My Taramp HD8000 Review

[Sencheezy 689]

Ok guys, here is MY personal Review of the Taramp HD8000

 

I personally own Three of them. I purchased two use from DangRebel here, and the third directly from Shizzzon. One of used ones from DangRebel went into protect immediately upon hooking up. And the BNIB from Shizzzon also went into protect while demoing Sunday afternoon while at Slamology. 

 

Here is a few pictures of my installation for Reference. 

 

On the chargers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to explain my experience in total. My system consist of One DC Power 240XP, 100ft of 3/0, Ten Batteries. I also should mention I run each amp at 1.5 ohm, the amps are the Two ohm version.  Now, the drive down to Indiapolois is about 5 hours long. For the better half of the trip, I would turn the gain up half way, couldn't take much more than that, (pressure wise). So the most my voltage would drop would be .1-.3 Volts. During some testing at the shop, we clamped 3200 watts starting at 2.7 rising to 8.1 pulling a little over 300 amps of current. 

 

The first time demoing there that Friday night, I was able to burn up 2 300 amp fuses while playing full tilt after 2 or 3 songs. Replaced the fuses, back up and running. 

Saturday, I beat ALL DAY. Was still having engine issues. So for 87% of my demos were at battery voltage. Since the engine was off, that also means no rear A/C to cool them, still no issues. Yes, they did get warm. On sunday, got warm enough to not hold your hand longer than 30 seconds. But again, it wasn't THAT hot lol. 

 

To describe how the amps are mounted. The rear wall is 3" thick of High Quality MDF. Which an another layer of 3/4" wood mounting plate is attached. Then the steel rack. Then the amps are mounted onto an 3/4" MDF mounting baffle, that is mounted onto the steel amp rack. Shizzzon informed me that there was still too much vibration, and wired too low, which is why the bottom amp failed. I was able to verify that the amps were indeed moving, but from what I could see, it was only becuase the truck itself was moving. Not much else I can do about that. 

 

So in sum, these amps, in my opinion, are the better choice for us in every aspect, EXCEPT durability. If you think of where these amps come from and their origin, it makes sense for what I see is their biggest flaw. These amps are MUCH more sensitive than Koreans. The output section especially. We had I believe 3 other Team IAK members whom amps failed as well. One was becuase the wrong gauge was used for the speaker cable. One was for no reason, there's mine, and one other. 

 

So, for advice for other users. It is ok to run these amps, they do power, cheap, small, and stupid efficient. To run these long term usage, have these key items.

 

2-3 Group 31s PER HD8000. Use the appropriate size for the output section. 8 gauge min. Ensure there is NO to VERY min. vibration. And wire to the proper ohm load. I wouldn't even risk burping lower than rated. Do not count on box rise. 

 

Please note, that the ENTIRE weekend I beat the living piss out of my system lol. Most people, demo for 20-30 seconds at most per demo. I would play full songs full tilt, had no issues. I played my system for at least 4-10 hours in total over the weekend. The amps gave me no issues until Sunday afternoon. Which was a much hotter day, maybe 5-10 degrees more. There was no smoke, just protect light. Yes there was troublshooting performed. Turn system off, let cool down, unplug everything, let cool down, remove RCA/Speaker cables, etc. 

 

Moving forward, I will Continue to run these amps. At four ohms each for now, then at World finals run at 2 ohms. 

[shizzzon 461]

You shouldn't have copied n pasted the review without correcting some things above.

all 3 other members amps failed due to legitimate reasons that will be confirmed sometime soon by the repair center.

amp #1 failed because 14awg cca was used on a 8k amp. Wire caught on fire and water was used to put it out.. probably fused to ground.

amp #2 failed because it was directly mounted to box with no vibration suppression and it was moving quite a bit!

There was no amp #3 unless you count yours.

the 2 ohm model you have was wired to 1.01ohms which is not recommended.

you kept dc voltage low which allowed the amp to stay within recommended values but because the amp was being used for so long, it started to get VERY hot! Something these amps should never get.

that and a combination of vibration = their death most likely.

vibrating and breaking parts inside is still #1 reason for amp failure in the world of car audio.

[Sencheezy 689]

I don't know how you wire 3 D1 subs to 1 ohm?

[shizzzon 461]

U told me u had d2s at one point. We could never measure the dcr because of the fets interrupting the reading.

so what was you really wired to?

.53?

I know u weren't wired to 4.8 because the current draw was too high.

parallel series would be ~1.3ohms.

[Sencheezy 689]

1.5

[Sencheezy 689]

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurationsm.asp?Q=3&I=12

[stevemead08 752]

These amps seem ok but after talking to shizzon about them, I almost seems you have very very narrow parameters in which they actually work. Good luck with them. That's a lot of money.

[nadcicle 77]

Last time I checked parallel series on 3 dual 1's was 1.5ohm?

 

Senchez always had d1 and only mentioned that he should have gotten d2 instead because when he gets all 3 amps that gives him

 

option 1) d1 = 1ohm (series/parallel) or 4ohm (series)

option 2) d2 = .5ohm (parallel/parallel) or 2ohm (series/parallel)

 

You blamed a lot on his install and I'd argue that it was just fine and well within your argued guidelines you set on your Korean vs Brazilian thread. I'd like to see any other vehicle using 16k worth of power not vibrate that little amount he was vibrating at the rear wall with 3 inches of enclosure and steel mounting and all. 

[jcarter1885 995]

Just like the car audio industry, they will always find a way to blame the user. I doubt it was user error and if so those amps seem to finicky to me, might put out power but for the headache it doesnt seem worth it. Hopefully it all gets worked out for you Sencheezy

[shizzzon 461]

For those that do not know the recommended requirements for longterm operation-

 

He has 2ohm model of this amp.

 

He wired below the stable load.

 

I am not referring to nominal loading.  I am referring to EXACT DCR measured values.  This is what counts, not estimates.

 

I physically measured the values(voltage and current) as i was asked to to ensure the amplifier was "safe" at playing.

 

I measured them and verified it was...  So do not speculate i am blindly accusing someone of failure for no reason.

 

While i was back there, i noticed a considerable amount of vibration from these amps to which i informed the user that this is bad for the installation.

 

There are plenty of things one can do to resist vibrations.

 

Longterm demos generated a ton of heat from these amps.   These amps are not suppose to ever get hot.... ever... .ever.

I was not around when these amplifiers were getting crazy hot.  

Simply put, longterm use below stable load had to be causing this issue.

 

I can give speculatory answers as to how I believe the amplifiers failed but what i say technically means nothing until the repair center verifies the cause of failure.

 

But from what i know, thermal failure and vibration failure are 2 possible reasons.

 

I do not accuse people of faults without any prior knowledge.. that doesn't make any sense.

 

It will probably take a good 2 weeks before Sencheezy gets the answers as to why they went into protect.

 

I cant say anything about the repaired amp going up..  That has too many variables.

But there were many amplifiers going into protect at the show last weekend.  I just monitor those i have a connection with.

 

It was a good review, nonetheless.

[Julian 641]

For those that do not know the recommended requirements for longterm operation-

 

He has 2ohm model of this amp.

 

He wired below the stable load.

 

I am not referring to nominal loading.  I am referring to EXACT DCR measured values.  This is what counts, not estimates.

 

I physically measured the values(voltage and current) as i was asked to to ensure the amplifier was "safe" at playing.

 

I measured them and verified it was...  So do not speculate i am blindly accusing someone of failure for no reason.

 

While i was back there, i noticed a considerable amount of vibration from these amps to which i informed the user that this is bad for the installation.

 

There are plenty of things one can do to resist vibrations.

 

Longterm demos generated a ton of heat from these amps.   These amps are not suppose to ever get hot.... ever... .ever.

I was not around when these amplifiers were getting crazy hot.  

Simply put, longterm use below stable load had to be causing this issue.

 

I can give speculatory answers as to how I believe the amplifiers failed but what i say technically means nothing until the repair center verifies the cause of failure.

 

But from what i know, thermal failure and vibration failure are 2 possible reasons.

 

I do not accuse people of faults without any prior knowledge.. that doesn't make any sense.

 

It will probably take a good 2 weeks before Sencheezy gets the answers as to why they went into protect.

 

I cant say anything about the repaired amp going up..  That has too many variables.

But there were many amplifiers going into protect at the show last weekend.  I just monitor those i have a connection with.

 

It was a good review, nonetheless.

Your posts make my teeth hurt.

[shizzzon 461]

ok

[stevemead08 752]

DCR is dynamic no?

Burp amps only?

[kirill007 52]

You shouldn't have copied n pasted the review without correcting some things above.

all 3 other members amps failed due to legitimate reasons that will be confirmed sometime soon by the repair center.

amp #1 failed because 14awg cca was used on a 8k amp. Wire caught on fire and water was used to put it out.. probably fused to ground.

amp #2 failed because it was directly mounted to box with no vibration suppression and it was moving quite a bit!

There was no amp #3 unless you count yours.

the 2 ohm model you have was wired to 1.01ohms which is not recommended.

you kept dc voltage low which allowed the amp to stay within recommended values but because the amp was being used for so long, it started to get VERY hot! Something these amps should never get.

that and a combination of vibration = their death most likely.

vibrating and breaking parts inside is still #1 reason for amp failure in the world of car audio.

Now that actually makes sense instead of what the OP said.("One was becuase the wrong gauge was used for the speaker cable.Use the appropriate size for the output section. 8 gauge min)

DCR is dynamic no?

Burp amps only?

DC Resistance.

That means it's not dynamic.

 

I find it strange that these amps, or other amps for that matter don't pay enough attention to make it physically solid so the vibrations won't kill the amp.

[95Honda 486]

I wouldn't get all hung up on DCR.  You have an overall system impedance (There is no such thing as "box rise", that is a made up term), that comes from many factors, mostly the box.  The impedance is always (ALWAYS) higher than the DCR.  The OP has no idea what the impedance the amplifiers were actually driving because it was never measured.  The amplifier manufacturer will never know what impedance the ampliers were driving, either.

 

There are a ton of factors in this thread that are speculation on both parts.

 

Remember, impedance goes UP and DOWN it does not just rise...

[shizzzon 461]

Kirill007, in terms of all amplifiers... it's a debate that could go both ways...

either it's up to the user to properly secure an amp without fault or all buildhouses would have to over build their products to compensate for neglect. I use neglect in the sense that common installers including owners don't know or pay attention to the fragility of electronics for long term operation.

now, for Brazilian amplifiers, there are 2 factors at play here-

1- HD series uses a single large transformer which is more susceptible to vibration damage.

2- most users in SA use these amps for everything but bass and have installs all firing out.

since this is common, vibrations from bass is non existent so to build to compensate is not even thought of.

[kirill007 52]

Shizzon, I'm not only talking about vibrations because of the bass, but also because you are driving around.

It's going to be hard to not have any vibrations when you go down some bad roads.

[swift 501]

Regardless what reasons and arguements. I'm buying a big ass Korean amp. LOL

[shizzzon 461]

Shizzon, I'm not only talking about vibrations because of the bass, but also because you are driving around.

It's going to be hard to not have any vibrations when you go down some bad roads.

 

I'm not saying you can't have any.. just to be more aware that the user needs to take into consideration to prevent vibrations from reaching the amplifier.  The transformer design makes it more fragile because of the weight on the board.  

 

I'm pretty sure mounting an amp onto a speaker box is more brutal than mounting it to a false floor and hitting bumps in the road.  The cycles experienced through a speaker box is far more brutal.

 

There are tons of people who run these for daily without issues.  It's easy, just have to be aware.

[Sencheezy 689]

Another Taramp Seller, sold 10 at Slamology, 8 of them have been sent in repair. So I'm very curios who and how many is "a ton".

[shizzzon 461]

Yea, but i have questioned his selling strategy as well.

 

He was also the same person who said that he sold close to 30 amplifiers and 30% of them failed and he still had 20% more to sell before he ran out and was too afraid to sell them.

 

He didn't know what to tell his customers about the appropriate specifications on what is different with these amps vs korean amps, for example.

 

that was also the time where he damaged one himself running it WAY out of spec on purpose.  so after educating him on what he had been doing wrong(not his fault just lack of knowledge), then he starts to sell more.. 

 

However, when someone says i sold 10 and 8 got damaged... That's not information.   That's just a random sentence.

 

Did you know several NS1s did the same thing at the show?  I guess sundown should stop manufacturing those..  

No..  Amplifiers protect for a reason and as a dealer, especially if you are there in person, should be as passionate as i am about working with companies. They should at least have an idea as to why they failed.

 

Lack of not knowing makes me feel that some of these dealers in this country either don't care or don't have the time to care.

 

8 of 10 failing.. if that's true then the first logical thing to come to mind is the dealer didn't tell the customers what the limitations were on these amps...

Probably ran them below rated load... too high DC voltage, etc.. It's all been done before from others, especially the dealer himself.

 

But that's purely speculation because of a broad statement without any facts behind it so not even worth guessing.

[Julian 641]

Moved to the proper subsection.

[Sencheezy 689]

Testing over the weekend.

Pulling 266 amps of current per amplifier - this was during a demo session full tilt

Instant burp pulled 560amp of current before fuse blew

Slow roll burp pulled 330 amps of current before fuse blew

These numbers are from the MECA show this Sunday in KY.
For those not familiar with MECA, we burp by fuses which places us in said class.