Aczwild Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Well I finally did it, my Rockford Fosgate 551s Power Series Amp is on its last leg. For 3 years now it has only been powering my 10" Eclipse Aluminum DVC Sub rated at 500W of Continuous Power with assistance from a 1.0 Farad Rockford Fosgate Capacitor. It can still handle low volume music (20-30 on the volume), but when it gets up to the louder shit (40-50 on the volume) it can only play for about half a song until it cuts out (overheats) and then its out for like 4 mins. I know the Sub isnt shot, so its time to buy a new Amp. Now, the amp that I have now has a remote operated bass knob and I want to still have something like that beacuse I dont want the holes from it. http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/455000-455999/455917_16_full.jpg I figure RF is the only company that offers this, so I think my options are limited. Here comes the fun part, what would you bishes recommend? I know JL is pretty schweet and so is Eclipse (see my VBgarage for all the Eclipse shit I have in her), but like I said I wanna retain the bass knob, unless you really sway me away from it. The requirements: 1. Able to last for more than 3 years 2. Able to dissipate heat really well 3. Able to power my Sub @ 4 Ohms (DVC, so thats x2 ) and 500W (1000W Max) 4. Possibly good enough to power a second one (mabe this summer I'll run two Subs) 5. Did I say able to last 3+ years??? 6. Purdy Lookin 7. Bass knob? 8. Just incase too, good warranty (2 years +) JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boulderguy Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 Be ready to spend some money on that amp, you'll need something quality to fill those req's. There are a number of companies that offer an outboard bass adjustment knob, some better than others. Most are specific to the D class amps, built for subs. It would actually be cheaper to repair the old RF, unless you just want something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abakja1 Posted October 30, 2005 Share Posted October 30, 2005 This is the only reason I bought a MTX amp for my subs as amps only have s certain "life span" due to the capacitors they use for power,...MTX boasts about using better capacitors on their circuit board than the typical "round" capacitors that leak or go bad after a couple of years,..they just dont have that life span,...you can check their website for their technical "blah blah" on this,... I bought a MTX Thunder 6304 and it kicks for powering your subs,..but a JL Audio or better "reference" type amp would be better be suited for your "seperates" or higher fidelity speakers,.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted October 30, 2005 Author Share Posted October 30, 2005 Be ready to spend some money on that amp, you'll need something quality to fill those req's. There are a number of companies that offer an outboard bass adjustment knob, some better than others. Most are specific to the D class amps, built for subs. It would actually be cheaper to repair the old RF, unless you just want something new.Yea I'm gonna call RF this week to see what they charge for a base price, but yea I figured I'd be plunking down about $500+ for a new amp and I am thinking about a class D JL, just gotta see what I can find at the audio stores to get a feel for them and then buy it online JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Th3Franz Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 What head unit are you using with the amp? A friend of mine had similar problems.. thought it was the amp.. but it ended up being a problem with a head unit that was causing cut-outs. It was strange. Diamond Audio, Eclipse, US Amps, JL, Orion, and Xtant come to mind for quality amps. Orion has some mono amps with remote gain control like the Rockford Fosgate ones. http://www.cardomain.com/item/ORI47395 -Franz The end of a Legacy http://www.youtube.com/th3franz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted October 31, 2005 Author Share Posted October 31, 2005 The headunit is a Pioneer AVH-P6500DVD, $2000 unit and I know I didnt screw up the connections anywhere throughout the car and the very respectible audio shop here agrees with me that the Amp is pretty much nuked. I'm gonna look at JL (they have the remote bass knobber too) and Eclipse for the new amp and then we'll see how butt nasty the prices are... JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoman Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Why are you so concerned with keeping the RF "bass knob"? I'm 99.9% sure that your high end Pioneer receiver has a built-in subwoofer gain and crossover control. Even the 7 year old Pioneer receiver in my old Legacy has subwoofer controls on the receiver itself. Also, if your Pioneer receiver has "hi-volt" outputs, you might be overdriving the input stage of your amplifier causing it to turn itself off. This has happened to me before, and it was resolved by lowering the output levels of the receiver and increasing the gain on the amplifier to compensate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boulderguy Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 That bit about amps having a "life span" I don't buy at all - that's marketing hype from MTX. There are lots of amps that will perform admirably for 20+ years, and no reason why a cap will degrade over time. Interesting about the possibility of overdriving the inputs, but I'd think the amp would only protect when it saw too much load, meaning as soon as it was turned down it should immediately kick back in. I think you'd do well with the JL 500/1, plus its regulated power supply would let you add a second sub with no danger. I also agree that unless you're just into having the outboard sub controller it's not really worth it, but that's a personal thing. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Cut some holes in your existing amp and rig up some computer fans. Find and replace the blown capacitors on the amp as well. That should cost you about $30 to do and last anothe ryear at least. My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abakja1 Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 That bit about amps having a "life span" I don't buy at all - that's marketing hype from MTX. There are lots of amps that will perform admirably for 20+ years, and no reason why a cap will degrade over time. Interesting about the possibility of overdriving the inputs, but I'd think the amp would only protect when it saw too much load, meaning as soon as it was turned down it should immediately kick back in. I think you'd do well with the JL 500/1, plus its regulated power supply would let you add a second sub with no danger. I also agree that unless you're just into having the outboard sub controller it's not really worth it, but that's a personal thing. Good luck. I didnt buy an MTX amp until I had fixed my Pioneer amp like 3 times with burnt out capacitors,...And this Pioneer amp was a while ago which was made very well with MOSFET, ran very clean and loud, and other features. Im sure there are amps that will run a long time, expecialy name brand ones .but it also depends on how hot it runs, at what load, proper air circulation, dust, etc,... Round capacitors just dont last and it doesnt pertain to just amps,..look at computer motherboards, ECUs in your cars, etc,...I dont promote MTX, but its just a reason why I bought one cause if I can buy a better product (just for a sub amp), then why not?? In any case,..hope the next amp buy last you a while, and nice Pioneer HU,.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted October 31, 2005 Author Share Posted October 31, 2005 Why are you so concerned with keeping the RF "bass knob"? I'm 99.9% sure that your high end Pioneer receiver has a built-in subwoofer gain and crossover control. Even the 7 year old Pioneer receiver in my old Legacy has subwoofer controls on the receiver itself. Also, if your Pioneer receiver has "hi-volt" outputs, you might be overdriving the input stage of your amplifier causing it to turn itself off. This has happened to me before, and it was resolved by lowering the output levels of the receiver and increasing the gain on the amplifier to compensate. I only want to keep the bass knob because I dont want the holes in the side of the center console where the one is now. I have the HU adjusted so that the cutoff to the sub is 125 Hz and the speakers in the car wont go below 125 Hz. I have everything tuned on the Pioneer HU so that i shouldnt be overdriving the amp at all and the amp has been adjusted to the correct gain. That bit about amps having a "life span" I don't buy at all - that's marketing hype from MTX. There are lots of amps that will perform admirably for 20+ years, and no reason why a cap will degrade over time. Interesting about the possibility of overdriving the inputs, but I'd think the amp would only protect when it saw too much load, meaning as soon as it was turned down it should immediately kick back in. I think you'd do well with the JL 500/1, plus its regulated power supply would let you add a second sub with no danger. I also agree that unless you're just into having the outboard sub controller it's not really worth it, but that's a personal thing. Good luck. Yeah I'm thinking about the JL 500/1, I checked it out online last night and it looks like it could handle what I need and I know since its a JL that it could handle everything for a good long time. The problem with the amp is definitely my fault. When I had it for like the first year (mebe two) I would just have the music cranked and the sub at its maximum which caused the amp to get uber hot (I'm talking you couldnt have your hand on it for more than a few seconds without getting scalded) and that definitely took its toll early on. I thought about opening it up and replacing the capacitors and cutting the shell of the amp to add on larger fans to cool it down, but the shell of this amp is seriously scalloped and would be a pain in the ass to cut. Im also worried about incorrectly connecting the capactiors and causing a fire or damaging the sub, or HU or any other electronics in the car. I'm gonna call RF and see what they would knock me to have it checked out and if they could diagnose it. Oh well, thanks for all the input and I do realize that the bass knobber really isnt necessary and that the concept of it is kinda dumb, I just dont want the holes from the old one (I know I should have mounted it somewhere where you wouldnt see the holes if I removed it in the first place). http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/11/web/455000-455999/455917_18_full.jpg JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boulderguy Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 I understand. A couple thoughts - why are we thinking the amp's caps are bad? I wouldn't jump to that conclusion at all, sounds more like output transistor to me, but I'm no tech. If this were me and I kept the RF amp, I'd look at where it's installed - is there air flow? I'd put a fan not in the amp housing, but in the install area just to move air across the entire amp. Much easier & more effective. If it is a restricted airflow problem, you'll have the same problem with any amp you put in there. Oh, and I'd make the X-over point much lower, like 80-100hz, but that's my ego talking since I have no idea why you've got it up at 125. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted October 31, 2005 Author Share Posted October 31, 2005 I have it up there at 125 to have a cleaner sound overall (this is one car to sit in and hear the sound, its incredible) and I really dont like the huge booms of loud bassy cars where you cant really hear the music. Since its in the trunk and air really doesnt get moving in there I've been playing with the idea of porting the trunk, by cutting holes in the rear carpeted dash (oh whatever you call that thing, I cant remember) that lies behind the top of the seats. There are two rectangular holes pre-cut in the body of the car under it and thats where I would make the cuts through. JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 I was serious about cutting the holes and the fan. I've seen it done before. My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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