Amp necessary?

[CHICO2003]

Update. Had a whole bunch of stuff installed today. Unfortuneatly BOTH Kicker amps (the 2 channel refurb I bought on ebay and the 4 channel refurb I bought from consumerdepot.com) are... well, let's just say they're not working. Each time a new fuse is put in they immediately pop. Shop was baffled since they've installed a lot of refurbed kickers... especially with the luck of getting 2 DOA amps from 2 separate venders. (seriously... that' some s*** ass luck if you ask me) So now I gotta return these POS amps and probably pony up some big time retail dough at WorstBuy.

 

[que]

Thanks for the update. I definately will not be ordering from consumerdepot. I've read a number of reviews on that company & DOA products, & how they lag when it comes to returns. I hope you have better luck than others. For me, that's all I needed to hear. I'm glad my experience w/ them previously didn't get as far.

 

[CHICO2003]

Yeah.. pretty dissapointed to say the least. Everything certainly LOOKED good. They shipped it on time... the packaging was great! And all the documents you'd expect (including a fairly recent report stating it passed all of their tests) was included.

I just bought the SAME amp at CC last night (for $100 more.. .and that was with their so-called 40% off BS) so I'll know today when I have it installed if it was indeed the amp or not. Since CC doesn't allow returns, it better have been! If it turns out these boneheads did something wrong... man I'm gonna be pissed. I just shelled out $300 for 2 over-priced amps I can't return.

 

[strytnyne]

try onlinecarstereo.com

 

[TheRealDefman]

Update. Had a whole bunch of stuff installed today. Unfortuneatly BOTH Kicker amps (the 2 channel refurb I bought on ebay and the 4 channel refurb I bought from consumerdepot.com) are... well, let's just say they're not working. Each time a new fuse is put in they immediately pop.

They popped their internal fuses, or the fuse on the power lead(s) from the battery?

 

[Design]

Update. Had a whole bunch of stuff installed today. Unfortuneatly BOTH Kicker amps (the 2 channel refurb I bought on ebay and the 4 channel refurb I bought from consumerdepot.com) are... well, let's just say they're not working. Each time a new fuse is put in they immediately pop. Shop was baffled since they've installed a lot of refurbed kickers... especially with the luck of getting 2 DOA amps from 2 separate venders. (seriously... that' some s*** ass luck if you ask me) So now I gotta return these POS amps and probably pony up some big time retail dough at WorstBuy.

Curious... Why retail? There are some decent online merchants that sell new. I've had some good luck with Sonic.
http://www.sonicelectronix.com

 

[CHICO2003]

After I went the non-retail route (again, bought 2 refurb "factory renewed" kicker amps from 2 separate vendors) with no luck... both were defective... I wasn't really too excited about rolling the dice again. Obviously I could have bought some new amps online but, since my system was 99% complete... (all I needed were 2 working amps) the idea of waiting an extra week to get it all in just didn't appeal. I probably would've done it anyway if it hadn't been for the 'decent' deal I got at CC. kicker zx300.1 for $119 and a zx350.4 for $179 I know I could've found them for maybe $50 less combined online... but whatever.

But here's the worst part. I thought I'd be able to return both amps and get a refund but, with the exception of Consumerdepot (who's actually being cool about it) the F'in Ebay vendor is being a complete prick. you guys should see the emails they're sending me. All kinds of attitude and sarcasm... things like "if you want to leave negative feedback SIR... be my guest. You'll then be the proud owner of a defective amp and we will not help you." s*** like that... I was only 'threatening' to leave negative feedback so that I'd actually get a response. (took them 3 days just to get back to me... apparently it worked) But they're basically telling me now I have 3 options... ship it back (on my dime) for ANOTHER factory renwed amp... ship it back (on my dime) and get 'store credit' (minus a 20% restocking fee) or eat the $79 I paid and tarnish their (surprisingly) rather pristine ebay feedback rating. I'm going to try and do the latter no matter what... but obviously I have to find a way to recover some of my loss.

I just wrote a review of a local car shop http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123732237
that just did my install. One of the guys there said he's got a good relationship with the Kicker rep and is going to try and hook me up... Said he might be able to replace the POS kickers I got with new ones. If that's the case... I can then sell them for more than I bought them... and actually MAKE money! s***... if he's able to pull that off I'm going to have to add to the already glowing review I wrote.

 

[TheRealDefman]

the F'in Ebay vendor is being a complete prick. you guys should see the emails they're sending me. All kinds of attitude and sarcasm... things like "if you want to leave negative feedback SIR... be my guest. You'll then be the proud owner of a defective amp and we will not help you." s*** like that... I was only 'threatening' to leave negative feedback so that I'd actually get a response. (took them 3 days just to get back to me... apparently it worked) But they're basically telling me now I have 3 options... ship it back (on my dime) for ANOTHER factory renwed amp... ship it back (on my dime) and get 'store credit' (minus a 20% restocking fee) or eat the $79 I paid and tarnish their (surprisingly) rather pristine ebay feedback rating. I'm going to try and do the latter no matter what... but obviously I have to find a way to recover some of my loss.

So, you didn't pay with PayPal or a credit card?

 

[CHICO2003]

Update: Anyone thinking about pairing an REQ with their MS3 (sport).... Find another option. This thing has been nothing but a headache. After a shop installed everything, all I heard was a constant buzzing sound coming from (mainly) the tweeters. Drove me F'in crazy! So they spent another couple hours yesterday trying to fix it. They double-checked all their wiring, replaced the amps and even swapped REQs (to make sure mine wasn't defective) no difference. It's now a lot more liveable... thanks to some old school filter the owner of the shop was able to dig up. Unfortuneatly, I now have a rather loud popping sound coming from the rear sub whenever I turn on/off the car. Guy said it's not damaging... but it sure is annoying. He's going to try and get another filter and see if that helps. Even without that though... I still have a noise... albeit very subtle. I used to like driving around without the radio on... nothing but the engine/exhaust. Now... it's just a constant reminder of what a POS the REQ is.... so I've gotta have something on all the time. sort of sucks. wish there was a way to just turn off the radio completely but our stock HU won't allow it. Also of note... the aux jack on the REQ-5 (the main reason I got that version over the basic) is an enormous POS. I've tried 3 different aux jacks... all with plastic surrounds (not the gold plated you sometimes find that can cause feedback) doesnt' matter... this thing is super sensitive and requires the right touch... otherwise it'll produce a god awful distorted sound... not good.


So the REQ gets a 2/10 score. 2 because... well, it DOES work... just not very well.

Should've just went with an indash nav system like I originally wanted to... Unfortuneatly, I'm well past the 30 day return policy for the req so I'll certainly lose money on that... not to mention will have to pay for another install. F'in BS!!

 

[que]

A lot of people have used the ReQ w/ positive results. I don't what your situation is, but it doesn't sound right. Possibly that tweeter that buzzing is grounded somewhere. I don't know. As for the popping when you turn on the car, it's from the amp. Most amps have a delay/soft start that prevents this. I have an Eclipse XA1000 running my single 12" that has no thump or static when starting. But, then I don't trust anyone to install anything on my car. So, the buzzing, sounds like a wiring problem. The thump, amp or how it's wired.