best value in power [Archive]

carreraboat

10-06-2005, 09:20 AM

who make the best bang for the buck in amps?
or does anyone have some quality stuff they are in the mood to sale

riverbound

10-06-2005, 09:34 AM

Oh man you are about to open a can of worms.... :(
In my opinion...Rockford gives you the best of all worlds.Some people have had problems with them overheating, but in most cases it has been due to impropper set up.

rivercrazy

10-06-2005, 09:37 AM

RF is the best in this arena. Who else gives you a free cooking grill with every purchase! :D

ROZ

10-06-2005, 10:38 AM

I'd have to say that the JBL amps are lone of the better value amps out there.. The boom to dolar ration is good .. Internet pricing is fantastic :)

Havasu Hangin'

10-06-2005, 10:43 AM

RF are the worst amps on the planet (unless you are selling them). :notam:
JBL have been some of the best $/watt for awhile now.

riverbound

10-06-2005, 11:01 AM

RF are the worst amps on the planet (unless you are selling them). :notam:
JBL have been some of the best $/watt for awhile now.
Im not selling them and I still believe in there product...with over 10 yrs in the marine audio business I have used pretty much every amp out there. Even though I am no longer in the business I still use their stuff in my personal vehicles.
Like I stated earlier...most of the boats I have seen that have had problems have been due to impropper install and setup.

Flashover

10-06-2005, 11:59 AM

Rockford has always worked good for me. Never had any problems... :D

ROZ

10-06-2005, 12:11 PM

Rockford has always worked good for me. Never had any problems... :D
Are you a Chef ? :D

carreraboat

10-06-2005, 02:59 PM

with the jbl amps anyones i need to stay away from?

riverbound

10-06-2005, 03:09 PM

Are you a Chef ? :D
Be quiet.... :wink:

Havasu Hangin'

10-06-2005, 03:39 PM

Im not selling them and I still believe in there product...with over 10 yrs in the marine audio business I have used pretty much every amp out there. Even though I am no longer in the business I still use their stuff in my personal vehicles.
Alright, let me rephrase that:
RF are the worst amps on the planet (unless you are selling them, or have sold them to board members in the past). :notam:

Outnumbered

10-08-2005, 11:42 PM

Infinity Reference any good? Crutchfield has a 4 x 111W for under $300 I think.

victorfb

10-09-2005, 10:03 AM

back in the mid 80s when i was an installer at a high end shop, we used to use alot of ADS amps. not sure if they are still in production, but these things kicked butt. alot of our cars won awards at the car audio nationals. Alpine wasnt bad but couldnt compare to the ADS for clearity. a true watt rating. still have a 300 watt 6 channel brigable in all 6 channels, you just dont find amps like that. to give you an idea of the clearity. we installed a system in a new mercedes useing the ADS amp and some custom to our shop speakers and locations. when we tested it, we heard a faint sound we couldnt recognize. over and over we played the CD. tried another CD and the same noise. best we could figure is that it was the paper sheet music being turned. it was the same on all the CDs we tried. (all exact same CD). never heard it on another system. go figure this car went to some gangster and would never go to the car audio nationals.

victorfb

10-09-2005, 12:55 PM

no offense taken at all. and really, your post does answer somewhat of the question. i had no idea ADS was so poor. all i know is back in 85 or so they seemed to be one of the best we used. though we didnt go for pure bass thumping power, but clearity. in all actuality, you cannot hear true bass, you feel it. so the question is...is he looking for volume clearity, or bass thumping preasure? sounds like your much more in tune (pardon the punn) to todays audio equiptment, and would have alot of good info for this guy. i only mentioned the ADS stuff of my past experience and was wondering if they still had any credability. apperantly not.lol like i said, i still have this old 300 watt 6 channel bridgable that i have used in a couple systems now and its allways sounded awsome. even with a mediocker head unit. and it will probably go in the pontoon boat for next season.

victorfb

10-09-2005, 11:11 PM

yea, i do remember them being very expensive. i was lucky though. back then it was common practice that when an insurance job came in, we removed all the old system and replaced it with new. the installer got to keep all he removed. one of the perks for such a low paying job. and in alot of the mercedes and such the amps were hiden, unless of course it was a gangster type dude that wanted to show off all his audio stuff as soon as you pop the trunk lid. the doctors, lawyers, and entertainers wanted a clean look so we hid the system and alot was never stolen completely. thats why i have the ADS amp now. got a couple smaller alpine amps too. one doesnt work, do you know if they can be repaired inexpensivly, or is it junk now? no output.

Outnumbered

10-10-2005, 02:15 PM

Infinity Reference any good? Crutchfield has a 4 x 111W for under $300 I think.
Anyone have an opinion on these?

ROZ

10-10-2005, 09:54 PM

Directed Electronics owns a/d/s, Viper, Clifford, Dei, Precision Power, and Orion to name a few...

Outnumbered

10-10-2005, 10:19 PM

Never used Infinity myself, but you can easily pick up that amp for less than $200 on eBay.
http://search-desc.ebay.com/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&catref=C6&fcl=3&from=R10&fstype=1&satitle=infinity+7541a&sacat=39739%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&fts=2&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D2&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1
Thanks. For $200 seems like it would be hard to go wrong.

UltraSounds

10-11-2005, 12:35 PM

one of the best kept secrets in car audio....................... Total Mobile Audio amplifiers, and we have run them on some boats and havent had heat issues at all
we have been using the TM-4404 and the TM-5001 as a package here, and honestly they perform pretty damn good for the price

riverbound

10-11-2005, 12:36 PM

riverbound

10-11-2005, 12:37 PM

Alright, let me rephrase that:
RF are the worst amps on the planet (unless you are selling them, or have sold them to board members in the past). :notam:
Once again you are wrong.....I can think of plenty of amplifiers that are worse. But opinions are like a ssholes, everyone has one.

blender over

10-11-2005, 02:09 PM

I have had a RF 1000 watt mono channel amp for about 4 years with no problem.
Back in the day i think i paied around 0.75 a watt.
Now it powers 2 kicker solo baric 12 in a standerd box, and it HITS HARD.
Thats 02

Havasu Hangin'

10-11-2005, 02:47 PM

Once again you are wrong.....I can think of plenty of amplifiers that are worse. But opinions are like a ssholes, everyone has one.
Well, you are right, I am wrong. However, in case you didn't pick up on it, I was just joking.
I thought you could take a joke...I've seen some of the systems you've recommended.
:notam:
PS- the only thing worse than RF amps in a boat, would be RF amps and Kicker subs.
:D

riverbound

10-12-2005, 07:14 AM

Well, you are right, I am wrong. However, in case you didn't pick up on it, I was just joking.
I thought you could take a joke...I've seen some of the systems you've recommended.
I can take a joke, it just seems that EVERY time I come on here and rcommend advice for someone...you jump all over me and bad mouth what I do. I have built so many boat systems in my career, ranging from basic deck and speakers on up. that I feel I have a pretty decent handle on what works and what doesnt in a boat environment.
I spent my career trying to give my customers the best they could have for the money they were willing to spend and alot of times coming in at even less then they were expecting to spend. Reliability was a key factor for us, if a boat broke we lost money everytime we had to do a repair. on top of that a majority of our customers leave their boats at the lakes they boat at, so it would be a big inconvenience for them to tow them back home to have an amp switched out etc... and I saw very few boats come back needing repairs. So we must have been doing something right. I also built up a VERY loyal following.If I was in the business of selling crap, like you seem to imply I was. people wouldnt have continued to bring me their boats,cars, family and frineds vehicles to do. ROCKFORD FOSGATE has worked very well for me for over 10 years. If you had issues with them I wouldnt necessarily look at the product but maybe look at the installation.
And I am no longer in the industry but still have very close ties to it and I do still know whats going on.
Alright, let me rephrase that:
RF are the worst amps on the planet (unless you are selling them, or have sold them to board members in the past).
I think if you talked to the board members that I have sold equipment to in the past, they would be very happy with the "junk" I sold them ;)

Havasu Hangin'

10-12-2005, 07:22 AM

I can take a joke, it just seems that EVERY time I come on here and rcommend advice for someone...you jump all over me and bad mouth what I do.
Are you sure about that?
Do I really "jump all over you and bad mouth what you do"? :confused:

Flashover

10-12-2005, 07:30 AM

[QUOTE=riverbound]I can take a joke, it just seems that EVERY time I come on here and rcommend advice for someone...you jump all over me and bad mouth what I do. I have built so many boat systems in my career, ranging from basic deck and speakers on up. that I feel I have a pretty decent handle on what works and what doesnt in a boat environment.
I spent my career trying to give my customers the best they could have for the money they were willing to spend and alot of times coming in at even less then they were expecting to spend. Reliability was a key factor for us, if a boat broke we lost money everytime we had to do a repair. on top of that a majority of our customers leave their boats at the lakes they boat at, so it would be a big inconvenience for them to tow them back home to have an amp switched out etc... and I saw very few boats come back needing repairs. So we must have been doing something right. I also built up a VERY loyal following.If I was in the business of selling crap, like you seem to imply I was. people wouldnt have continued to bring me their boats,cars, family and frineds vehicles to do. ROCKFORD FOSGATE has worked very well for me for over 10 years. If you had issues with them I wouldnt necessarily look at the product but maybe look at the installation.
And I am no longer in the industry but still have very close ties to it and I do still know whats going on.
I have also sold Rockford for many many years and have had nothing but good results. Everytime i would get i guy who i knew was some dumb ass that was going to abuse his stuff i would sell him Rockford because i knew the amps could handle it and they did. When someone wanted an assload of power i sold them rockford. It has always worked out great for me in the past. I too am not in the game anymore and i am glad that i am not. Just my .02 :crossx: :crossx:

riverbound

10-12-2005, 07:34 AM

Are you sure about that?
Do I really "jump all over you and bad mouth what you do"? :confused:
EVERY time I come on here and recommend what I have had good luck with you follow up with....something along the lines...thats because thats what you sell, thats what makes you money etc....
Im just sharing experience.

Havasu Hangin'

10-12-2005, 07:46 AM

EVERY time I come on here and recommend what I have had good luck with you follow up with....something along the lines...thats because thats what you sell, thats what makes you money etc....
Hmmmmm...I just did a search, and I acutally thought the opposite. There are many times that I bite my tongue...I really don't even post much in here anymore.
Yes...I may beat up on the retail shops because I have some insight on motivation...but that's not specific to Al & Eds, and it's just my opinion.
And you know what they say...opinions are like assholes...every forum has a few.

mbrown2

10-12-2005, 08:02 AM

JBL for dollar to watt ratio....I would steer clear of Rockford...My experience has been they cannot withstand the heat and I am pretty sure my install was not the issue.

UltraSounds

10-12-2005, 09:09 AM

im still sticking to my original thoughts, honestly the Total amps did very well at havasu this year, not being a boat guy, i was very surprised they didnt thermal when its 120 degrees in the shade--i know they may not be well known to everyone, but at least give them a look--under $500 dollars for a 75x4 and a 500x1, kinda hard to beat in todays market :wink:

teamaquaholicks

11-09-2005, 09:03 AM

what do you think of the audiobahn line.
one of the best kept secrets in car audio....................... Total Mobile Audio amplifiers, and we have run them on some boats and havent had heat issues at all
we have been using the TM-4404 and the TM-5001 as a package here, and honestly they perform pretty damn good for the price

teamaquaholicks

11-09-2005, 09:04 AM

very true my rockford stuff always over heated
JBL for dollar to watt ratio....I would steer clear of Rockford...My experience has been they cannot withstand the heat and I am pretty sure my install was not the issue.

TOBTEK

11-10-2005, 07:22 AM

best bang for your buck......ZAPCO, AUDISON......right Roz :rollside: Have a buddy that works for DEI....Just bought a 5 channel 2200 watt D.E.I amp for the rhino.......Fricking inexpense! lets see if it holds up :confused:

DRMCAT

11-10-2005, 10:36 AM

I HAVE HAD GOOD RESULTS FROM PERFORMANCE TEKNIQUE AMPS. HERE IS THEIR LINK.
http://www.performance-teknique.com/ ;)