Us Amps Reviews

[flakko 1]

Puggsley456's review on the MD1D

[Well today I actually was able to find time to have a very indepth listening session with my new setup. It consists of a Kenwood KDC-X859 head unit, eD 6500 components powerd by a Phoenix Gold ti600.2. My Substage is a eD 16Ov.2(dual2)in 2.3 cubic feet @ 30HZ powerd by the newly aquired USAmps MD.1D at 1 ohm. And I had also done the "Big 3" in 4 gauge as well.

A big thanks to Mark of Mach 5 for his help on the new box. Great job! smile.gif

Now I have had the eD sub for almost a year. But it was removed for the winter at which time I used a Pair of Mach 5 Maw 15's. It was originally powerd by the PG amp, which was feeding it roughly 600rms. And for the longrst time i was very happy with how everything sounded. With the PG amp and eD sub combo I did manage a 136db on the termlab last summer.

So when Income tax refund season came around, I started asking myself what my plans were for my refund. I could have taken a trip......but naw, that would have been to frivolous in my opinion as I would have had very little to show for it after all was said and done. I then decided to feed my adiction. So a new sub amp it was. Recently I had the oportunity to vist a new local dealer of USAmps in Winnipeg, who I had been conversing with online for several months prior to this endeavour. I went down to the shop to check them out for myself. And imediately I was impressed with the styling and overall robustness of the MD1D. I had previoulsy done alot of research on this amp but little was found about this specific model. The othe Merlin series amps did have a very strong folowing online so I decided to give it a shot. And I took it!

So before I could toss this baby in. I had to do some fortifying to my current set up. I had 4 gaugue power/ground wires ran for my old setup(PG ti600.2 & Alpine MRP-F240). SO I purchased a Kicker 0 gauge hyper flex kit to supply my needs.

I am not going to bore you with the install details because we all know what they are.

So....with the mach5's installed in a final 4ohm configuration at which point the MD1D is CEA rated at 450rms. Well let me say that the output and over all control of the Mach 5 MAW15's was increased. Which wasnt what I was expecting at all seeing as the PG is rated at 604rms @ 4ohm(as per birth sheet) and is renowned for being of excelent quality. It was at this point that I felt there was no need in changing the voice coil configuration of the MAW's. Simpily because it was loud enough and because the return of the eD 16ov.2 was only days away.

Today I was finally able to get the eD back in. In the past I have gone through several different setups, the loudest I was able to achieve with all my systems was 139db with a pair of.....you guessed it eD flat coned 12's off of the same PG amp. And let me say today I sit here typing this absolutely ASTONISHED! It almost hard to put into words just how impressed with the MD1D I am. I have np doubt that i have achieved a new level in shear output. And the truely disturbing part is knowing that I am only using about two thirds of the merlins rated power Becasue of my preout and gain settings.

There is alot more tweaking to take place so I will update this review as changes are made.

But to me...the MD1D is one of my most worth while investments I may have ever made. I think I have finally achieved a zen like contentment with my car stereo....How many can say that. VIDS TO FOLLOW AS ROE UPDATES.

Thanks for the review!

[flakko 1]

JimJ's review on the Ax TU300C

First of all, I'd like to thank Jeremy (Flakko on CA.com and TeamSSA) for giving me the opportunity to audition this amp. The DIY community really needs more companies doing this with their products, to let people know what's out there and have a good base of unbiased reviews for people to make an informed choice. I'd also like to thank Matt Mullins (vladd) and Dave Edwards for their time and ears...having a few other people around during a review session really speeds things along.

Initial Impressions:

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The build quality is good, with the amp case and plexi bottom cover having a decent fit and finish. I can't help but notice small things that could have been changed with only a little more attention to detail - the main inductor in the power supply seemed loosely wound, thermal paste was smeared on the voltage rails sloppily. None of these likely make any audible difference, but if you're showing off the amp's internals, just something to think about. Features-wise, everything seems to be there, although I've been spoiled by the easy-to-adjust knobs on my PG Tantrums .

One thing that might be a potential safety hazard is the design of the amp's power/ground terminals, which are far too close to the chassis of the amp. I could barely get a screwdriver in there without it touching the case, which leads me to wonder what would happen if someone works on it with a live circuit. A little more planning in this department could save burnt components as the amp has no onboard fusing. Not to mention save cosmetic wear on the chassis...

One last thing that caught my attention right away - on every page on the manual there's a clearly-marked warning not to use ground loop isolators with the amplifier. Now, I don't use them in my setups or plan to, but is the amp relying on grounding through the interconnects? It shouldn't matter if there's a 1:1 transformer in the low level input or not in a proper design...

Smoke Test:

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I installed it in the E-150, ready to do an A/B comparison with the Tantrum T500.2 that normally handles my front stage. Test material was my standard SQ fare - trying to strike a balance between laid back, ambient music and tracks that will tear your eardrums with dynamic range and transients. Orchestral, jazz, selections from the MECA and IASCA test discs, rock, all were used. Tracks included:

John Williams - Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith/Main Titles

Diana Krall - The Look of Love

Vivaldi - Flute Concerto in D

Rebecca Pigeon - Spanish Harlem

Vangelis - Abraham's Theme

KMFDM - Inane

Dream Theater - Stream of Consciousness

London Chamber Orchestra - Reflections of Earth

Eva Cassidy - Wade in the Water

The Eagles - Hotel California (HFO)

The Eagles - The Last Resort (HFO)

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms, Romeo & Juliet

In a word, the results were disappointing. On "Spanish Harlem", Rebecca's voice was much too sibilant and overbearing compared to the upright bass. On the "Revenge of the Sith" soundtrack, at about 3 minutes into the title track there is an onslaught of kettle drums...the punch and impact was missing. It sounded, well, like a recording. "Reflections of Earth" was similar, with the ending assault of drums starting at 8 minutes sounding laid back and veiled in the soundstage. Cymbals and hi-hat were there, but "where's the beef?" "Stream of Consciousness" should rip your ears off with dynamics and punch - it was like somebody had put a sock over the speakers. The opening of Eva Cassidy's "Wade in the Water" should be haunting, as the piano gently complements the finger snapping. With the '300C, there was noticeable hash noise with the piano keys, killing this effect. Time and time again, we'd be looking for stuff to hear its faults, which is *not* what you want to have happening when reviewing something.

The preamp stage seemed to be running "hot" with far too much gain - this is a reason why I don't like 12AX7-based circuits. Six volt preamp tubes such as the 6SL7's found in the Phaze Audio/Butler tube drivers have far more potential as good preamp tubes in a hybrid. I didn't have time to order GE 5751's beforehand, but I definitely think this amplifier is a candidate for that tube. For example: http://tubestore.com/gainfactor.html switching the preamp tubes from stock to 5751-type tubes will reduce the preamp gain by 30%. I'd be willing to bet that reducing the amount of gain will quiet the hash noise I heard and tame the amp down to a point where it'd be listenable. I had a few 12AU7's, but I didn't want to damage the solid state PA by having it compensate for all that lost gain.

As kind of a last ditch effort, I bridged it and put it on subwoofer duty driving the e12a.22, where it did an OK job. But that's hardly a demanding test for an amplifier's timbre and sonic quality.

Overall Thoughts:

-----------------

I'm not thrilled at all. While it does a passable job with high frequencies, vocals are unreliable and have a bad tendency to sound artificial. The snappy, dynamic punch of a solid state power amplifier - which, after all, is the entire point of a hybrid - was missing. It almost sounded like a single ended triode amp as far as being bass-shy, but even my 8 watt per channel SET's don't distort like the TU300C did with strong piano and other tough instrumentals. Given different tubes, I think it might be worth saving. But GE 5751's aren't economical for an amp manufacturer to include as an OEM part, and I'd go so far as to say the amp is unlistenable in its stock form.

It will do an acceptable job on your subwoofers provided they aren't too power hungry, but why spend that kind of money on a 300W monoblock when you can't hear the primary reason for getting it?

Skip this one.

~ Jim

Thanks for the review!

[flakko 1]

Boris' Review on the USamps IS 4085

Right of the bat I must thank flakko for an AWESOME deal on a great amp.

This review is being written by a relative noob(me) to car audio who may not be up to speed on the technical terms but knows what he likes and more importantly what he doesn't.

The IS series may be an entry level model of the USAmps line up but looking at it there is no compromise when it comes to quality.

It has all the functions that you may need or want for the front and rear channels(LP,HP,etc....), to obtain a good sounding system and it's easy to configure to a variety of uses. These controls are clearly marked which turned out to be a bonus in a low light situation and easy to get to at any time.

All RCA connections(front, rear and line out) are on the same side of the amp as all the adjustment controls with the speaker and power wires on the opposite which makes for a clean install.

With a slight amount of trimming I was able to connect my 4AWG power wires into the terminals which are spaced a good distance apart and sealed in plastic (no accidental short circuits with a dropped screw driver here).

Both ends of the amp have covers that follow the lines of the amps body and nicely conceal all the wires. They come off with just 2 screws each and in my case will be used to make the install nicer (once all the trim items are done I will post a picture).

Now to the good stuff,

I have this amp running my CDT components up front with a pair of 6x9's in the rear and the sound is simply amazing. Clear, loud without any signs of noise or distortion except for some rattles from my cars interior pieces.

Friends with systems in their cars have complimented on the clarity of my system and when the need arises (which is all the time) this amp pushes quite a bit of volume out of my speakers.

I have run the amp hard for several hours and it took it like a champ staying nice and cool the whole time.

As I'm sure you can see by now I am more than happy with the USAmp IS-4085 and recommend it highly to anyone looking for a 4 channel amp along with the rest of the USAmp line up..

When a manufacturer puts so much effort into the way their product presents it self than just think about the effort that went into making it preform, looks great and works great.

To sum up my rant, the only draw back of installing this amp is that now I need a stronger amp to power my subs as the current one just ain't cutting it.

[flakko 1]

Reviews from the Usamps website (PDF format):

2006 MD3d:

1 - http://www.usamps.com/images_new/reviews/cae_pg1.pdf

2 - http://www.usamps.com/images_new/reviews/cae_pg2.pdf

3 - http://www.usamps.com/images_new/reviews/cae_pg3.pdf

AX1500DE

http://www.usamps.com/images_new/reviews/pas_ax1500DE.pdf

[flakko 1]

MarkyMark's Review on the 05/06 AX 5600

Long time Reader. First time Poster.

My Beast

2007 Tacoma

US AMPS AX-5600

Pioneer DEH-880PRS

Usher 9950 Tweets

Dayton 7" RS-180 Mids

Audiocontrol 2XS

12" Elemental Designs 13kv4 Subwoofer @ 2ohm - shoulda gone 1 ohm

A whole lotta RAAMMAT + Ensolite

US AMPS AX-5600 Review

Good:

-Durable Design - Chrome HS

-Easy to connect / disconnect

-Clean Sound

-Awesome Power - My 12" sub is at 2ohm and is awesome. I almost fear what a 1ohm sub would sound like.

Bad:

-Big - Impossible to put under seats (however I knew this when I bought it so shame on me)

-Fussy with Pioneer 880-PRS headunit; requires soldering to HU ground to get consistent signal strength to the amp. Not a big deal to do, but Pioneer 880-PRS headunits are by no means a fringe customer headunit. Very reputable and used in a LOT of SQ installs. US-AMPS should include a special note in their manual so lazy customers like me don't have to tear apart their dashes twice and solder RCA's in their console. Not fun or easy let me assure you.

-Installed an almost identical speaker setup in a friends car and he used a Memphis Belle MCH600 amp and did not have the problems above and comparable SQ. Considering this AX amp is notably more expensive then the Belle you should look into fixing this Pioneer headunit problem that the Belle does not have (Fussy with Pioneer).

Notes:

PLease don't let me give you the impression that I do not like this amp. It performs fantastically and I could not be happier. I just bring up the negatives so Flakko's engineers can fix it for future models.

What most impressed me about US-AMPS was the customer service I received when I had the Pioneer - AX problem mentioned above and in several other posts on this forum. I called USAMPS expressing my frustration with the amps consistent signal strength fluctuations. Especially when my buddy had a much better sounding system at the time for much less $$ than I paid. Receptionist said their tech support was fully occupied at the moment but if I left my number they would call me ASAP. I gave the number but never really expected to hear back from anyone. Much to my surprise within 5 minutes a gentleman named Greg called me back, identified the problem as some kind of Pioneer ground loop / floating point calculation (????) and gave me clear instructions as to how to fix it (solder RCA negative to headunit screw in back). He said if that did not work I could send the amp directly to him and he would diagnose and fix it ASAP in much sooner time than me sending it back to the seller. Lo and behold the solder worked like magic and I have been rockin' out ever since to a damn fine sounding AMP.

Flakko,

I've had the misfortune with dealing with customer service reps from far too many electronics manufacturers over the years. However, I can honestly say that the quick and polite customer service I received from US AMPS far exceeded ANYTHING I have gotten from anyone. No 10 minute robot sequence. No being forced to listen to a "you must be an idiot" FAQ. No jerk in India. Nope. I got called back in 5 minutes from a guy who knew his chit. While it was a relatively quick fix, Greg made me feel like I was important and a valued customer, and said HE WOULD DO WHAT IT TAKES TO FIX THE PROBLEM. This is what true customer service is. He should be commended for that.

Sincerely,

Mark