ive heard that some lanzar products are ok.but then i hear that all their products are trash.......the only lanzar amp i have experience with is the rk16002c....i think it performed well...but hwat i need to know really is whethere or not the vibe series are any good
You kidding, OK , thier phenominal.....Thier newer stuff is flea market quality now, they have been ever since the sold out (before 2000), VERY SUPER BUDGET products. If that amp was manufactured before the sold out, use it, it rocks. IF not, then ditch it. . .. but dont get me wrong, it will work under moderate circumstances jsut like any other amp will, but wont run like thier good stuff from back in the Day. If ya really wnt great stuff from Lanzar, get the Opti-Drive series (gray in color) designed by Fred Matnz of Zed Audio Thos things are FREAKIN BEASTS. SOLID as a TANK and super clean power too ! When was the manufactur date on that one, caues from whta it looks like, It might be after the whole vibe series came out. And VIBE suks.
KJ - The rack series was not one of Lanzar's better lines. If you were satisfied with that, you'll probably be satisfied with the Vibe's. They're decent budget amps, nothing more. Buy more power than you actually want since they tend to be over-rated.
To get something GOOD from Lanzar, Optidrive is definitely the way to go.
The new ones are proving to be pretty accurately rated to slightly under-rated.
"...how much overated are they"
Depends on what line, specifically. The old black ones (xx0 series) were fairly accurate. The newer silver vibes ending in 1 and heritage amps ending in 4 are pretty badly over-rated, and the viberants ending in 8 seem to be slightly worse.
The mxa amps are rated well in the manuals, but the sales specs on all the websites are way off. Same story with the vibes ending in 6.
I think Lanzar has really shot themselves in the foot putting out these ridiculous ratings on thier budget equipment. They finally got it right with the xx2's and xx6's, but the marketing (website) numbers are still horrible, and not many people take the time to download the manuals to see what they're really getting.
Thanks for the info OPTI.....I'm looking to replace my Audiobahn Digital Series amps with something a little better and don't want to spend a fortune in my daily driver....looking at some Kicker SX series, some Audison (cheaper off Ebay), Autotek....and now the Optidrive series (had some old Lanzar about 10 years back and they were very reliable).
i know - i even swapped a few emails with dominic expressing my concern that all their budget lines were going to drag lanzar as a whole (including optidrive) into the tank.
I don't know what the fallout has been within the company, but it doesn't seem to me like the optidrives have been flying off the shelves.
Juliob I think Lanzar makes good profit margin on their LOW budget lines. That's how Pyramid and Sony survive. Never make anything good, but claim everything they make is great.
well... that's true isaac, i'm just talking about quality part, cuz in bussiness part,it's good for lanzar to sell those low budget lines. Not everyone can buy a good amp with low budget.
I am now looking for a new amp because my lanzer vibe286(4000 watts B!S!) died a month after I got it. Not only are they underrated, they are crap... don't make my mistake
i'm not going to argue again with you guys about the same thing. Lanzar optidrive and some monoblock models are good. Tell me which amp can you get for 330$ putting 2k rms half ohm stable? is hard.
If you know how to buy, then you're fine. I had problems with my amp, i sent it to lanzar and warranty is taking care of it. Awesome service BTW.
Jonathan - to expect 4000w from a <$200 amp was your fault, not Lanzars. No where will you find 4000w and RMS on that amp, or in the documentation. It took me 15 seconds to go to the site, search for vibe286, download the manual and see that it is rated for 900w rms bridged at 4 ohms.
As for the failure - that sucks, no one's happy when their amp dies. Might it have been user error?
Regardless - Call them. They should replace it, no questions asked. Put it on ebay for ~$180 and get something else.
Joey - What is it about Optidrive stuff you have such a problem with?
see.... optidriven knows the deal. Lanzar overrates their products, but if you go and see the manual, it says everything pretty clear. IDK why you guys don't ask when buying amps, you always ask later. I remember when i bought this amp, only optidriven told me to go for it, i found some numbers, saw some specs, and here i am with 1200w rms for cheap and great customer service.
Curious, just how much did you spend on your cheap amp? To me cheap = great bargain, like for example, Zapco's 1000w rms amp for $180 in mint condition.