Christmas Is Coming

Minorthreat412 · Post by **Minorthreat412** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:53 pm

Yep, my parents are deciding to buy me an amp for Christmas. I don't mind getting things for christmas from my parents but car audio is a little different. All I can think about is the sentence "It's not like you paid for it yourself."

On the other hand, the reason I'm getting a new amp is because I bought a DEI and it failed. Either that or my receiver failed. I'm pretty sure it's my amp though.

Anyways, my question is about this MTX TA3401 Amp. I have to buy from Circuit City or Best Buy because my parents need some kind of "Assurance Plan." I chose Circuit City because I just think they are the better of the two.

Here's a link to the amp on Woofersetc.com. It's going to be pushing 2 150WRMS 4 Ohm SVC subwoofers (Polk Audios, I like them). This is the best amp (IMO) at Circuit City. So, what do you all think of it?

Thank You
-Chad

dmeyer07 · Post by **dmeyer07** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 8:56 pm

Why not just ask for money, and then go buy yourself an amp of any sort at any store rather than being limited to 2 stores that imho are not ment to sell car audio?

ridr4lif · Post by **ridr4lif** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:53 pm

If i were you, i would explain to your parents that you can get stuff cheaper online thru authorized dealers. If you can save them money, they may be happier in the long run. Im not sure if Sonic Electronix has the MTX amp authorized, but i know they are a Kicker authorized dealer. Might wanna check it out.

Jonathan · Post by **Jonathan** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 9:59 pm

Aside from the fact that you can get the same amp or a better amp cheaper online, as stated above, MTX does make solid amps. They aren't marvels or anything, but they are underrated and they will last.

ridr4lif · Post by **ridr4lif** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 10:28 pm

How about a Rockford 300x1 mono amp? Just wire the 2 subs in parallel and this amp should work just dandy:
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_3262.html

Minorthreat412 · Post by **Minorthreat412** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:43 am

I'm going with this amp because I want it before the 23rd. I'm going to florida with my family and I don't want to have to wait till January to see what they got me. Ofcourse if I don't like the amp I'll go take it back and go get a new one. But it's my parents money and they're not going to settle for anything with out some kind of insurance. Money isn't really a factor for my dad. It's christmas and this about the time of year he gives his thanks to me and my brother for helping him work.

I know MTX is a good brand and I'm not one bit scared of what will happen. This plan that circuit city gives out for about $40 will replace the amp if it fails/no one can fix it. You can get a 4 year one too for like $20 more. As long as this amp isn't as looked down on as Sony and Audiobaun (I've had bad experiences with both) then I'm fine with it.

What I like about it is that it's a class D. I've never had one before and I've heard good things. It puts out plenty of power to push my 2 10's. And that it's a mono block.

So are there any complaints other than it being bought at circuit city?

Thank you once again,
-Chad

ridr4lif · Post by **ridr4lif** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:38 am

Well if money is no object than have him buy you a zapco or something. LOL.

No, i have no other complaints about the MTX amp other than its being bought from a retail store. Its a good amp and you shouldnt have any problems with it. And as jonathan said, underrated.

Minorthreat412 · Post by **Minorthreat412** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:54 pm

Well, my mom and dad gave me a check for $350 today. I was happy. I went and pick the amp up and put it in today. I've been driving around and it doesn't seem to have the same problem as the other. When I'm driving over 50 it doesn't want to hit as hard anymore, maybe because there is a lot of road noise coming from my broken sunroof. This thing is powerful though, the gain is almost all the way down. The frequency, bass boost, and gain are a bit hard to get right. I have the bast boost all the way up, the frequency about 1/3, and the gain just a bit higher than the bottom. Subs still seem to hit a little early even though it's all the way down....I don't know why.

The subs are either really distorted or they are making everything rattle in the trunk. With the trunk open you don't hear too much clean bass, even with the amp really quiet. The bass inside the car is mediocre, there's no rattling, it sounds normal.

I was told to "keep it down" when I was in front of my friends house. I guess I'm proud of that. lol.

Thanks a lot everyone,
Chad

ridr4lif · Post by **ridr4lif** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 7:34 pm

Have you set the gain, or just turned it up a bit?

What you should do is turn the gain all the way down. Turn the HU to about 75%. Start turning up the gain until the sub(s) just start to distort, and turn it down slightly. Your gain is set. There are other ways to do it, but this is the easiest.

You may want to look into dynamat if your trunk is rattling.

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 9:08 pm

Minorthreat412 wrote:. I have the bast boost all the way up,

Dude there is your problem. Turn that thing OFF. Not down, OFF!!!.

Once you turn the bass boost off, set everything on your head unit to flat (0) bass, trebil, and so one. Then turn your gain down, and set the X over between 60 and 80 herts. Then turn your radio about 3/4 the way up, and then turn your gain up till the subs start to distort, and then down a little.

Then go thru and mark where the gain, and cross over are set at with a pencil. Now you have good starting points to fine tune everything. If you want you can bring the bass bost up a little now, but remember your amp is set right BELOW distortion, so to much boost can, and will cause problems.

One more thing. I don't know your full set up, so if your fronts start to distort before you reach 3/4 the way up on your headunit. Then turn the amp off, and turn up your radio till the fronts start to distort, then tun it back down a notch. Then you can turn the amp back on, and start with the adjustments as I mentioned earlier.

Oh yeah rider, you were right, but I wanted to add a few things.