Blah. The "high tradition of MB Quart's name" is going down the drain. They're not even made in Germany anymore now that Rockford Fosgate produces them. So to answer your question...there's better for much less.

 

i ordered one of those Quart amps and it should be installed by the end of the weekend. i'll report back.

FYI for those who want to try and knock Rockford amps.

first off i have sat in many IASCA finals level sound quality vehilces that use Rockford amps. they make a quality product.

furthermore the editors of either car audio magazine have a standign offer of $10,000 to anyone who can produce any definite "sound differnce" between any two major brand amplifers that is not being overdriven or operated outside of it's intended load range. this long standing challenge has never been beaten.

because differnce in sound quality in solid state amps does not exist. the days of "different sounding amps" went away with the tube amp. solid state amps all pretty much have the same internal design and operation. MOSFET's are MOSFET's you cnat change that. and as long as the amp isnt being over driven...then they will all sound the same. buy an amp based on quality....because you arent goignt o hear a differnce.

Although i have never owned a Rockford amp i know they make a quality product.

 

Youre talking about the richard clark amp challenge, and its any two amps with the same speakers, and all processing off. O-scope set the gains, with everything else identical

But who listens to an amp without using the processing? I dont have a slew of audiocontrol stuff in my car, so I use the built in stuff from JL. A shitty r+d and engineering division will have shitty products.

 

thats what i am saying. the amp portion is all the same.

and frankly i listen to amps without any processing. all i use are gain and crossover. none of that other shit is worth a damn if you ask me. put good speakers in your car and you dont need all that processign shit.

but the fact still stands...all amps "sound" the same. buy on quality.

or gizmos if that is what you are into...

 

And that's what RF is lacking. They're production facilities have changed dramatically over the past 5 years. The companies main concerns are now in mass production rather than higher end products...as opposed to how RF once was. Quality-wise, RF is now along the lines of more low to mid end companies such as Kenwood or Pioneer. SoundAdvice actually dropped MB Quart because of these changes. These once "respectable" audio companies are seeing the profit potential in large chain stores and therefore adjusting they're manufacturing process and ethics in order to keep up with the larger demand while keeping prices down.

 

Uhhh... crossover is considered processing.

edit - I agree, an amp is an amp is an amp. Quality (build/design) and features is what I look for.

 

OK.

the amp is in the car and running. install isnt complete but i had to take a listen.

rated at 100w X 4 @ 4 ohm 14.4v

just pushing the front channels with no sub hooked up yet. it feels like about 85w at 13.5v which is about right. highs were very clean and crisp through the Diamond Audio Hex S600.s front stage. powerful enough to really make the tremendous midbass of the S600.s come to life. impact on tom and kick drums is very nice.

LIKES:
power is clean and smooth no audible noise of distortion...just what you would expect from a good amp. no noise form the power supply escapes to the output or processing stages.

Nice connectors for wires. allen screw into a brass receptor molded into a plastic plug. put your wires in the plug..then plug it into the amp....very nice.

clipping indicator for output stage makes setting gains VERY easy from the trunk w/o killing your ears and jumping back and forth.

DISLIKES:

not small

no markings on x-over point adjustment other than 50 and 550 at opposite ends of the dial. i wish i had a better idea where i was crossing things at. had to do it by ear. probably have it around 65 hz right now with no sub in the car.

has two turn on clicks through the output stage. not very loud..but audible through the front stage. first at initial turn on...then another after protection circuit has shut of 2-3 seconds later. this would not make IASCA judges happy. but it is livable for a daily beater.

allen screw in power side connector for remote turn on...TOO SMALL!! 0.050" allen...yes it stripped when tightening.

VERDICT!

Crutchfield had this amp on blowout for $249.99 shipped and it was worth every penny. it is not a McIntosh....but for $249.99 it was a steal and i will continue to run it.

Will post again once i get the sub installed over the next few weeks.

 

Does the dial have any clicks? Like on my jl's its a small click for every x over point, which the manual descripes where each one is and what each one means.

turn on pop I used ot know how to correct but cant remember.