I found another amp for cheap.
 

I decided to not buy the earthquake amp due to me not being an spl only type of guy. Quite a few people told me that that amp will make just about any sub sound like a$$, and i have heard from a couple where they caught fire for real so onto the nest amp. found a MA Audio HK1398 amp. says 1600rms at 2ohm mono. iirc these amps are rated at 17 volts or something silly like that. anyone ever use this amp? if so how did you find it power wise, and sq wise?

You are speaking about two different types of amps and the way they are rated.

Wow, a fictional story can change someone's approach to buying a amp....... Did you hear the one about a Pioneer demo vehicle that burned to a crisp as well. Guess that means that no one should by Pioneer.The latter though is a true story and has absolutely no bearing on the quality of equipment that Pioneer makes. The amp catching fire sounds quiet exaggerated if you ask me and would have resulted in a lawsuit and quite possibly a recall of every amp that was made. Sounds more than a little fishy to me.

Tell me how an amp can possibly care what kind of music is being played?

I have seen a few earthquake shredders that cought on fire and that's only because people were modding them and running loads with them that they were not meant to run.

I had a jl 1000/1 that caught on fire . Melted over half the circut board and stunk my car up for weeks .

i use to run that same HK1397 (which is the same as HK1398) and i still have it, that amp pounds for the money its worth, i use to run 3 ma180xes with it. The only prob i had with it is that i blew it with a wiring mistake, i miss it, real chep bass

that is what i heard as well, but there is no way to know if the amp i was looking at was modded or not. plus like i said i've heard they put out so much distortion they can make almost any sub sound bad. this is coming right from the mouth of lloyd, aka the bigbassman, i think he should know what he is talking about.:) for those who dont know him, he basically ran the 12" challenge on roe. basically a strictly spl amp, designed to put out power with no regard for sq. not what i am looking for.

wow, i wont even comment on that.:sly:

That amp is slightly over rated, expect around 1200 or so.

Thats around what Lloyd said as well it would do. he figured 1600 max rms.
still no doubt for a spl guy $200 is a great buy for the earthquake. its just not for me.

wheres this earthquake? i want one soo bad,..pm me details if u can still get it !

What's to comment on? Someone has modded an amp, changing it's inherent design abilities and asking it to do something it was not designed to do. So a improperly modded amp has caught fire. Who is at fault here?, the amp for being improperly modded or the guy who improperly modded it? Had it been properly modded, I guess we would not be having this discussion. Anything can be improperly modified with horrible results. To lay blame to a entire line though over comments made that are taken out of context, is just plain wrong. Perhaps the person posting originally should have made everyone aware that the amps that caught fire had been improperly modded as well.

Whoa man.
I never said the whole line was bad anywhere. i just stated that i have heard of it happening from more than one person, plus that is not the determining factor of why i am not buying it. It is an spl designed amp with no reguard for thd or sq. made to put out lots of power thats all. if you like them so much go and buy it. i even said it was a good deal for an spl guy.
just NOT for me.

Actually I retail the line and the results I have seen thus far totally negate any second hand information you have been fed. That's alright though. If it is not for you, it is not for you. I have no problems with that. I have a issue with second hand information and missing parts of second hand information at that. The latter part here was directed to someone other than you.

"spec as taken from the Earthquake site"

RMS power 1-ohm: 1000 Watts
RMS power 4-ohm stereo: 500 Watts
Damping factor: >800
Cross over slopes: 24dB/OCT
THD: >0.016
SNR: 104dB

the only reason i even took any second hand info about the amp is because of who i got the info from.All of them wel known for providing real info. if it was from any joe blow, i shrug it off. this is the interent, and most opinions are purely bs. but i am sure you are on here enough to know that. other than that i got my old mono amp fixed, so i am out of the amp hunting game anyways. maybe in the future i'll look into more power if i decide to swap subs. i got to wait and see how the mach 5 does with a decent amount of power rather than the 100 or so rms i am feeding it now. if it is not up to my expectations, then i'll start to look around for something a bit more powerful.
.

NP from me with what is a good discussion as well. At the same time I have asked the person who is more than familiar with this amp to come and make his post as well to quell some of the mis-information that has come to light. He should be posting later today.

Where to begin, I wish people would only comment with a hint of experience with this amp. Every single person who has used this amp says they love it! If you read the two threads on this subject...

Fact:

yes, a few shredders (this is an 15 year old amp) did catch fire. Reason why, they were rated at 150x2. If you modded them, took out the protection circuit etc, you could get 3000 watts plus out of them!!!

Fact:

Earthquake has won more world titles and is the most winningest amp in DB Drag history. I win send you the link...

Fact:

They have won 15 industry awards for dollar per watt and sound quality!!

Fact:

For $599.99, no one makes an amp that is 1 ohm stable and gives you 1000 rms. All amps are rated with the CEA rating, which every amp is rated at. It is the 14.4 volt rating.

Fact:

You decision to not purchase the amp...I wish I could smack you across the face through cyberspace...

Fact:

I run the amps in my daily driver...I love them!!! They have awesome clarity and head room. Whoever says hey do not sound good, I say bullsh*t!

Fact:

Out of 8 classes in DB Drag Western Canada Finals, 6/8 first place cars ran Earthquake Amp, and ever car hit over 150 db...

Fact:

At least these amps are not sold at Excess Cargo...

Fact:

With 2 Earthquake amps I have scored the following:

I beat the current world champion in IASCA 0-260 semi pro by 2 db hitting 153.1 db

I got the USACi Canadian Record with 152.0

I got the second highest score in Canada with a 151.7 db...DB Drag

The loudest street "C" car last year ran Earthquake...

Currently I have hit 154.1 db for USACi

----------------------------------------------------------

Call me if you have any questions 604-787-5935...or call me toll free @ 1-877-4-westec...that way you can save some money to buy a decent amp...

for $599 there is no amp that can push 1000rms at 1ohm? LOL, there are so many its not funny. many that put out more even.

about the face smack, why are are you internet kids always saying things like that? does it make you feel big or something? lol again.

anyways, like i said i dont need the amp anymore because i got mine fixed.

and btw this is second hand info, fyi. i dont know who you are, but i sure most know who lloyd aka the bigbassman is. no offense but i'd take his word over most anyday.

You might just want to take a small glance at his sig line, no second hand information there at all......

i read his sig line. i have nothing bad to say about him. he says what he believes in. i just pointed out what mistakes he made, and the silly comment he made about the face smack. i have nothing against the company itself(earthquake). never used them, never heard them. thats why i asked the question about them.

Name 5...prove me wrong...1 ohm daily driver...

$500.00 USD - $599 CND

Well, truthfully I have wanted to reach out and e-smack people before as well. Some people I am sure you have wanted to do the same. I think that Westec was generalizing the e-smack upside the head comment and not directing it towards you. Imagine how many times a day as a tech rep he hears the same kind of comments.

Now above he has a good post, follow through with his request.

Keswick are you even talkin about the shredder amp? I think the amp you were lookin at is not the earthquake amp that blows up in the first place. the 1k model had zero problems and sounded rather decent. if you were lookin at the PHD model (and not PHD2) then the stories u were told are not true.

Westec the amps u got now you cant really compare them to the old PHD2 model, those were a real hunk of 'quality' fire hazard yet very cheap power. i've smoked maybe 10 or more myself. some of the earlier PHD3 models were kinda sketchy as well, i ran 4 of them in 2004, only 2 survived. 2 of them went into flames and were gone beyond repair, one i sold and one i still got and it burps at 0.125 ohm with car off no problems.

The PHD5 or PHD10 models are totally diff story, most stable amps i've ever used. But my honest opinion the modded PHD3's were better spl amps.

not sure if you guys were talkin about retail prices but a brand new 2k RMS or more earthquake amp is more than 5 bills. but if you can score one of those for 5 bills or under thats a killer deal.

the moral of the story is........ Keswik if you were lookin at the 1000 watt earthquake amp and not the 2000 watt one then everyone just wasted their time and 3 pages of cyberspace talkin about the wrong amplifier.

group hug anyone?

I'll respect that, an opinion with some experience...cheers!

No worries, i was talking about the phd2 amp, so we did not waste our time.
I guess with this being a smaller forum, i figured people would put my 2 posts together.
Back to westec, give me about 5 minutes and i'll list a few off for ya, im kinda busy at work right now with rates for customers and such(sales rep).
At least on this forum discussion is a heck of alot more civil than over a ca.com. If this had of been there, there would have been atleast 10 or so people in here arguing both ways. I like this way better.
Looks good on the forum.:smilie_da
be back soon.

now i feel stupid

A lot of people SHOULD know what they are talking about, but unfortunately only few do.
I have no idea who he even is so I cannot judge this but my point is, a lot of people take what a person says as gospel even tho they have no idea what they are actually saying. I've been in the industry a few years, I've talked to and know of both Westec and MR2NR and respect them and their opinions.

Good point. I think i may have mentioned it, but lloyd aka the bigbassman is the guy who ran the great 12" challenge on roe. he is actually helping in the design of the new mach 5 audio budget spl sub as well. Just like you said alot of people spout out info like its going out of style, but in most cases its coming out their arses. I've been around long enough to know this.(27 years old).
I am no noob to car audio, but alot of these brands like earthquake, ma audio,
and such i have not had access to them in person, so i have rely on the experiance of others who have used them. You just got to sort through the crap to get a real answer. I respect westec, and mr2nr comments, they seem to have a good knowledge of these types of amps but we apparently have been talking about different earthquake amps the whole time. lol
oh well. at least i got my questions answered.

I forgot all about this thread, as i am new to this forum, and only started using it since just before the show on the 11th. its a great place to get info on upcoming events, and such. plus you can find out where to get good deals on equipment. It seems like the members here are easier to talk to as well. I frequent ca.com, and it seems like every second post there someone is getting flamed about something. I think alot of it is to do with there being a younger crowd of people on that site.

anyways enough of my rant. have a good day all.