Subwoofer plate amp suggestions

[Ketsueki]

im new to home audio and ive been looking for a cheap subwoofer amplifier and i was thinking that a plate amp is probably the most inexpensive way to go i was looking on parts express for what they had and i found they had 3 amps for around 100 dollers that are around the watts im looking for i have no experience with home amps nor do i know any of these brands so i hoping some one who has more experience then me could tell me some info on these brands or direct me to the best choice. the bash 300 watt amp (http://www.************.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-750) the dayton 240watt amp (http://www.************.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-804) and the A250 amp with bass boost (http://www.************.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-796) i was considering one of these, however i dont know any one who has any personal experience with any of them, i was looking at the bash amp and i didnt like the looks of it considering its shipping weight is only 3.75 lbs, considering the other two weight is over 12 lbs and i was considering the A250, but it has bass boost and i was wondering if that would effect the sound quality any, i was thinking about getting the dayton because it doesnt have the boost but the A250 has better features and if the boost isnt going to make that big of a difference then i was going to go with that, but id like some other input on my thoughts, any information would be great thanks guys

 

[tomd51]

BASH makes for an excellent amp, so I wouldn't necessarily go by weight. In fact, I plan on building my own DIY sub in the near future w/the 300w BASH amp you mentioned.

BTW, if you use 'parts-express' with the dash in between parts and express, it won't blank out the URL... -TD

 

[jonnythan]

I use a 240W Dayton amp on my sonotube (12" Dayton Reference High Fidelity driver) and it sounds pretty darn nice to me.

It weighs more than 3.75 pounds, trust me

 

[j_garcia]

You can get the same 250w plate amp that PE sells, direct from the manufacturer for less at www.rythmikaudio.com I use the A350 with my 15" Tempest and it works surprisingly well.

BASH doesn't make amps...not exactly, only the circuitry. It is a TYPE of amp. (Bridged Amplifier Switching Hybrid).

 

[jonnythan]

BASH doesn't make amps...not exactly, only the circuitry. It is a TYPE of amp. (Bridged Amplifier Switching Hybrid).

It appears to be a brand name as well. Hard to tell from Parts Express' web site, as they don't specify a brand.

 

[j_garcia]

BASH (Indigo) is the circuit/technology. They do make amps, but they are not too common. Usually what you'll see is an amp designed by BASH to another company's specs for a specific application.

 

[Ketsueki]

hmm, interesting so bash is a type of amp, so does any one have any personal experience on weather they accually put out 300 rms watts at 4 ohms or not, i mean its hard not to judge on weight because the amps have such a big difference in weight, and another quick question i had was, does bass boost effect sound quality?

thanks a bunch guys, the info so far has been a great help

 

[j_garcia]

BASH amps are more efficient, thus the lower weight. So in this case, weight shouldn't be a prime factor in comparison; most of the BASH amps I've seen do deliver their rated power.

YES, bass boost can affect sound quality (negatively if it isn't used correctly), so make sure it can be defeated or is at least adjustable.

PE just happens to sell some of those amps direct from Indigo. Most, if not all, of PE's amps are sourced from OEMs. I think they only make 1 or 2 amps themselves, though I am not entirely sure.

 

[Ketsueki]

hmm, then i think i might go with the bash amp, considering it costs less then the dayton or the rythmik and puts out more watts, if any one has any more information feel free to keep posting -- thanks guys

 

[j_garcia]

Wow, the deal for $105 seems pretty good for that 300w one....I didn't see that. The A250 was only $99 direct from Rythmik, but it looks like it went up to $109.

Let me just say, a friend has the A250 and it does very well with a passive radiator setup, and my A350 is shockingly powerful. I thought it was going to be underpowered for my application, but at the time it was the cheapest decent amp I could afford. That was about a year ago and I have had no real reason to upgrade from it and I am only using about 30% gain on this guy to get reference levels.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Ebay generally has some polk and velodyne plate amps. I'd keep a look out there.

 

[Ketsueki]

update

yeah, i got busy and didnt get around to ordering that bash amp, and they raise d the price back up to 150, so i decided to go ahead and buy that A250 amp off of the rythmik audio site im using it to power an extra infinity kappa perfect 10" car stereo sub so ill probably post up what i think of it when i get it and listen to it for a while, any way thanks for all your help guys

 

[Jeff HDDVD]

Parts Express !!!

I have 6 powered subs in 2 theaters $40,000 total. I power 3 of them with Parts Express sub amps. Great products. Thier best sub amps are the HPSA 500 and HPSA 1000. The BASH amps aren't as clean, but still great. I love Parts Express.

 

[Svenhook]

Any thoughts on the Dayton plate amps at Parts Express? Also, have you heard the velodyne and polk amps?

 

[jonnythan]

I have a Dayton plate amp on my sonosub. Sounds great to me.

 

[Svenhook]

Excellent, exactly what I plan to use one for!

 

[jonnythan]

Well, actually, the plate amp is in the A/V rack because I couldn't figure out a good way to mount it to the sonotube. But still

 

[LucasG]

Hi guys,
Im new to the forum and thought I would chime in...

Ive just recently built a 10 HT sub with the Dayton 240w plate amp with bass boost and have been extremely happy with it. I havent been able to really go through it yet but the boost actually seems to help flatten the response if the sub needs to be placed in less than ideal conditions. Overall very happy with the Dayton amp line.

And for anyone wondering it was hooked up to a 10" Dayton High Fidelity RF series sub.

 

[Ketsueki]

well, a lots changed since i last posted, so i had to put the subwoofer amp on the back burner because of one of my old cheap towers blew up, i was in the hunt for speakers for my stereo more so then a subwoofer amp, now that i got that all squared away, im back to my subwoofer plate amp, i checked with rythmikaudio and they are all sold out of there A250 amps, which i was considering buying to begin with but now im considering buying the A350 amp because now i have considerably louder towers, and im using the subwoofer in a rather large room (i live in a geo desic dome that has about a 25ft ceiling in the room where im going to be listening) and i was thinking if im going to buy a A250 amp i might as well make sure its going to be powerful enough and just go ahead and spend the extra 50 bucks to get the A350, im still open to any suggestions on ways i might better beable to spend my money let me know, im open to all kinds of input