Arc Audio.. input anyone???

[Wedge]

I have a local shop that has done stereo and alarm installs for me in the past recommending I go with Arc Audio amps in my '98 M3/4 to power some MB Quart front and rears and a JL 12W6V2.... any input on these amps? I have not heard of them before (but there are a TON of good products I am sure I have never heard of before) .. would anyon recommend anything else in the same price range?

Serg

[FriedKalamari]

arc is top of the line stuff. do u know the prices they gave for the amps? im sure expensive. so yer finally goin through with the setup huh. see u at the meet tomorow?

[ibrahim83]

great SQ amps! very underrated and are exceptionally clear and clean. especially for the price.

ranked close to zapco in terms of build quality and sound quality.

so yes, i would recommend them.

go to sounddomain.com's forums section, and enter a search on arc in the amp section. you'll see how good they are.


goodluck!

[Roffle Waffle]

I thought sounds quality does not depend on the amp, as long as it is running the same wattage?

[FriedKalamari]

I thought sounds quality does not depend on the amp, as long as it is running the same wattage?

you are correct. and provided it is Crossed over at the same point as well. cuz some amps have better Xovers than others allowing for better fine tuning. But any high end setup will have a deck that can digitally control the Xover making the ones on the amps useless, or will have an external Xover.

[WK446]

I have the Arc 4150 XXK and Arc 2100 XXK. I did a comprehensive review on the 4150 XXK here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_133474389636

The review should cover any questions you have about the amp. If you are serious about sound quality (SQ), then you will be very pleased with their line of amps. They are very conservatively rated.

The 4150 XXK has an extremely high damping factor in addition to a very high slew rate and microprocessor control. These factors contribute to superlative speaker control and current availability.

My 2100 XXK (mint) is for sale if you are interested. It would be an excellent amp for your front stage...

[Wedge]

arc is top of the line stuff. do u know the prices they gave for the amps? im sure expensive. so yer finally goin through with the setup huh. see u at the meet tomorow?

Yeah soon... well their prices are higher than on-line, they have a retail establishment and higher overhead... but they won't charge me for the install. I will pay about 20% more than online for the equipment (I did check around on prices), but I will have the peace of mind knowing it was all installed and setup correctly, and to me that is worth it.. I don't want to dick with it myself and they have done great work for me in the past. No online retailer is gonna fix, for free, what you bought from them 6 years down the road. The guys at this shop have.

Anyhow we've talked about this before... I think we were looking at KAR amps. I know they are not top of the line, but I don't want to spend more than $2k on the whole system including installation. I don't need huge sound levels. I want good clean sound and all the stuff has to be stealth mounted, I don't want to see amps in my trunk or blingy flashing lights.. I want it all out of sight as much as possible.



Serg

[djbit]

ZAPCO, XTANT and ARC are some of the best amps outthere. XTANTS have the lowest prices and I would highly consider looking into them. Do a search on ebay on Xtants and you will see plenty of items.

[Roffle Waffle]

I recently got an orion 4004 amp. I am driving 100 watts at 4 ohms to my Focal Utopias up front, and 200 watts at 2 ohms to my kicker s10l7. I was afraid that i wouldn"t have enough power, but it is more then enough. the sub sounds as loud as it was with a single jl 250/1. My headunit is the 7894, and the fronts get enough power that at 20 volume, it is loud, at 25 it is DAMN loud, and 35 is for outside of car listening loud

[ibrahim83]

flame suit on.

did you consider JL's line of amps? i think they're the best value when it comes to clarity, and with mine, i can never get distortion, even when i turn up the volume all the way.

but keep in miind when i say good value, i mean that when you get them at a cheaper price than the list. i got mine for $350.00 out the door. while a franchise like tweeter or car toys sells them for about 600. oh, and it's from an authorized dealer. it's just that smaller shops are willing to work for your business, while other don't really care.

one thing to consider about them though. when you get a certain wattage amp, make sure it's what you want, because you can't change it, let's say, by changing resistance.

but on the plus side, they give you a bit more than their rated power at any voltage between 11-14.5V i think, and from any resistance from 1.5-4 ohms i think.

i've tried both, and i personaly like JL more. it's easier to setup, it's smaller, looks better, is clean (not cleaner), is VERY flexible, and the built in xover circuits are among the best in the business.

again, that's just MY opinion.

[Roffle Waffle]

I like the x-overs on the JL amps more, the Orion doesn't have everything marked so well. But hey, 400 watt amp for $175 shipped, versus the 2 JL amps I bought for $500 together....

[S14]

I'll try not to be biased here, but ARC AUDIO is my favorite brand amplifier.

I've A/B the 4050 and the JL 300/4 and the arc is considerably better than the JL. JL isn't bad for circut city buyers in there corola's, but you didn't buy a carola did you?


anyways the designer for arc is robert zeff. he is the same person who USED to own a controling intrest in ZAPCO. In 1997 he sold the company and started designing for demitrious at arc audio. In my opinion since 97 zapco has been relying heavily on their reputation instead of their inovation.

The KAR linup is basically the old CXL linup made overseas. also on the bigger amps there is no microprocessor control. the CXL-4150 and CXL-1500dr had these items.

I'm obviously a fan of arc, but I do see, listen and work with alot of stereo equipment. Besides the brax amp that was removed from an F40 at the shop I worked at, I have never played with a better amp.

[djbit]

One thing for sure zapco, xtant and arc are more into quality rather than quantity.

[Wedge]

Thanks guys... I am glad to hear they are considered a good amp. I think I will go with them...

Now I need to go and actually hear some MB Quart speakers.. as several people I have talked to have mentioned that they are too "bright" and said I should look at speakers systmes that don't use titanium tweeters.

Serg

[ibrahim83]

with speakers, i'd personally go with either focal polykevlars which use titanium tweeters, that makes them bright, or use CDT's , which most use silk tweeters, which are softer.

i don't like quarts because they lack midbass.

in my opinion Focals rock producing midbass, and CDT's too. though you can only but CDT's online. but i think they're one of the best kept secrets of the industry.

my opinion.

[Roffle Waffle]

Buy a set of brand New Focal Utopia 165w speakers on Ebay for $500