Digital Designs C4A Amplifier

Reviewed by Clinton Lea




Having been heavily involved in car audio for around ten years I have played with many a different amp.

Back in July 2006, I was talking with DD Phil and I arranged to get one of the next generation DD C4A amplifiers, it admittedly took a good while to arrive, but from what I understand, there have been manufacturing delays. I did spent a lot of time, saying to myself “this amp better be worth the wait”. Out of the blue recently Phil notified me to say he had freighted the amp down from QLD to Vic to my eagerly awaiting greedy little fingers.

The C4A is 4-channel amplifier; it’s rated at 4x100. The C4A is not CEA2006 compliant, however I certainly believe it would be every bit of those power ratings. I used it to run a set of DD 6.5 splits. The rear channels at this stage are un-used awaiting the arrival of my sub.


Installing:

Opening up the black cardboard box, I was greeted with a slab of sexy cool silver colored aluminum heatsink, I am not surprised that the heatsink won the coveted Hugo Proscutto Award for Spacial Industrial NeoClassical design. I appreciated the fact that the DD logo was CNC engraved to save 2.157 grams of weight (thanks guys, hey every little bit helps, hehehe). A simple plastic bag with an instruction manual inside, reading the manual there were a couple of simple spelling errors, but it was still clear and easy to read.

The power terminals on the amp will accept 4awg cabling and 12awg for all the speaker terminals. The C4A also comes equipped with twin 30amp blade fusing.

My wagon was already pre-wired with Stinger 4awg cabling and Lightning Audio RCA’s. Whilst the instruction manual says 8awg would be sufficient. I believe bigger is better. It was mounted to the floor; I screwed it down, as I didn’t want a slab of aluminum slamming into my head, regardless of how sexy the amp might look. The RCAs are mounted on the left hand side of the amp and the power connections and speakers terminals are on the right-hand side. This meant some re-configuring of cabling, no great deal. I must admit was a little frustrated with the terminal blocks. It required the use of 3 different sized allen keys. The power and ground terminals were one sized allen key connection. The remote turn-on was a different size and the speaker terminals were yet another size. Whilst only a small detail, I think it could have been easier to make the speaker terminals the same size as the remote turn-on screw. That or include the necessary allen keys in the box. That said once the cabling was inserted into the terminals the connections were solid and well covered by the plastic barrel.

The gain control and crossover arrangement were straight forward, with a simple pot arrangement. The input voltage pot advised it could accept up to 8v, which is a handy and welcome feature, these are located on the left hand side of the amp and clearly marked in gloss black, they strike a nice contrast against the silver coloring of the amp.



Powering up and gain setting:

Powering it up, I must admit I waited with baited breath, I have heard too many people say “Oh DD is loud, but they have a tendency to smoke” With mine, there was no smoke, no odd smells, no pops, we were off to a great start thus far. I was beginning to wonder, why there were so many DD haters out there amongst the net-dwelling community. I spent 5 odd minutes setting up the gains; I really appreciated the “clip” warning light it made the gain setting a no-brainer.


I ended up with less than quarter gain running the DD Splits; this certainly me provided a huge slab of clean power to run the splits.


Listening time:

Now on to critical listening time, I began with Alicia Keys- Karma, the mid-bass thump took me by surprise, I hadn’t heard midbass this solid and with such authority in quite some time.

Next was a personal favorite of my Piano Euphoria a dance track, with huge bass presence and electro-pop sounds, at times, I could have swore there was a sub in the wagon, I could feel the seats being pummeled with solid bass thumps,

Next was the latest offering for Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come, he is always know for complicated riff sections in his music, with dynamic bass and soaring vocals. I started with Show Me What Your Got, the saxophone at the start of track, sent shivers up my shine, l could envisage “Bleeding Gums Murphy” (sorry for the Simpsons reference) playing on my dash, beautiful, so far the C4A was showing its musical abilities. Then I switched over to Hollywood which features Jay-Z’s beautiful partner Beyonce on vocal, her multi-octave voice flowed beautifully through the cabin of my car.

Conclusion:

I think I love this amp; infact I do love this amp, so far it been nothing less than outstanding, gorgeous understated looks, to quote Jeremy Clarkson “the power is just immense”. Whilst it does very minor issue, the manual has spelling errors, the issue with the allen key terminals (a small detail, since all installers should have allen keys close to hand). I must admit I am really contemplating a mono-block to run the sub independently so I could run the splits actively, this upgrade might be on the cards.

A big thanks to DD Phil for freighting the amp down to me and for keeping me up-to date along the way whilst the amp was arriving. I think DD has scored another fan in me. Back to my original pondered it’s a resounding “yes” this amp was certainly worth the wait.

I suggest if you in the market for a 4 channel amp, to run a set of splits and sub, this amp is right of the money. Grab your cash, Amex or what ever it takes to purchase one. Speak to DD Phil and he will be able to point you in the right direction of getting one.

Go to www.ddaudio.com for more details.

Were the splits new, thus this being the first amp used on them, or were you running them on another amp beforehand.

If so, i'd sure like to hear some comments on the differences.

Clinton,

Your review was a good read...if I could make a suggestion though, maybe putting up the RRP would be a good idea.

Cheers,

Keith

The splits were the new C6.5's, there will be a review up coming on them soon.

No pics at this stage, will be forthcoming.

Thanks Keith, I will update the RRP, I wasn't sure at the time of writing.

Phil, can you advise here please.

Good review / write up Clint!

C4a

4x100W 4 ohm
2x350W 2 ohm mono

rrp $549

12 month replacement warranty.

Phil

^^ Thanks for the update Phil.

Do it people, buy a C4a, a killer amp amp at a killer price.

bit of a late reponse, but I must agree with TEGBOY,

i have just installed the c4a, for $550 it's an amp that's hard to beat, for power, sq, and price.



I must agree there, the added midbass is great, it actually shakes my rear view mirror now, and this is still with 100W per side, still need to bridge it for extra power!

The vocal's are also great, beautiful, playing out everything and some things that weren't as detailed in the other amps I used, stood in this c4a amp.



X2



Phillip

Always good to here i always thought DD gear was just aimed at being loud and screw SQ in the anus. But by the looks of it DD do some great SQ gear. Question is does it go loud and stay clear? Thinking of one of these amps and some Boston Pro 60 splits. 

is the price still the same also any changes?

The C4a is being replaced by the C4b. Slightly bigger, more power, solid 1 ohm performance.

C4b is made in Korea vs C4a made in China.

Phil

C4b? Power specs?

Why all the flip-floppin around with three different (but all top notch) four channel amps in about 5 years, dating back to the original black and silver C4? I'm actually thinking about buying one of those orig. C4's, not from an audiophile point of view, but to run as a three channel config, and take advantage of the power acheived by bridging 3&4.

Is the new C4b going to give us anything new? 'Solid 1 ohm performance' into all four channels or bridged mode?

Maybe look at the S4. 2x100 and 2x200 or 2x100 and 1x700 or 2x200 and 1x350.....

Phil