Leaderboard

So, the amp auditions were today. I got to the dealer and they were closed, nobody there, and all the windows were covered up. Called the guy I spoke with last week and he told me he was 5 minutes away. Apparently they recently closed up and he still answers the phone to liquidate his inventory. We go inside and he has very little inventory left, so I'm thinking instant bust. We go put into the bay and he's got an '02 F150 with a full EQ install rising their Mini series amps. He fired the truck up and we had a listening session. Now,there was nothing fantastic about them, but they did the job well. I don't know specifics, but he had four 4 channels, two 2 channels, and a mono run to each of 3 subwoofers. They performed respectably, and were fairly small, but not quite as small as I'm looking for. We sent outside do get a couple of the CV amps and wired them up to a soundboard which was comprised of a set of Soundstream 3 way components, some coaxials, and a 15" Tarantula sub. The CV amps were smallest in height and depth to the EQs, but the mono amp was a hair longer. They look and feel like solid amps. He wouldn't let me open anything's up, so no idea on guts. I don't know what it is or if it even IS at all, but every "digital" amplifier install I've every heard all sounded the same to me. I can't describe it other than it just sounds a bit dull to me. I've experienced this IN the home audio realm also, but only on mid and lower level amps. Budget wise, I don't even partake in thinking high end for home audio. Just me. So I've auditioned two companies "mini" amplifier lines and both sound identical to me. This is a good thing as I feel amps should do nothing but amplify, but of you're expecting a "normal" AB sound, you're not going to find it. He also had a SS Stealth 2 channel amp. The thing was tiny and he said they've installed many in some Harley baggers and some side-by-sides. Unfortunately, I did not get to audition it. So far I'm getting that a "natural" sound I'm accustomed to cannot be found with these smaller "digital" amps. I could live with this before, but the current platform (ecoboost Mustang) is relatively quiet versus my previous V8 cars and the inadequacies of the stock system were readily made apparent, so why sacrifice sonic nirvana, at least in some achievable form, for space. There's got to be room somewhere in this bitch!

To me, some of the newer class-D full range mini amps seem to be a little dry and less warmth and life than some of the class-A/B's I am used to.

Damn haven't seen you around in a while. You were pretty active at one point. Didn't you have a couple dss ethos?

Well, that went fast!

So I found a local shop they deals Earthquake and has a friendship with a Cerwin Vega dealer, so they're going to get some Stealth Bomber amps to audition and I'm going to check out the EQ amps too. Found a Punch BR at Best Buy, but was in their clearance bin and could not audition it. I remember 10 or so years who when some sub companies would send around a driver to audition. I think amplifier manufacturers need to do this especially given the vast range of "value" within the market.

So you went with a less efficient driver since you can't run a bigger alt. That makes sense /sarcasm