Good cheap amp. :-)
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Good cheap amp. :-)
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.
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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
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
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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.
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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.
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Originally posted by z28onTweenkies
Dude, get a jensen amp. I think they are the "xa..... didnt like cuz it didnt have an eq on it like the jensen.
Dude, get a jensen amp. I think they are the "xa..... didnt like cuz it didnt have an eq on it like the jensen.
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Originally posted by z28onTweenkies
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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Car: 1992 Camaro Z28 & 2k3 Cadillac CTS
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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.
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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.
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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?
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?
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Car: 1992 Camaro Z28 & 2k3 Cadillac CTS
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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.
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Re: Good cheap amp. :-)
Originally posted by 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.
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.
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Cheap amp?
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.
#19
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.
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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.
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Hell, you can always buy crossovers separately, too. Stick with "real" brands... when's the last time Jensen was in an audio competition?
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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
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'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.
'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.
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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
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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
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