I would like some help choosing an Amp
 

I'm sorta new to the car audio scene. With the help of some folks here I was able to get plans and build a good slot ported box tuned to 31 Hz for my subs but now come the time to find an amp.

I have 2 Pioneer 10" subs, single 4ohm coils, 350W RMS/800W MAX. Will be wired to 2 ohm with 8gauge wire.

I want a good amp, I am looking around and looking at what my options are, I might buy used, but it looks like going through ebay is REALLY cheap now with our dollar being so good therefore I may buy new from the US.

The problem is I look up some amps and I see what they are rated at but that might not be "true" representation, that's where experience comes to play.

Would something like the Phoenix Gold Octane R 8.0:1 be good for me? or ALPINE MRP-M650? Or JL audio 500/1 or 1000/1?

I'm not sure what would be too much amp.

I usually listen Hip Hop/R&B etc.

Thanks.

All the amps listed will work...but upgrade to 4guage cause at two ohms you will be drawing a crap load of power!I would buy the Alpine I love all the features,but that just personel prefrence.

I have 4 gauge now running to the back so that's good. I wasn't sure if that was big enough?

I really like the Alpine as well, and the price.

The thing I like about the JL Audio is even if it's Mono it seems to have 4 connections for the subs (2+ and 2-) so I can run 8 gauge from each sub right to the amp, rather then splicing the wires together then they wouldn't fit in the terminal etc.

I'm running an Alpine MRD-M605 and a Kaption SPL 10" in the Kaption ported box. It pounds awesome.

alpine is good...mtx will also run pretty sweet....

Pm'ed :)

Ok, I've narrowed it down to a couple options....

-KENWOOD KAC-9152D 1800w MONO
http://cgi.ebay.com/KENWOOD-KAC-9152...QQcmdZViewItem


-ALPINE MRP-M650 600w MONO
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-06-ALPINE-MR...QQcmdZViewItem


-PHOENIX GOLD X600.1 600w MONO
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-P...6418QQtcZphoto


-MA AUDIO HK2000D 1800w CLASS D MONO
http://cgi.ebay.com/MA-AUDIO-HK2000D...QQcmdZViewItem


-PHOENIX GOLD 1500w R15.0:1 MONO
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PHOENIX-GOLD...QQcmdZViewItem


-SOUNDSTREAM 1700w RMS MONO
http://cgi.ebay.com/SOUNDSTREAM-1700...QQcmdZViewItem


Which out of these would be the one to get?

Why not ask the Ebay forum instead of a great Canadian forum with Canadian dealers on it? No offence intended dude but considering you and others have laid it out that you are looking to purchase from Ebay, that leaves you with pretty few reliable options at helping you choose an amp. Wonder why this board has so many industry people on it, yet few choose to respond to things like this anymore?

he is just looking for some options on where to buy stuff. Buying off of ebay is easy and there is alot of stuff out there for a fraction of the cost. Now people who buy from there know the risk that they might get screwed buyer beware. So if you want to buy something that you are going to have for a long time or that is a big money item I would say buy locally support business. They would be really missed if not there. Ebay is great for hard to find things in car audio or anything. I have bought a number of things from it but it is much better to buy new from a store, warrenty(sp).

Iam going to say nothing on this but this. Feel free to make your purchases from ebay and be prepaired to get screwed. Just in case you didnt notice the MA and Sondstream are Re-furb's.

i can almost here it now......"how come no one in canada wants to service my ebay stuff?.......how come no one is hosting a show anymore?.....how come it's hard..."

cause you dont support to local dealers.....thats why. so stop asking...funny how internet buying is awesome......especially when it is a fraction of cost....well you buy something for a fraction of cost its worth a fraction of cost...

If you can sell me an amp at a cost that is close to what it would cost me on Ebay, then I will buy it from you. I would even consider it if it's $50-$100 above the total cost of buying on ebay (after ship/brokerage/tax) If not, then what is your point?

I'm asking other "users" for advice, not really "sponsors". I was PM'd by a sponsor I went to check it out but damn, for that money I can get something MUCH better on Ebay even after shipping, and brockerage and tax.

I understand about supporting the sponsors but honestly..it has to be WORTH it for me to support you. I'm not going to spend a couple hundred extra just to say I bought it from a sponsor of the board.... :dunno:

I mean, I'm not saying that 100% I will buy on E-bay, it's just so much easier to browse and look at specs and features etc.

I'll for sure look at all my options before dropping some cash on an amp. :smilie_da

But thats what we are saying. Mine and the other Sponsor's stuff is brand new not re-furb, stolen, demo, broken, and/or used. That MA audio amp is $100 under the DEALER cost which means its being dumped. You will get what you pay for. EBAY is full of scammers. In the end dude its your money and it's roughly going to cost you $450 bucks canadian to get that peice to your door all said and done. Sometimes it comes cheaper and sometimes its more depending on how the paperwork is done. And if its worth it to you not to spend the extra $100-200 for support and warranty then so be it. But if its dies and they have no warranty, to buy a second one to replace it, now your over the Canadian cost. Not to mention that you also have to pay for shipping back if you try to get warranty and sometimes they charge you all the good duties and brokerage and so on again if the paperwork is not right again. End of the day its your choice and your money and nothing is going to change your mind. Im sure when I speak for all the vendors when we hate to see board members get taken. Thats all. And BTW you said your not spending the extra couple of hundred dollars to say you bought is from a sponsor. Its for the support, warranty, and buying factory fresh brand new equipment.

I'm not sure why you keep talking about the MA audio, as I would probably not go for that model, rather the Alpine or one of the Phoenix Golds which are new. I just listed it in there.

I was just looking for some advice, different then vendors who will obviously push their own products, to see what was a good amp. Then I can price shop.

If a Vendor can convince "I.E. Sell me" on buying an amp from them rather then on E-bay, then I'll for sure consider it. Your points and others are valid.

it is nice to see whats out there on ebay / it is good to know what i can get /but if it is NFG when you get it what do you do ?

$1.10cnd=$1usd + 10%shipping +customs+ + + fixing +=it work out to be less at a shop (but know what you are buying #1st )

Yeah, I can see that. That's only if it breaks though, but then you're probably screwed.

Sorry just using the MA as an example.

hey id get the x600.1 pg amp..ull love it...i got mine from smartass...he's a great guy and would do nething to help u out...but i think xenons are now discontinued...

id recommend looking at smartass's store....cuz u wouldnt have to worry bout a thing...steve will take care of u....

I'm a MTX guy myself, but I would say the SOUNDSTREAM 1700w RMS MONO.

What's wrong with Re-furb'ed amplifiers?

(1700 rms) little overkill for his subs lol,go for the pg,600,my two cents.

I have never had a problem with Ebay, $100-200 for support and warranty? Well isn't that cheap. If its dies and they have no warranty he still has $200 to have it repaired, and that's just he only buys that one amp. 90% of my system is from Ebay and I have saved an easy $3000, How is that for a warranty?

ebay is for experienced buyers such as myself, that require no warranty, service, or any extra help from local dealers. If you need all those services, then I suggest you shop locally. There are great deals on ebay if you know what you are doing. Also, note that local shops don't always give good service, one of my main reasons for starting to shop online. As for warranty, many of the manufacturers (ALpine for example) will not honour a warranty unless it is installed by an Alpine dealer in Canada(stated in bold letters on their warranty card). This is a problem for people like me who do their own installs, some shops may stamp your receipt(which is actually fraud on the part of the retailer), but many will not. This negates the warranty benefit of purchasing locally, and actually can cost you more, since you have to pay for installation. We've had this discussion many times here, and I'm not here to put down dealers, they have a segment to serve, but they should also recognize that not everyone is interested in all the "extras" that they provide. Money is money, and we all make decisions everyday as to our priority in spending it. If I can save a few dollars by purchasing on ebay, and it suits my service level, then that's good for me, and that's what I'm interested in...my bank account!

Another issue that is directed to the owner of this board:

IS THIS BOARD FOR CAR AUDIO ENTHUSIASTS, OR IS IT JUST FOR THOSE WHO SUPPORT LOCAL DEALERS? PLEASE CLARIFY, AS I DON'T WANT TO DISRESPECT ANY DEALERS IF THAT'S THE CASE. IF NOT, THEN ANYONE WITH A LEGITIMATE QUESTION, CONCERN, COMMENT, OR WHATEVER CONCERNING CAR AUDIO, SHOULD HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOICE THOSE ON THIS BOARD. OTHERWISE, PLEASE STATE THAT IT IS A SPECIFIC TYPE OF CAR AUDIO BOARD THAT CATERS TO PRO RETAIL CONSUMERS ONLY. I DON'T THINK IT'S FAIR TO TELL MEMBERS THAT THEY CAN EXPECT LITTLE OR NO HELP FROM ANYONE ON THIS BOARD IF THEY DON'T BUY LOCALLY. THERE ARE QUITE A FEW MEMBERS, LIKE MYSELF, WHO BUY FROM MANY DIFFERENT SOURCES, FOR MANY DIFFERENT REASONS, THAT ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP OUT ANY MEMBER IF AND WHEN WE CAN REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY SHOP. I LIKE CAR AUDIO, IT'S A PASTIME, HOBBY, AND SOMETIMES OBSESSION, BUT MOST OF ALL IT'S FUN. I'D LIKE TO THINK THAT WE ARE ALL ON THIS BOARD FOR THE SAME REASON; TO SHARE OUR PASSION FOR CAR AUDIO. the end

My hats off to ya, very well said :smilie_da

That is a very good way of putting it.

Consider this please. Who is more likely to provide an educated and informed decision. A retailer with many lines at his disposal and in the case of most of us, 20+ years of experience to back it up or a person who is just starting into car audio that might be 14 years old and is already a "pro" because he is on a forum? You have no real idea as to who it is you are asking for opinions here. At least buying from a retailer you are protected. At least buying from a retailer, you can ask us questions that we will gladly answer. So, ask E-bay your questions and see how far it gets you.

Is your right to get accurate information not worth anything to you? What if you do receive the wrong info from someone here and head out and purchase the wrong equipment. You are to blame or the guy that recommended to you is? Some of the people on this site have built relationships with their local dealers over the years and get some great service and pricing from them. Consider this as well as part of your buying decison. If I had to take a hit on something to ensure my customers get the right equipment for their hard earned dollar, so be it. (matter of fact I did this not 10 minutes ago on a MTX Thunderform enclosure). I, like you, work hard for my paycheque, as here I am fighting for business that I will probably not get. Would you work for free? You have lots of options to choose from, why limit your options based solely on the $.

Here is an educated and informed opinion on Soundstream. What was once a proud handcrafted US line is now owned by Power Acoustic. It is well documented that some of the soundstream amps used the same boards as the power acoustic amps, yet the price is way higher. WHY? When I looked at the lines offerings, the quality control (or lack thereof) was totally conclusive for me, I wasted a entire day out of my busy schedule to look at a line for 3 minutes to decide that there is no way that I would retail it to my customers. If things change in the QC dept., maybe I will reconsider. My point is that I am a customer just like you. I shop for lines to retail based on many things. A good retailer does not just push his stuff, he knows about it and what it can do for the right application.

MR2NR Do you have a website?

MR2NR, seems to be a very good dealer, and should you or anyone else require the services he provides, then he deserves your business. Consumers need to decide what they want, need and are willing to pay for. Sometimes the right choice is a brick and mortar, sometimes it's VEEMAN'S used equipment, which by the way will be in the FOR SALE section soon.

Nope, I had one but it sucked arse (and I mean really sucked arse). One will be built when time allows that is commensurate with the changing ways of doing business. For me to conduct business, I look at each individuals customers needs and applications as all customers are different. Thus what may be good for you might not be good for the next. A website cannot distinguish that for you. I would like to have the opportunity to earn your business, my business operates 100% off of referrals alone. No flyers, no radio ads, no newspaper clippings, just word of mouth for over 10 years now. That is how I prefer to do my business. What is new this year, I am a sponsor on this great site and will happily divulge copious amounts of information to the people that are not here to waste my time. What else will be new, a website when time allows. For now, e-mail, MSN or PM is a great way to go to answer direct questions.

Yes you guys are correct its your money. And anyone who knows me or has asked me for helps knows I will give it them regardless of where they are buying it from. I just hate to see people get burned and then 2 months later come on the site to flame the manufacture of the equipment that they will not honour the warranty due to the fact that the peice of equipment was either stolen off a truck or "B" stock that had a thirty day warranty. Just because ebay users says hey its brand new in the box doesnt mean its not "B" stock that was put together with inferior parts that they didnt notice till some started failing and then blew the order out the door at half price with no or very limited warranty. And yes you may have great success and be super happy but for every 1 person happy there are 3 that arnt. So as vendors and long time experts in the field we are simply saying BE CAREFUL and know your product and what you are getting into. Now if you want a straight anwser from me. In the lower wattage amps list on top out of the first three I would pick the PG X600.1 by far and out of the higher wattage amps (bottom three) I would say the MA Audio. Dollars for wattage and quality I feel its a better choice.

Cheers and good luck on the amp hunt. :)

This is an interesting statement for a few reasons.

First off, we lost a number of retailers after the change in the board specifically because their activities were restricted. At the time the 'new owner' was criticized for his anti-retail views. Can't win for tryin I guess :dunno:

Secondly - by your own manifesto, should a concerned retailer not also be able to have "THE OPPORTUNITY TO VOICE" their opinions also? I think that would only be fair.

Regarding: "I DON'T THINK IT'S FAIR TO TELL MEMBERS THAT THEY CAN EXPECT LITTLE OR NO HELP FROM ANYONE ON THIS BOARD IF THEY DON'T BUY LOCALLY." Who told you this? Oh yes, another member not administration. That member should be able to feel free to help out who they want when they want, no? I think so.

"THERE ARE QUITE A FEW MEMBERS, LIKE MYSELF, ... THAT ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO HELP OUT ANY MEMBER IF AND WHEN WE CAN REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY SHOP." Good for you - continue on with that. Just don't expect others to mimic your actions.

Thanks veeman, and haha and the balance of your post. There are alot of great dealers in Canada and only some of us are on the forum. Generally speaking, it is the smaller dealers that need and appreciate your business. Most of us have worked for the big guys before and got tired of their stick in the mud attitudes and red tape. Now owning my own business, the red tape can get broken, the stick in the mud is not there and I am free to look after my customers the way that I was not allowed to before from the big guys.

Some of the members here work for the big guys. Some of them are quite happy and content there and have learned how to work within the guidelines that are laid down. Some of those same members divulge some great info here on the site as well. Dukk for example is one of these great people. Some of us needed to work outside of the guidelines that the big box had, we are the people that wanted to go on working for ourselves rather than someone else. Nothing wrong with either situation.

PS. ported boxes suck.

Beautiful post and I fully agree.

As for MR2NR's following comment your argument only goes as far as the number of truly good dealers. We've all had this argument many times over on this forum and those of us that don't support the local dealers 100% all have their own reasons. Anyone that wants to know mine is welcome to PM me.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE IS GREAT!!! if I'm ever in Courtenay, I will drop in to say hello. I like people who stand up for their cause.

By the way GTP, I'm sorry if I've Hijacked your post. With regards to your initial inquiry for an amp; If you can find a Pioneer GM-D510M, it's perfectly suited for those subs, 500-600 watts rms at 2ohms, class D, and very small footprint. I've used 4 of them in the last 2 years for friends and family with nothing but good things to say. Lots of power and available locally( at least it was in T.O.) for 300.00 brand new authorized. SEE I SHOP LOCALLY SOMETIMES!!!!

:eek: :eek: YOUsuck!! :cheeky4:

And I'm only there 1 day a week.

[QUOTE=MR2NR]Consider this please. Who is more likely to provide an educated and informed decision. A retailer with many lines at his disposal and in the case of most of us, 20+ years of experience to back it up or a person who is just starting into car audio that might be 14 years old and is already a "pro" because he is on a forum? You have no real idea as to who it is you are asking for opinions here. At least buying from a retailer you are protected. At least buying from a retailer, you can ask us questions that we will gladly answer. So, ask E-bay your questions and see how far it gets you.
QUOTE]
Unfortunately for the buyer the majority of dealers are just going to give you a truly biased answer to the products they sell. I know I can walk into every dealership in my immediate area and if I tell them I have one of the majority of truly incredible drivers in my vehicle they will tell me it's crap and their's are better even if I'm replacing an IDMax for a W0.

I've been in the industry and worked in a nice shop for a few years. I just prefer this as a hobby and not as my career. That doesn't mean I don't understand each side's perspective's though. What I can't understand is how those "support us your local dealer" guys can be so narrow minded to their own products and can't be bothered (or even worse lie to the customer) regarding other manufacturer's. Take for example a Digital Designs driver (considering that this is a pretty DD friendly and educated board). How many dealers are in your area that if you walked in and told them you have a DD driver in your car they would tell you it's junk or a flea market brand and try to get you into one of their products however low on the line it may be.
Ever walk into a shop and not let on that you are educated in car audio? Listen to some of the crap that the salesmen spew from their mouths. Much of it complete BS.
Last time I had a RE HC driver in my car and went to the local JL dealership to check out the latest lines in HU's when the salesman asked me what was in my car currently. When he heard about the HC he immediately told me it was garbage and tried to sell me a W0 to replace it with without even bothering to take a listen in my car and I couldn't have cared less about looking at subs that day.
I have nothing against the dealerships that truly care about their customers and their needs and if I had one in my area I would back them 100%. But I don't. So instead of listening to the BS biased answers that I get from these guys I know I'm basically on my own when looking at new products so I'll use my own ears to judge new products and put it together with a solid foundation from what I've learned in the field.
Anyone here that knows me is aware that I'm one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and if I have one minute available to help you with something I'll give you two. There's plenty of the same guys on this board and many just happen to own or work in car audio retailers. To those that truly want to help someone out then you have my full support and be proud of what you're doing. I hope your business is a complete success.
But telling everyone else to support their local retailer when you know how crappy many of the guys are out their does not help you out at all.

One other thing:It seems recently that every time a new thread comes up with someone wanting advice on purchasing a new product a certain member here responds with "I PM'd you". Even if you're supporting the board here (which is great) maybe instead of trying to be sneaky and beat out the other retailers that are sponsoring this board with your backdoor actions you can just throw in your $0.02 and then let the person decide. I don't believe too many people would be pleased if every time they asked a question about buying a new product they had 17 retailers PM them saying what they had and what they could get for them without even letting the person get some product knowledge first.

Consider this please i do shop ebay becouse something we can not get here in canada but it is a 50/50 if it works

Someone made a great comment up there. Something about there is a crapload of BS and crappy shops. I agree that there is, much more so in busy marketplaces like major urban centers. That is a prime reason why I will not become one the "norm" and rather be an exception and bust my arse for my customers. Next and even more important is this, I could have opened shop absolutely anywhere, back in Kelowna for example where I came from (I would have been way further ahead by now as well), I chose Courtenay for one sole reason. The dealer here for as many years as I knew about him treated me like arse every single time I came into town and dropped in. This dealer is now out of business after over 30 years here, after my business being here for 3 years, shop closed up. I wonder why? Find a good dealer (hard to do these days from the reads above), build a relationship with them and you can scratch each others back. The dealer gains your needed business and you gain their expertise, service and good deals.

Wow, this thread sort of errupted..lol

It's good discussions though. :)