kstich

Hi,

I am considering the purchase of two amps and can't make up my mind. Are there any opinions regarding the following two amplifiers:

JL Audio A1800:
JL Audio: Products

Kenwood KAC-X1R:
Kenwood - KAC-X1R

They are similar in price, but the JL is a little more expensive. I can't afford JL's Slash 1000/1 or I would get it in a heartbeat. I am going to be temporarily powering two 12" Alpine Type S subs while I save for a 13W7 Prowedge.

Any help, or similarly priced alternatives, would be greatly appreciated.
Kelly

Sasha

iTrader: (10)

Out of the two? JL - even without looking at the specs.

doublexl

"kenwood is for poufs"

translation - go jl

MTT

iTrader: (17)

Strangely enough I run JL amps and out of those two I'd pick the Kenwood.

kstich

Oddly enough, this is pretty much how I feel. I am all for JL but the slash series I want is too expensive. The Kenwood looks pretty good and has some cool features.

There is a single review out there for the eXcelon series, not the exact one I am looking for though...

http://www.caraudiomag.com/testreports/caep_0703_kenwood_amplifier/index.html

Is there anybody out there with a Kenwood amp that can comment on their performance?

PT-Chris

iTrader: (1)

I would say that the Kenwood X1R is an amazing amplifier. I have an X1R running a single ID Max 12" and the torque that amp makes is awesome. When it comes to getting down low the amp is no slouch, I have used the same amplifier to power my 12" ID Max(which sounds amazing tight, ZERO boominess,real dynamic sounding),10" Beyond Audio Inhuman(ported) (and it really threw the woofer around, had lots of ***** down low,remained very tight sounding for ported) RE SX 10"(ported) pretty much the same as the Inhuman (but the Inhuman was louder)

The amp makes 1200x1 @ 2 ohm, and 1000x1 @ 1ohm
one of the reasons the amp sounds so good is due to the dual sigma drive of the amplifier, which see's the rebound of the suspension of the woofer and compensates for it by producing a the reverse EMF signal to stop the woofer at rest, just like putting on the brakes. Hence Good bye boominess.

I will give anyone a demo that doesnt belive how good it sounds.

veeman

iTrader: (3)

that Kenwood looks great, has plenty of power and I've never had an issue with their amps...personally i think they're a best buy as far as price/ reliability is concerned.

bodar

iTrader: (1)

the JL is pretty much the same as mine, the E1800d. its a awesome amp and puts out pretty good. although its finicky with your electrical. low voltage will temporarily put it in protect mode. other than that its been really good.

smith

iTrader: (1)

I've been told that kenwood was total crap for in the past, but according to the guy at itlbs in stoufville, they have seriously improved there build quality and these days are pretty good.

But comparing it to JL...

n_o_s_21

JL back in the day, had some pretty amazing equipment, and Kenwood was just an affordable mediocre product. Now, it's like JL isn't so hot anymore because of so many far superior companies that popped up over the years. Kenwood has constantly been raising the bar for their products to compete with High end equipment, and yet stay affordable enough that just about anyone could afford to buy it------JL, no way. Their top 'o' tha line products are stupid expensive, and really I feel as though they are not really a front runner anymore in the whole scheme of things. Maybe I'm wrong, but that is my honest opinion.

I've heard many good things bout the newer excelon series, can't say I've heard the same bout JL lately...

plus the kenwood has WAY better specs than that jl, and is 1 ohm stable.....Plus it looks nicer