Can anyone give their opinions please on the SQ of Boston amps?

I'm trying to decide whether to get another GT-42 to complete my install but would my money be better spent on upgrading to a higher level?

I really like the Boston amps.

You'd have to spend a lot more to really hear a significant difference.

Phil

As DD Phil says, Boston amps are good. They're well made like all Boston products and they're a good SQ amp in general. You'd be coughing up a lot more dough to find something that does the job better.

Thanks guys, yeah thats what I would think

I'm contemplating Arc Audio or Zapco and two four channel amps of either would cost over five & a half grand. For that kind of money I would want to hear an extraordinary leap in sound quality but I just can't imagine it

The reason I'm thinking about it is because I have these new Legatias and if you think of the old saying "A chain is only as stong as its weakest link" Could my amps could be holding my drivers back from their full potential?

When I look around to find opinions or what others are using I get a mixed message. Some people with Legatias are using the likes of Helix while others are ditching DLS for Alpine PDX. Would I be right to presume that Boston amps are higher or at least on-par with PDX amps?

OMG!

Boston > PDX

Phil

LOL having a little chuckle right now

PDX amps are Class D amps so IMHO they are not going to sound as nice as class AB

Just stick with your Bostons.

But new ARC's are tasty or Tru tech.

if your gunna upgrade go something good, Brax, Mcintosh etc.

If he can't afford Zapco or Arc Audio I highly doubt he'd be able to afford Brax or McIntosh as nice as they are.

Doug,

You seem to have a spending disease mate. You DO NOT NEED new amplifiers. The ones you have now are more then plenty. If you want to buy them, be forewarned that they will NOT provide you with better Sound Quality.

You have the speakers, you have the amps, you have the sub and you have the deck. There isnt anything more left to buy.

STOP UPGRADING!!!

What you need to concentrate on now, is installing. You need to start installing your gear correctly, and then follow that with tuning. You did pretty well with the Focals, and having the Legatia's you shouldnt need as much effort.

So stop buying $hit, and start installing it properly!!!

wise words matt wise words indeed

im in the same boat doug

From the reviews I have read, Boston amps, along with many are very very good. To get much better SQ wise the price almost starts to double.

I would prob put Boston up there with the likes of DLS Refrence, Audison LRX, Zapco Ref, etc etc

Anymore than this would be overkill for a car IMO ,in a house, perhaps its a different story.

I heard there was a Zed 4 channel going for cheap somewhere too....

apparently they're good for sq...

Yes I saw Charlies thread last night, very tempting

Fudd, thats the sort of comment that I was after and I like your thinking. If ya gonna upgrade, go all the way! ~thematt~ Thankyou, your comments are very helpful, but relax I'm just fishing around for opinions and I have already decided to stay with what I have. Installation has begun but let me explain a little further

The "BIG DECISION" about amps has to do with dimensions as much as anything else. The Bostons, Arc Audio and Zapco are almost identical in size. I want to finalise my install now but if I do upgrade in the future I want something that will slot straight in

The only thing that bothers me at the moment is whether to get another GT-42 so I have one amp for left and one for right or stay with the GT-28 for the L8's. The GT-42 would be bridged and give 250rms whereas the GT-28 is 200rms (the specs give power at 13v and 14v and it gets a little confusing)

So the senario is one option gives a little more power and complete stereo separation. The other has slightly less power and less separation but better damping etc (because its not bridged)

What sayest thou?

Damping is a useless statistic for an amp. Ignore it.

The power you are talking about is only 20-25% extra. It will never be noticed.

As with stereo separation, there is only so far it can go before it becomes inaudible. Don't forget, you still need acoustic crosstalk for stereo to work, and the limiting factor is not your amps. It occurs in the digital domain before the DAC.

Personally, I don't think you need anymore amps. The setup you have is more than sufficient.

I disagree

eh?
I would have thought the only place you want crosstalkk is at the point of the original recording - anything else is bad.

Fair enough Simon, I guess Ill have to justify my position now

Damping factors are given as arbitrary numbers. However, since damping is nothing more then load impedance on output impedance, and traditional drivers are not purely resistive, the load impedance changes relative to frequency being played. So now the damping factor is dependent on the frequency being played. Now the number given in the spec sheet is meaningless, because we have no frequencies to correlate it to.

Also, damping factor is calculated at the amplifiers output. This is by using the amps output impedance. So what is this output impedance? Such a spec always seem to be missing from the spec sheets so you can more effectively understand DF. The DF will drastically change though, as soon as you add a reactive driver and cable to the output of the amp. This we know.

Therefore Damping Factor on its own is useless. This is because we dont have the output impedance of the amplifier, the frequency it was determined at, and the actual figure of the 'dummy' load that was used to calculate it. That way, you can introduce your own load, and find out what the DF is for your system.

Therefore, a figure of 50, or 500 or 5000 means nothing.

Bridging an amp will change its output impedance, which will affect the DF, but will this have an impact on the system? Yes? No? If so, what impact? The transient response of a system is affected by the Q, which if we build the appropriate enclosure, is preselected by us. Therefore the 'sound' wont be sloppy, or fast, or whatever other fancy words people like to use to describe it unless the Q changes!!

As for the crosstalk, I meant in the reproduction chain. Left and right are defined in the original recording of course, but when we reproduce it, its only perfect in the digital domain (or as perfect as it was recorded anyhoo). As soon as we convert over, crosstalk will occur. The limiting factor here is how much crosstalk was recorded in the original, and where that limiting factor resides. Purchasing amps to give greater stereo separation, because an individual unit with 'only' around 70db (approx. numbers for a standard amp), is a waste of money with most recordings these days because the crosstalk in the actual recording is the limiting factor. Thats what I meant by in the digital domain (in the reproduction chain, the limit is before the DAC, not usually after it).

I can hear everyone saying "Will this guy go away?" LOL but let me throw the spanner in the works, I forgot to mention the sub (I'm always so tired I can't think of everything so my appollogies)

The GT-28 was bought to drive the sub and if I buy another amp or amps it will be so the GT-28 is free to do what I bought it for. So the thinking is - if I buy another amp, why not upgrade?

Then I have to ask, do I need the sub if I have L8 Legatias? So many questions!

BUT

Just for the record (as of tonight) the amps are now installed - in such a way that if I change anything it will be such a hassle

SO

The Boston amps are staying for a long time but my sub ...


Thankyou everyone for your input, I feel a lot more content with what I have and look out for a new install thread with pretty pics

cheers


Doug

Yes you need a sub

Are you sure about that?

I didn't have them running together for very long, but I thought the G5 clashed with the subs in the front. But of course there needs to be more time spent on crossover points and slopes

I'm pretty sure Dave Brooks is using a rear sub but Scott Buwalda doesn't so atm I'm putting the L8s to the test to decide which way I'll go

I just had another gander at Dave's install pics. Those Helix and JBL amps, mmmm yum yum...I gotta stop looking, its probably what started this thread in the first place :rolleyes:LOL

Just thought this would be worth a mention

A while back I was asking questions about my Boston GT-42. These amps have two 4 guage cables for power and two for earth. People said it should be okay to use just one of each. But I'm now using all of them and I'm sure it makes quite a difference. There just seems to be more power on tap

Why would people move from dls to pdx.....

Dls make some of the finest amps. As people have said, the pdx are class d, I wouldnt really want that running a full range front stage.

Never heard a boston amp, I assume it would be fine.

Personal Preference.....

The reason in this case is to save space but I nearly choked when the guy asks "I won't be sacrificing any SQ though will I?" Here's the thread if you're interested in an amusing read
http://www.buwaldahybrids.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2719

The guy had already bought the amps when I read the thread so I didn't comment