Hey there

due to my discontent with my rockford for SQ i am considering buying an audison amp to power my dyns.

Would it be better to go for a vrx 2.250 or an lrx 2.500. :? keeping in mind both SQ and power issues.

Also does anybody know who is the perth distributer for audison amplifiers.

Cheers
Adrian

It seems you have a fairly healthy budget considering the amps your looking at


Have you had a look at others such as Phoenix Gold, Tru Technology, or even Zapco?

Phoenix Gold: www.phoenixgold.com available from FHRX (www.fhrxstudios.com.au)
Tru Technology: http://www.trutechnology.com/ available from Raw Audio (www.rawaudio.com.au)
Zapco www.zapco.com available from Raw Audio once again..

Worth a look anyhow, always good to keep your options open

Darren Kwok from Technik Car Audio in Willeton is perths only authorised dealer, i deal with him on a weekly basis and hes a sensational bloke. Tell him James sent you and im sure he'll look after you

I personally run a 2.500 and was amazed at the difference (increase) in SQ over and above my old DLS Ultimate series amplifier (which is regarded as one of the worlds best amps)

I would personally go the 2.500, imo the greater head room is better than the higher quality of the VRX.

The 2.500 and Dyn package is a highly trusted comibination for great SQ

Good luck with it

FHRX can also help you out with audison gear...

and I can help you out with a S/H zapco if you look in the FS section

Would you really notice a difference?

Assuming that the Rockford that you have is of a similar power rating to to Audison (Or other amp's) power ratings, I think that your money, dollar for dollar, will be better spent on with better speakers, or a better installation of the current speakers.

I think that unless you give the speakers more power, which would hardly be the RF amps fault, you will struggle to find much difference and any difference you will find, may be due to the placebo effect.

Shiny_Car's rule of thumb is to find something twice the cost before you upgrade...

Or something like that :tony:

he asked for the PERTH distributer :roll: :roll:


Ive heard many cars switch from amplifiers with similar power and the Audison definately did sound better, not saying that the audison is the only amp that would sound better, cus many others will, look at Boston/Zapco and Tru Technology aswell RF isnt really known for SQ afaic. the 2.500 offers extremely good value for money, in a very attractive package

We often mail order stuff around the country dude.

What is the current price for the Lrx 2.500 by the way ppl, as this will be my front stage amp i am sure of that its just a matter of time now and oh yeah money....


SSS_Hoon

They retail for $799.

We have them for sale for $679 at the moment.

if you consider a 4ch LRX, for maybe running rears also, let me know i have a nice LRX 4.300 available for around $600

i run my dyn system240's 'passively' off audison VRx amps. lovely matched combo IMO.

i started off using a VRx2.150. this was plenty enough power for louder-than-comfortable performance (2x110WRMS on tap). so if you can't afford the bigger 2.250 you mention, then this is definitely worth considering. for everyday listening and SQ, the 2.150 has enough power; sure, more power will make them go louder...but why you'd need that i'm not sure. :wink:

i currently run them off 2 channels of a VRx6.420 (until the active setup is installed). they now have 75WRMS on tap. again, this is plenty for daily use. full power is available at '35' on the dial of my alpine HU. i typically listen to the system when driving (ie: have to overcome roadnoise) around 18~24 on the dial; again, demonstrates that the amp is powerful enough for my daily needs. full power is definitely loud; but not uncomfortable and not overpowering the dyn's.

IMO, the VRx series is a step up again from the LRx amps. but as is the case with the remainder of car audio, you pay a lot more for 'not much' more improvement. and as DrE mentioned, it's probably around double the money to get the noticable improvement; whether you consider that worthwhile is up to you.

what would i expect to pay for an lrx 2.150 ?

Well they retail for $599. (You'll find this on our products page).

Being a CAA member you can expect it quite a bit cheaper. Email me for details on fhrx777@bigpond.net.

im very interested, how much cheaper can i be looking at and what do i have to do to get it cheaper, where do i have to buy it fomr or who do i have to mention?

Should I buy Audison LRX 4.300 over a Phoenix Gold Ti 500.4 ??

Take price out of the equation...

What about Zapco and Tru Tech? Arrghhh so many brands!!!!

Have you considered buying better speakers?

I can't comment about Audison over the PG Ti, but you can ask 'conceptor' about how he found the Tru Tech over the Ti.

Zapco and Tru Tech are among the best amps available!!! Zapco has been the no.1 choice among the majority of IASCA SQ winners - I can email you the facts and figures if you like.

Tru Tech is breaking the mold for car audio amps - I challenge you to find a better amp (in terms of power output and stability, components used, build quality and "SQ") for the same price.

Regards,
Mo

Buy my lrx 4.300, i need to sell it - cos i bought my new gear today and i have to finance it ARGHHH!

whilst i realise zapco is indeed excellent, let's consider what series zapco is being favoured by such SQ winners. are they accessable to the mere mortal enthusiast?

i believe zapco have a number of series of amps, from so-called 'entry' level (obviously different brands offer different quality entry level amps) up to audiophile. so to be fair, one needs to consider the equivalent price-point amps. ie: audison LRx vs zapco 'X' series.

i'm not at all suggesting zapco is not competitive or even superior, more that there's zapco and there's zapco. same as there's audison SRx vs LRx vs VRx.

Hey Shiny,
Yes, there is Zapco and theres' Zapco - I agree. Zapco have 3 lines of amps (their website needs updating), the i-force range (new for this year),
the Reference range (retail prices from around $848 to $1,888) and the C2K range (retail prices from $1598 to $7888- thats the spl amp).

I should point out that both the Reference and C2K amps are widely used by SQ competitors and the amps are 'off the shelf' ( i.e. not modified).

Regards,
Mo.

The funny thing here is you have a good amp as it is...
Is it just power and more loudness you are looking for?, I would change the amp as a last resort, I mean if your changing good equipment for good equipment you must have plenty of dought to shell out on maybes or your install, speaker positioning and tuning etc...must be absolutely spot on
Before spending more money on what may be an uneccessary sideways move try eeking the last ounce of SQ out of what you have.

and yes I sold Audison and Rockford side by side for about 18 months so I know they are both damn good amps I won't howver blow smoke up your bum and tell you one sounds better than the other.

Rottz,
There are lies, more lies and damn statistics, every manufacturer plays the our amps are in X number of winning cars game...and they all claim tecnological and build quality advantages over the competition...in 12 years I have yet to see anything truly far superior to many of the other good brands out there...not to say this doesn't happen but may times the products don't live up to the marketing departments hype...and that stands for practically every brand on the market

ok i am looking at buying the zapco reference series stuff... thats still good yeah?

I am looking at the specs for the Zapco Reference 360 (4 x 50W RMS)

It says 4 x 50W RMS Continuous power at 4ohms
4 x 90W RMS Continuous power at 2 Ohms
2 x 170W RMS Bridged at 4 ohms

Now being a newb and all, isn't that a little low to be powering say a speakers + sub combo where the splits require 80W RMS and the sub needs about 300W RMS??

Or is there something I am missing here?

I still think, like Roughcacutus that unless the Rockford is not doing something for you i.e power, fundtion, crossovers. Then your wasting your money with amps. Look at install and look at speakers.

you're missing some perspective. j/k :wink:

sure, the splits/sub will require their full power handling IF you intend to drive them to their maximum performance. however, that's WAY beyond a comfortable listening volume.

what you should realise is that you should only need around 30~50% of their power handling to go VERY LOUD, let alone uncomfortably loud.

as such, you'll find the splits will go as loud as you need for daily use with probably only around 30WRMS per channel. and the sub probably only needs 60~120WRMS to drive that pretty loud.

so unless you wish to go deaf quickly or enter SPL competitions, you won't need too much power. then consider that the specs of a top quality amp are probably underrated a little (ie: true power output likely to be significantly more than quoted due to over-engineering).

whereas a lesser amp may only just produce the specs quote for that amp. let alone a much cheaper amp may not offer its quoted specs at all under real world conditions!

if it's SQ you're after, then power specs are not the be-all and end-all.

Hey Roughcactus,
I understand your point of view. And just FYI, the figures that I was refering to we taken direct from the IASCA world finals 2002 and are not "marketing dept" figures .

Regards,
Mo.

Ps. Adrian, I appologise for taking your thread a bit off topic.

Cheers for the replies ppl, much appreciated.

One of the main reasons i am seriously considering changing the rockford is because of its lack of frequency tuning and (power) and also my dissapointment with the SQ.

It is the mid bass that i am most concerned with at the moment and the rockford doesnt seem to be able to provide solid midbass.

Do you guys think i should go for an EQ instead of a new amp in order to achieve more midbass and SQ.

Thanks
Adrian

Just a quick note to the NSW crew; I'll have one of our demo cars decked out with two new Zapco amplifiers this week if anyone wishes to come and audition them armed with a pile of his / her CD's.

Adrian,
how do you like the new Tru Technology T2.200? you made a great choice IMO!

...James

James,

The tru tech, is certainly a very warm amp IMO. Compared to the Rockford, well... there is no comparison. The Tru tech is a very nice sounding amp and the gamble of buying one certainly payed off.

The only issue i have is that the gain setting is extremely sensitive. I only have to turn it about 2 degrees above zero before it starts over powering the dyns, Extremely powerful! :shock:

Adrian.

great to hear Adrian, Tru make excellent amps!

...James

Never a bad thing :wink:

Personally, i'd go a VRx audison
I used an LRx2.500 and was not overly impressed with it, seemed underpowered (was running 2x350 prior to this, so that could be a reason) but now i have a VRx2.150...
This amp is worlds (imho) ahead of the LRx, the power, headroom, quality, controls, built, etc, is worlds apart. I've heard them pretty much side by side and the lrx (even though it has nearly double the power) was not as punchy/powerful to my ears
Just my 2c
Aaron