A $30 car amp for a sub? That won't work.

[bzb]

Funny story - well to me anyway. Stopped in Fry's today and spotted a Chinese no name "500W" amplifier for $30. DP Audio. Yeah, I know.

I figured I could pick this thing up for the truck, which hasn't had a sub in it for years. Left all the hookups in the back, though. Gives me an excuse to build an AT. I don't need monster amounts of power, I'd just like the subs to fill in where the door speakers (which I paid way too much for) are lacking.

I picked it up and looked for a manual - none present. Apparently none of them have them, as I cracked open a couple of the other boxes.

Specs on the box:

Max Power (Peak) 500 Watts
THD @ 4 Ohm < 0.5%
S/N (A-weighted) >90dB
Input Sensitivity 0.25 - 6V
Frequency Response 20Hz - 40KHz

Sure, whatever. So dude comes by and asks if I need any help, I tell him no, not really. He looks at the box I'm holding and says: "You really don't want that thing." I ask why, he says because they won't last 6 months.

"Why would you guys sell something that won't last 6 months?"

Sales Guy: "We have to carry the cheap stuff because everyone else does. Trust me, you want something better than that. That thing will be terrible with distortion."

"Well, to be honest, I don't care all that much about THD, it's for a sub in a rather noisy SUV. I'll probably cross it over around 90Hz and if I get a little distortion, I'm OK with that."

Sales Guy: "That won't work, I'm telling you." Proceeds to tell me I should cross over around 180Hz.

"Uh, OK. What amp would you suggest then?"

SG: "The Clarion right next to it is great."

"Uh, that thing is almost $300!"

SG: "You get what you pay for."

"Yeah, but I just paid $250 for a Crown XTi. You're telling me to power a single, 8 inch subwoofer, I need an amp that costs more than my Pro Audio amp?"

SG: "Well, Crowns aren't very good amps either. Sony and Clarion make far better amps."

At that point, I smiled and turned away. I bought the amp, hooked it up in my truck, and hooked up my T39 to it to test. Sounds just fine to me

On a good note, my buddy that was with me shed a tear, saying: "Aww, Bobby's growing up. He doesn't fight with the retail employees anymore!"

[Zack Brock]

Nice story, glad to hear that it actually worked.

Any idea what the actual output on that thing is? Plug up a meter to it and tell us

[sine143]

Yeah. Hell, if it looks like its going to work out for you I might go grab a similar piece for my sisters car! Shes got a birthday coming up, and a TAT would be a nice quick build....

[bzb]

I'll do that tonight, gotta find my multimeter. I'd imagine it's maybe 100W @ 4ohms, so with a 10 ohm load... what, 20 watts? After I finish out a AT, I guess I'll get closer to that "500W peak".

I popped in a DJ Magic Mike CD to see what it could do - I could only turn the gain up a little over halfway when the head unit was about 1/2 up (any louder and it's too loud for me). Any more gain after that, it clips pretty badly.

If your sis likes it really loud, I'd go for something with a little more power. It's not a concern for me, though, as I don't listen to it that loudly anymore. Just wanted that thump back.

Yep, I'm catching up to you old guys.

[Radian]

SG: "Well, Crowns aren't very good amps either. Sony and Clarion make far better amps."

Carry on...

At that point, I smiled and turned away. I bought the amp, hooked it up in my truck, and hooked up my T39 to it to test. Sounds just fine to me

No doubt. Nice job keeping your cool.

[SeisTres]

LOL, I'm getting flashbacks on when I used to post the the xbox forums and everyone had these horror stories from the Gamestop employees being complete idiots.

That's why, now, I do my own research and don't ask question to any of the employees working retail. Half of the time they have no idea what they're even selling, and the even if they do know, they try to sell you the things with the most profit margin.

[BrentEvans]

That's why, now, I do my own research and don't ask question to any of the employees working retail. Half of the time they have no idea what they're even selling, and the even if they do know, they try to sell you the things with the most profit margin.

Don't be so hard on the retail people. From my time as a hiring manager at RatSmack I know that retail scrapes the bottom of the barrel to get personnel. My hiring pool was comprised of people with experience in fast food and gas stations, and students of the local Nascar Tech school (of which I actually did have a couple of good employees, most were tards though).

Aside from being not the best suited people for the jobs, they usually get inferior vendor-created training that is full of inaccuracies. I remember taking my component electronics certification years ago and we literally had to just copy the answers from a cheat sheet becasue over 30% of them were just flat wrong, and you couldn't pass the test if you gave all the technically correct answers. For instance, Q: What is the function of a capacitor? A: To stop the flow of DC current. Oh, and up until 2009, component video and DVI were the "best" type of video connection.

Trust a retail person to do what's best for them, not what's best for you, but don't give them crap. Most of them just don't know any better.

[Greg Plouvier]

(of which I actually did have a couple of good employees, most were tards though).

Careful - Sarah Palin might be reading

[BrentEvans]

Careful - Sarah Palin might be reading

Flunkies are flunkies regardless of whether they're in nuke school or Nascar mechanic school. My best two employees came from there too.

And Sarah Palin can bring it.

[phil]

I popped in a DJ Magic Mike CD to see what it could do`q

EDIT: sorry, my son sat on the keyboard on my lap in the middle of posting.

[phil]

I popped in a DJ Magic Mike CD to see what it could do.

OMG, just flashed back to 16 riding around in my buddies '88 civic hatchback "booming" through town with the seat reclined back almost all the way!

Is that dude still doing stuff? I always attributed my later love of DnB, to his and others (KILO) music back then!

Thanks for the great flashback!


Edited for accidental profanity

[bzb]

Yep, he actually is a guest DJ at the Disney/Universal resorts occasionally! I think his last album was quite a few years ago, though.

I've been meaning to go see him (I love Disney, to boot) but he's always there on holiday weekends. I'm not down with going anywhere near Orlando during any national holidays.

And since I tested out my Crown XTi... I can't find my multimeter. Something tells me my 3-year old has something to do with its disappearance.

[Rockboy]

Careful - Sarah Palin might be reading



Wow - Really -- you had to go there !!!





RR