JL HD Series Amps vs PG amps

[deathcloud]

Have you guys seen the new JL Audio HD amps? They have 2 and some crazy technology I have never heard about. The power ratings look amazing as well. 150 W RMS x 4 THATS 150RMS X 4. Also swichable input voltage as well. Read about it

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=482

The only price is... pretty hefty price tag. 799.99

Wow...

[fuzzysnuggleduck]

They are class D amps, very similar to the Alpine PDX amps.

They look nice alright, but I wouldn't replace a PG amp with one, especially not at that price point.

The current RSd amps have a higher signal to noise ratio (79dB vs 76dB) and the 500.4 does 135W x 4. The real advantage of these amps? Size and spanky features like balanced line inputs. That's about it.

[Bfowler]

they are sweet amp...if they had a monster 2 channel (250ish x 2) i might think about it. love the small foot print.

they have to ad A TON of processing to make the class D play cleanly at higher frequencies...i wonder how they will do in a long term test

[fuzzysnuggleduck]

they are sweet amp...if they had a monster 2 channel (250ish x 2) i might think about it. love the small foot print.

they have to ad A TON of processing to make the class D play cleanly at higher frequencies...i wonder how they will do in a long term test

Yeah, it appears that the OMG PATENTED stuff with the JL is all about maintaining sonic fidelity at higher frequencies, where class D normally fails.

[Mackenzie]

Have you guys seen the new JL Audio HD amps? They have 2 and some crazy technology I have never heard about. The power ratings look amazing as well. 150 W RMS x 4 THATS 150RMS X 4. Also swichable input voltage as well. Read about it

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_amps.php?amp_id=482

The only price is... pretty hefty price tag. 799.99

Wow...

Why on earth would you consider that amp for? Nothing special besides the small footprint. Very nice looking amp, but no advantages besides size. For a price of almost 800 for a 4x150 amp, I will pass.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-NEW-JL-AUDIO-HD ... .m14.l1318

[flogger11]

I would put a ti500.4 or ZX-450 up against that amp... besides, bang for the buck that jl doesnt even come close!

[flogger11]

I mean, come on, if you are going to spend $800 on amps you could get a ZX-450 and a ZX-500 for LESS THAN $500 and run nearly ANYTHING with them. OR you could shop carefully and probably come up with a ZPA0.3 and a ZPA0.5, two of the best PG amps ever built, for $800! Either route would SMOKE that jl! Good luck dude!

[tipracer]

or you could find 2 ms-2125s and not have to be as carfully as you would have to be with the zpa's

[kg1961]

we should be comparing prices to old pg item when they were new and this new item JL
I remeber alot of pg item m50,ms2125 zx500 etc that were alot of money for the item at the time they were new in canada
compare apples with apples
I know alot of you guys don't like the jl amp I have used and beat the shit out of a jl 300/4 and 500/1 and it sounds great nad never let me down
they work great from 10v to 16v some of use have problems with the big pg amp and voltage drops.
they removed that problem
I own most of the cool pg amp (still ) love them just wanted to give my 2cents

[deathcloud]

I wasnt considering getting it. 800 bux... come on. Maybe if I won the lotto I would get it to just have it. haha and also buy out everyones PG collection but yea I wish I could get a ZPA shits so clean and I wonder what it sounds like. *WONDERS*

[Me-262]

You know for someone like me this is very tempting. I need the smallest amp possible since I track my car. I'm trying to shoehorn a x200.4 in there right now but if this JL amp was closer to $400 I'd give it a whirl since its 1/3rd the size.

How about the Alpine amps, are they any decent ?

[Bfowler]

they are pretty good. but they use the exact same chips as the blaupunkt and rockford amps, so you can take your pick of the ones that are easier on the pocketbook (hint....unless you have a nice in....its not alpine)

[nick-caper]

I have 2 JL amps. 300/4 and 500/1. I personally bought these amps because of 2 features that are VERY important to me. Well 3 actually.
First is Signal to Noise. These amps have some really low noise levels. That to me means cleaner sound. 2 You dont need a redicoulous 14.4 volts like PG amps or other amps (sorry but true) to make these JL amps play as loud as they can get. The amp puts out same wattage through very wide volatge range. That is the benfit of a fully regulated power supply that noone really appreciates. Plus they put out the same wattage on a wide range of ohm loads. You dont have to get a 2 ohm sub to get more power. 3 the amps have balanced inputs. That means no or very little ground noise. Pg amps dont have that and I am not trying to make PG look like dirt cause I think they have nice amps. But PG does lack some very important features I need in my amp. Maybe I havent looked at there lineup close enough but balanced inputs isnt a feature on some amps they have, had.
The Jl amps are really clean soinding and in my honest opinion the Jl 500/1 is the best Class D amp I have heard. The small Bluapunkt class T amps are also very impressive but I dont recommend them cause they had allot of defects. The Alpine Class D amps sucked in my opinion. Even the dealer here mentioned they lack real depth in bass and o seem to break often. They say the JL amps are very durable and are made with quality parts. Looking inside I can see the very clean way they laid things out. Looks real nice and neat.
To me Class D is getting old. Class T is going to be the future if tripath will lower there prices on the chips. If not we can all be prepared for Class G which is so beyond what D can do its just insane.
These HD amps seeem like glamour amps but to me not worth the cashola they are asking. The next amp i get might be as small as a brick but i wanna make sure it sounds dam good.

[denim]

Full range class-D is probably the next transition in car audio amplifiers. Zenon (the build house for many quality brands) has models available, Alpine seems to be doing well with their PDX amps, ARC has made a splash with their mini's too. Lanzar also put some money into doing their own line that have gotten a few positive reviews already. Not to mention, some insider info so shhhh, I know ZED Audio's intention for the next line is full range class-D but with a different approach then the existing models out there.

The driving force behind them is that class-D technology is catching up to A/B in clean reproduction of sound. Plus, the higher efficiency, smaller foot print, and decreased need for large heat sinks effectively lowering the cost to build the amp. Just as A/B has become as clean as the old Class-A's, it appears Class-D is doing the same thing to A/B. The largest obstacle to over come for full range class-D amps is the age old myth of class-D amps being dirty and high in THD so they should never be used out side of sub woofer duty. That is something many shop owners and salesmen, who are clearly not knowledgeable about their products or industry, love to reiterate and put into gullible kids heads.

For SSA, our plan once we finish establishing a full speaker line is to move into amplifiers, and I would prefer to go in the full range class-D direction.

[Audiophiliac]

I will just throw in my 2 cents on class D. Technology has come so far in the last 5 years, that you see a lot of high end manufacturers of home audio amplifiers (Jeff Rowland, Bel Canto, Rotel, Linn, etc) start producing class D amps. And they sound just as good, if not, better, than their class A or A/B counterparts. Its cheaper and easier to manufacture. It uses much less energy (think green). Smaller, lighter, and easier to install. Lots of upsides, and diminishing downsides to the platform. It will keep becoming more popular as time goes on.

[flogger11]

jl, yuck.

[Mackenzie]

I have 2 JL amps. 300/4 and 500/1. I personally bought these amps because of 2 features that are VERY important to me. Well 3 actually.
First is Signal to Noise. These amps have some really low noise levels. That to me means cleaner sound. 2 You dont need a redicoulous 14.4 volts like PG amps or other amps (sorry but true) to make these JL amps play as loud as they can get. The amp puts out same wattage through very wide volatge range. That is the benfit of a fully regulated power supply that noone really appreciates. Plus they put out the same wattage on a wide range of ohm loads. You dont have to get a 2 ohm sub to get more power. 3 the amps have balanced inputs. That means no or very little ground noise. Pg amps dont have that and I am not trying to make PG look like dirt cause I think they have nice amps. But PG does lack some very important features I need in my amp. Maybe I havent looked at there lineup close enough but balanced inputs isnt a feature on some amps they have, had.
The Jl amps are really clean soinding and in my honest opinion the Jl 500/1 is the best Class D amp I have heard. The small Bluapunkt class T amps are also very impressive but I dont recommend them cause they had allot of defects. The Alpine Class D amps sucked in my opinion. Even the dealer here mentioned they lack real depth in bass and o seem to break often. They say the JL amps are very durable and are made with quality parts. Looking inside I can see the very clean way they laid things out. Looks real nice and neat.
To me Class D is getting old. Class T is going to be the future if tripath will lower there prices on the chips. If not we can all be prepared for Class G which is so beyond what D can do its just insane.
These HD amps seeem like glamour amps but to me not worth the cashola they are asking. The next amp i get might be as small as a brick but i wanna make sure it sounds dam good.

Lets see here.. The pg xenons put out the same power at any ohm load, and also so does jbl crown amps. Thats just to name a few that I consider better built amps than the jl. For the record a class d sub amp isnt going to really sound any different given the gains are matched between another amp. The biggest difference making is going to be switching speakers. Get a xenon 600.1, and match the gains, and its going to sound roughly the same. Pg has been building better amps than jl since day 1, along with many other companies. Pg is just now getting back on their feet, so dont expect anything extreemly highend to be coming out soon. btw, I cant count on 2 hands how many 500/1s we had back in the shop. Their were alot of issues with them, back when I worked at tweeter. Cant say Ive ever cared for jls amps, but their subs are another story.. As for signal to noise ratio, im about 100% sure that you cant hear any of that stuff. Most of the specs listed on amps cant be distinguised by the human ear period..

[Mackenzie]

we should be comparing prices to old pg item when they were new and this new item JL
I remeber alot of pg item m50,ms2125 zx500 etc that were alot of money for the item at the time they were new in canada
compare apples with apples
I know alot of you guys don't like the jl amp I have used and beat the shit out of a jl 300/4 and 500/1 and it sounds great nad never let me down
they work great from 10v to 16v some of use have problems with the big pg amp and voltage drops.
they removed that problem
I own most of the cool pg amp (still ) love them just wanted to give my 2cents

You cant compare new products now, to the premium pricing of amps back in the early 90s, when car amps were built with much better quality. Prices were ofcourse higher back then, for similarly powered amps to nowadays.

[nick-caper]

"For the record a class d sub amp isnt going to really sound any different given the gains are matched between another amp. The biggest difference making is going to be switching speakers. "

Are u serious?
I have heard allot of Class D amps. Many of whichclaim to be the best of Alpine, Sony, Kicker etc. There are big differences. The Biggest difference I have heard is the time it takes to make the cone travel from one note to the next. Alpine sux. Kicker is better but sounds one noted on most bass tracks. JL has a fuller depper bass and has much more control.
And everybody has there opinion and favporites but logically speaking, Who wants an amp that needs 14.4 volts to get your moneys worth when you can get an amp that can do everything at all voltages?
My opinion on class d is that it isnt a great technology for SQ. yea it can get a little better but compare it to Class T and you dont even have to guess which is better. And saying Class A/B is just as good as Class A is really not a good idea to say. Cuz Class A is far better when applied to the right speakers and used with the right amp components.
In my opinion PG is seriously Lacking behind the rest of the pack. But what ya gonna do? They do this all the time and change names, company ownership. Ole Bob done sold out about 50 times.

[Mackenzie]

"For the record a class d sub amp isnt going to really sound any different given the gains are matched between another amp. The biggest difference making is going to be switching speakers. "

Are u serious?
I have heard allot of Class D amps. Many of whichclaim to be the best of Alpine, Sony, Kicker etc. There are big differences. The Biggest difference I have heard is the time it takes to make the cone travel from one note to the next. Alpine sux. Kicker is better but sounds one noted on most bass tracks. JL has a fuller depper bass and has much more control.
And everybody has there opinion and favporites but logically speaking, Who wants an amp that needs 14.4 volts to get your moneys worth when you can get an amp that can do everything at all voltages?
My opinion on class d is that it isnt a great technology for SQ. yea it can get a little better but compare it to Class T and you dont even have to guess which is better. And saying Class A/B is just as good as Class A is really not a good idea to say. Cuz Class A is far better when applied to the right speakers and used with the right amp components.
In my opinion PG is seriously Lacking behind the rest of the pack. But what ya gonna do? They do this all the time and change names, company ownership. Ole Bob done sold out about 50 times.

What exactly is pg behind on though? They have already had class t amps, amps that give full output at any ohm load, and ect.

[Bfowler]

oh...and XE.LOAD is way better then JL's RIPS PG just limits the output side instead of JL regulated power supply.

as said above. JL Amps have NOTHING over PG amps....well maybe more install friendly currently...but i think PG will figure it out

you mention that you don't like that PG amps NEED 14.4 volts to get your moneys worth...but think of it like this:

PG rates their amps at 14.4 volts at 300, 600, 1200 etc

JL rates their slash amps at 11.5 - 14.4 at 250, 500, and 1000

so even if you aren't giving your PG amps full 14.4 volts...they are still making the same power as JL amps at a lower price point. (and just as if not more cleanly with comparable features)

[stipud]

JL's powersupplies are restricted to making a set amount of power at 11.5v. If they get any more input voltage, they will cut the power back down to 11.5v levels. I consider this a big disadvantage, actually. If your power distribution is good enough to keep the levels at 14.4v, why shouldn't you be able to enjoy the extra headroom?

PG amps perform nearly as good at 12v as they do at 14.4v. I have benched all of my PG amps to produce their rated RMS power at 12v, without clipping. When I feed them 14.4v, this only means there's plenty more power left on tap for dynamic peaks in music. If you listen to music with a high dynamic range, this makes a phenomenal difference. If you listen to modern recorded music with low dynamic range, then you probably won't be able to tell the difference.

Here's a great lesson on dynamic range:

[flogger11]

WOW! I now understand why my old cd's arent as loud as my new ones! TY for the great link stipud!

[Mackenzie]

I agree on some amps that sound different, depending the amp and brand. Some amps have a manufactured colored sound to them, wich all the prossesing and such. But for the most part, its pretty difficult telling many good amps apart.

[flogger11]

I agree on some amps that sound different, depending the amp and brand. Some amps have a manufactured colored sound to them, wich all the prossesing and such. But for the most part, its pretty difficult telling many good amps apart.

Until I owned my first ZPA I would have agreed with this statement...