New System Thoughts - Alpine's Power Pack

[DEV0 E30]

Now, first off I'll say I don't really need/want a subwoofer.

If/when I do, I'll contact Luke because supporting vendors who support the community is always the way to go.

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I was looking through Crutchfield recently and looked at the newer Alpine models of stereo/receivers.

Then I came across this:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_500KTP445A/Alpine-KTP-445A-Power-Pack.html

A baby amp? Pretty cool to see this, as I'm thinking about only having components in the front (to take advantage of the tweeter pods) and regular speakers in the rear for a lightweight system. Really this little thing won't take up any room at all compared to an Amp rack and achieve what I think I'm looking for since I don't plan on a subwoofer/large stereo.

It has glowing reviews, and provides the extra oomph that speakers perform best at.

Has anyone here ever had any experience with them?

[Gregs///M]

I've never used it but I would go ahead and assume it is a good product. Alpine have been around since the early 1980's. However, I am not sure on their current model quality control.

I have an old Alpine head unit that uses an upgraded internal amp (V-drive 60x4) built into my head unit. Polk components all the way around and it sounds fantastic. And being an installer for over a decade, I have very picky taste in audio quality. But I am happy with it, even at max volume. However I do have a 500 watt sub too.

But using that power pack will present a problem...where to put it? The dash of the E30 is pretty crammed already so it will be difficult to hide it, you will most likely have to build an extended speaker harness from the head unit to the power pack.

[kmarei]

I've used it, it sounds pretty good
It's half way between the built in amp of any head unit, And a proper amp
Check out the clarion model
Similar design and shape, but I think 75w per channel
Same price

[StereoInstaller1]

I have installed about a dozen of those amps. I can speak from personal experience about this particular amp.

It is the last "major manufacturer" amp I would recommend. Let me say this: never ever buy an amp that comes with "ground loop isolaters", which it does. I have never been less impressed with an Alpine product

I will go as far as to say it is a miserable, noisy, gutless piece of shit.

The Clarion is a tiny bit better...but you can do 100X better for $100 any day.

Luke

[AndrewBird]

Yeah, 45 watts per channel doesn't seem worth it even slightly. Pretty much any other amp will put out double that power. and give you gain and crossover adjustment.

[barbierij]

heh. my butt makes more power.


honestly, i would stay away from these signal boosters.

[dwvw]

I've used them, they are not that bad. They are a true 45x4, not a max power rating. They have over double the RMS power of pretty much any head unit. However I usually use them in vehicles bridged to the factory sub when installing a new head unit and bypassing the factory amp.

[kmarei]

Yeah, 45 watts per channel doesn't seem worth it even slightly. Pretty much any other amp will put out double that power. and give you gain and crossover adjustment.

Considering the average head unit outs out 15-17w per channel
This thing puts out 3 times the power
Sure a separate amp is a much better option
But then you have to run a power cable, remote wire, extend your speaker wires, install a fuse, etc
With this, it's a much more simple approach
And trust me if you had to choose between the heads unit output, and this
You will prefer the sound of this one.

[barbierij]

Considering the average head unit outs out 15-17w per channel
This thing puts out 3 times the power
Sure a separate amp is a much better option
But then you have to run a power cable, remote wire, extend your speaker wires, install a fuse, etc
With this, it's a much more simple approach
And trust me if you had to choose between the heads unit output, and this
You will prefer the sound of this one.

I like this statement. For a quick and clean volume increase, it is a good way to go.

[StereoInstaller1]

I would agree, it is better than deck power, except for the noise issues