Need some advice

medicnys

Member
I need some advice on getting an amp for my Portege5. I've got the subwoofer: Sony Xplod 12" in a ported box, 800 watts. Anyone have some suggestions? Money is sort of an issue. This is what the sub looks like.
 

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Well the subs trash but it will work for a while anyways. by the way it could only take 800 watts for a milisecond then it would EXPLODE. the wires on that box look like 16 guage which means more then 100 watts rms is too much.

But you have it so too late, lets move one. Cheap amps can be found but it depends on you definition of cheap. basicly under $150 isn't an amp at all its just a noise generator. The least expensive thing I would ever reccommend is the Kenwood KAC-529S, and I am compromising my morals a little here for your budgets sake. the 629S would be better. My Uncompromised recomendation would be the alpine M200 mono amp. Jenson, Us acoustic, profile, aiwa, and sony RE NOT BARGINS. There power ratings are done at max to make you think they are more powerfull then they are. An alpine amp that puts out 250 watts rms is the same price as a Sony that puts out 250 watts rms and is the same for every manufacturer. unless you get into the high line stuff but I don't think thats an issue for you just yet.

If you have to chince out and by garbage stick to profile its pretty much the most reliable garbage.
 
to 1stMP3:

::RANT:: Honestly, I don't see what you have against Sony. I've been using their products for quite awhile and have never had any problems. I have a fully Sony system in my P5 (except door speakers... those will come later) and I'm very happy with it. I've been running my XS-L1065G at its full rated capacity for almost 2 months now and haven't had the least bit of distortion or the slightest hint of failure. One of my pet peeves is someone knocking a product when they have no valid proof that it's not what it's cracked up to be. If you would, give me some examples of a Sony product not performing to its touted capacity, and I'm not talking about stories such as "This guy tried to push 900W to his 8" and it just blew on him, that's sh!tty". ::/RANT::

Now, back on topic:
I agree with 1stMP3 about not going cheap on an amplifier. If you want good performance, buy a good amp to go with that sub. That looks like an XS-L1236. I assume you're leaning more toward hard-hitting bass than low-end clarity. My suggestions would be:

Alpine MRD-M500
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-r6RTemkETb9/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=130&I=500MRDM500&o=m&a=0 for specs

Kicker KX600.1
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-r6RTemkETb9/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=130&I=206KX6001&o=m&a=0 for specs

Rockford Fosgate Power 500bd
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-r6RTemkETb9/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=130&I=575500BD&o=m&a=0 for specs

Sony ES XM-6001GXD
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S-r6RTemkETb9/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=130&I=158XM6001&o=m&a=0 for specs

Any one of these amps will give you what you're looking for, it's just a matter of how much money you want to spend. The Sony is the least expensive of these four and will complement that sub well. The Alpine is also a good choice, especially if you want to change your configuration in the future, but is a bit more expensive.
 
i guess it totally depends on the users preference.

for one, the alpine mrd-m500 amp is an ok amp...but IMO, 500w for that price range is very expensive.

but again, it all depends on your subs to determine the power of your amp
 
remember that alpine pushes over 600 rms not just 5 on top of being efficient and well built.

As far as my sony expierence I am an installer work with that garbage every day. I saw more sony headunits come back then any other brand. If you go downstairs to the repair shelf at my store you mostly see 2 decks sony and eclipse. Sony amps are trash. they sound like ass. By the way if your running stock speakers please don't say you have a system. deck and subs don't make a system they are beggining upgrades. I have distorted sony speakers far faster then any other brand. I even have a custome swap out to kenwood becuase his sonys were so bad. I just the 45 degree angle Sony puts on there amps terminal so that you can't even get a proper size flat blade screw driver in there to properly tighten the power and ground wire down. Also any manufacture that puts bulls*** power claims across their amps is the first sine of a junk product. My favorite was the the 1600 that has 1200 watts writen on it. I compared this hunk of crap to my xtant X1001, can you guess which one put out more juice. You may say of coarse the 1001 won but it casts $999 just remember Sony made the BS power claim right on the amp. We also compared it to a JL 250/1. The JL destroyed the sony for control and tonal accuracy. And the accuracy part was backed up by an RTA.

The one product i see back the least are definitly the subs. I never liked their sound. They pretty much play one note and not very well. But their loud and efficient and lats pretty much all a Sony buyer is looking for.

There alot like Bose. Bose like sony is great for some people but everyone in the industry unanomisly knows they are sub par.

If you like Sony fine, enjoy it and I hope you never have a problem. But don't expect me to cast aside my and my customers experiences with a product that has prooven a poor perfomer and to be of substandard quality.
 
1st mp3 in nh,

since you're a certified installer, i was wondering what you think of my set up?

like my sig says, my speakers (front and rear) are alpine type-r's (both 6 1/2, front are comps)

i have also bought an alpine 15" (2ohm+2ohm) type-r subbie.

i am planning to power the front and rears with the us acoustics USX 4085 which are 85w x 4 @ 4ohms and the us acoustic USX 1000D which 700w x 1 @ 2ohm or 1250w x 1 @ 1ohm bridged...i can get the 4085's at $174.99 and the 1000D's for $419.99

are you saying the alpine MRV-F540 and MRD-M500 is better because it's more expensive?
 
The 500 is definitly a better amp but it doesn't look like it will be for your application. The alpine is best used at 2 ohm loads not 1. I haven't treid But I doubt that Alpine would suggest a 1 ohm load. THe digital parametric EQ, crossover, time correction along with a much more rigid set of consteruction guidlines is what makes it a better amp. It probably won't be louder unless it has a much better damping rating. As far as the 4 channel the Alpine destroys the US acoustics but for the 400 dollar price difference this isn't a suprise. Once again its its better circuitry design and control that make it a better amp. The alpine 4 channels have always been great, there S/Ns damping and frequency responses are incredible. Is it better for you? not if you can't afford it. The speakers have preformed well although I haven't had the chance to use them myself. There new flagship 3 ways are definitly making a name for themselves though.

How do you like the speakers?
Amps?

If you can't directly comapre the amps and you have had good experiences with US then I wouldn't change.
 
1st MP3 in NH said:
As far as the 4 channel the Alpine destroys the US acoustics but for the 400 dollar price difference this isn't a suprise. Once again its its better circuitry design and control that make it a better amp.

well, i posted a thread about which 4 channel amp is better on the other audio forums i visit and the majority have chosen the 4085's...

but thanks for your input anyways! :)
 
I owned the predossesor to that alpine amp for several years. Basicly its now almost 6 years old and has been flawless. Also I sold that amp to a former studio engineer, he loves the acuracy of that amp. As far as it being better for the massive price difference. Assuming what you put was retail then unless it mixes drinks and gives hummers it not worth the extra cash, since its over $500 and your getting the other for around $175. My only major concern from viewing the Us stats was its damping factor sucked. only 95 the alpine if memory serves was around 200. also the alpine plays 10-50K hz with only a -1db drop.

But like everyhting it s only better if it meets your usage.
 
well the usx has :

1) more power per channel

2) accepts 8.8v input, whereas alpine only goes up to 4v sensitivity

3) much better thd value (doesn't really matter though)

4) has better s/n ratio

5) has 24 db/octave low pass xover and 12 db/octave high pass
alpine has 12db/octave high and low pass

the alpine does extend to 50khz, as opposed to 30khz from usx
and the alpine will let u xover up to 400hz, so if u need a xover point between 200 and 400 hz you would have to go alpine over usx

so i dunno...i agree with you about it all depends on the user's preference.

but hey, at least we both agree on Mazdas!

:D
 
The alpine will except higher then 4 volts, commercial spec but not enginnering spec basicly most head units don't put out their rated voltages until they are well passed distortion. I have an audio control EQX to prove that. Alpines 4 volt rating on the amps refers to the voltage of a 7909 or 7990 which put out a true 4 volts.So even an eclipse 5 volt work fine. They do give more power per channel but with far les control so it can push a speaker out harder but not pull it in as quickly. By the way this is the real quick and dirty version of damping. Also the alpine has a 105 db S/N the US only 101 db, I used the websites as reference on this. The alpine only has a 12 db crossover however it is extreamly flexible, it can band pass.

On alpines site under the amps picture they published the wrong S/N click on the more info button and it will tell you some more about the amp including the true S/N
 
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hehe ok, ok you win. :)

but i'm still getting the 4085 amps just so it can match with the USX class D amps.

nice, healthy debate though! i haven't had a good debate on a particular subject for awhile.

thanx again

:D
 
^i just love searching online for the best prices.

i am going to purchase the u.s. acoustic amps from thezeb.com

http://www.thezeb.com/caraudio/us_acoustics.html

other places i recommend shopping is at

www.shop4sound.com (they had the best deals for cadence amps...but now, they don't have them)

and www.ikesound.com has the best deals for jbl amps (JBL1200.1 for $285 shipped)

...they even have the USX 4085 at crutchfield for $189 but it comes with a 3yr warranty if you buy it from them)
 
I never buy electronics online, its just not worth the risk if it breaks plus i buy right from manufactures for myself so I realy don't need to. I love working for a dealer.
 
hey 1st mp3,

can you make custom enclosures? if so, how much would charge for labor?

i want to have a sealed enclosure for my single 15" type-r...but i have never made one and i don't think i'll have the time to learn and and make one myself.

...i would really hate to buy a pre-fab box...
 
Sure, what do you want?
All 3/4" or 1" MDF I assume.
What dimensions?
I will just need the cut out diameter of the sub and its depth.
 
according to alpine, the recommended sealed box volume is 1.3-2.5ft^3

Free Air Resonance (Fs) 23Hz
Equivalent Stiffness (Vas) 98L
Qms/Qes/Qts: 9.84/0.40/0.38
Xmax/X Peak: 16.5mm/33mm
Displacement (Front Mount): 0.249ft^3
(Rear Mount): 0.322ft^3
(Reverse Mount): 0.162ft^3

i guess you can look at the other specs at the alpine site...

any idea how much it's gonna cost?...i really want to take out the spare tire well and have it stealth installed rather than just have the box in the trunk...
 
If your talking fiberglass then unless you near NH I would sugget going to a good shop to get it done. Shipping would be insane for the ones i build they are heavy as hell. By the way I need mounting depth. should be around 5" or 6 the cut out should be like 13.5""
 
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