First off, I actually paid the $400 that it retails for in stores. If you ask me, that's a lot to pay for a 300 watt amplifier. Even though it's rated at 250 watts, I say 300 watts because JL Audio rates their amplifiers conservatively and at 12.5 volts. What you might find with other amplifiers is that they're rated at 14.4 volts, which is a relatively unrealistic voltage rating for the average car running on a stock electrical system.
The first thing I noticed about this amp was that it's built like a tank. It's very heavy and sturdy. That combined with its stainless steel texture give it the appearance and feel of something that can withstand the elements. It's like the ginsu knife of mobile audio subwoofer amplifiers.
One drawback in outward design, however, is the location of the knobs. But before I get into that, let me point out that there's only 2 recommended ways of mounting this amplifier: vertically and horizontally. Since heat dissipation for this amp is optimal when the fins are facing upwardly, a vertical mount is the best position for this amp. An "upside down" mount is not recommended.
But, one problem this creates is that a vertical mount makes the knobs almost totally inaccessible depending on where you mount it. To adjust the settings on the amp, I had to crawl halfway into my trunk and angle my neck underneath the amp. It was very awkward and very uncomfortable. If you mount the amp vertically to the back of the backseat, then you definitely want rear seats that fold down if you plan on ever having to make adjustments after the amp is mounted. Otherwise, you might be better off mounting it horizontally, or finding a spot where you can easily get to the controls even when its mounted vertically.
But, the controls themselves are truly a redeeming quality in spite of their inconvenient location. They give you the option of choosing either a 24db or 12db slope for the low pass filter. The steeper the slope, the lower the frequency the low-pass can be set at with greater accuracy in sound reproduction.
The crossover dial has marked positions in increments of around 10hz. This means I have a much better idea of where my subs are low-passed than I would with other amps I've used, some of which dont have any markings at all on the crossover dial.
As far as power goes, this amp provides both available and reliable power on a consistent basis. Because of the tightly regulated power supply, my guess is that I'm probably extracting the full potential of this amp while it receives anywhere from 10.5-14.4 volts from the battery.
Also, I get that Class D efficiency with very clean signal reproduction. I get very clean bass with that amp, and my electrical system doesn't seem to be at all strained. But, that isn't to say that Class D technology is synonymous with clean signal reproduction. I just think that this amp is the exception to the belief that they shouldn't be synonymous.
And this amp seems to be able to take abuse in stride. Once, after I had just hooked it up to a loaded sub enclosure, the neg and pos wires at the enclosure terminals began to cross. Instead of going into meltdown like some cheap amps that I can think of would, this amp just started making a buzzing noise and lit up a little light labeled "ohm". I went to the manual to see what that light meant, and it gave me scenarios that included what was actually happening. This amp is ready for anything.
Another nice feature that I should mention is its ability to provide a consistent amount of power with ohm loads between 1.5 ohms and 4 ohms. If my sub is a dual 2 ohm and I wire it in series to 4 ohms, it won't cut the power output in half like with most other mono block amplifiers.
But, then that raises the question of whether or not the power essentially is being cut in half to begin with. That is, should this amp be producing 500 watts at 2 ohms and 250 watts at 4 ohms? Did JL Audio sacrifice power output for the sake of preserving a unique aspect of this amp's versatility?
These questions may never be answered, but let me just say this: This amp gets the job done. I'm not looking for an award winning system that's going to end up becoming a mobile noise polluter. I just want some nice clean bass that can keep up with my mids and highs while providing that extra kick from time to time.
If that's what you're looking for, then look no further.
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