My comment was directed at everyone who reads or posts on this topic...nobody in particular. I am a professional who has been in the industry since the 90's so I have seen the complete evolution of every product line around. I sell nearly every good quality name brand product on the market today. I have sold over 200 soundstream and ppi amps this year and have not had a SINGLE amp returned. Maybe because I educate my customers (even the ones who think they know it all already). The #1 reason for amp failure is operator or installer error...here are the most common errors that I see before the education process with the customer:
1. Incorrect/inadequate power source (stock factory alternator on most cars is not capable of supplying a system of more than 600-800w TRUE RMS AT IDLE)
2. Poor choice of mounting location (not enough ventilation, too much vibration, etc. (mounting amp to box is NOT a good location!)
3. Ground wire too long (max length of ground for a powerful amp should be 18 inches at most)...also ground to painted metal surface is a poor ground.
4. Poor quality music source (AM/FM radio is NOT a clean source)
5. Incorrect setting for HPF or LPF frequencies on deck/amp or both
6. Incorrect Volume, EQ settings, or LOUDNESS turned on in deck
The biggest problem for so-called installers these days is that they have no REAL electrical training. 1 out of 50 actually knows what they need to know to do the job right. 1 out of 10 actually know the correct way to set GAIN....and 1 out of 100 actually put the customer in the driver's seat and explain the do's and don'ts regarding the head unit. The larger the amplifier, the more critical correct settings become.
Now this part is directed specifically at you....you mentioned brand names and bashed them because the parent company has other cheaper brands and I brought up Rockford/Lightning/Renegade. Your reply was that Rockford does not put their brand name on those products....not true....most of the new Renegade products have Rockford Corporation on the box in small writing. Soundstream/PPI does NOT do this... PPI and Soundstream are the premium brands of Epsilon and they do not imply that any other brands under the parent company are the same quality....and as you said....PPI/Soundstream are like Chevy and GMC with only basic cosmetic differences. However the PPI products are drastically under-rated whereas the Soundstream are only slightly under-rated. The 1800w BLACK ICE amp is the same amp internally as the 2000w Tarantula amp.
My point about people being stuck in the 90's is a good one. Amps were bigger, heavier, tougher looking, etc. However they were also extremely inefficient, had horrible crossover quality and a very high failure rate for the larger amps. I am in Arizona and sold MANY large Rockford amps. The failure rate was SO HIGH with the power supplies blowing up that we had to have a Rockford repair technician ON STAFF. On craigslist here, there are STILL several old Rockford Technicians fixing the older amps. The truth is that the failure rate was much higher on the older stuff (early 90's) than on today's newer stuff. Perfect example is the Rockford Prime line. Entry level yes, but ridiculously dependable.....actually the MOST DEPENDABLE product line from Rockford that I have EVER sold! The power-hogging inefficiency, poor crossovers, and THD of the older amps is what caused so many speaker and amp failures. It's like saying a Humvee H1 is better than a new Camry. Technology evolved, and BETTER ways were found to yield acceptable results. Costs dropped, efficiency increased, features multiplied and failures lessened. As a result, our expectations changed....we want it cheaper....we want it faster....we want the best service....BUT most of us are no longer willing to pay what we used to pay in the old days (about $1 per RMS watt). In short, THE CUSTOMER expectations/demands are what changed the industry.
People want Human Reign quality at the Picasso price (Soundstream) :)
Remember the muscle cars of the 60s and 70s? Compare them to the more practical cars of today.....which one would you rather drive 60 hours a month in heavy traffic?
About comparisons....
I love it when people compare their Rockford Power series or Kicker ZX series amp to the Soundstream Picasso line which is a third of the price. When making comparisons, people generalize WAY too much. You must compare apples to apples....you don't compare the GM Cadillac to the Chevy Sonic. If you want to compare the top of the line amp made by any manufacturer to any other manufacturer then in order to be fair you must compare to their top of the line amp as well. THEN compare the price. The Soundstream Reference series amps are rock solid as they have always been, very under-rated, and still cost less than comparable amps in other elite brands. You want a huge amp with super quality for competition use? Then look at the XXX or X3 amps that Soundstream makes.
I will tell you that when it comes to compact amplifiers, Soundstream is absolutely the best I have sold. The new Picasso Nano line (about the size of a VHS tape) is actually made in Korea and is UNKILLABLE. I have a customer who mistakenly ran a Picasso Nano 4-channel at 1.5 ohms per channel and the amp did not overheat or protect once in a month's use. Comparably, the new Rockford and Alpine ultra compact series amps are the WORST of all the amps they sell. The return rate on those is ridiculous and I refuse to sell them anymore. (The Kicker ultra tiny compact amp is excellent but not powerful enough yet)...am still judging the new IX line....looks promising.
Still not convinced about how Soundstream/PPI stack up to the competition? Then watch this montage video from the 2011 Spring Break Nationals where they DOMINATED all other brands in awards:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScNjuzhNJAI