ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 years

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racebum
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ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 years

Post by racebum »

i haven't really been keeping up with car audio over the past 10-15 years. that said i have noticed pricing on the M amps is over what it was back around y2k. considerably so actually {not inflation adjusted} when these released they were marketed as a lower cost alternative to the MS amplifiers. now it's not unusual for an m100 to outbid an ms2125 which i personally found a bit odd. pricing on all high end pre y2k amps seems to be on the rise. ms, mps, m, zx, zpa which i'm happy to see since they greatly outperform anything new in their price brackets. just was surprised to see the M doing so well, often out bidding what i would consider the subjectively slightly better ZX amps or in the case of the m100, more than a zpa 0.3 which seems even more bizarre since again, imo, the ZPA amps are the crown jewels of what came out of portland. did the M amps get a shining review or some collectable mark over the years?

anyway, just thought i'd ask since it's been a good 15 years. it's kind of like a trip in the time machine reading some of the old posts. making me nostalgic
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Jacampb2
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by Jacampb2 »

It's a complete mystery to me as well. M series are just anemic compared to most of PGs offerings. I have no reason why so many people go gaga for them. The poweramp hasn't changed, it's basically the same in everything from m series to zx, yet I routinely hear that the m series sounds so much better... I personally disagree. I'd take a zx or zpa any day of the week over an m. Hell, 3 zx series for the price of one m...
M: M100, M44 for a custom amp project
Zx: Zx500, Zx450, Black Zx350
ZxTi: 4 Zx600Ti's, 1 Zx400Ti
Ti: 5 800.1's & 900.7 for a custom amp project. 1 1200.1, 1 1000.2
Tantrum: 2 1200.1's, 1 600.4, 1 500.2
XS: XS6600
ttocs
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by ttocs »

agreed that I almost always felt like I wanted a little more power out of the M series. But on the looks side they were different from every other amp out there(except thump amps of course) and I think the shape almost took on an iconic style for the old school name. I have been amazed by some of the crazy prices for vintage gear now, anyone looked up the going price for an alpine era-320 eq lately? I would take a 701 or hell the F1 eq's I have are cheaper then these now....
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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racebum
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by racebum »

seems like select old school pieces are pulling a premium. some i totally understand. some i kind of wonder about. hifonics series 6, 7, 8 are selling for a premium now which i really don't quite get. i have nothing against zed at all but those amps, while decently made, were not on par with zapco or the MS / MPS amplifiers in sound quality and best case might match them on power all else equal. other like the mcintosh MC and MCC amps are incredible. top top tier amplifiers. their prices do not surprise me. a couple of the ZPA's i have seen sell seem cheap for how good they are. maybe it's the physical size? wouldn't imagine the line driver would turn people off since a lot of high end systems use a dsp/driver like the bit one. linear power also still fetches quite a lot. i have never personally used one but have been in cars with nice setups using them that were downright amazing.

saw one of those 8v pre out copper chassis eclipse cd players pull almost 1k, there is an older alpine that always goes for a premium as well. forgot the number but it was one of the older green ones, no built in power. was very popular in SQ cars back in the day. i just wonder how much longer some of those are going to work. this zx450 i have recently rebuilt required new caps and a new potentiometer to get up and going. what happens to one of those cd players? you drop a grand and good luck finding replacement parts

big picture a couple thoughts that i have had are #1 supply and demand. supply is limited these days and #2 there is a real lack of high end gear produced these days. unless you spend BIG on an audison thesis what else is there? zapco's new amps maybe? speakers are the other thing. i've demoed a lot over the past year. all of that drew a circle around dynaudio and morel with the new JL w6 for the sub preference. not surprisingly that's exactly what i remember being very good back in the day. only difference is there is no more MB quart which use to be a competitive choice with their Q line.

i was running a JL slash 300/4v3 on the mids/tweets before i found this zx450. started rebuilding it. tried it. realized it was ever so slightly better than the slash. slightly more power. slightly more open and refined. i like the midrange more on the PG but the differences between them i totally admit are reasonably minor. took me a good 3 months of searching to find a 9/10 cosmetic condition one with the original box and paperwork that had lived in california it's whole life. had really good memories of the ZX amps from my younger years.

my memories did not disappoint.
lilviper
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by lilviper »

Lol. I sold my ERA-G320 for twice what i paid, oddly enough i have one of the few SEC-8081s alpine actually made, with the 12 output expansion module. Lol.

Prices are what they are, i think the old school pg crowd has reached the age where renaissance and cash are both increased to the point that they dont care. They want old school.

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ttocs
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by ttocs »

I have a buddy I sold a 320 new back in the day and he still has it. When I told him they were going for $700 he thought I was crazy. When they reached $1k he said he was thinking about selling it. Last one I saw was for $1500 and he said he was going to sell it but he has not yet.

Its been a while since I saw a 2250 go up for sale but at this rate they should be getting $1k as well imo.
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
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racebum
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by racebum »

would certainly think so. the ms2250 was an absolute beast. a headlight dimming monster masterpiece. that was a low production amp to begin with. especially if you had the fan shroud
lilviper
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by lilviper »

I have my 2250 with the fan shroud. Id sell it for 1500 lol .. i have a zx 1000.2 as well. Lol


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ttocs
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by ttocs »

I got no problem with that. If a 2250 is worth that, then I would love to know what my ms1000 OG is worth. Its been a while since I saw one of those pop up.
what else can I say I am a grumpy asshole most of the time.
RayBuck
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Re: ideas behind the rise of the M series over the past 15 y

Post by RayBuck »

I have 2 ms2250s with fan shrouds...
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