amps.voice your experiences.

I'm in the process of building up a new system and it's been a few years since the last one. I'm looking for real world experience from those that have it. I want to know what you've had,what you have and would you buy it again. If it failed,tell me why and if it's stayed together how much punishment has it recieved and how long have you had it. I want quality and I want it to last. Thanks in advance for your input.

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I've noticed one thing about "Experts". When one shows up,someone gets hurt!

Surely someone has an amp they like,or at least one they kicked to the curb. I ask for an experienced opinion and nobody has one. I'm shocked!

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I've noticed one thing about "Experts". When one shows up,someone gets hurt!

this is just going to turn into another "i like" thread, of which there are loads if you do a search. i have stories about old amps that ive had that were awesome but now they are not available in new condition. plus, nobody knows what kind of budget you have, which is good for us to know before we go on a rant about an amp that costs hundreds of dollars only to find out that you are only willing to spend a fraction of the price.

are you wanting to know about bass amps? full range amps? what are you looking to get out of your new system and then maybe someone will be able to entertain you with a sound story.


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soundnsecurity wrote:

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this is just going to turn into another "i like" thread, of which there are loads if you do a search. i have stories about old amps that ive had that were awesome but now they are not available in new condition. plus, nobody knows what kind of budget you have, which is good for us to know before we go on a rant about an amp that costs hundreds of dollars only to find out that you are only willing to spend a fraction of the price.

are you wanting to know about bass amps? full range amps? what are you looking to get out of your new system and then maybe someone will be able to entertain you with a sound story.

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First thing that comes to mind is if you know where this is going,why even respond? I was hoping for some knowledgable insight from shops,installers and consumers. If a shop is pushing a particular brand of equipment it's because they like it. Why do they like it? Because it's not being blown apart while under warranty and effecting their profit margin.An installer should know what will last and what won't,and accept my apology for not clarifying the need for recent data,because what someone had 5 years ago means little. I didn't post a budget amount because my post say's "I want quality and I want it to last" and those things never come cheap.I didn't come here for entertainment,I came here for knowledge backed by experience.

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I've noticed one thing about "Experts". When one shows up,someone gets hurt!

What's your budget? What are your system design goals?

And don't bash other members who are trying to help. That's the sure way to get this thread locked.

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i am a shop owner/installer/consumer. i have plenty of information that could be helpful to you but i dont like shooting in the dark when i recommend products to people. many people dont understand that price is closely related to quality when it comes to audio, so when you try to tell them about a 400W alpine amp that is $500, they tend to change their mind about what they want and are willing to pay for.

plus, quality comes in many different flavors, and without even a clue as to what you are in the market for it becomes really hard to help you.

please give me a budget and describe your overall goal for your system. if you dont have a budget and money is no object then just say so.

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I have the Alpine PDX amps, currently. Good product, if a but non-linear in the power outputs ranges I use them in... LOW power output from a high powered amplifier can cause as many harmful artifacts as overdriving any amplifier. I probably would have chosen the lower-powered PDXs rather than the big ones, in hindsight.

I was a fan of the now defunct Linear Power. I loved the Orion red and gold amps, but for bass I would have used a GX series any day. Orion is little better than swap-o-rama gear today, just like everything under the Directed umbrella.

Soundstream has made a bit of a comeback, but they still can't even touch the glory-days of the old Class-A 50, and I still wouldn't use them today.

GOOD power for mids and highs costs GRAND money. There are a few companires out there that truly care about the build quality of their gear, and today, if I were still going to buy a Class A/B amplifier for highs, Zapco is a first choice for me.

As mentioned by soundnsecurity, as well as DYohn, money, goals, design, margin... ALL will have dramatic effect on the answers you'll receive. What angle are you interested in...? Are you asking as a retailer? An installer? A consumer? And if any one or all of these, are you wanting ground pounding and loud, with no regard to sound quality? Are you looking to extract every last nuance from every bit on your CDs? Are you using an iPod or a USB music storage device, and are you happy with the destructive artifacts of an MP3 or do you encode (as I do) in completely lossless music files? *ALL* of these make a difference as to the answers you'll get.

I do not abuse my gear. I have had Eclipse, Alpine, Linear Power, Soundstream, Precision Power, Orion, Nakamichi, and all have been exceptionally reliable products, BUT these were nearly all products of an era by-gone... an era when manufacturers were happy to produce the VERY best gear that money could buy - HANG the margin. Most built in the US at that time, they were proud. Today's a different story, however.

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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."

DYohn] wrote:

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What's your budget? What are your system design goals?

And don't bash other members who are trying to help. That's the sure way to get this thread locked.

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Again,I offer my apology.If you took what I said as bashing another member,it wasn't meant to.I rely far too much on the value of the information obtained from this sight and it's members to verbally abuse anyone.

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I've noticed one thing about "Experts". When one shows up,someone gets hurt!

Great to hear. So again, what's your budget? What are your system design goals?

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