name brand vs off-brand equipment

so i'm comparing an a/d/s amp vs a "boss" amp

a/d/s 6 x 25watts rms @ 0.10% THD
boss 4 x 100 rms @ 0.01% THD

what gives? why is the boss so low.....do they "make up" they're own #'s.....

That's the problem...no one is policing these guys. I mean...boss isn't the worst you'll find, either. a/d/s is expensive stuff, too...so that THD is kinda high for a class A/B amp. But THD isn't everything...it's a good number to look at, but companies might give you the best case (probably the case for Boss) and some might give you worst case (probably the case for the a/d/s).

and w/ the power of ebay, i can get the a/d/s for a little more then the boss.......

yeah...but no warranty with ebay. If that thing breaks or isn't in great condition you're SOL. That's why I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a spoon than buy car audio off of ebay.

well, i have no prob. w/ ebay...i'm lookin for quality rather then level......and it's less then $200....so it's not a HUGE loss....

just to let you know, i would never buy anything from boss again. i bought a brand new 12 since it was only like 60bucks. got it home and hooked up and it fried instantly. took it to the dealer i bought it from and they said it was my fault, so no replacement. i was like wtf? so i opened up the sub and a piece of the electromagnet wire was grounded out against the metal tube(forgot what its called), so it had to be manufacture defect. id rather bump jensen=).

lets see...
buying a boss amp is a huge loss no matter how you look at it
buying an amp off ebay is only a loss if something happens to it

How many of you have had to have a car audio component replaced/repaired while it was still under warantee? I have bought quite a few things at stores and online and only once did I have to have something replaced, and that was within 7 days of when I purchased it. Somehow I fried one of the V.C.s on my Eclipse sub. Other than that, I have had very good luck.

Anyway, one thing you need to pay attention to with low-end brands is power rating. Usually they advertise the peak power handling and even the RMS power handing that they report is inacurate. High end companies usually underrate their amps and come with a birth certificate as to how much power they really put out. They also have better powersupplies which guarantee you get that power all the time. A better amp will also work more efficiently at low impediances, usually doubling their output between 4 and 2 ohms. So taking all that into account, two amps you thought were equivalent may end up like so:
BOSS "100x2 Amplifier" 50x2 RMS in small writing = 45x2 RMS, ~140x1 RMS
a/d/s "100x2 Amplifier" means 100x2 = 100x2 RMS, 400x1 RMS
So there is no comparison between a 400 watt amp and a 140 watt amp...regardless of THD. Then when you factor in build quality, over all sound quality and everything else...the a/d/s amp is worth the extra bucks, even if its used and has a few scratches on it.

I agree with chuyler1

sam1 said:

so i opened up the sub and a piece of the electromagnet wire was grounded out against the metal tube(forgot what its called)

Click to expand...

Voice Coil(thumb)

*duh* oh yea, brain fart=) thanks

VFR pilot said:

so i'm comparing an a/d/s amp vs a "boss" amp

a/d/s 6 x 25watts rms @ 0.10% THD
boss 4 x 100 rms @ 0.01% THD

what gives? why is the boss so low.....do they "make up" they're own #'s.....

Click to expand...

This is strangly familiar.

My buddy's dad was the ADS rep and he had got some orion amps from his dad (orion is /was owned by ADS) His dad lossed the line and later on gave him a Crunch amp to replace his dead orion. The crunch was rated twice what the Orion was and not knowing any better the thought it had to be accurate. Once hooked up it was obvious that not only was the Crunch alot less powerful but it sounded like ass. It was also funny that he thought it would be more powerful when the crunch had only 8 guage power wire inputs and the orion had 4 gauge.

In short off brand = crap. There are some internet oinly brands that are certainly not "off" and can save some cash but there are a TON of low quality crap brands out there.