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386K views 9K replies 670 participants last post by  Malazan 
#1 ·
I feel like being all helpful and what not today. Soooo... what'cha got?
 
#2 ·
Why do you hate AP so much? Lol j/k...that's what this industry should be all about, man, helping noobs learn...:thumbsup:
 
#6 ·
Hi Taylor, what are your thoughts on Rockford amps, more specifically, the new CP line? I've noticed in a lot of your tests that you never use RF. I know you look for the best value so maybe that is why you eliminate RF. What is your favorite amp, what amp is most efficient, and what amp is the best value watt/dollar ratio? Thx for doing this. You are certainly a knowledgeable audiophile.

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#8 ·
Hi Taylor, what are your thoughts on Rockford amps, more specifically, the new CP line? I've noticed in a lot of your tests that you never use RF. I know you look for the best value so maybe that is why you eliminate RF. What is your favorite amp, what amp is most efficient, and what amp is the best value watt/dollar ratio? Thx for doing this. You are certainly a knowledgeable audiophile.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
Fosagte is awesome. Good, clean power. Overpriced for me though. I think there's better (or at least just as good) for less if you do your homework. If you're a set it and forget it kind of guy and you can find a great deal on one... go for it.

The other thing is they aren't versatile enough for me. I run stupid low ohm loads sometimes and I need an amp that'll take it. I'm pretty tough on sub amps. That's also why I don't use Kicker. Great amps, but not stable down low.

I can't tell you much about their new line. I think SMD has a huge RF following though. You could try to get some opinions over there.

The best amp I've ever owned by far is the RD D5. Most efficient would have to be SounDigital; although my MMATS was great too. Both have big power and easy on the electrical. Pricey though.

The best power to price out there right now is the SoundStream DTR line. You can find the 3400 for under $400 brand new. That's also a tough question because I buy the VAST majority of my stuff used. And as such, I also think PowerBass is an incredible value.
 
#7 ·
One more question, how can I keep my RF amp from running so hot? I am replacing my batt soon and have a 160 amp stock alt. I have the Big 2 but will be adding another ground to complete the Big 3 soon. Will those help? Any other suggestions?

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#9 ·
One more question, how can I keep my RF amp from running so hot? I am replacing my batt soon and have a 160 amp stock alt. I have the Big 2 but will be adding another ground to complete the Big 3 soon. Will those help? Any other suggestions?

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
Are you having voltage problems? Where does your voltage get to at demo volume? If you don't know, get a dash mount voltmeter asap.

Amps just make heat though. How hot is it? Like, can you hold your hand on it?
 
#10 · (Edited)
Tfade, I don't really have a question but


The thing I see about AP is that they are a middle of the road company producing/marketing to people willing to spend a smidge more than the guy who accepts whats in stock at walmart.

you don't hate Legacy/Pyramid/Scosche/Boss/Dual/Pyle or any of the other names which don't taunt you and cause you grief/headaches by having to read about how someone plans to build a monster 155dB+ car using 3 amps, 4 runs of Scosche 6 gauge one stock battery and no alternator.
ok i might have taken that a little far.. but you get my point.

is it safe to say you just don't like being annoyed?
 
#11 · (Edited)
Tfade, I don't really have a question but


The thing I see about AP is that they are a middle of the road company producing/marketing to people willing to spend a smidge more than the guy who accepts whats in stock at walmart.

you don't hate Legacy/Pyramid/Scosche/Boss/Dual/Pyle or any of the other names which don't taunt you and cause you grief/headaches bye having to read about how someone plans to build a monster 155dB+ car using 3 amps, 4 runs of Scosche 6 gauge one stock battery and no alternator.
ok i might have taken that a little far.. but you get my point.

is it safe to say you just don't like being annoyed?

Scosche is good wire.

I guess that's just it. Not the annoyed thing, but the middle of the road thing. It's neither here nor there but some people will convince others that it's worthy of thier time and money when, IMO, it's not. If you're on an AP budget, I don't think you should be so hard headed about buying new. And if you open up to buying used, there are better values to be had.

The other thing is that we all know those retarded ratings on Boss, Pyramid, et al are BS. We know that quality brands are underrated. AP is in the middle. It'll do a burst of rated power. Just enough to entice people into pipe dreams of $0.10/watt brand new amps.

And lastly... durability should be more important than the rating when shopping for sub amps.
 
#13 ·
I am extremely curious about the APK's. I was temtped to buy the 3500 on here a couple weeks ago because I haven't seen any really good (or any at all) tests on them and the board looks promising. BUT... the prices are in line with more proven amps of the same power and I'd be more inclined to go with those brands if for no other reason than the customer service.

Don't fret. I am sure you will see them start popping up in the classifieds. As we will see and hear more and more about the apsm failures.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I've seen RAVE reviews on both. The two really nutso SQ friends I have; one had the MS-8 and wasn't impressed. The other uses a Bit-One.

Personally, I'd go with a miniDSP. All the control for a tiny fraction of the cost. Autotune is the only thing lacking.

I have dual 16 band paragraphic and T/A on my HU and that's plenty for me.

I've run 3-way active, 2-way active, and 2 and 3-way passive. I honestly don't think 3-way active is worth it unless you are a hard core competitor. A dynamic 2-way active is where it's at if you have the control. But bi-ampable passives and a decent EQ can do wonders. For most.
 
#17 ·
do you have a good free box design(single sa-8 v1.75) for a s-10(not ext cab)? amp would be a jl500/1. a friend is too cheap(broke) to pay for ric to do one and asked me to build one for him. he has had a rough time in recent years and i told him if i could get a design i would build it for him free.
 
#20 ·
You need cutsheets or just specs? Without knowing his depth, it would be pretty tough to say. Probably have to do sub forward, port to the side. Long and skinny as pictued below.

.6-7 @ 32ish with 7-8sq in of slot would be nice. If you have some 3" pvc laying around, you can roll with that to make it easy.

 
#28 ·
I'll give the edge to the TSS there.

What is this bass bucket I've seen you speak of? Details please.

Also what's a legit score to meter with 4 sa8 v2s @ 35hz. I want to see where I can possibly be.
The "bass bucket" was an idea I had that F3M4 helped me bring to fruition. Tubes are super efficient and a 5 gallon bucket happens to be right at the correct airspce for an 8". I thought it would be fun to see what we could do SPL-wise with it.

Search my username on YouTube. There is a vid of me doing 148 with an SA8 and 150 with an Atomic 8 in the bass bucket.

I've done 153.8 with (4) SA8v1's in my SPL car. 147@35hz in my daily in a 4th order bandpass. Without knowing how much power you have or what vehicle, anything over 140db is pretty damn loud with 8's.

 
#25 ·
he would need more info such as vehicle specifics,size/type of enclosure,sub and port orientation,amp you are using,where you would be metering(sealed on dash,in the kick or at the headrest).....etc
 
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#26 ·
Not a question, but I run AP because I have 5 APSM's at the moment and they all treat me well with no issues. But the main reason I buy them is the fact that I build minitrucks and the small size and small pricetag (along with the reliability they have given me) make them perfect for my applications.

It's my budget equipment....what's your idea of budget equipment?
 
#30 ·
Not a question, but I run AP because I have 5 APSM's at the moment and they all treat me well with no issues. But the main reason I buy them is the fact that I build minitrucks and the small size and small pricetag (along with the reliability they have given me) make them perfect for my applications.

It's my budget equipment....what's your idea of budget equipment?
"Budget" to me is $0.10/watt clamped. But I normally buy used. I almost never pay retail for amps. i can count on one hand how many amps I have purchased brand new.

I have changed my vehemence against AP and I'm glad you are having luck with them. I just don't recommend them. I'd rather have a nice 1k that i don't have to worry about burning up than a apsm 1500 that I do.

What do you do for a living to be able to afford to buy all of the equipment that you test and play with? Seems like you've owned quite a bit of stuff lol.
I work at a plant. I have a lot of money tied up in gear that I've built up over time so I own quite a bit. Since I already own so much, I do a lot of selling and trading to move stuff in and out because I get bored with stuff very quickly.
 
#34 ·
if you absolutely had to run a ap 1500w amp(gun to head type thing)....which would you choose of these 2 the ap1500d or the apsm1500?
 
#36 ·
if you absolutely had to run a ap 1500w amp(gun to head type thing)....which would you choose of these 2 the ap1500d or the apsm1500?
Toss up. The AP has been around longer and I've seen people have luck with them. I clamped an Ap3k the other day it did fine.

I owned a mini and it was so... cheap. I couldn't believe it. It lasted all of 6-8 burps @ .5 and a week @ 1 before it gave up the ghost.

For daily, I'd get the AP. If I was doing a budget SPL setup, I'd get the mini.
 
#35 ·
Active question. I get that midbass/midrange should be crossed @ 80-2k and tweets from that up, But I don't understand slopes. Can you explain how slopes matter? What they do?

Also Gonna be running a 2-way active set-up I've got 100wrmsx4 channels to work with. What would you reccoment for 8's and supertweets? I've got my eyes on some PWX 8's and some of there new supertweets but don't know if I have enough power for the 8's.
 
#38 ·
Slopes are how "steep" the rolloff is. A 6db slope will be -6db one octave down or up from the crossover point. I like steep slopes from midbass to sub and a more shallow slope from mid to tweet.

8's are not the best option in a 2 way because they beam and/or break up before you get to your crossover point. If you're set on them though, get PA's. As far as recommendations... are there any significant differences in PA mids and supertweets?
 
#37 ·
i got to say nice thing you are doing here .

as for help i see guys these days running all kind of interesting boxes,i remeber when i got in caraudio years ago we had a basic sealed box,and bandbass box.

so my question what are the benefits of all these intresting new designs?
 
#40 ·
Back in the day, subs were optimized for sealed. I assume this was due to motor and/or soft part limitations/technology. Bandpasses used to be pretty common because of their increased efficiency. I'm glad to see they're making a comeback.

Today's fat ass subs afford us big power and small boxes. Love it. Remember when 1,000w was like a TON of power?

The advent of the TermLab becoming available has really pushed us to new heights with SPL because people can see gains or losses from different designs instantaneously. I also happen to think it's one of the downfalls of competition attendance because everybody knows what the other guy is doing numbers-wise and they're like, "meh. I'm not going for 2nd place."
 
#47 ·
I dont have a question right now, and I might not by the end of the day either. Will you write me an E-raincheck?
 
#51 ·
I don't have to fake it. IDGAF naturally. It's an incredible aphrodesiac, apparently.

Women need to know a man CAN make it on their own, but don't want to. "I don't care" attitude is just confidence in diguise to women.
 
#55 ·
I have an old model, like the first, 15" L7 d4 and the whole back seat of a Nissan 720. I like to lean my seat back a little so I have like 15.5 x 15.5 x 51.5 gross to work with. I have a AP1500 to push it. I listen to all kinds of music, what should I do for my box? I have two 6.5 two ways for each door, could they keep up? And do you think th ap would be reliable at 2 ohms?
 
#57 ·
I have an old model, like the first, 15" L7 d4 and the whole back seat of a Nissan 720. I like to lean my seat back a little so I have like 15.5 x 15.5 x 51.5 gross to work with. I have a AP1500 to push it. I listen to all kinds of music, what should I do for my box? I have two 6.5 two ways for each door, could they keep up? And do you think th ap would be reliable at 2 ohms?
My advice is to go to Kicker's site, get specs and then search for some online calculators and play with the numbers. Visualize what you want the box to look like and turn it into wood. I could just hand out a design to you, but there's nothing like doing it all on your own. That's the fun part for me. Building and testing new boxes. Coming up with some crazy design in my head and making it happen.

As for orientation, go with sub up, port to the side if you have enough room on one side. If you wind up needing the entire width, do port up.
 
#63 ·
With all your experience and knowledge, do you think later on you will be asked to become a moderator, ( I don't know how they are chosen). Do you even want too become a mod.
I'd be honored if they asked, but I don't really want the responsibility. Lol.
 
#62 ·
have any experience with fi btl n2's?
or what they like for a 4th order install?
 
#65 ·
have any experience with fi btl n2's?
or what they like for a 4th order install?
I had a pair of the 12's. Still have one. It likes a laeger box than I would have thought. It gets loud. Handles power like a champ. Not the best sounding woofer I've ever heard.

WinISD will be zero help with that driver. And I don't have any programs. I can guess at one for you if you like, but you might be better off in the 4th order thread.
 
#67 ·
AQ amps are awesome. Never had the 1200, but I've had about 8 of the 2200's. Do rated without breaking a sweat. Good protection. Great power supply. It's a less beefy DD.
 
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