23 replies to this topic

[Dr DJ Choss]

Does anyone know of the differences between these other than price?

The 'on paper' stat's for the both of them are identical. Totally.

Could it be ?

[poid]

The difference as i understand it is that the components in the F409 are hand picked or something and so are better quality. This is supposed to result in better sound *shrugz*

[Spec83]

The main difference is that one is just your normal run of the mill v12 alpine (F-407), where as the other is an alpine status f#1 special edition amp (F-409). I would imagine it would have better internal components and mabe different crossovers??? There would probably be a fair price difference between the 2 as one is f#1 status which is top of the line...

[Dr DJ Choss]

US$300.00 difference between them...
bit of a risky move by Alpine there?

[poid]

The difference in AUstralia isnt as great though, because F#1 status is sold at a lower price. I believe that the F409 was around the $1100 mark.

It sounds good (i've listened to one and compared it to a Nak amp) no doubt, but i dont think its that much better. Its the old "differences between amps" thing again.

The blue LED's look cool though

[Winno]

Yes specs wise they are identical in their literature but the F409 is built using higher grade parts and with a leaning to getting better quality sound because of this.
The F407 is till a very nice amp. Good enough for me to purchase another one for my wife's car yesterday after owning one in the past.

[ March 14, 2003, 17:12: Message edited by: Winno ]

[Anonymous]

You would also find that although it is rated the same on paper it would go louder. this would be due to two reasons
a) the higher grade componantry would mean it will be rated higher on its birth sheet
b) because of the higher quality of componantary it will have a better reserve supply of power so will be able to reach the extremes of our frequency range with higher fidelity.

if you opened up the two you will probably find they share the same pcb and probably similar everywhere except build quality *should* be higher as will the componants. Sound differnece at the end though? probably neglegable difference, although once u get that high on the scale of quality any difference is still worth it..

[shiny_car]

yes, my understanding is a better power supply and better electronic componentary. so it's 'tweaked' for better SQ. whether it's actually audible will be debatable.

still, like many 'tweaked' components, improvements will be subtle, and probably requires equally good components to make an audible difference.

plus, the better quality makes for improved reliability and performance over time.

[Redav]

How does the 407 compare to the 307? I think the 407 is more powerful and is a 3/4/5 channel amp, but I'm guessing.

Redav

[poid]

F407 is rated at 4x40WRMS and is a 2/3/4 channel amp, not sure about the 307, i guess its a baby version

[shiny_car]

as its nomenclature suggests, the F307 is a 4x30WRMS amp (into 4ohm at 12V). nice little amp too.

[Redav]

Found me Alpine cattle dog. It's 30W x 4 at 12V and 50W x 4 at 14.4V. It's the 357 that's the 5/4/3, not the 407. When they quote 14.4V, does that mean the car is on and engine running? This is actually the amp I've got in my car.

[shiny_car]

Quote

Originally posted by Redav:
When they quote 14.4V, does that mean the car is on and engine running?

well, it pretty much means what it says. if you provided a 14.4V power supply the amp will produce (at least) 4x50WRMS into 4ohm.

caveats:
*most cars do not offer 14.4V with the engine on; most, at best, are around 13.8~14.1V; so in reality the rated power will be a little less
*alpine V12 4-channel amps are usually underrated powerwise about 20~30%; the supplied birthsheet will suggest how much actual power your amp will produce (at 12V) as measured by the factory; so you can scale it up accordingly for 14.4V or the voltage you actually deliver

[Winno]

The F407 also uses MOSFET output transistors whereas the F307 uses "standard" bipolar ones.

[Dr DJ Choss]

hmmm, oh well i'll not be paranoid bout my 407's then...