Amp Rant

[mrogowski 6]

Ok, I'm going to make this short....

Who in their right mind would design an amplifier capable of producing upwards of 1000 watts of output, but supplies the cheesiest little friggin power connectors to run it?!

I just spent hours trying to figure out how to connect 4 gauge wire to a set of crappy little power connectors that could only accept 10 gauge at most. I finally ended up using a piece of airplane cable and cable sleeve to "step the wire down" to an appropriate diameter.

I was to two different "car audio shops" here in the city and explained my dilemma. All I got was a sorry, can't help you.

What do you guys do when faced with this situation?

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Someone makes adapters for this problem. PM johnecon2001. He'll hook you up.

Just curious, what amp is it?

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Stinger has 1/0 to 4 gauge and 4 gauge to 8 gauge. Unfortunately, they don't list the dimensions, so I don't know if it will fit in your hole. HA HA!

[mrogowski 6]

Orion 8004. Looks like I'm not finished yet either. I have two 2500d's that need installing, and from the look of them, they have similar cheesy connectors...

[Tirefryr 1,742]

That amp should have no problem with 8 gauge, so those adapters should work.

[slim2fattycake 85]

Orion 8004. Looks like I'm not finished yet either. I have two 2500d's that need installing, and from the look of them, they have similar cheesy connectors...

what do you think of the orion 2500d? im planning on gettin one but not sure.

edit.. i just remember it wasnt the 2500d but the 5000d which says its got 2500 rms

Edited March 29, 2008 by phi

[mrogowski 6]

Haven't used them yet, but from what I understand, they are good performers. Not sure if they are worth what folks on the forums are selling them for though...

[slim2fattycake 85]

Haven't used them yet, but from what I understand, they are good performers. Not sure if they are worth what folks on the forums are selling them for though...

about 600? well not in forum tho.

[mrogowski 6]

I'm referring to the 2500d, which normally goes for ~$450. A bit much considering its age...

[///M5 2,833]

Your 2500d is like the new 5000d, the puckers went cheap ass and changed the naming.

*unless yours is newer than I think Mark

[Adrian_D 520]

Orion 8004. Looks like I'm not finished yet either. I have two 2500d's that need installing, and from the look of them, they have similar cheesy connectors...

what do you think of the orion 2500d? im planning on gettin one but not sure.

edit.. i just remember it wasnt the 2500d but the 5000d which says its got 2500 rms

Stay away from the WCC 5000D.

Your 2500d is like the new 5000d, the puckers went cheap ass and changed the naming.

*unless yours is newer than I think Mark

The old 2500D (chromed one) and the new WCC 5000D are completely diffrent amplifiers.

[///M5 2,833]

/\ I meant their power ratings, thanks for clarifying though

[brent338 0]

the older silver ones are very similar to the new 5000d's. I have heard the newer ones testing a half a db higher. but I'll stick with my old crome one, it pounds, I could not imagine having two, that was my original goal as well. they have dual 4 ga. power supplies, I didn't find them much of a problem.

If you really dont like them, save up and get a sundown 3000d, its a beast. Or you could run the orion, save up and swap out later to the sundown... the orion should get you 400-500$ easily.

[Adrian_D 520]

New HCCA 5000D (which is a piece of crap if it breaks...and it does) :

Old, chrome 2500D (very similar to : JBL BPX 2200.1, Viper 2500D, Ground Zero 2.3000-stable at 1 ohm and tested by a friend at 59v @ 1 ohm before clipping) :

Totally diffrent amps.

Sorry for mixing up WCC with HCCA

[Tirefryr 1,742]

N

Old, chrome 2500D (very similar to : JBL BPX 2200.1, Viper 2500D, Ground Zero 2.3000-stable at 1 ohm and tested by a friend at 59v @ 1 ohm before clipping) :

Totally diffrent amps.

Sorry for mixing up WCC with HCCA

I have my BPX2200 in front of me right now and I can tell you it bears no similarity to the Viper.

[slim2fattycake 85]

New HCCA 5000D (which is a piece of crap if it breaks...and it does) :

Old, chrome 2500D (very similar to : JBL BPX 2200.1, Viper 2500D, Ground Zero 2.3000-stable at 1 ohm and tested by a friend at 59v @ 1 ohm before clipping) :

Totally diffrent amps.

Sorry for mixing up WCC with HCCA

ok sorry i dont understand this very well, but could you break it down for me the bad of the hcca vs the good of the wcc of their internals?

i dont know what to look at. the only thing i can see is the hcca is more cluttered. i actually think that the hcca looks more beefy but what do i know. plz show me the way..

[Adrian_D 520]

N

Old, chrome 2500D (very similar to : JBL BPX 2200.1, Viper 2500D, Ground Zero 2.3000-stable at 1 ohm and tested by a friend at 59v @ 1 ohm before clipping) :

Totally diffrent amps.

Sorry for mixing up WCC with HCCA

I have my BPX2200 in front of me right now and I can tell you it bears no similarity to the Viper.

Do you have a schematic nearby, so we can talk in more detail ?

Not trying to be a smartass at all, just pointing out some facts. Real facts.

I have the GZ and JBL schematics to cross-check. And I also have a Viper sitting on my desk.

Back to the hcca vs old orion :

Yes, the hcca is a lot beefier, but it has a lot of unnecesary complications, like the anti-theft protection, gain limiter and other gimmicks. In the event something breaks, fixes aren't easy. (2 of those are giving me a lot of heaches) I've seen 2 cases of people over here that sent their hcca 5000D to the UK, to get fixes. Only to break again without a good reason...

[mrogowski 6]

Yes, I'm referring to the older Orion 2500d - the chrome one. I haven't looked at the amp lately, but I recall seeing the power terminals were definitely not capable of accepting 4 gauge wire...

Looks like I'm going to the store for more airplane cable...

[Tirefryr 1,742]

N

Old, chrome 2500D (very similar to : JBL BPX 2200.1, Viper 2500D, Ground Zero 2.3000-stable at 1 ohm and tested by a friend at 59v @ 1 ohm before clipping) :

Totally diffrent amps.

Sorry for mixing up WCC with HCCA

I have my BPX2200 in front of me right now and I can tell you it bears no similarity to the Viper.

Do you have a schematic nearby, so we can talk in more detail ?

Not trying to be a smartass at all, just pointing out some facts. Real facts.

I have the GZ and JBL schematics to cross-check. And I also have a Viper sitting on my desk.

No schematics and I wouldn't know enough to understand them anyways. I just know the components on this board and their layout in no way resemble the Viper or Orion. I can't speak for the GZ as I've not seen it.

And please, do tell on the facts. I'd love to know!

[mrogowski 6]

Ha! Good luck at trying to get schematics from Orion. Getting blood from a stone would be easier...

[slim2fattycake 85]

Back to the hcca vs old orion :

Yes, the hcca is a lot beefier, but it has a lot of unnecesary complications, like the anti-theft protection, gain limiter and other gimmicks. In the event something breaks, fixes aren't easy. (2 of those are giving me a lot of heaches) I've seen 2 cases of people over here that sent their hcca 5000D to the UK, to get fixes. Only to break again without a good reason...

are they giving you headaches because they are troublesome? and to get the orions fixed, you gotta send it to the UK?

[Adrian_D 520]

Back to the hcca vs old orion :

Yes, the hcca is a lot beefier, but it has a lot of unnecesary complications, like the anti-theft protection, gain limiter and other gimmicks. In the event something breaks, fixes aren't easy. (2 of those are giving me a lot of heaches) I've seen 2 cases of people over here that sent their hcca 5000D to the UK, to get fixes. Only to break again without a good reason...

are they giving you headaches because they are troublesome? and to get the orions fixed, you gotta send it to the UK?

They are giving me heaches because of Orion's gimmicks failed and nobody knows what controls what. We can send them to the UK because we're in Europe

@ Ryan :

Yes, the layout is diffrent and there are a couple parts here and there missing in the JBL, but the internal schematic is the same. Heck, I've worked on the Viper using the JBL schematic

[sqguy 0]

The wire resistance is a factor of distance, so the small wire (that should be much larger than your fuses) going into the amp should not matter unless it gets hot. Just size it up close to the amp.

As far as new amps I don't like the type with vertical transistors as some break off but its not that big a deal. I would not mount any of them where they might vibrate, and they are harder to fix if a smaller circuit goes away. Indeed some companies are much nicer to work with as far as support. I've had help from Maxxonics and Lightning Audio they were very nice people compared to some others. Most have the amps made in China and people here know nothing about them or just will not help you, or there is nobody but marketing people here. Some of these companies (cheap amps but now mid level ones too) just toss return amps you see them on ebay all the time, because there is nobody here to do anything with them = zero support. 'Landfill amps' I guess.