why sundown?

[KTMrida4life 10+ year member]

"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?

About the ""Mine doesnt get warm, not sure why"

What I meant was, obviously an amp should get warm, and mine does not. You explained to me why it does not, and I have understood why ever since I read your first reply to my posts. Thanks for the info.

FWIW, yes, I do enjoy sitting on my amps, and the Sundown is more than sturdy enough to hold up my weight. Yet another great thing about it. It does more than rated power too while Im sitting on it.

As for the heat coming from an engine.. I actually just rebuilt the engine in our Jeep from the ground up. Put the ****** back in today and am hoping to crank it up for the first time tomorrow. So you're correct, I know nothing about cars and had no idea the engine made heat. Thanks again for that info.

 

[seedubs1 10+ year member]

Just block his posts man. He's annoying. I don't read a single thing bng posts club ftw.

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

I was in the same boat as a lot of you about the whole reason behind why you would pay so much for a sundown/dd amp, but I gotta say they are worth every penny if you've ever used them (if you buy used, not new, that is). The amps are just so much more efficient and they simply sound better. An unclipped watt is indeed an unclipped watt, but the question is how much work does the amp need to do to produce that watt? How much of its rated power can it do while staying unclipped?

For example I had a rubicon 2500 running at 1 ohm on my 18, gains set for 2k with a dmm. I would drop down to high 11's at idle with the rubicon. I swapped the rubicon out for an AQ2200 (not nearly the same quality as a sundown/dd but close) and now I don't drop below 13v at idle (from 13.8v), it is noticeably louder, the response is MUCH flatter and lows are much more prominent and the amp stays ice cold.

You can pay for a cheaper amp and that is just fine I won't give you any shit about it, but please don't go off saying the amps aren't worth it, because if you've ever used one before you know exactly what I'm talking about. They are expensive, but if you are willing to save up you will be much happier, simply because you get what you pay for.

/rant

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

much like the case of an amp is not the heat sink for the hot parts in your amp.

I missed this gem...

If the case is not the heat sink, what is?

 

[R34P3R 10+ year member]

I missed this gem...
If the case is not the heat sink, what is?

The metal terminals and mounting feet. Duh...no wonder other forums think we are dumb. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

 

[BnGRacing 10+ year member]

I missed this gem...
If the case is not the heat sink, what is?

Take a look at your garden variety ChiCom D-Class amp and you tell me what they use to exchange heat from the toroid (the hottest component) to whatever. Most cases; it's nothing and is one of the many reasons why these big & cheap Class D amps do not last very long. The heat sink (extruded aluminum) is usually the most expensive part in an amplifier and is usually the 1st thing the bean counters look at when they penny pinch. And people still complain about paying more than 10cents a watt...

 

[loudwhat? 10+ year member]

Take a look at your garden variety ChiCom D-Class amp and you tell me what they use to exchange heat from the toroid (the hottest component) to whatever. Most cases; it's nothing and is one of the many reasons why these big & cheap Class D amps do not last very long. The heat sink (extruded aluminum) is usually the most expensive part in an amplifier and is usually the 1st thing the bean counters look at when they penny pinch. And people still complain about paying more than 10cents a watt...

Imagine what the guys today would say about paying $1 per watt LOL, I can hear the bitching now

 

[nitroxide1]

So what would be considered a "good" price for a Sundown if they're so expensive? for example: a 100.4D?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Take a look at your garden variety ChiCom D-Class amp and you tell me what they use to exchange heat from the toroid (the hottest component) to whatever. Most cases; it's nothing and is one of the many reasons why these big & cheap Class D amps do not last very long. The heat sink (extruded aluminum) is usually the most expensive part in an amplifier and is usually the 1st thing the bean counters look at when they penny pinch. And people still complain about paying more than 10cents a watt...

I don't particularly disagree with your points, but if the inductors are the hottest things in the circuit, there's something seriously wrong.

Unless having the permeability go to hell is part of the design.

 

---------- Post added at 08:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 PM ----------

 

Imagine what the guys today would say about paying $1 per watt LOL, I can hear the bitching now

I wish I paid $1 per watt for amps //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Or 1 pound per watt, for that matter...

 

[LosIsATool 5,000+ posts]

WTF is wrong with you guys. The Sundown/DD amps are not expensive at all. I take it none of you bought amps 10 years ago.

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

WTF is wrong with you guys. The Sundown/DD amps are not expensive at all. I take it none of you bought amps 10 years ago.

10 years ago? Heck, what about the 150 watt RMS amplifiers that I paid $350 to $400 for in the late 80s to early 90s? If my calculations are correct, that is $2.33 to $2.67 per watt back then. Using one of the online inflation calculators, that would be $4.23 to $4.84 per watt in today's dollars.

 

[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.

Bump for clarification?

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

Imagine what the guys today would say about paying $1 per watt LOL, I can hear the bitching now

I would love to pay $1 a watt instead of $3.30