A Nice amp for building a High end system
Pros:
Powerful, Clean, Great Features
Cons:
Size, Pricey, hard to find
The Bottom Line:
If you are looking for an awesome amp that's loaded with power and features...look no further.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
This is a great amp. Period. First off my complaints:
Size. This is a big motha. The amp actually has two piece, the amp, and its shroud, which could be called its decoration. Without the shroud, the amp is plain back with "KICKER" blind embossed on top above a large red power light. The amp measures 2.5" x 10" x 19.25" long. Without the shroud you can whittle that down to just over 15", which is a large difference. However the shroud is beautiful and covers the ends, so if you have the room, go for it. The shroud is metal (steel I think) and mine came as brown and black, unlike the picture shown at Epinions. I think you can get an unpainted version as well.
Cost: Well I didn't pay retail price, I bought mine brand new off of Ebay for $315, but retail at your local audio shop, this will run $400. That's a bit too much for my taste, but I felt that $315 was pretty reasonable for such a great amp. You might be able to find one off Ebay, but For some reason, not very many places sell these. You will almost certainly have to find an authorized Kicker retailer near you. There are no internet retailers for this amp, which is another downside.
Now for the good stuff:
Power: I believe this amp is underrated, but by how much I'm not sure. I know the specs say RMS 40w x 2 @ 4ohm + 400W x 1 @ 2ohm, but this is at 13V, not the typical 14.4V that cars run at. I was also told by a retail shop that that rating is conservative. I do know that the birthsheet that came with it said that this amp will put out 800 watts total, which is great. Also, Kicker did a really cool thing by having the front two channels be a class A/B amp, which means low distortion, and the rear subwoofer channel is a class D amp, which has more distortion (but you won't hear it since it's for a subwoofer), but is more efficient so it draws a lot less current from your alternator or battery. Very clever.
Other features:
The subwoofer channel is controlled by a remote mount bass knob which gives an 18db boost at 40hz (which I LOVE). The sub channel also has a built in subsonic filter, very cool. The amp also has a cooling fan which is a great feature if you really push this thing. It is very versatile with both high and low level inputs. All the channels sound VERY clean, up there with the best of them.
I have this amp pushing a set of Memphis Car Audio 6.5" Studio Components, and my 2 Illusion Audio ND-10, 10" subwoofers. Everything sounds super detailed, and the amp just rocks my subs. Overall, there's not much to complain about with this amp. Perhaps it is expensive, but hey, if you want a top notch amplifier, here it is. I am VERY impressed with this amp, and VERY satisfied that I got my money's worth, probably more so.
