I'm looking for an amp (high quality, hi fidelity!!!) for my front channels that is a lil bit on the warm side of neutral.

I haven't been into car audio for almost 10 years. In the meantime I have gotten way into home audio and found that I love the sound of high quality tubed amps (or having at least a tube pre-amp).

also any suggestions on some quality I/C's?

cost NOT a major factor.

 

No cost limitation? BRAX or Audison are REALLY nice. Personally, I like Alpine.....but I am a bit of an Alpine . What wattage ratings / # of channels are you looking for?

John

 

Cost is a factor, but not major. Quality is though! But, I would like to keep it below 2k if possible. Still got a lot more gear to get!

I'm sure from past experience that I don't like the sound of alpine amps/subs/component speakers...though I do kinda like their HU's for what they offer (I have one currently installed). I'm also searching for a new HU. Any suggestions?

As I haven't found what speakers I'll be using up front (currently using MB Quarts but their tweeters are unbearable with or without an amp and their midrange is lacking definition) I'm not sure about wattage yet, though I'm assuming a minimum of 50w-100w per channel into 4ohms. I just need the 2 channels as I'll be getting a dedicated amp for the sub, unless I can find an amp that will drive my fronts AND a sub (would like at least 500w @ 2ohms dedicated to the sub).

I'm basically starting from the ground up. With little knowlege in car audio besides the typical brand names at most car audio shops which only tend to carry low to mid fidelity)

I'll do some research on Brax and Audison and try to find a place I can audition them. I'm suprised you didn't mention mcintosh...lol...just figured that would have been the 1st amp suggested, though I have mixed feelings about them + I haven't heard them in years!

Jon

 

I like US amps. They are very clean with most have a THD of <0.001 on the upper lines. Older Soundstream amps are good as well. I never get an amp with a THD of over 0.03 and a signal to noise ratio of less than 100% IMO those are the two major things to look at in terms of quality.

 

as a matter of fact, my Brax is up for sale. the brax has a very neutral type sound with a very open sounding type of response. the top end sparkle is something someone needs to experience to understand how nice it is. overall is it literally one of the best sounding car amps out there and the originator of its outside design. if you pay attention on the looks of the amplfier, you will see there are a lot of copycats out there. with a retail price of $2500 and a lifetime warranty, it is sure to be a nice amp. if you are interested, i am selling mine for $1300.

as far as warm sounding goes i think it depends on the products you use. if you use a speaker set that was not created for a warm type sound yet mated to a warmer type sounding amplifier the results might not be what you are looking for.

as far as price range goes and my personal experience with amplifiers.

cheapest in price yet very solid amp would be the new RF power series. they have a warmer type sound, very underrated in power, with a decent retail price. on ebay they are cheaper than dealer cost. although great amps for subs, someone looking for the best type of freq response, this would not be soemthign i would reccommend. i have been there done that. this amp would belong in between mid-fi-hi-fi.

butler hybrid tubes, although i have been hearing rumors that they are no longer around, i still them around at a few of my dealer and look to be in buisness still. i dont have much experience with these amps but i have heard a few cars with them they sounded great. i was not able to a/b them against any other amps, so unfortunately, i am not able to comment on how where they lie in the market. their reputation seems to be hi-fi.

TRU Technology C7 hybrid tube. this is yet again one of those best sounding amplfiers. tons of power, dynamic, full bodied sound, great top end extension, again needs to be heard to really comprehend how nice the top end is. with a retail of $4,000 it is not your average amp, i do not recall how long the warranty is but my guess would be 3-5 years. best of all, it looks damn sexy.


www.audiotec-fischer.com www.rockfordfosgate.com www.butlertaudio.com www.trutechnology.com

when you decide on which amp you go with, let me know and ill see what i can do. i can get pretty much anything high end, i am the only authorized internet dealer for brax and helix, i am good friends with the us distributor of brax and helix, i personally know the owner of TRU technology and a dealer of mine is a dealer for butler audio.

questions?

 

sorry i just noticed this post, i didnt bother reading the other posts, lol. how ignorant of me.

honestly, with $2k to spend, it doesnt get any better than BRAX. Mcintosh, eh, same products for over 10 years if not more. i have heard them, they are nice, but fall short against other high end amps.

what kind of features are you looking for in a radio? do you care about processing in the radio? for instance built in crossovers, eq, time alignment?

mb quart is too harsh and lack midrange detail huh? well, Lotus by SEAS reference seem to fit your needs. they offer either silk or fabric, if you are high end home audio guy, im sure you have heard of SEAS. the tweeters are not harsh and it offers one of the most detail midrange in a speaker. the Lotus midrange and midbass are the same driver as the Excel line but in a 4 ohm impedance configuration rather than the 8 ohm. it also utilizes a weather coating to protect it from moisture and sunlight, copper short ring to minimize distortion and can handle lots of power. it offers the least amount of distortion ever tested in a speaker by car audio electronics magazine. if you are looking to some serious audiophile speakers, look into these.

where are you located by the way?

Audison, eh, been there done that. they fall short when compared to brax and tru. when people are looking to compare a brax or tru amp to something, audison usually is not on there list of amps to compare it to.

 

http://www.butleraudio.com/

Check 'em out.......

 

hey, MR_ASDF that must be you on ECA selling the Brax.

I'm there too and other car audio boards. same user name

 

McIntosh.

 

Looks like I have some researching to do!

It's so tough (AND exciting!) to choose all the components to make up a full system..and make it all work! I've been working on my home system (2 channel) for almost 10 years and everything in my 'main' system has been changed and upgraded at least once, including I/C's...and I'm still working on it! It's a pretty damn expensive hobby ;-)

Back to car audio...I'm researching Brax, tru, and butler audio and looking at a few other amp options.

Any suggestions for HU's that have a hifi DAC and 8 volt outs w/out an opening front? No need for any fancy 'features' like built in x-overs etc...

I remember Clarion having a really nice HU about 10 years ago. Very simple design and NO internal amp (which is what I want)...unfortunately I cannot remember the model.

Any other amps worth taking a look at?

Thanx,

Jon