Oh, and another thing....if you are that worried about the warranty.....

fill out the car that comes with the amp, and sent it in. If you ever have an issue, you can just say it was a gift.

Besides, a good company will stand behind their product, no matter where you got it from. Jim got his amp replaced from soundstream, although he didnt get it from an authorized dealer, and I was gonna get my Audiobahn replaced. A good company knows that where you got the amp, has no effect on the amp itself.

 

Damn! If that amp isn't right for my setup, then I can't be doing that!

Well, what about doing this:

1) Clarion 745
2) Focal 165KP
3) Audison (85x2, 310x1)
4) Eclipse 10" aluminum sub

I better hold off on having this done tomorrow if what they recommended isn't going to work right.

Okay, well, scratch the JL Audio 500/5 from the list.

Maybe I will contact acaraudio.com and just order the stuff from them and be done with it (and save more money).

Dammit man! They might hassle me on not buying stuff from them. We'll have to see.

So close...yet so far away!

 

I highly suggest the Alpha. For the price, its great. The customer service Ive been getting from Acaraudio is great. The audison....lower line....isnt any better. I would say its lesser or equal, with less power, and more money. Be smart about it. There really is no reason for it. The Alpha is comparable with the mid line audison...which is A LOT more money. Save those amps for when you get a car like an S500, where the tiny little soundquality can actually be heard. This is the main reasons why Im very happy with my setup. I can go and spend 1500 on an Audison, but why? So I can lose the clarity over my exaust??? Waste!

If the shop tells you something, tell them you wanted this amp, and they just dont carry it.

Also, as you know, JL pays the highest commissions, Memphis is a close second. Sounds like this shop is trying to make themselves some extra money. I HAVE NEVER been disappointed with online electronics....Ive purchased well over $40,000 dollars worth of audio/video online. Never once have I had a problem.

The Audison will give you 75x2 @ 4ohms....which is enough, but you still have another 30wrms you can safetly give to the focals.

The sub....315 isnt really enough, and then you might need to change the sub you are getting....so.....its like dominoes.
The best price on the Audison is $479, which is considerably more expensive then the Alpha. If you get the Audison, you still didnt buy it from your shop, so they still might cry.

Next issue....a 3 channel amp is nearly impossibe to sell....very few cars have only 2 speakers....so you pretty much have no chance of selling it, like a 4 channel amp.

The Audison LRx4.300 is about 1/2 the power of the Apha, but costs 559 (a good deal), clearly this is purely SQ amp.....something an s2k cant take advantage of.

The only amp Audison makes that relates to the Alpha in terms of power, is the Vrx 300, which is 1300+ dollars (a deal....retail is over 2 grand)....
So as you can see, out of the question.

Stop second guessing, and go with your first instinct. I had the exact same thing as you (should I get this, this this or this)...but finally make a descision, and couldnt be happier.)

Trust me, youll save money, and have a bigger smile. If you dont like the amp, Ill take it off your hands.

 

Also...the Clarion is fine. I push alpine due to their lovely Ai-Net...but clarion has CeNet, so I guess its cool. Clarion is sirius though, so something to consider (if you wanted XM)

But that doesnt really matter.

 

I see what you're saying. The shop recommends the Audison over the Memphis (even though they cost the same) because it has "better sound quality" and will be much better than a lower-level amp with the same or slightly more power. But I understand how, in the S2K, it may not be worth the money compared to the Alphasonik.

Cool, Clarion is good to go, and I'm doing the Focals and 10" Eclipse, I just need to get a different amp for my setup.

Of course, I could always go with the Audison for now. If I don't like it, they will take it back, then I could get the Alphasonik and have it put in (and it costs less).

Hmmmmm....that's an option. I will contact acaraudio to see about ordering and what they have available to ship now vs. what they will need to get from the manufacturer.

Good info once again.

Oh yeah, Sirius is fine with me. I'm not sure if one is really better than the other, and from those who have both, they liked Sirius more anyway.

 

Acaraudio has all alphasonic gear. No shop can order from the manufacturer unless they are authorized dealers, so If they get it directly from Alpha, then its authorized.

Next, and please take this as advice, not me "hating"...


Based on what you stated, I now conclude your shop a "chump shop"

Why? Here is why....

Ive done a lot of corporate reading, and many companies, including Focal, Audison, Brax, etc...DO NOT ALLOW THE RESALE OF AN OPEN ITEM AS NEW.

There is no way your shop will take back your amp after it has been in your car..they are losing massive money. So either they are

a) a$$holes for lying to you
b)a$$holes for selling your used amp to the next guy as new
c) a$$holes for selling you a used amp, only now, you are the next guy.

I dont think your shop understands the amount of ambient noise the s2000 makes, thus making ALL high end amps useless. You need good, clean, muscle for the s2000.

If you dont want an Alpha, thats fine, but get something thats 150x4 @ 4ohms. Phoenix Gold, Whatever. Alpha just happens to be the perfect amp for your setup.

They are just trying to sell you something that they can push for money money...its clear as day. You should never take advice from anyone who has a potential to profit from you. These mistakes cost a lot of money, so do it smart, and do it right the FIRST time. The audison is not worth the money.

 

I'm convinced.

See, here's the deal. The guys recommending the stuff are guys I know and responsible for selling the stuff. My friend that I trust doing installs does just that. He doesn't have anything to do with the sales. He just does great install work, so he has no bearing on what they have suggested, unless after setting things up, he sees that there is a problem with what was recommended and such. So they are pushing products to make money.

I will order the Clarion headunit, sub, custom enclosure and wires/installation from them.

I'll go ahead and save money and order the Alphasonik and Focals from acaraudio.

Then it's a 50/50 deal between purchasing stuff they have and stuff from somewhere else.

Sound like a plan?

I'm ordering in a minute from acaraudio:

Alphasonik 4150
Focal 165K2P's

 

I don't think they are lying about "taking it back," I just think they are willing to take a loss if I'm not satisfied.

I'm sure they could do this and sell the item as used later, or return it as "damaged" or something like that to the manufacturer. I'm not sure how they would handle that, as they didn't say anything about the details. They just said they would do what it takes to make me happy, and if I'm not happy, they will let me upgrade to something else.

 

Done!

I ordered the amp and Focals.

So I should definitely go with the Eclipse 10" 8102 sub, right? Will that be enough power for that sub? Just checking.

 

I tell you what, if you get the Eclipse sub and don't like it, I'll buy it from you in a couple of weeks. I need to start gathering my pieces. 2 MMats amps, a sub (was going to go with Adire Brahma, but the Eclipse is fine), and some Focal components.

How much are you paying for the Sub?