Hi guys,
I'm planning on changing (bypassing) my stock Bose and needed your recommendations for an after market amp for the speakers and a separate amp for subwoofers for my 97 S600. An suggestion/feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

 

JL Audio, Audison, Hertz, Zapco, Genesis to name a few

 

What you mentioned is pretty vague. There are amps for every price range out there. You can buy em for as cheap as $50 or as much as a couple grand. If you want a good quality amp that puts out good power and decent sound, go for a Rockford Fosgate. If you want something a little more high end, go with an Alpine or a JL. On the cheaper end you have Audiobahn which have cool looks and big power but don't necessarily sound amazing compared to some higher end brands.

It all depends on what you want out of the system. Remember, just because a particular brand has more wattage does not mean it's the better amp. The amp controls the sound quality of all the speakers it amplifies. Cheaping out on those is the last thing you want to do.

One more thing to keep in mind is that Alpine uses corrected wattage on all of their products. Meaning they use the wattage that is actually put through the speakers after factoring in battery power, wiring quality and size etc. Very similar to a crank horsepower vs wheel horsepower. While their numbers might seem lower, don't be mislead.

 

Most everyone else does that also, it is the CEA2006 amp rating standards

 

JL Audio hands down. I have a 500/1 and I believe a 300/4 (for the door speakers) and they pound. On the expensive side, worth every penny. They are rock solid.

If you have JL Audio make sure you have good speakers to take advantage of the good amps.

 

I agree, I've used JL Audio amps in my last several installs and been very happy with the sound quality. I'm using a 300/4 and a 1000/1 now in my BMW and plan on the same amps for my CLK55 AMG once I decide on a head unit / nav for the car.

Bob

 

I have the 6 channel McIntosh MCC406M amp in my car and it doesn't get much better than that. Yes it's on the expensive side but do you want to put a $50 amp in your CL?

 

Lots of companies make goood stereous, if you prepare a proper enclosure you can have nice *** system, i used to have an audiobahn setup with 3 12's in my 5 series and it sounded way cleaner than any Rockford fosgate setup i have ever heard, but then again there is always people with different opinons...

 

Do not go cheap on the amplifier, you will regret it later. I recommend JL Audio if you want good quality and decent power paired with a JL W6 or W7 in custom enclosure made to the subwoofers specs for airspace. On the expensive end, you can do McIntosh , Audison, Alpine F#1 Status but then your talking about a system in the $5k to $25k range.

 

QHA000,
I am selling my backup JL Audio JL1000/1, if you are interested please let me know. It is in the box and has only been used for 12 hours on the bench with pink noise to burn it in.

Bob

 

I would go with the JL. I had the 5 channel with a single 10" in my old ML and it was amazingly loud.

 

but I'm biased...

Just remember it is better to overpower your speaker setup to get "cleaner" sound.

 

WOW the new black series JL amps look awesome!! And Audio Controll now has a DQXS??? I have the DQS in the BMW I'm selling wich is awesome but I have to combine it with an outboard crossover. I would assume that the DQXS does all of the 96 bands of EQ'ing that my DQS does as well as being an active crossover? NICE setup AMGFAN!! I hope to have my "New" 2003 CLK55 done up by spring.

Bob

 

SSB...The DQXS is pretty trick...I got the remote installed in my center armrest:



It makes doing EQ and crossover changes a snap.

Jon

 

guys please someone help me. I need to change my amplifier. What do I need? Circuit city said I need an amp (obviously) and a 4 chanel amp unit converter something... i dont remember what it was called.

But best buy wanted $850 worth of stuff to do it.

What do I really need and can I do it myself? I always thought it was a plug and play thing?