extra 750w is basically a space heater. Sundown claims higher % but I really doubt that's the case at the impedances most people run. 750w of heat is hot, open the case and feel for yourself.

Just b/c an amp case isn't hot does not mean there isn't a bunch of heat inside. If the case/'sink was attached to the hot bits in your amp you'd be singing a much different tune. Sorry to be a party pooper...

Dont talk to me like Im an idiot. I realize that hence the "I thought that generally speaking, most people touch the outside of the amp case. Mine doesnt get warm, not sure why." in my last post.

What I meant by that was, the general test done by most people to see if an amp is warm, is to touch the outside of the case. The outside of my amps case does not get warm. Obviously something inside does, it has to, other wise its not working or its not on.

Why did you read this whole thread, and choose one line from it so you could argue over it? What I said is true, the outside of my amp case, does NOT get warm.

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

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A watt is a watt is a watt, unless you are clipping it or processing it. Sad but true. You are spending the extra money for better build quality, warranty, support, nut-hugger appeal, etc. but a watt is in no way a measurement of sound quality. It is simply that. A Jensen watt is no different than a Zed watt. It's that simple, and it has been proven time and time again. Sad, but true.

 

[basshead7890 10+ year member]

Newest production run arrived a few weeks ago -- we changed the output FETs to the same parts the newest 3500Ds are using (more powerful) and made a few other small tweaks.

0.5 ohm performance is now just as good as the v.1 1500D while maintaining the slightly better 1 ohm performance that we had already achieved on the v.2 model.

I don't have any 1500D v.1s around the shop right now so I'm using previously tested data :

1500D v.1

POWER : 1970 Watts

AMP VOLTAGE (measured) : 49.25 V

AMP CURRENT (calculated) : 40 A

ACTUAL IMPEDANCE (calculated) : 1.23 ohms

SUPPLY VOLTAGE : 12.85 V

1500D v.2

POWER : 2030 Watts

AMP VOLTAGE (measured) : 47.4v V

AMP CURRENT (calculated) : 42.8 A

ACTUAL IMPEDANCE (calculated) : 1.11 ohms

SUPPLY VOLTAGE : 13.3 V

So essentially identical performance within margin of error now on 0.5 ohm operation -- which is great since the v.2 is 1.6" shorter than the v.1 model was !

I'll have to get some 16v testing done too -- but I may wait until I actually have a v.1 model 1500D around to do it head to head. I'm sure I'll get one traded in again eventually.

Sundown ftw

 

[seedubs1 10+ year member]

Sundown ftw

Not for how much they cost new.....tons out there will do a smudge over 2kw clean and reliably on those test specs for a lot cheaper.

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

Dont talk to me like Im an idiot. I realize that hence the "I thought that generally speaking, most people touch the outside of the amp case. Mine doesnt get warm, not sure why." in my last post.
What I meant by that was, the general test done by most people to see if an amp is warm, is to touch the outside of the case. The outside of my amps case does not get warm. Obviously something inside does, it has to, other wise its not working or its not on.

Why did you read this whole thread, and choose one line from it so you could argue over it? What I said is true, the outside of my amp case, does NOT get warm.

"Mine doesnt get warm, not sure why"

I told you why. It's also the same reason why you cannot drive your car around for an hour, put your hand on the trunk lid, and come to the conclusion that your car is cold. It's not. The trunk lid is not the heat exchanger for the hot bits (that's the engine in case you didn't know) much like the case of an amp is not the heat sink for the hot parts in your amp.

Besides, who cares if an amp gets hot. Do you sit on it?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

A watt is a watt is a watt, unless you are clipping it or processing it. Sad but true. You are spending the extra money for better build quality, warranty, support, nut-hugger appeal, etc. but a watt is in no way a measurement of sound quality. It is simply that. A Jensen watt is no different than a Zed watt. It's that simple, and it has been proven time and time again. Sad, but true.

Assuming THD+N is the same...

 

[big_ol_meat 10+ year member]

Why wouldn't you want your heat sink hot? To me that's exchanging the heat from inside the amp. I'd rather keep my internals cool.