JL Audios 500/5
 

I've been looking like mad to find the perfect set of mono-channel and 4-channel amps and then i stumbled upon JL Audio's 500/5 amp. It is exactly what ive been searching for. The only thing that scares me about this product is some of the reviews I've read about it dying after a year or so of use.

Does anyone have one of these or heard about this amp?
What are some of your opinions on it?

It's a big investment and I dont want it to just die after I get it lol

If I'm not mistaken, there a person from Calgary with one for sale or was up for grabs.
If I were building another sound system I'd definatly give this amp a serious consideration myself.

I really like 5 channel amplifiers. Matter of fact, it would be what I would use in my own system. I highly recommend that you look at the Eclipse XA5000 as a top notch amplifier as well. www.eclipse-web.com

How about the limited edition Power 1000 by Fosgate? I've heard good things and PAS gave it a great review.

I'm liking this amp because of its hybrid structure.

Is the 500/5 the only hybrid Class D and Class A/B amp on the market?

Do you know what a class AB and class D amp is? The Eclipse is a ICEpower class D amp that has the newest generation of power supply. It is now used by Pioneer in their Premiere amps and Alpine in their PDX series of amplifiers. They sound amazing, have gobs of power and stay nice and cool. Expect far more companies to use this type of amplifier in their next years models. I would not be surprised to see JL also adopt this type of power supply as well.

Now that I really look at the XA5000 it definitely intrigues me. I just don't like the 50W x 4 and that there is no remote bass level but i might over look that because of the price and reliability. I've been reading about the 500/5 dying out randomly after a year or so which isnt a good thing.

You pay a lot for the features in the 500/5 that most people don't need (ie. RIPS).

So list out the features, power requirements (and at what load) you require and we'll give you some excellent choices. There's a few really nice 5ch's out there to choose from and you might be able to save yourself a whole lotta money without sacrificing quality.

I'm pretty sure my car can handle a large load without having any problems but this is what i should be running on the amp. I'm not to familiar with the amp classes but I at least would like the sub to be running on a Class D.

2 10" Cerwin-Vega Subs 150W/sub DVC (Running at 4 ohms, 1 ohm would be amazing to run them at but thats pushing it i think)

Most likely these components for the front:
Kicker DS650.2
I also like the MTX TX6001 components. I'm leaning toward the Kicker's but that all depends on my choice of amp.

Rear I'll be leaving stock for the time being but they won't require to much wattage.

Also I really like the remote bass controller but I could learn to live without one.

Since you don't need a very large sub output why not just keep your TC2002 for your rear fill and bridge the main channels of a 5ch into a 3ch. That way you'll have plenty of power for whatever comps you decide to go with.

Take a look at the Memphis MCH600. It has a front section of 55x4 which will bridge to 150x2 which is plenty to run any of the comps you're looking at.
Plus the sub channel (which is class D) will do 400rms at 1ohm which matches perfect with your subs. It also has an available remote sub output level.

There's also the MCH1300 which will give you the flexibility of having more power in the sub channel if you should decide to upgrade your subs in the future but it will also cost you more.