Amps...Audiobahn or Hifonics or Kicker

I am looking for a 4 channel 75 to 100 watt amp to drive a 4 speaker focal setup. The speakers are:
Rear: Focal 165CV
• 6-1/2" coaxials
• 1" voice coil
• TN 47 tweeter
• Max. power handling: 140W
• Nominal, power handling: 70W
• Sensitivity (2.83 V/1m): 93dB

Front: Focal 165KP
• 6.5" Poly-Kevlar component set
• 1" voice coil
• 3-1/3" magnet
• TN 52 tweeters
• Max. power handling: 160W
• Nominal, power handling: 80W
• Sensitivity (2.83 V/1m): 91dB

Audiobahn A6004T $189.00
• 75 X 4 at 4 Ohms Stereo

Hifonics Zeus ZX6400 $259.00
• 4 x 85 Watts @ 4 Ohms Stereo

Kicker SX700.4 $549.00
• 32-Bit User-Programmable Digital Signal Processing
• 85 watts x 4 at 4 ohms

Anybody got experience with any of these amps? I'd rather not spend the $$$ on the kicker if I don't need to.

Thoughts, opinion, suggestions?

Thanks,
rob

Kicker does make (or used to make) nice amps, but I wouldn't spend the extra money to have the DSP. For $300, you can buy a separate EQ or processor later, if needed.

I have no experience with Hifonics or audiobahn, so I can't comment on them.

Have you looked at other brands suzh as Zapco, Soundstream, PPI, Rockford?

You have a BMW. Buy quality products for your car. Audiobahn, hifonics and kicker make crappy products.

Originally Posted by learthworml

You have a BMW. Buy quality products for your car. Audiobahn, hifonics and kicker make crappy products.

What he said... though Kicker is ok as far as a sub amp. But I wouldn't suggest any of them..

Hifonics does not make crappy products.

Originally Posted by MCD007

Hifonics does not make crappy products.

Okay maybe not crappy. Subs are decent. Amps are ok, heavy as hell and only their top amps sound good. The lower lines suck. They put a decent amount of power out, but I still do not think they are "good' amps.

Ok. So what would be your amp rcommendations. I am looking for decent quality, but, not audiophile grade.

rob

Decent price and decent quality. Hmm. I am running a JL 450/4. You can run your front and rear speakers with it. You can find one for 520 on ebay. That would be ideal. You probably want at least 150 watts to your front speakers and around 50 or so to rear fill. The JL does 150x2 and 75x2. If you opt for less power and want to spend less. Check sound domain. PG ti amps are on sale for dirt cheap. Like 400 for their 4 channel amp that used to be like 700. Lower budget than that try JBL amps. I think they are great for the money.

Go with the audiobahn that you listed. I know its cheaper that the others but don't let the price fool you. I have it and it's awesome!!! I love it! It looks so pimp, all chromed with blue LEDs and at night they are all lit up and just cant stop looking at it, its badass, it looks 50 times better than any amp i ever had. It pushes my 4 infinity kappas all the way, I used to have mtx pushing them and this audiobahn isn't even comarable to mtx. Im so "in love" with audiobahn now, its honestly one of the best amps i ever owned and i had a couple of JL amps back in a days and they were good too. When you get audiobahn you deffinetely get what you payed for in my opinion you get even more. It kinda cool that it also comes with a set of gloves so you don't put fingerprints on it when installing and chrome finish on it looks amaizing. It's also an audiobahn intake series amp so its got a little miniature intake on the top of it to cool it down and you can actually hear it work if you turn everything off. I guarantee you wont be dissapointed. Try it. i got it brand new off ebay for about 160 bucks i believe. Perfect 4-ch amp for your speakers.

That aoudiobahn lettering is lit up blue at night and there is a blue light coming out of the intake, the indents on the sides light up blue as well.

Originally Posted by learthworml

You have a BMW. Buy quality products for your car. Audiobahn, hifonics and kicker make crappy products.

So what makes Audiobahn a "crappy" amp?

rob

Originally Posted by rdsesq

So what makes Audiobahn a "crappy" amp?

rob

Its not JL... j/k...a lot has to do with reputation, IMO, like if they are selling Audiobahn at Best Buy and Circuit City. The amp will probably sound good but you are limited in what you can do with it such as running multiple speakers on each channel. Usually, good car audio companies are somwhat selective about who sells and installs their products. That's why you won't see top companies like JL, MB Quart and Zapco in these stores.

As I found out, the Rockford Fosgate amps are not what they used to be. I got a Power 551S driving a set of Diamond Audio HEX 6's and 1 RF power 12". It sounds great, but the damned thing can't last more than 30 minutes at high volume. I guess they don't put the same headroom as the older ones since they need to mass sell these things.

My suggestion? Go with the Hifonics. They make good stuff, not great.

Originally Posted by rdsesq

So what makes Audiobahn a "crappy" amp?

rob

You ever open an audiobahn amp up? I did for kicks. I have pics if you guys are interested. The amp board is tiny,fan sucks ass, and design is horrible. They do not put out the rated power and have very ****ty dynamics.

Companies get their reputation somewhere right. JL amps have great build quality and so does zapco. They get their repuation from somewhere. Go with the better product. Spend 100 bucks more, but you get a lot more.

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Its not JL... j/k...a lot has to do with reputation, IMO, like if they are selling Audiobahn at Best Buy and Circuit City. The amp will probably sound good but you are limited in what you can do with it such as running multiple speakers on each channel. Usually, good car audio companies are somwhat selective about who sells and installs their products. That's why you won't see top companies like JL, MB Quart and Zapco in these stores.

As I found out, the Rockford Fosgate amps are not what they used to be. I got a Power 551S driving a set of Diamond Audio HEX 6's and 1 RF power 12". It sounds great, but the damned thing can't last more than 30 minutes at high volume. I guess they don't put the same headroom as the older ones since they need to mass sell these things.

My suggestion? Go with the Hifonics. They make good stuff, not great.

Try pheonix gold. They got real nice stuff. I got them in my car now and it sounds great with my MB Quart interiors. I have a 500/4 amp for the interiors. They have fans so they dont really over heat. Try ebay they got some really good buys on there but you dont get a warrenty mosst of the time thats the only problem. Check the sig.

Keep in mind that some people can't afford JL. Their stuff is hella expensive and in my opinion overpriced because of their name. Dont get me wrong i love JL its just that i there is tons of products that are cheaper and are comparable with JL, as far as sound quality goes.

Originally Posted by learthworml

Companies get their reputation somewhere right. JL amps have great build quality and so does zapco. They get their repuation from somewhere. Go with the better product. Spend 100 bucks more, but you get a lot more.

100 bucks? It more like 500.

Originally Posted by learthworml

You ever open an audiobahn amp up? I did for kicks. I have pics if you guys are interested. The amp board is tiny,fan sucks ass, and design is horrible. They do not put out the rated power and have very ****ty dynamics.

I would deff like to see those pics. Post them up! I've opened a few amps before, but i didn't think that audiobahn had a amp board that was that ****ty.

Originally Posted by ca1242

Kicker does make (or used to make) nice amps, but I wouldn't spend the extra money to have the DSP. For $300, you can buy a separate EQ or processor later, if needed.

I have no experience with Hifonics or audiobahn, so I can't comment on them.

Have you looked at other brands suzh as Zapco, Soundstream, PPI, Rockford?

Rockford might be good since you can get them dirt cheap off of ebay.

Don't expect much of the newer versions of the punch amps...they actually kind of suck. My Power 551s shuts down after about 30 minutes of hard pounding. Its running my fronts and 1 4 ohm sub in mixed mono. The older ones would have never shut down, the newer ones suck...what can you expect when they sell this stuff at Best Buy. I will hopefully upgrade to a US Amps in the future because I am very disaapointed with my RF amp.

If u want guaranteed no headache quality. go US Amps