Hey guys, I'm looking for a good 4 channel to finish out my setup. I have 4 sundown 6.5 coaxials, says 80 rms per speaker. Running the Sundown 2.75 full ranges in the dash, 35 rms. I got a little Infinity 2 channel (primus 6002) to run the dash speakers alone. Going to Y off the front rcas coming from my Kenwood DNX997XR for those. Looking for a good high quality SQish 4 channel for the sundowns. Pulled the trigger on a Kenwood XR401-4 but something inside is telling me not to go with big box brands. Something inside means people at my work. That XR401-4 is pending return now and I'm looking at getting a DC Audio 90.4. Just curious if somebody can explain the differences of some of these entry level competition amps, i.e. skar 125.4, wolfram 125.4, dc audio 90.4. I'm looking for the highest quality entry level stuff. Hoping to upgrade the coaxials to components soon so I'd like to get a great amp the first time around that I could just double up when components come in. Let me know what you think, thanks.

 

P.s. sub setup is a crescendo bc4k and a single DD 9915

There's no such thing as a "competition" amp.  It's just marketing jargon.  There's not a soul on this forum that will suggest you buy anything from skar.  Personally, I would have kept the Kenwood.  Damn fine amp.  There's nothing wrong with name brand big box stuff.  In fact, it's more likely to have a higher resale value.  If you mention the name Wolfram, or DC Audio, chances are you will find very few people whom have heard of them before.  Not the same can be said for Kenwood.  Just my $.02.

I still have the kenwood, still an option to keep it. I just had a little buyer's remorse I guess. Just can't find anybody making a backplate and such like they do a dc 90.4 or why the open case pictures compared to the kenwood look like 2x the amp. Also not sure about active crossovers or if  there is much difference between passive or active.

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by SpaceKing

So what I'm gathering is the DC looks cooler than the Kenwood?  I mean obviously aesthetics play a huge role, so if you simply like one for it's looks and the specs are similar, by all means, go with the one you find more visually appealing.   As for the crossovers, I would always choose active over passive if you have both available.  Active is done electronically and often before the signal is amplified, so it tends to yield a "better" response.  Passive, IMO, I would never mess with in-car because it's far too daunting, and just an art form that takes years to master and that mastery is lost in the automotive environment. 

Sorry, I should get better at conveying thoughts. I kind of assumed since the dc audio amp has people making custom parts for it, then it might be more sought after or prestigious than the kenwood. When I spoke about the size, I mean the internals of the amp. The DC has bigger and more caps and a second mosfet, but rated near the same power. Granted they could be lower quality components therefore needing more, just popped into my head. I'm all for running the kenwood, also not opposed to just seeing if it's what I expected or more. The crossover thing is throwing me off though, since the DC has active crossovers. Don't know if it's that big of a difference. I don't even know how to use them. Just wanted to dodge a bullet if one was coming. Didn't know if somebody here had obvious answers that I might be oblivious to.

Also I must have thrown you off. I don't think the DC looks cool at all. It's a massive black box, probably 3x the size of the kenwood.

From my direct experience, the DC is a very solid choice, but if it is too big for the space, Kenwood was always trusty for me in the past.

Thanks for the reply Aaron. I did notice it was a pretty big amp. I think I will just run the kenwood for now until I upgrade to components and build a nice board for all the amps to sit on. 

On 9/4/2020 at 8:52 AM, SpaceKing said:

Thanks for the reply Aaron. I did notice it was a pretty big amp. I think I will just run the kenwood for now until I upgrade to components and build a nice board for all the amps to sit on. 

Sounds like a plan.