[Bob]

I bought a very cheap head unit for my second car and I have found that
it's internal amp is not nearly powerful enough for my tastes, so I
would like to add an external 2 channel amplifier. I don't need
anything fancy or overly powerful. 25 clean watts per channel would be
fine and line inputs that would work well with the 2 volt line outs of
the head unit. Under $75 would be ideal.

Thanks!
Bob

[MOSFET]

Ebay Ebay Ebay

That's where you need to go. I have picked up some AMAZING deals on amps
there. As summer draws to a close, you will find car audio products will
begin to get cheaper on Ebay. Now is still not the best time for buyers,
but there are ALWAYS deals to be had.

If you live in a city or near one, you may want to restrict your search to
your area, that way you can save on shipping by picking up the amp in person
(this is what I usually do as I live near Seattle).

I have yet to buy a DOA amp on Ebay (though have bought a couple crappy
EQ's). If you stick to the better brands, these amps tend to last FOREVER
(no moving parts) so even an older amplifier should fit the bill.

Good luck,

MOSFET
"Bob" wrote in message
...

I bought a very cheap head unit for my second car and I have found that
it's internal amp is not nearly powerful enough for my tastes, so I
would like to add an external 2 channel amplifier. I don't need
anything fancy or overly powerful. 25 clean watts per channel would be
fine and line inputs that would work well with the 2 volt line outs of
the head unit. Under $75 would be ideal.

Thanks!
Bob

[Bob]

Thanks MOSFET...I will check Ebay out.

On another forum someone recommended a refurbished Profile 400SX (rated
at 100Wx2 RMS) for abouot $60 shipped, but I'm a little leary of buying
a brand I know nothing about. Any comments on Profile amps?


In article ,
MOSFET wrote:
:Ebay Ebay Ebay
:
:That's where you need to go. I have picked up some AMAZING deals on amps
:there. As summer draws to a close, you will find car audio products will
:begin to get cheaper on Ebay. Now is still not the best time for buyers,
:but there are ALWAYS deals to be had.
:
:If you live in a city or near one, you may want to restrict your search to
:your area, that way you can save on shipping by picking up the amp in person
this is what I usually do as I live near Seattle).
:
:I have yet to buy a DOA amp on Ebay (though have bought a couple crappy
:EQ's). If you stick to the better brands, these amps tend to last FOREVER
no moving parts) so even an older amplifier should fit the bill.
:
:Good luck,
:
:MOSFET
:"Bob" wrote in message
...
:
: I bought a very cheap head unit for my second car and I have found that
: it's internal amp is not nearly powerful enough for my tastes, so I
: would like to add an external 2 channel amplifier. I don't need
: anything fancy or overly powerful. 25 clean watts per channel would be
: fine and line inputs that would work well with the 2 volt line outs of
: the head unit. Under $75 would be ideal.
:
: Thanks!
: Bob
:
:

[MOSFET]

"Profile" is typically considered a middle to lower end brand. But then
again, among the four amps I use I have a Jensen and a Prestige amp in my
system (along with a vintage Rockford Fosgate and Soundstream amp) which are
generally considered low end brands but I have been VERY pleased with both
of those amps. So I wouldn't say stay away from Profile.

In fact, I tend to believe that all amplifiers sound the same, especially
given the fact that in a car environment you have all sorts of other noise
like wind, engine, road, etc. So even IF there are subtle differences in
sound quality, you just won't hear them (unlike in a home system where all
extraneous noise can be eliminated).

Instead, I think what separates amps are their durability. How well an amp
is constructed (internally and externally) is very important in a car
environment where they have to contend with great differences in hot and
cold as well as humidity. And, of course, if you are talking about
subwoofer amps, how hard they are driven and at what impedances comes into
play.

Profile has been in business quite a while so obviously they are doing
something right. I'm sure the amp would be fine, though $60 is a bit stiff
for a used profile amp of that power.

On Ebay, you may be able to find a used 100 watt X 2 amp from the likes of
Profile, Jensen or Prestige for much less (say around $20). For driving a
pair of front speakers, those type of amps should work great (if you were
driving a low impedance subwoofer load, however, I might recommend a
higher-end brand that can take greater punishment like JL, Precision Power,
Xtant, Phoenix Gold, MTX, Alpine, Rockford Fosgate, etc.).

MOSFET

"Bob" wrote in message
...
Thanks MOSFET...I will check Ebay out.

On another forum someone recommended a refurbished Profile 400SX (rated
at 100Wx2 RMS) for abouot $60 shipped, but I'm a little leary of buying
a brand I know nothing about. Any comments on Profile amps?


In article ,
MOSFET wrote:
:Ebay Ebay Ebay
:
:That's where you need to go. I have picked up some AMAZING deals on amps
:there. As summer draws to a close, you will find car audio products will
:begin to get cheaper on Ebay. Now is still not the best time for buyers,
:but there are ALWAYS deals to be had.
:
:If you live in a city or near one, you may want to restrict your search
to
:your area, that way you can save on shipping by picking up the amp in
person
this is what I usually do as I live near Seattle).
:
:I have yet to buy a DOA amp on Ebay (though have bought a couple crappy
:EQ's). If you stick to the better brands, these amps tend to last
FOREVER
no moving parts) so even an older amplifier should fit the bill.
:
:Good luck,
:
:MOSFET
:"Bob" wrote in message
...
:
: I bought a very cheap head unit for my second car and I have found that
: it's internal amp is not nearly powerful enough for my tastes, so I
: would like to add an external 2 channel amplifier. I don't need
: anything fancy or overly powerful. 25 clean watts per channel would be
: fine and line inputs that would work well with the 2 volt line outs of
: the head unit. Under $75 would be ideal.
:
: Thanks!
: Bob
:
:

[Deez Nutz]

I wouldnt buy off Ebay unless you are purchasing the items from an
online store. I have bought several items from individuals that once it
got to my home was broke. Not to say that you coudnt get your money
back its just that why by used when you can buy new for the same price
or close to it. Try this website I believe its GREAT.
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com I have bought some really
good stuff NEW at the same price I have found on Ebay used.

[Matt Ion]

MOSFET wrote:
"Profile" is typically considered a middle to lower end brand. But then
again, among the four amps I use I have a Jensen and a Prestige amp in my
system (along with a vintage Rockford Fosgate and Soundstream amp) which are
generally considered low end brands but I have been VERY pleased with both
of those amps. So I wouldn't say stay away from Profile.

In fact, I tend to believe that all amplifiers sound the same, especially
given the fact that in a car environment you have all sorts of other noise
like wind, engine, road, etc. So even IF there are subtle differences in
sound quality, you just won't hear them (unlike in a home system where all
extraneous noise can be eliminated).

Instead, I think what separates amps are their durability. How well an amp
is constructed (internally and externally) is very important in a car
environment where they have to contend with great differences in hot and
cold as well as humidity. And, of course, if you are talking about
subwoofer amps, how hard they are driven and at what impedances comes into
play.

I'll go along with some of this... my old Mazda GLC setup used a "Lear Jet"
(DEFINITELY low-end brand) 65x2 amp to drive a set of Alpine 3-way 6.5s in the
doors and Kicker 5.25 woofers in the rear panels, and a Rodek RA-230 (DEFINITELY
high-end, high-current, regulated-supply gem!) to push a pair of 8" Orion subs
in a spare-tire-well enclosure, and lemme tell ya, that system hammered pretty
good! Of course, the solid 1/4" MDF door panels really helped the bass up
front, but man... for an amp "rated" at 30x2, that little Rodek BLEW THE DOORS
(as it were) off the Lear Jet amp, rated at twice the power. I actually ran the
subs paralleled and the Rodek bridged for a while, but it kept blowing up the
power transistors (which, fortunately, were cheap and easy to replace .

In a field where "power ratings" are so highly vaunted yet so often meaningless
(kinda like the "megapixel race" in digital cameras), the difference between a
cheap amp and an expensive one can be a much more telling criteria. That Rodek
originally retailed for (I think) around $400 and had factory-installed power
wires that were 6ga.(!!!) and carried a 20A fuse, indicating just what kind of
current it was capable of handling... meanwhile, I recently installed a Pyramid
(BELOW low-end) "300W" (presumably 75x4) amp that a buddy picked up new for
something like $80, and it came with 18ga.(!!!) power wires and a 10A onboard fuse.

[MOSFET]

.... meanwhile, I recently installed a Pyramid
(BELOW low-end) "300W" (presumably 75x4) amp that a buddy picked up new
for
something like $80, and it came with 18ga.(!!!) power wires and a 10A
onboard fuse.

Don't get me wrong. I CERTAINLY believe in the axiom "you get what you pay
for". Expensive amps ARE better than cheap amps, no question. My point was
that amps by makers like Profile, Jensen and Prestige, while not high-end,
can do a decent job if you don't ask too much of them.

True, cheaper amp makers tend to exaggerate their power ratings. There's no
question about this. But as long as you take that into consideration (like
buying a 100 watt amp when you really only need 50 and not running them into
low impedance loads), they can certainly be useful in ANY type of system,
IMHO.

Like I said before, there REALLY isn't an appreciable sound quality
difference in a car environment between a high-end amp, and a cheap one (as
long as you stay within a given power range at 4 ohms per channel). If
there were truly a sound quality difference between high-end and low-end
amps, I certainly would be singing a different tune. I would discourage
anyone from EVER buying a low-end amp. But as long as you don't ask too
much of a low-end brand, they can perform admirably (as my Jensen amp that
drives my McIntosh tweeters and my Prestige amp that drives my JL VR Series
6.5" rear-fill midbass drivers do). With both of these amps, I don't think
I ever push them past 20 watts per channel (even though they can do about 80
watts per channel within their rated distortion levels). I use better
quality amps for the "heavy lifting" in my system (subwoofers and front
midbass).

In fact, when it comes to subwoofer amps, I tend to recommend ONLY
higher-end brands that can take the punishment.

MOSFET

[Ericfg]

Bob wrote:
I bought a very cheap head unit for my second car and I have found that
it's internal amp is not nearly powerful enough for my tastes, so I
would like to add an external 2 channel amplifier. I don't need
anything fancy or overly powerful. 25 clean watts per channel would be
fine and line inputs that would work well with the 2 volt line outs of
the head unit. Under $75 would be ideal.

Thanks!
Bob

I'm looking for essentially the same thing and as Mosfet wrote eBay's
the place to be. I found a nice Kicker amp KX (or was it ZX?) 75.
It's rated at 30 or 35 watts and the price was about $50 + $10 s&h,
nib.
Alternatively, if you got good pawn shops near you you mightfind some
good amps in there.
I got my RF DSM4080 and PPI A-600 there and they've worked like champs
for 5+ years now.
If you do try the pawn route make sure the store tests their stuff
"before" the buy/loan on it. And ask them if they'll give some sort of
short warranty; just enough for you to get it to the shop and bench
tested. If they are a decent shop they will do that. If not walk out.

[Bob]

In article .com,
Ericfg wrote:
:
:Bob wrote:
: I bought a very cheap head unit for my second car and I have found that
: it's internal amp is not nearly powerful enough for my tastes, so I
: would like to add an external 2 channel amplifier. I don't need
: anything fancy or overly powerful. 25 clean watts per channel would be
: fine and line inputs that would work well with the 2 volt line outs of
: the head unit. Under $75 would be ideal.
:
: Thanks!
: Bob
:
:I'm looking for essentially the same thing and as Mosfet wrote eBay's
:the place to be. I found a nice Kicker amp KX (or was it ZX?) 75.
:It's rated at 30 or 35 watts and the price was about $50 + $10 s&h,

How are Crunch amps generally regarded?

I found a new Crunch PZN2100 (75W x 2 RMS) for what seems to be a good
price ($43+ship) on eBay.