ok so i currently have a crunch gpv1000.1 2 channel amp powering my two bridged out jl 10's i always forget the type but their like 4 5 years old and still pound, anyways i just got a planet audio tq400.1 2 channel monifest amp or some thin like that and i was wondering which of the two amps i should use with my JL's? ive herd planet aud. is way better but not sure which amp will hit harder??? any thoughts???
i wasnt sure becuase i would have thought the crunch would deliver more power and i always thought p.a. was a bit cheap but than again crunch isnt exactly top of the line either
if the amp works for you, it's fine. amplifiers shouldn't hve a "sound." They should be transparent, not affecting the input signal in any way but to increase the amplitude on the other side. If an amplifier "sounds" better to you than another one, you have a problem with one of the two amps. All the specs like THD, SNR, etc, are far, far below human hearing thresholds, and really don't typically make any real world practical difference, except on paper. Power is also by far the least efficient way to increase volume, since it takes twice the power to add even +3dB, and ten TIMES the power to audibly double the volume, which equates to an increase of +6 to +10dB. People also often confuse power handling specs of a speaker (a thermal rating that only tells you how much heat a voice coil can handle without physical damage) with how much power a speaker really needs to reach full extension (usually considerably less than the rated power handling spec) and forget that the power needed to reach full output depends on a number of factors including the T/S specs of the drivers, the enclosure used, and the vehicle cabin environment (sound damping, cubic feet of air volume in the cabin, etc)
In short, "which amp is better" threads really don't have much point. buy the amp you like and can afford that offers the amount of power you need at the load you'll be presenting. buy an amp from a company with a reputation for decent build quality and it should last you for years to come.
Stick with CEA2006 or IEEE specs for amplifiers, and you should be OK in regards to rated specs. Better amplifiers will offer benefits like more dynamic headroom due to better power supplies, and the like, but as far as how they "sound" you really shouldn't hear a difference with any amplifiers unless you're comparing solid state to tube amps, which is a whole different can of worms when you start discussing even vs odd ordered harmonic distortion, and different amplifier topographies, but there are very very few tube amps in the car audio world.