I'm new to car audio. I just picked up a pair of polk audio db6500 component speakers. These speakers don't work well with my avic-z1 and I am thinking about getting an amp. So just as the titles says, I need some info on what brand amps I should steer away from or maybe some amp review sites. Thanks in advance!

 

I have an Arc Audio amp, which I really like.
I had two Xtant amps and a Rockford Power amp, all of which I thought were decent.
I had a Kenwood amp that I did not like too much. I think any amp made by alpine, rockford, mtx, JL, or eclipse with 75 watts per channel should be enough for what you are looking for.

 

there are too many amps i tell people to stay away from

boss, soundtream, volfenhag, visonik, audiobahn and all related audiobahn amps (MA audio, swissaudio etc)...

at the end of hte day, tis better to recommend amps that work well and are relaible

b

 

Memphis, used to be fultron. Any name brand amp is pretty decent except for that sony explode crap. I have a kenwood amp thats been running good for over a year. Saw my friend yesterday that i sold my alpine amp and JL10" too, no problems on those for 5 years now.

 

never heard of boss... you don't mean bose? I dunno too much about audio..

 

No, there are Boss amps. They're usually sold at flea markets around here, but I'm pretty sure i've seen them advertised in Modified magazine too.

 

sweet! thanks for the info....any amp with 75 watts x 2 recommendations?

 

Can't forget Pyle!

 

I have had a JBL 600 WT going on 5 years now with no problems.

 

I had some good experience with Lightning Audio. They hit pretty hard and are priced well.

 

i was going through WoofersEtc.com, and there's tons of brands. so any more recomendations would be much appreciated..Thanks!

 

woofersetc: not everyhting is equally bad, but i would tell epople not to use these brands

stay away from:
Alphasonik
Audiobahn
Boss
DHD
Dual
DUB Mag Audio
Jensen
Kole Audio
Lanzar
Legacy
MA Audio
Nitro
Performance Teknique
Phoenix Digital
Power Acoustik
SPL
Visonik
Volfenhag

 

+1 Good list!

 

great list 16psibrick!!

 

+1

Sadly enough, I know of friends that ask me for advice on an amp, I tell them no but they end up buying an amp on that list anyway.

 

Thats a damn good list,also stay away from bazooka,that was one of my first amps,damn thing would easily overheat and go into safety mode and shut on and off,but I've had good luck so far with my orion 1200d,mmats pro audio 3000.5,also have a jl 500/1,jl 1000/1,and jl 450/4 but not installed yet,imo JL makes some of the better amps

 

Thanks for the post donut. I have the same setup as you with the Z1 and Polk components. I have not installed the polk components yet and am still waiting for a nice amp to run them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

you should set up a price that you want to stay in as well. Prices on amps go from very low to very high and you get what you pay for. Look at alpine for a sample of this. They make a crapy $100 amp that is something like 75x2 and then they makes there newest high line that is 75x2 and is around $600. See there and many classes that the amps come in like a D,A,B all that stuff. Your best bet to understand this stuff would be to go get one of the car audio mags out.

 

While working in car audio I actually saw one of these....needless to say....STAY AWAY!!!!


http://www.rockwoodhifi.com/amp.html

I always recommened people save up and buy higher end equipment from the begining.....it will sound better, last longer and you won't be wasting money by deciding to replace it....now like most people I am on a budget and cannot afford the US Amps and McIntosh Amps I once enjoyed....but you can still get good amps for a decent price.....best thing to do is post up the model numbers amps you are interested in and i'm sure people will offer honest feedback from there

 

checkout caraudio.com,theres a huge sale forum where you can find all kinds of great stuff