87transam5.7tpi

I'm wanting to get a cheap but good 4channel amp for my surrond speakers. I don't really wanna spend over $100. yes I know I'm being cheap I'm just hoping to get some more power for cleaner sound than my headunit supplys. I have the clarion DB315 I belive, its not a top of the line head but I like it. any suggestions would be great.

XChris1632X

all i have to say is venture the wide world of flea markets.

no but trust me dont go cheap i did and now after a couple months i have to buy new stuff cause im fed up with crappy performance

Audiman

As far as a good amp goes you can get a fosgate 2-channel for $120, a decent four channel I.E. Pioneer about $169. I would not buy an amp without a mosfet power supply I.E. BOSS, or Urban Audio.

z28onTweenkies

Dude, get a jensen amp. I think they are the "xa...." line, they are blue with a grey middle for all the controls. I've got a 600x4 and it powers my rf 6x9's and my jbl 12's just fine. It used to rattle the heck out of my license plate and shakes the windows in my nieghborhood. They are a quality amp and can be had for a few bucks. My dad got this one new for me for 80 bucks cuz he works at an audio shop. Trust me, you get a jensen amp and you wont be mad. I used this in place of my rockford 400a4 which i didnt like cuz it didnt have an eq on it like the jensen.

da BEAST

JENSEN contact me for a good deal

Audiman

One word comes to mind with Jensen POOH!:lala:

TrueBlue91RS

EQ notwithstanding, I have a hard time believing that Jensen 600x4 would compare in any way, shape, or form to the Rockford Fosgate 400a4. You must have given up considerable SQ and volume in the trade.

I'm not trying to be an ******* or anything: Jensen seems to be a lot more reliable than some of the other cheapy brands (Boss, Road Gear, Crunch, Rockwood, etc..). I just think comparing Jensen to Rockford is a bit of a stretch.

Audiman

Before we get in a pissing match, tell me everything you are running. Amps, deck, tweets, mids , and woofers.

z28onTweenkies

dude, if you were in my car and listened to my system when i had the rockford in as opposed to when i put the jensen in you'd be surprised. everything was wired just fine. the stupid rf amp had a loud whining sound that my msd was causing. the sq was terrible, the subs fell on their faces when turned up, maybe it was overpowering them, but the jensen amp makes my system sound much better and cleaner. you couldnt fine tune the rf amp i had, it just had a couple of little ***** on the left side for power/volume to each channel and a 4/2 bridge option. maybe it would have sounded leagues better if i hadn't had an msd in my car and if i had better subs then my jbl's, i dont know. im sure if i had an eq the rf would sound better then the jensen, i wouldnt doubt it. but for the price of the rf amp, you can have a jensen amp with a built in eq, some nice 6x9's and 4x6's. the question presented was what amp was a good cheap one. by the way, the rf amp i had was a 400a4 with grey end caps and a lighter grey body. it was a 99 model i think.

z28onTweenkies

im running rockfords latest 6x9's and 4x6's. the 6x9's are the hpc.... and are the tops as far as rf goes. the 4x6's i dont know the model number, but they are two way speakers. the deck im running is a panasonic 50x4, i know its nothing compared to a pioneer premiere or an alpine but its got a nice blue display and was a good deal, plus it doesnt skip a beat, ever. im running all monster cable, and four gauge wire to my amp. my subs are the jbl loud and clears. i have a custom sub enclosure from a local shop that fits in the hatch well. the worst part of the rf amp, that i forgot to mention, was that it didnt put out any bass to my 6x9's. they were super clear, as clear as the jensen amp made them, but i had my deck on +12 bass and they wouldn't thump nearly as good as my jensen amp would with the bass at 0 on the deck. the jensen had the eq that made it easy to fine tune, and i wasnt about to go out and buy a 12 band eq for 150 bucks. id much rather put the money towards building up my 302.

Audiman

Does the deck have a subwoofer control. I.E. pioneers hurtz, and gain settings.

87transam5.7tpi

nope. I'll be putting in a switch so I can turn off/on my sub amp. I'll want to be running the 4 channel amp to the surrounds all the time though.

TrueBlue91RS

No worries, not looking for a "pissing match" Just my opinion.

Yeah, power can be a pointless factor if the frequencies aren't being filtered properly. But that wasn't the point I was making. I just meant that it's not as simple as "my new Jensen sounds better than my old Rockford".

Saying that the Jensen amp with an eq/crossover sounds better than the Rockford without one is like saying that your station wagon handles better than your z28 because the wagon came with a steering wheel and the z28 didn't.

Regardless, amps without built in crossovers can be a pain, and the most important thing is to be happy with your setup.

Did you end up selling the rf?

Audiman

Jensen may be the better amp if you dont have an eq. If you cant tune the power it is useless.

z28onTweenkies

bingo! trentblue, you are right on the money with the analogy of the steering wheel. thats all i was saying. but yeah, i did sell the rf amp on ebay a while back for 191 shipping included. it was more then i payed for it on ebay. it was in good shape, i really hated the fact however that my msd totally interfered with the sound, it made a buzzing sound.

Audiman

That is weird, usually you only get interference whe there is a power source near the RCA's.

riggs86iroc

i think you should go with a lighting bolt 300.4 its alittle over 100 but a very good amp for the money you should find this item in cruchfield mag or best buy!

Audiman

It is amazing the amps you guys are running, the power supply in all these Jensen, Boss, Audio Lightning. Similar power supplies can be found in your homes washer/Drier. You already have some good components in your system. Dony botch yourself on the amp. Check into a Pioneer 4 channel.

EjBaL

My friend has a 4 channel 800 watt boss amp, and has never had any problems with it. He had 2 channels bridged putting 400 watta to his 15' MTX thunder 3000, then he had the other 2 channels pushing 200X2 to his rear 6X9's, and it sounded great. The sub pounded and the 6X9's were great. For what he paid you cant beat it, I wouldnt buy a Jensen, I have heard that if you put a jenson to jl audio, it can fry em. Boss is decently cheap, and good for the money in my opinion. Also he had a pioneer amp that was 200 watts, that he bought at walmart for $100. That has also been a very good amp.

Audiman

Eureka!!!!!:rockon: :hail:

jobryan26

Josh I would save just alittle more money and buy a good quality amp that's still pretty cheap. $150-$200 would get you a pretty good amp on ebay. I wouldn't go any less than 50watts/channels, Remeber high S/N and low THD.

TomP

Hell, you can always buy crossovers separately, too. Stick with "real" brands... when's the last time Jensen was in an audio competition?

tpivette89

sony has an xplod amp that retails for about $175 or so on ebay, it pumps out 75 watts into 4 channels, and itll handle up to 6 volts of head unit preout voltage. jensens arent really all that bad, i have one (saving for a MTX), and its working fine for now. i wouldnt go with a jensen for this setup, i believe his Clarion head unit has alot more preout voltage than the jensen can handle

Audiman

I am not exactly sure amps are rated for rca pre-outs, but usually the more volts the better.

TomP

'87TransAm5.7TPI, you could also go to http://www.crutchfield.com . Before everyone jumps on me- YES, I know they overcharge. But, if you spend $200, you can pay it off over 4 months... that's $50/month. I've used it a few times, and it's a helluva deal.

'Course, when I used it, you only had to spend $100. I guess they figured that by raising it to $200, more people will buy stuff? Odd.

tpivette89

you want your head unit voltage to match up with the amount your amp can handle. for example, most eclipse head units produce 5-8 volts of output, and most amps cant handle that. a few can (mtx, xtant, jl). if your head units voltage is higher than the amps max, youll experience distortion. not a good thing

Audiman

I have never seen preout voltage over 6 volts, but I will check on it maybe I am wrong?

tpivette89

eclipse is the only manufacturer that i know of (i could be wrong), that puts out that high of voltage. their 8051 and 8061 head units put out 8 volts each, respectively. combine that with their dual 1 bit D/A converters, and ultra-low 55 ohms resistance (most other brands have 300 or more), and you have pretty much the best sounding head units ever (just my opinion). Eclipse's RULE! if you want to check them out go to their website : www.eclipse-web.com