American Legacy Amplifiers

Just to add my 2 c's in this post..... make sure you look at the % THD and for a 2 channel amp, if it's more that 0.05 % don't even look at it. I think those Legacy amps have a THD level of about .1 % !!  BAD BAD BAD !! I could pass wind with more bass and with less distortion than that , sorry,  got carried away there.

i work in a store that sells legacy. DONT BUY LEGACY!!! i just have to say that pretty much everyone of their products that we sell come back to us. THEY SUCK. i try and try to convince the owner to stop carying legacy, and i think he has finally seen the light. oh yeah, dont buy legacy. get a MTX or JBL!  They are pretty cheap and are still good.

how would this kenwood amp be? https://www.kenwoodusa.com/product/product.jsp?productTypeId=11&sortBy=price&productid=711

it has a higher distortion rate than my legacy, although i think legacy just makes random numbers up. Will this amp be clear? i can get it from my work, brand new, for 180 bucks

.04 is not a very good rating considering most other companies have a .08 THD ..04 is a larger number of THD % than .05 % so be warned, it's crap !! One more thing, look at the THD % at 2 ohms and see what it says

Here is part of an article that explains S/N ratio:

S/N ratio (Signal to Noise ratio). This is a number, measured in decibels which compares the noise inherent to a component, to that of the signal that is passed through the unit. Let's look at something like an good quality equalizer versus a much lesser quality unit. Lets compare the Zapco EQ30-SL with the Clarion EQ-74. Both units are graphic equalizers. The Zapco unit has a S/N ratio listed at >110 dB for which we will refer to it as 110 dB, and the clarion unit is listed at 100 dB.

If you are not familiar with the Decibel scale, it was created and put into use by Alexander Graham Bell to help describe the large ratios of sounds with respect to intensity. a decibel, which is one tenth of a bel is considered to be the smallest perceivable change in sound at the human ears most sensitive frequency. a change of 3dB is audible at almost all frequencies.

The decibel scale scale can also be used to describe ratios of large numbers. Something that is 3 db more than something else is actually twice that of the opriginal in level. So, a voltage of 2 volts is 3 dB more than that of one volt. A voltage of 2000 volts, is also 3dB more than 1000 volts. This is a logarithmic scale that deals with ratios.

A unit with a signal to noise ratio of 110dB is one that will invoke a noise component into the system that is 110dB quieter or smaller than the signal itself. Between the two units we have a difference of 10dB, this equates to a difference of 10 times.

To clarify, the Zapco unit has a noise level which is 110dB or 1x10^11 times smaller than that of the signal. If the max signal is 8 volts, then the maximum noise voltage is 1 Quadrillionth of that. Sure this is small, but it adds up quickly. A head unit, equalizer, crossover and amplifier all have noise, and it adds as it goes down the chain. It also gets amplified, so it can be heard.

As for the other question, remember that when you are on the other side of the decimal place, the larger the number , the smaller the value. So for instance, .04 %  is larger in value than .008 % . I hope this makes sense.

Thanks Velocity, I always wondered about this same topic and you answered it.  So,

.04 = no good, .008 = better

Hey no problem. The only amps that do not follow this rule of thumb are the D class amplifiers. They are usually aroun the 1 % THD, but that's because the internal cross over is set to about 500 hz and because most D class amps are subwoofer amps, this type of levels in THD % is not audible .

Once again if you want a good clean quaility amp that won't break your wallet get you a US Acoustics amp,nice price and a 3 year warranty to boot just to name a few.  

 Everyone's saying that american legacy amps are bad.  i just bought one but i haven't hooked it up yet. my subs sound good just being hooked up to the factory system and i don't need a big difference in the sound.  so will the american legacy amp i bought be ok for me?

hey velocity what about the amps that say .02 % distortion like the old ppi's those amps were great and that distortion was never heard????? what about extant,mtx, rockford fosgate all there thd ratings are about the same.  ive never heard that just wondering why you said that?/ you can never say an amp was bad beacause the distortion rate was too high i mean the majority of good amps are a bout .02 % distortion and are you saying those are bad? I have seen amps claiming .005 distortion but i would take an amp like an old ppi or a rocford anyday over it. can you clarify this for me

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Well heres my 2Centz, I just hooked up an Legacy Red Series II amp to 2 1251q Audiobahn subs in a dual bandpass 1cf. And they sound great. I've used several of the legacy series and it seems that the series II (not the red seriesII) do a desent job on cheap subs, 8" and 10" in bandpass. And the red series II do a desent job too. Just dont buy the american leagcy series! Of couse if you are after real power listen to the guys above this post

but if you want cheap clean power (rember you cant expect a Audiobahn sound out of a Legacy amp) then legacy RED SERIES isent a bad way 2 go. i sell the red series like theyre hot cakes its probly cause the 1800w amp is only $200.

I have an American Legacy 300W amp pushing my MTX 10" in a box...

Sounds sweet...I mean it's not competition audio, but it knocks...I don't notice distortion unless I turn up the gain high, which I don't since the 1st day I hooked it up...I mean, I can still set off car alarms :)

I have had it for a year, not a thing gone wrong...yet.

I also sell American Legacy and have few returns.  I think that the best investment is in crossovers and if you clean out all the noise your subs can't play then they sound good.  I've never been a competitor but I have seen enough numbers from all the different amps and know that you can flush most of that stuff.  I have been impressed with junk and depressed with quality (go figure).  Most of this car audio stuff is try it and see.  I can put together systems that I think rock and the next guy thinks sucks (and vica-verse) so beauty is all in the listener.  I just put a pair of 15 Volfenhags with a Legacy Red 1800 and its so darn loud I now have to upgrade the mids and tweets. 

just another 2 cents with change back