I've decided to go ahead and upgrade all my stock speakers and also buy an amp at the same time. The local shop is giving me a real good deal on an Almani 4 channel amp to power up 4 infinity 6022i's. I have an Almani amp powering my 1-12" kicker CVR and Im happy with its performance.. It runs cool and I think its sounds pretty damn good... But its design to run a SW.. Well, what I wanted to know is, is there a sound quality difference from a cheap amp vs lets just say an Alpine amp.

Im not talking about being louder or running cooler or actually having the power output that it claims. Im talking about if a budget amp and a name brand amp is powering up the same speakers and have the volume level the same, Could you hear a difference in sound quality?

I've read a bunch of stuff about amps but nothing that answers my question. I didnt want to ask the local shop cuz 1. they are trying to push a certain brand or 2. trying to make as much money off me as possible...

Thanks in advance

 

if an amp puts out 50wx4 RMS... and really puts that out... and you have another amp that does the EXACT SAME power.. then no.. from all i've read and used.. a watt is a watt... not talking about rated vs performance.. but if you actually got an amp benched and both amps put out the same power.. then they should sound the same..

 

There certainly is a difference. But price is not necessarily the test. Specs tell all. Given the same specs the amps should sound very much the same. Some specs that are important for sound quality are Signal to Noise ratio (lerger number is better), And Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) lower numbers rule here (more distortion is more noise less music).

 

^^^^^ I agree.

 

Interestingly, the better the amp, the less it adds to the music. If you have a poor source, the amp's not going to make it any better. Measurements are a great first step to evaluating an amp but accuracy of the specs can be called into question. Any amp can have good SN+THD at 1W.

Personally, I've not read anything good about Almani except for your comment. Like Dual, you're taking some chances because they're cheap (and I don't mean inexpensive.) You'd be better off buying the low line from Alpine, Memphis, JL (TMA) or JBL. Check out Woofersetc.com for each of these brands. I think you'd be far more content.

 

i like ma audio. cheap, tough, and plenty of power. i've been using a set for over 2 years now with no problems at all.

 

There are a few people that I know that runs the Almani line. I dont think I would use their speakers but from word of mouth, the amps are pretty reliable.

Biggest reason why I went with the almani amp is cuz the shop said, if I wasnt 100% happy with the almani, amp, he would give me full credit towards another amp.

Im a novice when it comes to equipment but I am very picky when it comes to quality of sound... I usually stick with alpine in my previous cars but on the xb, I just want a better sounding system. I think the stock speakers sounds OK but needed more bass so I added the kicker.. Now I feel that the factory speakers can keep up witht eh SW so I want to upgrade those now... I dont want to be that uys that only has Bass.

I can get the almani amp 1/3 of the cost of an alpine so I wanted to ask if there is a quality difference in sound.

 

sorry about the post this morning.. i had just woke up literally about 5 minutes before i got online and posted that lol... but as posted after me THD and S/N make a difference... but under the same conditions (distortion, noise, etc.) then you shouldn't tell a difference between 50w with brand x vs 50w brand y

 

I totally missed this thread and posted in the one asking about upgrading the speakers. If your happy with the Almani that powered your sub, by all means stick with it. I had never heard of them until this thread so i scoped out thier site and they look pretty nice, but so do Audiobahn. If the shop backs them thats a plus, and if it turns out to be a quality peice then you can let us all know. This is the way Elemental Designs got thier product out to budget minded audio freaks.