Amp sugestions

Posted by: ppslim

Amp sugestions - 25/05/2000 16:02

Can any1 suggest a good amp.

I've been looking at a few, mainly expensive ones, but after looking in Halfords (guess this is a question to all you UK peeps), I spotter a few amps in there catalogues, would any1 recoment any of these for use with empeg.

What sort of features am I looking for in a amp, fi-pass filters, low-pass filters, and what features are a must for the empeg.

Proud owner of #161
Posted by: phaigh

Re: Amp sugestions - 27/05/2000 00:43

Slim,

I have (on recommendation) a kicker amp - this was a direct recommendation from Dominic @ cambridge car audi (the people who did the install for the demo A Class).

I think that Dominic sees good compatability between the two.

They do 2 and 4 channel amps (IX402 and IX404) - perhaps drop cambscar a line (http://www.cambscaraudio.co.uk)...

They work really well for me.

Cheers,

Paul

Paul Haigh, 6GB, Blue
Reg: 4120 - Serial 00254
Posted by: Reggie

Re: Amp sugestions - 27/05/2000 01:05

Well, the first issue is how much money you want to spend, but starting by the fact you're going to spend more than one thousand dollars on a car stereo,I assume that you're eager to spend some serious money on amps too. For me, The right stuff is Blaupunkt. I'm not sure if they are available everywhere (I live in Chile), but my system is driven by two Blau MPA680us, one driving two 10 in. subwoofers (blaupunkt too) and the other driving mids and highs. And there's no external active crossover needed, you can do it all with the amp's ones. Nice arrange, and except you are some SPL guy, you'll never be disappointed about the power. The catch is that such arrange (more than one amp) often needs a cap, and so the price begins to climb... well you know how car-fi is... a relentless pursuit of perfection (and a sure road to bankrupcy too). Also some JBL or Kicker amp is more than ok. But be aware than it's better (in my opinion) to install immediately a big and well designed system than to install some "emergency" amp and later add more serious stuff... in the end it will be harder on your pocket. I think the best thing you can do is get advice from the cambridge car audio guys... no one knows more about empeg-driven systems, that's for sure.

Posted by: rob

Re: Amp sugestions - 27/05/2000 03:22

We have Kicker amps in the demo car, and they do work well.

On the subject (kind of), we have the demo car booked into Cambs Car Audio for a Mark 2 upgrade on June 16th, so expect some cool photos of the whole installation around that time.

Rob


Posted by: ppslim

Re: Amp sugestions - 27/05/2000 05:44

I hear ya guys, money is no problem, but I don't realy want to go full whack just yet.

I remember reading in the (brief, lol) install guide, about filters coz of the audio distortion. What features should I be looking for when it comes down to getting rid of any of this.

Proud owner of #161
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Amp sugestions - 27/05/2000 18:31

I remember reading in the (brief, lol) install guide, about filters coz of the audio distortion. What features should I be looking for when it comes down to getting rid of any of this.

You won't have to worry about any audio distortion with the mark 2. The Mark 1 has fantastic sound quality, but there is a slight noise floor problem and it's sensitive to ground loops. However, those problems have been fixed in the Mark 2 and it has perfect sound with a very quiet noise floor.

The only distortion you might get is if you put too much sound through a cheap speaker. Fix this by using your amp's input gain adjustment and crossover. You shouldn't need to buy any extra filtering.

___________
Tony Fabris
Posted by: Kureg

Re: Amp sugestions - 29/05/2000 07:31

In reply to:

Well, the first issue is how much money you want to spend, but starting by the fact you're going to spend more than one thousand dollars on a car stereo,I assume that you're eager to spend some serious money on amps too.

In my case, I'm not really eagar to spend over a thousand dollars for the head unit. It's just that any other head unit is unacceptable to me.

On the other hand, I'm running a really tight budget. It's difficult just trying to make it all fit.

For me, I'm not an audiophile of any sort. In fact, I know almost dick all about car stereos. I spent the last month doing some research on all of this stuff just so that I didn't have to feel that my head was in the clouds.

My plan is to do this in steps over the next 2 years. In July/August of this year, I will be able to afford the empeg (hopefully when my name comes up on the list). That is all I'll be able to afford at that time. Then, around Christmas time, I'll be able to afford the amp and the installation (ooooh, nice Christmas present). I've been looking at getting the Alpine V12 MRV-F357. It's not an exceptionally "powerful" amp, but I think it was designed to be an "all-around-amp" with an extra channel for driving a sub-woofer. This is an expensive enough amp for me, and I doubt I will ever be seeking any audio better than what the Alpine amp will provide (in fact, I may just go with the F307 which does not have the sub-woofer channel, cuz it's almost $100 cheaper). By fall of next year, I'll probably do a complete car speaker upgrade of some sorts and then I'll be done.

So, it's not an exactly and economic walk in the park for me. But I'll stop at nothing to get an empeg!

Kureg