I found this sony amp Sony Xplod XM-D1000-P5 barely used for $75. It seems like a good deal and its rated for tons of power, but I know nothing about these and suspect that they might not be very durable amps or put out a very clean signal. Does anybody have an opinion? Here are the specs (this is not where I would be buying it) http://www.modyourcar.com.au/product...oducts_id=2868

The Kenwood amp I found is a Kenwood KAC-9102D. http://www.cardomain.com/item/KENKAC9102D These sell on ebay for around $130 shipped.

I'm going to be runnign a Polk MM12 in sealed enclosure, and if I don't like it, I have future plans to upgrade to an Alpine Type R 12.

Please, all opinions are welcome. My wife has set my price limit to about $125, so I don't have much to deal with. I know they're not the best amps out there, but I'm looking for the most bang for my buck.

 

Sony Car Audio is pretty much all junk now, I would avoid anything with the word Xplod on it (lol).
Sony Car Audio is known for reliabilty problems, and just overal bad quality.

Kenwood, a little better then Sony but not by much. I think Kenwood is getting better then they were in the past, but still have a ways to go.

 

All Sony car audio is junk. Every sony Head unit, amp, or speakers I've had never lasted more than a month or two. With the exception of a cassette deck back in t

Kenwood, IMO is excellent if you get the higher end stuff. I'm running a 350 watt Kenwood amp in my car that I've had for at least 6-7 years. It's been in several vehicles and it's used to it's full capacity daily. I've never had a problem with it.

 

Thanks. I think I'm going to go with the Kenwood.

 

Got the Kenwood ordered from ebay, I'll post back how it is when I get it installed.

 

I have 3 kenwood amps in our minivan...they are all 2 years old and I have no complaints.

 

As stated, Sony is garbage. As for kenwood, I've always found their amps to be reliable, but not overly powerful. They basically make their rated power and not much more. Their excelon amps may be better, but I don't know. I've never used those. One thing that I never liked about the Kenwoods was that the output transistors on the older ones that opened up were not attached to a heat sink, but instead were just propped up in the air stream. Yes, they had fans to cool them, but that could still have been much more effective if the FETs were properly mounted to a heat sink. But... due to their relatively low power output, this arrangement has proven to be perfectly reliable.

For just a little more money you can get a "lower power" amp from somebody like Rockford or Kicker that in reality will produce far more power.

 

I hear what you're saying about the Rockford and Kicker stuff; even MTX is usually a pretty good deal. I ended up picking up the Kenwood rated at 500 watts RMS at 4 ohms and 850 watts RMS at 2 ohms, brand new for $95. If it works, that's great. If not, I suppose I will have learned a $95 lesson and will take your advise and go for a Kicker or maybe even an Alpine (not really a fan of the new Rockford stuff). It sucks when the wife creates an unreasonable budget to purchase such things that really are more important than shoes

Thanks to everyone for the info. Choosing new stereo equipment is always a tough decision.