nice sq amp for around 300?

I tried doing a search but didn't turn up anything useful. Im just trying to gather some opinions on what amps you guys would recommend. Im looking for a 2 channel amp to have the best sound quality possible for about $300-$500 that will give me around 100W/channel at 4ohms.
thanks for the help
Dan

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I would probably go with the alpine PDX-2.150, you should be able to pick it up for around 300. It puts out 150 RMS at 4 ohms.

how did i know the first response was going to be alpine PDX? thats ok though, i did look at that amp but im not sure about class D amps for full range speakers. it is an option but id like some other suggestions too. are these PDX amps really that good for sound quality? the reason im hesitant about class D amps might be the way that class d amps were explained to me. i was told by a kicker rep that i know that basically a class d amp takes the nice sine wave audio signal and makes a digital copy of it but instead of having a nice curve it makes it more like a triangular wave with sharp peaks instead of a curve. he said this is the reason why class d amps are more efficient because they are not playing the actual audio signal, just a digitized copy. is this true or was he full of it?

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Have ya SEEN my system? The entire thing is PDX, and yes, I can tell you right now that they are FANTASTIC sound quality amplifiers. Yeah, your "Kicker Guy" informant was BURIED in "it" to his eyeballs, as opposed to "full" of it. Well, what can you expect of a Kicker rep, anyway? He thinks Kicker is good gear!

For a PROPER explanation of Class D, see here, here, or here...

I do believe that in this thread, chronicling the entire build of my car, I also reviewed them connected to my home system, as well.

1200 watts of PDX to just run the doors... Yeah, they're true SQ amplifiers, this I promise you. (They're B&O ICEPower amps, if you were unaware of that.)

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

yeah i've seen your system diagram before and i figured you would be next to chime in about the PDX series. i wish i could listen to your system because i dont know of any place around here that sells alpine. i might try best buy but i highly doubt they have one on display. i had a feeling that kicker rep didn't know what he was talking about after he tried to tell me that a solo X was good for sound quality too his reasoning was that above 130DB the human ear cant tell the difference anyway. i guess im going to have to dig a little deeper into these PDX amps, still open for any other suggestions though

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i apperciate all the info so far, but really? no one else has any suggestions or is this amp as good as it gets? a whole forum of sound quality enthusiasts and all i can get is alpine?

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For the price range you mentioned, I believe you got your answer ;) If you're fishing for a different answer, please tell us what that is.

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the12volt • Support the12volt.com

not fishing for any particular answer. if i knew the answer to my question i would not be asking. im not trying to bait someone into telling me what i want to hear i'm just respectfully stirring the pot to get some competing opinions to rise to the surface. i know there is more than one guy on here who likes sound quality and there is no way they all use alpine pdx amps

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Many members have already asked this same question and it may be why you aren't getting as many replies as you'd like, but if you browse through this forum, I'm sure you'll find many other recommendations. 

What amplifiers have you auditioned first hand? What amplifiers can you audition first hand? Ultimately the decision is yours and should be based solely on your opinion.

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the12volt • Support the12volt.com

well, it's just really hard to find any good shops with good product and people who know what they are talking about around here in lower louisiana. i'm not exaggerating when i say 99% of everybody has no idea what true sound quality is. you try to teach somebody about what a sound stage is and you just get blank stares. there are more low class pawn shops here than legit audio shops, and about 80% of those shops sell nothing better than kicker. there are 2 shops that sell JL audio and they are both ridiculously priced. i cant even find that Alpine PDX 2.150 locally so i cant even demo that. my options for a place to buy an amp is pretty much limited to the internet so all i can do is gather some testimonials from people who know and have no reason to lie to me just to get my money. this is why i ask you guys (gals?) that share my passion for clean tunes because i know you will point me in the right direction. and even with suggestions, i will still do my research, i'm not asking for you to tell me what to buy, just asking for people to share their experience. but i guess it looks like i will have to take my chances with the PDX

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Where in lower Louisiana are you?

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the12volt • Support the12volt.com

about five minutes from downtown New Orleans, just south of the city.

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Mobile One and Prestige Customs carry Alpine. Have you visited them?

BTW, I'm about an hour north of you ;)

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the12volt • Support the12volt.com

an hour north, thats pretty cool. now i know there is at least one person in the general area that knows what they are talking about. to be honest i forgot prestige customs even existed. ive only been there once for a sound competition but i guess i can make a trip sometime soon and i went to mobile one the other day looking but i saw no alpine amps, only JL, rockford, boston acoustics, and bazooka.

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Try looking up some older Soundstream Reference....

Like 1995ish era....405 or 705....and many others...

how bout this amp?
zapco reference 2.350

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If you can get the Zapco for the money you want to spend... I'd put in a vote there. They're usually a bit more expendy, though. That amp retails for twice what you want to spend, and if you get it through ANYBODY but the authorized Zapco channels, (and IIANM, this will also include eBay, in any way, shape or form) you will have zero warranty.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

they have a bunch on ebay for just under $300, i was surprised too. i know those amps usually go for much more especially the reference series. if i get it though i will need to get the symbilink(sp?) adapter so i can use the balanced inputs. i will also probably need to do some fiberglass work to get it to fit where i need it to, but no matter if i get the PDX or the Zapco it should be a huge improvement over my old MTX 302 i'm running now.

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soundnsecurity wrote:

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they have a bunch on ebay for just under $300, i was surprised too.

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haemphyst wrote:

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and if you get it through ANYBODY but the authorized Zapco channels, (and IIANM, this will also include eBay, in any way, shape or form) you will have zero warranty.

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eBay purchases are a no-no, if you want a warranty. Call Zapco, but I can pretty much assure you this will be the case.

https://www.zapco.com/contact.php

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

I will almost be paying double just for the warranty if i go through zapco. $300 for just the amp from ebay or $600 for the same amp with only a 3 year warranty, sounds like an open and shut case to me. maybe if it was a lifetime warranty but 3 years is not worth an extra $300

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...until you have to replace the amplifier the first time... What happens if your stuff is stolen? Can you afford to replace it (600 dollars) when insurance only pays for what you actually paid for the item in the first place (300 dollars)? What happens if the amp dies or disappears just one time? You'll be buying it twice, mang, and it's not likely to be today's online price forever!!

Not to mention the "craze to buy online" is half of the issue when it comes to mom-and-pop, brick-and-mortar stores not being able to stay in business in this country anymore... But that's just my opinion.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

well if you read zapco's website carefully they say it must be INSTALLED by an authorized dealer to get the warranty.

"Zapco product has a 3 year warranty if purchased and installed by an authorized Zapco Dealer."

my closest zapco dealer is about an hour and a half away. so i would be paying MORE for the actual amp, PAYING some guy at a shop to do something which i am 100% capable of doing myself.

i do feel bad for the local mom and pop shops that do go out of business, and it is partly the internet's fault, but it is also the shops fault for not being unique enough with their inventory. most M&P shops around here sell what? thats right, KICKER! a brand thats everywhere on the internet. you cant visit an audio website without seeing something from kicker. when you sell something that that the market is so saturated in you are bound to lose sales because of it and most local shops wont survive on installs alone because they in turn need to charge so much for installs just to make up for the difference in lost sales to the internet. thats what made me want to learn how to do it myself because i got tired of walking into audio shops backwards with my pants around my ankles(figuratively speaking).

if a local shop is struggling they need to de-commonize their inventory a little bit, because lets face it most people do not care where they get their product, they just want it the cheapest possible. especially now in this economy. and if a customer walks into a local shop and sees the exact same stuff that they just saw on the website they were looking at before they left home, but the price is much higher, what do you expect them to do? they will come in, play with the displays, then go back home and buy on the internet. but if a customer walks in and sees a bunch of cool stuff that isn't as common on the internet they are more likely to justify paying a little bit more for something more unique, something that not everybody and their mom has in their trunk.

i hope you dont think i'm being hostile with this response but this is just something that i think about a lot but nobody seems to ever get it. if anybody else has anything to add to this, lets start a new topic.

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No hostility read... I just really feel strongly about the brick and mortar support plan. I know too many people, seriously, that have had to close their doors. These, I might mention ARE people that "bucked the system", and offered brands that COULDN'T be ordered on the web. McIntosh, Linear Power (when they still existed), ADS (when they were good)... Others as well. You are completely correct about the over-commonality of [kicker especially] a brand and the (over-)saturation of a market by a single brand name, I remember the same thing happening with Rockford Fosbreak and Fryin' Orion about 10 (?) years ago... Now it's Kicker and Alpine's turns... Next will be JL, etc.

Your opinion is noted, and I assure you there are no hard feelings... Our opinions, and our abilities to express and respect them as adults, makes THIS the best electronics forum on the web! /<shameless plug>

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

haemphyst wrote:

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...Your opinion is noted, and I assure you there are no hard feelings... Our opinions, and our abilities to express and respect them as adults, makes THIS the best electronics forum on the web! /<shameless plug>

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Shameless plug noted and appreciated ;)

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the12volt • Support the12volt.com

haemphyst wrote:

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   These, I might mention ARE people that "bucked the system", and offered brands that COULDN'T be ordered on the web. McIntosh, Linear Power (when they still existed), ADS (when they were good)... Others as well.

Your opinion is noted, and I assure you there are no hard feelings... Our opinions, and our abilities to express and respect them as adults, makes THIS the best electronics forum on the web! /<shameless plug>

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well, they also ignored another another fact of American consumerism. most people want their stuff as cheap as possible, but they dont want it to break either. its funny you mention McIntosh, which is some of the best/most expensive equipment you can buy. it really is a delicate balance that the shops have to maintain with the quality and price of their product against what MOST people are willing to pay. if you offer cheap products like jensen and boss, yes you will get business at first but you will also get massive amounts of returns. and sooner or later your valued repeat customers will just go away. capitalism is a double edge sword, and because of this, its not always the quality brand that wins the sales battle. kicker is nothing more than a triumph of marketing, they maintain just enough quality to keep most people happy, and they constantly upgrade their equipment with a new look to keep people interested.

having products that CANT be ordered on the web is not the key here. because this stuff is usually too expensive for the average joe to consider. its about selling the well known brands but not necessarily their most well known product. but in the end, you cant predict what a customer will go for and what they wont. all you can do is sell it for a while and find out. that was probably the fatal flaw in those shops that had to close. they stuck with a few brands and were not as willing to change to something else.

if i had the chance to open my own shop, i would sell a few main, medium to high quality, brands that get people into the store, like alpine and MTX, but i would also have floating brands that i would just sell from time to time (McDonalds uses this same strategy with their McRib) if i found something that really sold well, i would keep it. this also would keep my shop fresh because everytime someone would come into my shop there would be something new to check out. i would stay away from low quality garbage because then your shop gets the reputation of a dirt merchant who only wants your money and couldn't care less if you are happy with what you get.

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i would also have a Term-Lab meter on hand. for just $600 i'm surprised more shops dont do this.

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I can agree with both sides on this one. I my self bought from a local store at 2 times the cost when i could have got it online. I sometime regret it now that its only a few months later and i am wanting to double what i have in subs and amps. And we are not talking a small sytem that i have now lol. There is a great up side to buying local though. You get an easy spot to just drop off bad equipment for warrenty, all the tech support you need most of the time and you get to see who you are dealing with face to face. Sure you can save a lot of money online. Sometimes it is worth it. But sometimes it is also best to just poney up the extra money and help the economy by supporing the little guy.  

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I agree 100% J.Reed. there are too many advantages to buying local over buying online. and for the average person who needs tech support or warranty repair it is indispensable.

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