Audiobahn A8002T - Is it good or bad?

 

Bronze Member
Username: Nutshmeg

Post Number: 11
Registered: Mar-05
I have no experience with this company's products. I am scepticle of an amp that is on sale for less than $150 for 200w (x2) @ 4 ohms but that's exactly what I'm looking for right now. Does this company suck? Is it like HiFonics, Lanzar, Boss, etc? All the ratings I could find on the net where good.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2049
Registered: Nov-04
A8002T is a decent amp. I've tested it. If you look hard enough, you might find one for as low as $130. The only thing that model doesn't have is phase shift for subs. For powering components/coaxials, it'll do a good job. For subs, you might want to look at A8000T model.
 

Silver Member
Username: Addicted2bass

Miami, FLORIDA USA

Post Number: 328
Registered: Nov-04
wait hifonics and boss to me arent in the same category. Hifonics are better.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Nutshmeg

Post Number: 12
Registered: Mar-05
I see the A8002T for around $130 and the A8000T for $149. The 8000 is a mono amp and I have (2X)4 ohm subs that do 200w rms, I could run parellel but, I think I read that these amps don't like 2 ohm loads, and even though I'm dealing with cheap stuff I'd like to retain some sound quality if possible. A 4 ohm load seems like it would give me better SQ and less drain on the electrical system than 2 ohms.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Nutshmeg

Post Number: 13
Registered: Mar-05
Yeah? HiFonics and Boss where made by the same company with the same junk internals when I was dealing with HiFonics. I've run several versions of the "Zeus" and "Thor" amps, they pump out current for sure, and could cook a hotdog better than a George Foreman Grill. Power from the indoor swapmeet Gods!

The phase shift thing, how does that benefit with subs that getting a small focused frequency range 50hz and lower?

I can't use the A8000T anyway, but there are other more expensive amps with phase shift adj, is it worth the expense? I understand it's application in home audio, but I'm in a regular cab pickup truck with 4 mids, 4 tweets and 2 10's.

 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2053
Registered: Nov-04
Nut Shmeg, A8000T will run fine at 2ohms. I've ran A8002T at 2ohms as well.
The phase shift is used to balance the timing between front mid bass and subs. Depending on the type of music you listen to, you might not even notice it.
If you have the money, then spend it on a good amp such as, Zapco, Xtant, Arc Audio, US Amps, JL, Orion, PPI PC/PCX/Art series.
MTX and Audiobahn are good for low budget.
 

Silver Member
Username: Addicted2bass

Miami, FLORIDA USA

Post Number: 336
Registered: Nov-04
yeh but what about hifonics brutus and generation XX series those are def. better than boss amps
 

Bronze Member
Username: Adampit

Post Number: 38
Registered: Dec-04
i have a PPI PCX-2125 for sale, it does 125x2 at 4 ohms, 250x2 at 2 ohms and 500x1 at 4 ohms mono email me if you are interested i have pictures as well adampit@gmail.com
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2057
Registered: Nov-04
Nut, if you can get a good deal on PPI PCX amp from Adam, you might want to consider it.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Nutshmeg

Post Number: 14
Registered: Mar-05
As far a music goes, I am using only an Ipod for my head unit, and I listen to everything from really poorly produced, low bitrate, oldschool hardcore punk to rap, metal, punk, pop punk.

Godsmack "sick of life" has the deepest kick bass. It makes bearly an audible sound but pushes the woofers to the end of their excursion.

I have 4 ohm subs that need 200w each.

I'll get better sound quality at 4 ohms stereo, than at 2 ohms mono with any amp, right?

Increasing the current demand on the amp ramps up the distortion doesn't it?

Adam, the PPI is interesting, but how big is it? Space is also a consideration I need it to have as close as possible to a 12"x12" footprint.

This is a beater truck I want to spend as little as possible without going to total puke like crunch, boss, pyramid, etc, etc...
The Audiobahn A8002T looks like the perfect amp for my application. The size, the power, the price. I just want to make sure it's not indoor swapmeet fodder before I go and buy it and install it.

As far as HiFonics goes. They could have gone to a different OEM now, but the one I dealt with that was supplying them was just doing what they were told trying to put the cheapest ish together they could regardless of quality.

It's amusing, because so many people bash Fosgate, and Fosgate like any company wants the cheapest supplier, but not at the expense of quality. Their circuit boards for instance, are 3 oz copper or better in their amps, they are fully electrically tested and inspected to ISO specs. They are even using some more exotic stuff too, that I can't mention.

HiFonics could have cleaned their act up by now, but it's a rarity when that means less profits.

Some of these companies also practice tier level quality too, the lower end stuff is made with junk just to meet a target price, such as one demanded by Best Buy or Circuit City. In dealing with Fosgate we never supplied anything on junk material with light copper and non plated thru holes. In fact, as far as circuit boards go, Zapco and Fosgate use the exact same quality. Zapco may have better designs, but the quality of the two companies is very similar for internals.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2073
Registered: Nov-04
Nut, yes you'll get better performance numbers at 4ohms, but if you look at some of the great amps like Zapco, PPI Art series, Arc Audio etc, their 2ohms are still good. There may be drop in numbers, but it's not something that will make dramatic difference. Distortion for example may go from .01 to .09. You can make big deal out of that, but in reality, you won't be able to hear the change.
If however, you take a cheap amp like Hifonics with a damping factor of >50 @4ohms and drop it to 2ohms, you can see where it could have some effect.
This is why I stress to everyone, to invest in a good amp, rather than cutting corners.
By the way, your previous post was longer than Jonathan's.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Nutshmeg

Post Number: 15
Registered: Mar-05
Haha... Ok, Isaac. So by what you're saying, I could get a smaller amp from a better company and run it down to 2 ohms bridged to get the 400w I need for the two subs, and at 2 ohms I should still be able to have decent sound quality. Does bridging and running the speakers parellel reduce the sound quality? I'm not going for audiophile here, I just listen to a lot of different ish and I don't want the bass to sound like someone paddling a fat girl.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2074
Registered: Nov-04
Nut, if you bought one of the great amps, you'll not only get high quality sound @4ohms, but also at 2ohms and on some models, at 1ohm as well.
I am 99.9999999% sure you will not be able to tell any difference in sound quality between 4ohms and 2ohms on good amps. I've done numerous test on PPI PC2300.2,PPI Art series, Orion HCCA G4, Audiobahn, MTX and few others.
The easiest way I can explain is, think of weight lifting. Let's say you can bench 200lbs, and someone says if you take Berry Bond's drink, you can bench 200.08 lbs. Would even car? The number is so small, not worth aruging.
As for bass sounding like someone paddling a fat girl, it can be done, as long as you're willing to record it! :-)
 

Bronze Member
Username: Nutshmeg

Post Number: 16
Registered: Mar-05
Ok. Cool. Thanks for the direction. I think what I'm going to do is take the time to find something old from Orion or PPI. The stuff I'm running now amp wise is old Kenwood and only 90W (X2) RMS. I traded some HiFonics junk (I got a good a deal on) for it, it's 100% cleaner sounding than the Hifonics stuff was, but lacks the power to drive my current subs. No, I doubt I would notice or care, especially since my truck has a flowmaster on it and I drive with the windows down most of the time. Though I did notice a big time difference in sound quality from the HiFonics to Kenwood just swapping amps.

One question: I notice looking at several new amps specs, they list stereo 2 ohm power ratings, but only 4 ohm mono power ratings. Are they trying no to encourage people to run 2 ohms mono to avoid warranty coverage? Or are they just not stable?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Blitzedeclipse

Post Number: 16
Registered: Aug-04
I had a A2800t for 1 month, it just blew, thing is, it blew while not even playing it, got in my car from school the other day and it doesnt work. Im still pissed about it.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2075
Registered: Nov-04
Nut, those amps are only 4ohms stable bridged. Some more expensive amps are 1ohm stable in bridged mode. Orion HCCA G4 amps for example will produce clean sound from 4ohms all the way to 1ohms bridged and .5ohms in stereo.
If you ever get a chance to get Orion 250G4 amp, go for it. It'll give you 800w rms @1ohm. One of very few "old" amps that really produced as claimed and more.
PPI's Art series 600.2 and 1200.2 and PC series are also very good.
 

Gold Member
Username: Carguy

Post Number: 2076
Registered: Nov-04
Mickey, that's just terrible. Was your amp in warranty? I know A8000T and A8002T amps do perform well and will give your money's worth. There aren't too many $130 amps besides those 2.
I used to use A8002T amp during cold winter days in my car. It survived icy storm/frost and lots of moisture.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Blitzedeclipse

Post Number: 19
Registered: Aug-04
hell no it wasnt in warranty, i know it sucks. the week before spring break too.
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