Rockford Fosgate T15kW

Hi guy's i read on another forum that the Rockford Fosgate T15kW (15000 wrms) draw only 300 A. what do you guys think about it? they're talking about a Hybrid Technology, so that's mean that in the future the Amps are gonna draw less current ? cool.

https://https://www.rockfordfosgate.com/news/templates/template.asp?articleid=169&zoneid=3

https://https://www.audiograph.se/press/rockford/index.htm

-------------
Shaking The Neighborhood

yes, very new indeed....but have you seen the price tag yet?    It will be a few years before this hybrid stuff gets cheap enough to afford to put it in an amp

-------------
2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

That would be pretty sweet... but I have a feeling that it would break my bank

yes, more than 1 dollar for 1 watt

-------------
Shaking The Neighborhood

Steve Meade's allready got one...

-------------
'89 Mercedes-Benz 300E
Pioneer DEH-5900UB
(2)RE Audio SX 10"s
(1)US Amps MD3D
3ft^3 @ 37Hz

Blowing up in a car accident doesnt worry me, as long as I'm putting out some major dB's when I die...

When did meade get one?    I know he got a batch of T4000's in a while back but hadent heard he got on of these from him yet!

-------------
2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

They say it only draws 30 amps to produce 1000w. 30 amps times 12 volts equals 360w input, and you get 1000w out? How is this even possible?

it uses a capacitor network of sorts.

click here for a detailed article

-------------

Yes Jeff, Meade got one check
it out.

-------------
Shaking The Neighborhood

omg, that thing is huge. anyone know the price of it?

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE car audio. I can't see shelling out $15K - $20K of my hard earned on one amp...unless I won the lottery or something

-------------
The Flakman
I feel strange. I have deja vu and amnesia at the same time.

John | Manteca, CA

lol

It CAN'T happen... Unless it can pull magic power out of it's (either claimed, or apparently, I'll let the reader decide...) gold-plated ass, and make energy out of thin air, due to some bending of ALL LAWS OF PHYSICS, it can't do it.

I was mentioning this to a friend of mine (who, BTW works for a car stereo store that sells RF, and holds a degree in electrical engineering) and he said it's a peak rating...

Does that sound a little bit like Audiobahn? I smell a rat. Something vaguely reminiscent of "inflated numbers", only this time, I'd venture GROSSLY inflated numbers...

300A*14.4v=4320 watts in
15000 watts out/4320 watts in = 347% efficiency!

Looks to me like what they are doing is driving one channel to peak, and then multiplying by the number of channels... 4340*.86=3750*4=15000

Personally, it smells to me like a gimmick, and just another reason for me to dislike and distrust RF.

-------------
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 think this amp is RF's way of trying to appeal to the car audio enthusiasts and not just to the teenagers playing around in Best Buy. I honestly dont doubt that the Hybrid Technology has an improved efficiency, but 347%?!?! Give me a break...Im with Flak, unless I win the lottery, that things never touching ground in my car...


P.S. Im sure most of you have allready seen THIS VIDEO

-------------
'89 Mercedes-Benz 300E
Pioneer DEH-5900UB
(2)RE Audio SX 10"s
(1)US Amps MD3D
3ft^3 @ 37Hz

Blowing up in a car accident doesnt worry me, as long as I'm putting out some major dB's when I die...

The thing is it dosent use 12 volt inside the amp heam.....From the specs I read...and I will have to find them somewhere, it uses caps and step chargers just like the old Drag King and queen amps to make the amp internally a 70 volt system.

-------------
2009 0-1000 Trunk WR 154.0DB 2009 1001+ Trunk WR
2007 USACI World Champion
2007 World Record
2006 USACI Finals 2nd Place

jeffchilcott wrote:

---

The thing is it dosent use 12 volt inside the amp heam.....From the specs I read...and I will have to find them somewhere, it uses caps and step chargers just like the old Drag King and queen amps to make the amp internally a 70 volt system.

---

It still has to have the input power... Even if converted to 70 volts, it still can't make power (which is voltage times current, right?) from nothing... The power supply, no matter WHAT the voltage is specified at can only convert energy, not create it. The amount of power OUT can never be more than the amount of power IN, and it can't even be equal, due to losses... A 350% GAIN is not possible. At all. Ever. I think Einstein and Hawking would be interested in their theories... Imaging all of a sudden finding out that you are wrong. And that after being called the smartest men who ever lived.

ALL amplifiers are required to step the voltage up, otherwise it can't ever produce more than 51 watts (peak) at 4 ohms, and that's with the engine running. That's the whole purpose of the power supply end of the amplifier - it's a DC-DC switching device that steps from 12 volts DC to ±DC voltage rails.

-------------
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."

That one link says it stores energy in a capacitor bank. The don't give a number, but they say its "well into six figures of joules." Lets guess this at 500,000 joules, which would require 204 F of capacitance at 70v. I am just guessing at this of course since they don't specify the exact number of joules or the working voltage.(I wonder why?) 500,000 joules divided by 15kw gives you only 33 seconds of power before the caps are dead and then what? You have to wait for the caps to recharge? I understand the concept of the whole thing, I just don't see it being very practical.

so capacitors are still useless in this case, even that they are new HT caps?

-------------
Shaking The Neighborhood

Here's another quote from the CA&E article:

"The question has been asked, “What about a sine wave, like for an SPL competitor?” The T15kW has plenty of energy to get through a three-second sine wave burst. However a five-minute “death match” competition is not the T15kW’s forte. Who wants to torture their investment like that anyhow?"

It seems to be built for burps and not much else.

Torture? Personally I call it a 'Quality Test' so to speak.

-------------

Well after listening to to what everyone has to say about this I would have to agree with heamphyst and Id say its not all its cracked up to be and I wouldn't waste $20000 on it

See? I was right. There is NO WAY, on a continuous basis to exceed 100 percent efficiency, with a SINGLE power supply. I understand now, the "hybrid" option, but this isn't new. Bob Carver had multi-rail voltage, "smart" power supplies YEARS ago... The 1.5T was a REAL 750 watts per channel, PEAK, and the transformer was about the same volume as a pack of cigarettes. He used the same capacitor bank cheat as this amplifier does.

This is the SAME trick RF is now pulling with this amp, except they are CALLING IT 15kW, and it ISN'T... Drive this amp for too long, at those power levels, to where the power supply eventually becomes exhausted, and leave it all up to the 12v power of the car, (which BTW is 300A*14.4v=4320watts in, / 4 channels = 1080 watts per channel - all of a sudden - with the volume control WFO!) and it's gonna sound like crap... No additional voltage for headroom... And being driven THAT hard, with the high-voltage power supply all of a sudden empty, major clipping will ensue.

Nope, IMO, RF is falling into the same category as Audiobahn as far as the honesty of their power claims are concerned. It's NOT a 15,000 watt amplifier, it's a 3500 watt amplifier - for 20 Grand!

-------------
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."

20 grand is a lot of money for an amp. so is 7000 $ for the jackhammer, no thanks i stay with my 4 12" and my 160A Amp.

-------------
Shaking The Neighborhood