After reading all of the postings here I suppose I should revise my theory a
bit. There still ARE certainly high quality amp makers these days, it just
seems harder to find them with the popularity of large "box" stores like
Best Buy and Circuit City. These stores simply don't carry mid to high
level manufacturers.

But I still contend that the changing nature of car audio competitions HAS
effected the industry. There are two concrete changes I can point to.
First, I believe amp makers used to rate their amps more conservatively
(this goes for the quality amp makers). The reason is that competitions
used to be based on wattage classifications at 4 ohms, and these specs were
supplied by the manufacturers themselves. Competitors could gain an edge by
buying amps more conservatively rated. This is no longer the case. So, at
first glance, it might appear that older amps are better because they more
consistently outperform their rated specs, but of course the reality is that
they were not rated correctly in the first place. If you doubt this, just
look at the entire history of Rockford Fosgate amps (arguably the most
sucessful amp maker in the 90's).

The second change is that there does not seem to be as many low impedence
amps on the market any more. Again, the reason deals with the above changes
in competition classifications.

MOSFET

is that new standard going to be mandatory or voluntary like the 1 that
they were or did strt this year? the only equiptment i have noticed
with the newer specs are the alpine head units.


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After reading all of the postings here I suppose I should revise my theory
a
bit. There still ARE certainly high quality amp makers these days, it
just
seems harder to find them with the popularity of large "box" stores like
Best Buy and Circuit City. These stores simply don't carry mid to high
level manufacturers.

But I still contend that the changing nature of car audio competitions HAS
effected the industry. There are two concrete changes I can point to.
First, I believe amp makers used to rate their amps more conservatively
(this goes for the quality amp makers). The reason is that competitions
used to be based on wattage classifications at 4 ohms, and these specs
were
supplied by the manufacturers themselves. Competitors could gain an edge
by
buying amps more conservatively rated. This is no longer the case. So,
at
first glance, it might appear that older amps are better because they more
consistently outperform their rated specs, but of course the reality is
that
they were not rated correctly in the first place. If you doubt this, just
look at the entire history of Rockford Fosgate amps (arguably the most
sucessful amp maker in the 90's).

The second change is that there does not seem to be as many low impedence
amps on the market any more. Again, the reason deals with the above
changes
in competition classifications.

Pretty good assessment, though I would change your last sentence paragraph
to add "...with the exception of today's class D amplifiers, which are
sometimes capable of driving 1 ohm loads..."

(and yes, I know that there were some half-ohm beasts back in the day, but I
don't think they were all that plentiful)

I think in general we're seeing power output going up too. It's not
uncommon to go out and buy a 1kW amp these days...

AH! That will stop with the CES-2006 std. coming in play next year...

GONE are the days of the 200w sparkomatic or BOSS that actually does 20w


I think in general we're seeing power output going up too. It's not
uncommon to go out and buy a 1kW amp these days...

AH! That will stop with the CES-2006 std. coming in play next year...

GONE are the days of the 200w sparkomatic or BOSS that actually does 20w

OK, I'll bite... What is the CES-2006 std. and what exactly will stop (I'm
not yanking your chain, I am truly curious)?

MOSFET

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 18:20:25 -0800, "MOSFET"
wrote:

AH! That will stop with the CES-2006 std. coming in play next year...

GONE are the days of the 200w sparkomatic or BOSS that actually does 20w

OK, I'll bite... What is the CES-2006 std. and what exactly will stop (I'm
not yanking your chain, I am truly curious)?

MOSFET


Basically, it's a standard that specifies uniform testing conditions
for stereo gear (among other things). It will keep companies from
fiddling with the ratings as much as they can now (like measuring an
amp's output power with THD at 10+% just to get higher power numbers).

Compliance with the standard will be voluntary, so there will still be
"300-Watt" flea-market amps, but at least under the new standard, if
you're comparing two CES-2006 certified amps, you'll be comparing
apples to apples.

Scott Gardner