amps

ik, after the last disaster - maybe this one will spark a little more interest. Please tell us about the amps you have used, and what you liked and didn't like about them. My philosophy is that an amp is meant to amplify, so I don't really care about having all those EQ/crossover stuff on them. But I have to admit that it can make your system a lot smaller, and possibly easier to tune.

I have not purchased a new amp in like 10 years, so this thread might be a bit enlightening for me. I currently have 2 PPI (old school) 4X50 watt amps - one to power my mid/tweets and the other is bridged to power my two midbass drivers. My other amp is Hifonics genX Zeus to power the subs. I have not really had any problems with any of these amps, so I would recommend them. I think if I were in the market for another bass amp, I would have to look at a class D because of their typical efficiency.

ive had 3. a jensen xa2250, still runs fine since i got it 3years ago. its running the fullrange after i took out the sony. the sony was a 2x75wrms, i forget what model but it had the built-in eq. and now for the subs i have a lanzar sl800d. runs well, but it does get a little hot, probably since im running it at 1ohm. so i added a fan and it stays cool now.

too many to list..:D

one of them being the DEI 1100D amp. for $207 shipped (practically brand new) its a steal. bench tested to put out over 1300 watts . all the little gadgets like 18db LP filter and 24db subsonic..what else..strappable?:D stable to 1ohm, and 0.5ohm for burps.great solid amp (used widely in competitions)

Kenwood KAC-929. Has 1000w written right on the front of the case. It was never bench tested by me, but the manual indicates 230wrms x 2 @ 4ohms (14.4v) or 460wrms x 1 @ 4 ohms (14.4v)

The amp is ment for 4ohm loads, and I ran a 2ohm load for a few months. Ran great, and never overheated until one day the internal x-over died. Probably from running too low of impedence. Going to take it in soon and get it fixed. Still runs great though, using an external x-over with it now. Overall not bad, but wouldnt buy it again if I could start over. Has some junk on it that makes it not a good choice for a sub amp.

JBL LC-A752 Again, never tested by me. Specs are supposed to be:

75 x 2 @ 4 ohms
90 x 2 @ 2 ohms
180 x 1 Bridged @ 4ohms

I believe these are all RMS ratings. Anyways, I used this to power a set of Pioneer TS-A6985 6x9 4 way's. The amp performed flawlessly. An excellent amout of power for the speakers. Never had a problem with the amp.

I would definitly buy anothe JBL amp. Maybe I will purchase one of there sub amps this spring.

JL Audio 500/1:
500 underrated mono watts. Tested 641w @ 4ohms.
12dB or 24dB per octave crossover, on both the amp and the pre amp outputs.

Well built amp, never had any problems with it, never gone into protection, doesn't run hot, but I don't think the efficiency is as high as other class D amps.

JL Audio 300/4 and 300/2:
Same as above, 97w x 4 @ 4ohms and 150w+ x 2 @ 4ohms
The 300/2 doesn't have pre-outs though...

Just starting out with car audio I thought to experiment with the cheaper brands of amps, such as Legacy and Pyramid. My advice to you is to stay away from these. They are not completely horrible for the price, but they do not put out near the wattage they claim and they have poor signal to noise ratios.

The amp that I am currently running is a Lanzar Vibe 1200D. Some people will tell horror stories about these amps kicking into protect mode, but it has been great for me. I was debating between the Lanzar Vibe 1200D and the JBL 1200.1 and I went with the Lanzar simply because of the price. I do not regret my decision because this amp has been nothing short of awesome, however I have heard nothing but good things about the JBL 1200.1. For it's price, and the amount of raving you hear about it, I would have to say it is a good choice for an amp, that is if it's in the power range your looking for.

Note: I personally have never owned the DEI 1100D but I have heard great things about this amp as well, far more positives than negatives.