New amp for my sister's Durango

[altoncustomtech 773]

Some of you may remember the build I did for my sister in her 2002 Durango and the resulting review I wrote for her 12" DCON afterward, may not. It currently consists of a Kenwood KDC-X493 HU, Phoenix Gold RSD 6.5 components in the front, JBL GTO 6.5" coax's in the rear doors, the DCON all powered by a Hifonics ZXi8010 five channel amp. Now, I mentioned in the review that it was easy to reach the limitations of the amp and hear it through either the highs or the sub. We did a little playing around recently and connected that DCON to my Sundown in the van and there was a night and day difference. I would attribute most of that to the MAJOR headroom the SAZ2K has at 2 ohms over the rating for the sub, but even at lower volume levels it showed the amp seemed as though it was pretty limited on clean power. So that sparked a month long search for a suitable replacement five channel amp that would give better performance without breaking the bank. I ran across an amp that I thought would be a very suitable replacement, was at a fantastic price BNIB on EBay compared to the same amp at other online retailers, and was a brand that I've been wanting to try out for awhile so she ordered it. I thought I'd share the pictures of the new arrival, a Cadence F100-5.

I am really surprised by how heavy it is. Shipping weight was 22.8lbs and it feels it too. Should be a great amp for her if Cadence's reputation follows this line like it does some of the others.

This thing is rated 100wrms x 4 @ 4 plus 300wrms x 1 @ 4 or 500wrms x 1 @ 2 for the sub. Not a bad pick up for $170 IMHO and that even includes a 4AWG wiring kit that hasn't shipped yet.

[jcarter1885 995]

I sold my Sundown SAX-125.2 yesterday and ordered the Cadence F400-4 since I needed a 4 channel amplifier, its funny you posted this today. I liked my Cadence sub amp so i decided to try out one of their amps for my front stage. Your pictures look better than any that I have found online.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Awesome, hope the amps do you and her well. It will be my first personal experience with Cadence.

Thanx on the comment about the pics, though you'd be surprised to they were taken with a cheap lil Nikon L18 in what they refer to as PC resolution (1024x768). They did turn out good, but it wasn't even up on the 8MP it's capable of. I use that small resolution for two reasons, I don't need great detail for these pics and it keeps the picture data size small for quick loading.

[ricksi30 923]

Nice I've always wondered about their flash series. Let us know how it turns out.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Oh you know I will. I'm looking forward to checking out the Cadence brand for myself.

[ricksi30 923]

Oh you know I will. I'm looking forward to checking out the Cadence brand for myself.

I've been running a zrs 4 channel for years and love it.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Yeah but the ZRS is their high end series isn't it? I think, not positive tho, that the Flash series is a level or two above their budget series.

Either way I think it's going to kick the ass off the Hifonics ZXi8010 she's running now.

[ricksi30 923]

Yeah when I bough my zrs it was their top of the line 4 channel, that's why I'm interested in seeing how this is. At that price they could be some really nice budget amps. Audosavings has a flash series 1200 watt rms mono amp come up every few weeks for 100 shipped.

[dimpthepimp 0]

Ive got there 400.4 flash. Got er hooked up with some knu 4 channel rca. So far impresses with this amp.

[Randal Johnson 544]

Nice amp Sir ... interesting to see how it works out ...

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I was a big Cadence amp fan from years back. Still have one lingering around. Anyway, looking forward to your review with this new amp, as that is quite a good price for a 5 channel. The controls look to be well laid out.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Ive got there 400.4 flash. Got er hooked up with some knu 4 channel rca. So far impresses with this amp.

I'm glad to hear that. What did it replace? What about it impresses you the most?

Nice amp Sir ... interesting to see how it works out ...

My thoughts exactly. It looks and feels like a super solid amp. Should do very nicely.

I was a big Cadence amp fan from years back. Still have one lingering around. Anyway, looking forward to your review with this new amp, as that is quite a good price for a 5 channel. The controls look to be well laid out.

I thought it was an excellent price for a 5 channel, especially one with the power ratings this one has. It has one of the most interesting controls on it too, it can full pass the 5th channel. That could potentially make it a 300wrms x 3 @ 4 ohms which a pair of these would make a super high powered and versatile 3 way active set of amps with the right processor. Oh the possibilities, lol.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Are you saying 3 way active mono? As in an amplifier per side? That would be interesting.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Yep, that's what I'm saying. Not a big call for that or anything, but it would be capable of doing so and with a ton of power on tap that way too since the sub channel would be capable of 500 watts into 2 ohms. 300, 300 and 500 each side would be some power to have on tap for a 3 way active setup, especially doing that with only two amplifiers.

[jcarter1885 995]

Have you installed the amp yet? I get mine tomorrow, hopefully i can get it installed on Friday if it doesnt rain.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Not yet, she goes to college and works nights so it's going to be kinda hard for our schedules to work out, but she's talking like she may be able to do something this weekend!!

[altoncustomtech 773]

Well, the schedules finally worked out. Got her amp installed Tuesday. She took off with my cordless drill, screwdriver and digital camera in the back of her truck so I'll have to post pictures up when she brings my trailer that she borrowed back and I get my stuff back from her.

The Cadence is a great improvement over the Hifonics. The small amount of extra power and seemingly higher quality built unit worked out exactly as I had hoped it would. I spent a good 30 minutes listening to everything from country to metal before swapping the amps so I could make a fresh comparison. When listening to music the Hifonics amp would have issues across the board on the highs. It varied but the most noticeable issue was in the midbass region and lower. I think the bass boost circuit on the Hifonics amp was always giving a little bit of boost even when turned all the way down and with the onboard HPF on. Regardless the power limits of that amp could easily be reached. With the Cadence the speakers played with no audible distortion or stress up to and slightly above the levels that could be listened to with the Hifonics. As expected with almost double the rated power the DCON was easily able to keep up with everything that was thrown at it with no audible stress or distortion on the Cadence. From bass guitar plucks and drums in a host of Led Zeppelin songs, to the harder faster paced sound of Alice in Chains, to the dash rattling bass lines from Nappy Roots and Lil Wayne the DCON was flawless on the new amp. Even my wife was commenting on it which is always a surprise. Overall the improvements were exactly what we were hoping for. Everything is cleaner and sounds of stress from power limitations are gone. It is definitely $170 well spent.

[jcarter1885 995]

Nice, glad it worked out for you. These are some good amps for their price.

[Sencheezy 689]

Really glad that everything worked out for you sir. Please, don't forget to update with some pics!