Xtant! very impressed

I just heard a buddy of mines 2 X series Xtant 12" subs...all i can say is "WHOA!!!" and this was in a Sealed box! i couldnt beleive the amount of bass these thing push out. I think they got me sold. Has anyone heard these things? what do u think?

no one go opinions on Xtants. Is it just me thinkin there good?

i've never used any of their equipment, but their amps have a pretty good reputation. i haven't seen a review of their subs....

I've heard alot of amps in 18+ years and Xtant is extremely impressive.Their maybe a better amp out there,but I haven't heard it yet.Very thirsty amp though.My 604x and 1001dx pull @ 160 amps.This system is about as loud as you can get without hearing damage and crystal clear.If anyone knows of a better amp out there,i'd like to hear about it.Curious of the new hd's if anyone has heard one.http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

wow, this post is 5 years old

If anyone has ever been to a Metallica concert and can acheive sound quality close to that,then your in audiophile heaven.This extremely difficult in a vehicle without extinsive sound deadening and high quality equipment with the right installer.I wasn't impressed with a recent install to say the least.I let him install one amp and it looked like Sanford and son had done the job.Long story short,I never let another installer touch my vehicles.Xtant is hard to install if you've never done one but with some studying,anyone can do this.If anyone knows of a better amp,i'd like to hear one.Not saying their isn't one but I haven't heard it yet.
Alpine 9886 H.U.
Alpine component 6 1/2 S-series
Tsunami 40 farad hybrid cap
225amp delco alt.
Xtant 604x amp (mids&tweets)
Xtant 1001dx (3-10 subs)
miles of wiring and sound deadening
Blood,sweat,tears,and alot of dough!
Result:Audiophile heaven and pissed off neighbors.

I had an XTant 1000 watt with two subs that I got after a traded a pistol for them. I then sold them to a friend for about $350. Supposedly they are ridiculous - these were in a sealed box and heavy as sh-t because the magnets are the size of my head - but I haven't seen supposed friend since.

If anyone has ever been to a Metallica concert and can acheive sound quality close to that,then your in audiophile heaven.This extremely difficult in a vehicle without extinsive sound deadening and high quality equipment with the right installer.I wasn't impressed with a recent install to say the least.I let him install one amp and it looked like Sanford and son had done the job.Long story short,I never let another installer touch my vehicles.Xtant is hard to install if you've never done one but with some studying,anyone can do this.If anyone knows of a better amp,i'd like to hear one.Not saying their isn't one but I haven't heard it yet.
Alpine 9886 H.U.
Alpine component 6 1/2 S-series
Tsunami 40 farad hybrid cap
225amp delco alt.
Xtant 604x amp (mids&tweets)
Xtant 1001dx (3-10 subs)
miles of wiring and sound deadening
Blood,sweat,tears,and alot of dough!
Result:Audiophile heaven and pissed off neighbors.

Xtant was pretty popular as an amp when I competed in IASCA in the late 90's, certainly had a unique and classy look. However, and you seemed to express this intelligently, there's a lot of amps out there and so many applications the word "best" is always hard to apply. When they came out, the Soundstream DaVinci was really over the top feature wise, but not everyone could use one- or even have the juice to power one.
I'd offer the best amp would be the one you could buy today, put it in every vehicle you owned for the rest of your life, and it was always hella loud and never broke. This means it would have to have extreme flexibility. And just be one amp, because many cars can't do 2-3 without killing alternators.

I have the one. a/d/s p840. It was in my Vette when I competed and it's in my Honda Passport today, 14 years after I bought it. Of course even a/d/s did better than that, but the $850 I paid was about the upper limit.

It now runs at 120 x 4, with a blower under the seat it doesn't even get warm. Plenty loud and 100% tightly regulated which was crucial for SQ competition when I ran horns.

other good brands I have owned:

PPI Zapco (I had the "system" 3 pc amps. 2 in the Vette. real POS for reliability but nothing else had the output in the form factor)
Phoenix Gold
DEI's early stuff- because I was sponsored and it was a deal!
(however their comp 15's STILL rock my passport 11 years later, all original, along with their processor EQ)

Sounds like you've had audiophile heaven experience a few times.My problem is I have a set of Alpine 6 1/2 spr17 coax's rated for 110rms/330 peak and sound outstanding being pushed by an Xtant 604x but you probably know by reading that statement that i'm putting way too much power too these coax's.I agree;gain settings input 3/4 up and output gain 1/4 up,getting Alpine's crossover's smokin' (burnin out the ceramics).They can't handle the high power.What do ya suggest other than lowering gains even more?I have the x-over settings set pretty high to keep the bass out,but as you may or may not know Xtant is just a guess without guages to verify exact settings.Thanks

No harm intended,but have you heard Metallica's performance?If you can find a better sounding band,please let me know.I've heard alot of bands but no one can compare to Metallica.If Motley Crue doesn't stand a chance,then who can do it???I have heard sound quality to the highest standards and haven't heard anyone come close.I will pay to see someone that can match or beat that quality!

Sounds like you've had audiophile heaven experience a few times.My problem is I have a set of Alpine 6 1/2 spr17 coax's rated for 110rms/330 peak and sound outstanding being pushed by an Xtant 604x but you probably know by reading that statement that i'm putting way too much power too these coax's.I agree;gain settings input 3/4 up and output gain 1/4 up,getting Alpine's crossover's smokin' (burnin out the ceramics).They can't handle the high power.What do ya suggest other than lowering gains even more?I have the x-over settings set pretty high to keep the bass out,but as you may or may not know Xtant is just a guess without guages to verify exact settings.Thanks

2 things I can say:

1. I'm not keeping up on what's on the market right now but "back in the day" Alpine was known for the best source and processors, their amps were getting decent. Their speakers were competant up to the mid price range but when the upper end of the market was considered, Alpine speakers were rarely talked about. I looked into the spr 17's and while they seem competant may be a weak point if you really are giving them over 100 watts of clean power. Not bashing alpine and you will pay much more for a significant upgrade (the soundstream exact component system I have retailed for $500 in '98) If had $$$ to throw down the ear candy hole I'd be looking at Focal and similar lines that won't break up so much at higher output levels.

2. If you're going to rock concerts with pro sound reinforcement your ears are being conditioned for abuse and you'll find most modern automobile electrical systems are hard taxed trying to convert 12 volts to usable amplification without serious modifications to either the alternator or the vehicle itself (like using 10"'s in your front stage for mid bass, more efficient than 6 1/2"s or even 8's)

so you may consider lowering your standards about rocking out in the car or pay the price- both now $$$ in your system and tinnitus down the road.

At age 48 and owning loud stereos since I was a kid, it is frustrating to be in a silent room as I cannot get away from the ringing. Also most ear damage occurs when alcohol relaxes your ears natural protection. Don't get drunk and stand in front of the speaker towers at concerts. You'll be sorry years later.

Some work should be done insulating the vehicle if you haven't already, that makes a big difference. A secret of the old school competitors- modeling clay in all the cracks and crevices before you dynamat. It's cheap and works wonders but will migrate if heated.

Finally the sound of Metallica depends not just on the band but their production and touring company's expertise with sound reinforcement and the venue itself. I saw them at:

The Master of Puppets tour, opened for Ozzy

The Black tour, at San Diego Sports Arena, the footage from that night was used on several of their MTV videos (I had 17th row center!)

The GnR stadium tour, first date with James back from his burns but not playing guitar except 2 songs. Sounded like ass but it's a stadium. Curiously saw Pink Floyd same stadium a year later, impeccable sound- but was on the floor so.... different genre as well.

Reloaded tour Sports Arena with the pit stage

the best?

Black tour at the Arena had perfect sound, probably because they had to.
tours with as good quality:
queensryche. seen em 5 times in the 80's and early 90's, always superb.
aforementioned Floyd. World class.
Bon Jovi slippery when wet tour. bubble gum it was not.


google "us festival". saw both, sounded like ass. Not the bands' fault.

Update to Xtant amplifiers: Xtant has introduced a new line of amplifiers. They look great but the kicker is like most amps, they are now made in CHINA :banghead::nono: & shipped back here to sell. Can we not get anymore American made products here? C'mon man!!!! Comments welcome,sincerely Xtant77.

Most everyone is doing this. American workers have very littler pride anymore, they just want a paycheck, so businesses move manufacturing overseas.

To some degree, I agree with you but more or should I say less pride part would be on the business owners instead of the workers. Workers have no choice in deciding if the company moves out of the country. Owners just want lower overhead & want workers sometimes that can work 24 hrs a day in shit conditions. Something to think about. I still love the looks of the new Xtant amp & the fact that I could change different wooden panels for looks & they look extremely easy to adjust especially compared to the older but better models. Comments welcome.http://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon10.gif

May be wondering what equipment/experience I have talking about Xtant so much, so I thought I would go ahead & list the items not including blood,sweat,tears, & of course $$$. 21+ years, started @ 91' with my first truck at age 16

Alpine H.U. CDA-9886
Xtant 604x w/3 pqm's
Xtant 1001dx w/remote bass controller
Box of sip ships for any needed changes
40 farad Tsunami cap
3-10's different brands "caught on sale" LOL
Alpine components 3 sets front kicks & doors
Alt. custom built 250 amp w/4 gauge cable (DC Electrical)
Optima red top
Sound deadening mix, Dynamat & some cheaper material from body shop supply
All fits in 2000 Sierra X-cab 4x4

Xtant was good back in the day but I haven't heard much from them lately (last 15 years or so). What are you using the SIP chips for ? Audiocontrol used to use DIPs to set crossover points, I would custom make them myself.

The sip chips are also for changing x-over freq. as well. Xtant has quite a few adjustments & add-on mudules. Not like most other amps, that's for sure.

honestly, I prefer a seperate processor box rather than one built into the amp.

xover point = xover freq ... those two terms are interchangeable

I thought about installing a processor but I don't compete & wanted to keep my system more on the simpler side. My H.U. has a built-in eq which helps a great deal & I have the pqm's mounted in both amps. Xtant has started making new amps & speakers but like most things in the U.S., they are made in China. They're extremely nice looking but haven't heard their "new" sound quality yet. My amps are old school pre-mitek amps & couldn't be happier except for ease of adjustments & power consumption but I look at them like the old carbureted big block 454 engine, they'll pass everything but a gas station,lol. Saving my money up for some better components but for right now with the economy going to shit, got to take care of other bills 1st & take care of the equipment i've got. Do you own your own shop or is car audio just a hobby? Nice equipment by the way.http://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon10.gif

Just a hobby, and yes - car audio can be an expensive hobby. Honestly, amp SQ is pretty much a joke. The distortion and non-linearity of even a good speaker is an order of magnitude higher than even a crappy amp.

I can't find a single review of any new Xtant equipment, beginning to wonder if they are actually selling these. I haven't considered the perfection of a speaker as much as the longevity of most of them. compared to most electronics, speakers don't seem to have much a life especially in total sun,cold,heat,etc. Speakers just aren't made to last that long for a reason. Turnover.

The car ones last a bit longer - the cones and suspension are treated. Reviews in magazines are pretty much worthless, they never say anything bad to avoid losing advertising dollars.

I liked the idea of the metal cone for longevity but sound quality may be a little different depending on someone's personal tastes. I always did like Alma Gates Bronco & the PPI designs, Alma seemed to be a nice lady when I met her several years ago. The flat cone seemed like it would hold together better but the surrounds seem to always be a problem, at least with mine anyway. It's amazing to me what people will do to their vehicles to get an spl record & then what? Start selling the equipment for half what the endorsements paid for them? Crazy world. If you know of anyone that has tuned Xtant amps, would love to learn more. Thanks.

I am sure I could tune an amp/processor combo. The problem companies had with metal cones was getting the adhesive to stick to the surround AND the cone. The stiffness of of the metal cone help eliminate some of the break up modes but introduced other issues - it's all a trade off.

On my Xtant amps, I have 14.9 volts going into them, but trying to figure out where all the gains should be; they go from -20,-10,0,+10+20 db gain increments with my H.U. saying that it puts out 4 volts. And that's just the rough adjustment increments, then there's the adjustment knobs for finer gain adjustments. It sounds ok right now, but i'm sure it could sound batter with a precision adjustment. Your thoughts?

You have severely mixed your terms. 14.9V is a little high but that's the value the cars alternator is putting out. 4 volt output on the deck means 4V rms of signal over the RCA cables. I not only adjust the crossovers but use time alignment and 1/3 octave equalization.

No, there were no mixup in terms, maybe you misinterpreted what I was trying to convey. The 14.9 (at idle) volts coming from the custom alt was suppose to give you an idea of input voltage compared to an ordinary factory car; the 4 volts coming from the H.U. was where the interesting part of the equation relies for course gain adjustment before fine tuning. Now, whether i'm truely getting 4 volts thru the rca's to my amps is another question. Now my amperage spikes close to a 200 amp draw on full (edge of distortion) volume with hard bass thumps. Power hungry bastards to say the least. I hope that was a better explanation of this issue. Would you recommend midbass drivers (@ the correct freq. for the drivers) in the front doors to help reproduce compressed music a little better? I'm not an image freak but do like superb sq. Thinking about buying a passive crossover strictly for the midbass drivers to keep costs down, & an rm4 or8 module for the 5th & 6th channels, your thoughts?http://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon5.gif Appreciate the helphttp://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon11.gif. Wesley,Ar.

A good midbass driver is always a plus but personally I would not use a passive crossover. This is why I like external processors, 4 way ability is pretty common. You only get 4 volts from the HU when it's putting out max power but it's pretty much a moot point as long as you are not getting any engine noise. I use fiber optic from the HU and DVD changer to the processor, so I avoid all of that from the get go. Old school amps do tend to be a power hungry, just the way it is.

I don't have the fancy processors nor do I want them unless I find one that blows me away. Nor do I have any engine or other background noises & no fiber optics. But i'm curious if midbass drivers need to be closest to mids & highs for time alignment or does that matter like the fact that sub's are non directional. I built small enclosures (tupperware bowls with dynamat)for my midrange 6.5's. Tons of work. Should I do the same for the midbass to get the best sound possible? It's kind of funny that there are 7 or 8 stereo shops within 100 mile radius of me & a Mexican shop has the best attitude,work, & prices thus far that I found, go figure. Do you know of anyone that has an rm4 or rm8 they don't need at a reasonable price? Sure could use the additional 2 channels. Thanks! http://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

Just thought @ fiber optics in audio, that's got to make a tremendous difference in response timing & better at reproducing instrumentation 20-20,000 htz, or morehttp://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon10.gif

midbass need to be installed in the kicks ... their ONLY localization cues are path length differences (PLD) between the 2. The higher the crossover freq the more you need to put the drivers close together so midrange/tweet is a lot more critical than midrange/midbass. Also, vertical stacking is not as problematic as horizontal differences. Most people vent their midbass drivers to the outside so they won't need a large box.

The fiber does not really help with freq resp, it's just that the processor I have has a fairly high noise floor (hiss) with the RCA inputs. It also breaks the copper link, so there is no ground loop problems.

I've noticed that most people don't give this product much attention but it has some benefits other than just to help car stereo's, such as insulation,a decrease in road noise, & of course audio. Very good investment. I actually went to a paint & body supply store & bought some sound deadoner for a fraction of the price of the "name brand" deadoner but it didn't have quite the flexibility without a heat gun that the name brand deadoner has but the price was worth it. Just a thought for vehicle owners old or new. I also have illegal tint (also helps cool down truck faster) & no "steal my stuff" stickers which only promote theft & free advertisement for audio companies anyway. Thoughts? http://staticaf.com/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

be careful of the cheap sound deadener products, they are asphalt based - the newer stuff is butyl based.

As you may or may not know, my system requires alot of juice to keep going strong, I have an Xtant x604 & a 1001dx amp with custom 250 amp alt., Optima red top battery, & 40 farad Tsunami cap. On hard bass hits lights will still dim a little bit; will another agm battery help this or adding another amp to untax the other two? Xtant's love lot's of juice but make up the difference in sq. Any ideas greatly appreciated. Thinking of putting a small agm battery next to the cap inside the cab tightly secured of course but need some advise on the the best bang for the buck. Kinetic, Stinger or ? Thanks again for the replies.

A cap that size is worthless, the ESR is too high. Ideally, all the batteries in the system should be the same or at least the same maker. The old school amps were power hogs, especially the ones with tightly regulated power supplies.

Should I add another agm battery to my system rated @2000-2300 watts or just leave alone & take out the cap? Louder & cleaner the better if you have any suggestions.

Batteries are for engine off listening OR for stabilizing voltage in megawatt (10k +) systems. Alternator puts out 13.5-14.4 volts, stabilized battery = 12.5 volts .... once the vehicle is turned on, ALL of the power comes from the alternator until the voltage drops below 12.5 volts. If you alrewady have an HO alt, then one large AGM should be all you need. Some of the 1-2F caps are useful as power filters if ESR is not too high.

After doing some more research, it looks like I would probably benefit by taking the cap out & replacing with a digital distribution block instead & upgrading my 4 gauge to 0/1 gauge power instead. The only people saying that cap's would improve voltage are sales, go figure. The only thing that concerns me is any possible noise from removing the cap. My amps have built in noise gates & I believe "some" reserve capacitance but that doesn't mean that I can't inherit some noise from removing the cap. Possible noise filter if so? Would my alt. (rated @250 amps) be able to handle up to 3 amps if I decided to add another 604 for mids & highs? I definetely want it louder but don't know which options would be the best route for extremely high output. I think I hear tinnitus calling my name (LOL). Any suggestions...... on a budget like most folks? My Optima red top is doing fine & so is my H.O. alt., just don't want to waste $ on something I don't need; & by the way, i'm not building this for show, this is strictly for personal enjoyment (I think folks need alot of $ to compete for shows these days), screw that!

contests are actually preety cheap these days and you can enter SQ only - the installation only affects your score if it rattles is unsafe or effects the sound in some way.

It's hard to find good answers these days.

yep ... the average car audio site is full of young know it all's that really don't know much. Always remember to follow the money, most people are giving you advice so they can make money.

So, where is a good place to find legit unbiased info. on car audio?

I try to be as unbiased as possible but it's a little slow in here.