I've heard some folks say that the old PPI Art Series amps are a good way to go. I tried a search, but came up empty.

Can anyone be specific as to why these are so good? I'm looking at an a600.2 to power a single sub (not sure what sub I'm gonna get).

What kind of prices can I expect for one of these amps. I found several on eBay, but I don't know if the prices are fair.

Thanks for any input.

 

the art series was popular back in the day because of their look and performance. It was a different look that to this day has not be recreated and is still good looking because of it.

As for prices that will depend on the collectors that still have them. I personally was/am a fan of phoenix golds M, and Ms/mps series of the same time and know that they are still collected and can demand a pretty price.

If you do get an old-school amp you should should consider having the capacitors in it replaced. They have a 10 yr shelf life and when they go they pop and take part of the circuit board with it.

 

Truthfully, I don't see the need to look for an old school amplifier to power a subwoofer. When Crutchfield was blowing out their clarion amplifiers on closeout, I decided to pick up a $149 DPX1851 just to see if I could get away with a cheap amplifier on my subwoofer. Well, it worked and I was able to get away with a cheaper amplifier on my subwoofer.

Trust me, it is hard to tell a difference between amplifiers in the 20 to 80 Hz range. I went through a TON of amplifiers in a 2 year period only to have my SQ bubble busted to find out it doesn't matter on a subwoofer. What I learned is that as long as one has an amplifier that makes clean, unclipped, rated, RMS power, it will be nearly IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish one amplifier from another in the 20 to 80 Hz range.

For the record, I went through the following amplifiers in my Mustang and noted no significant differences in sound quality:
Rockford Fosgate 25 to Life Power 1000 (class D channel), Soundstream Reference 700s, Memphis MCD1500, Crossfire BMF1000d, Lunar L2125, Orion HCCA 250 G4, and the following Linear Power amplifiers: 5002/1752/DPS500 (all at 8 ohms) before trying the Clarion DPX1851. I am sure I left a few amplifiers out because I purchased and sold a LOT of audio gear over the last two years.

Also, should you go with an older amplifier, ttocs is correct in that all the electrolytic capacitors should be replaced. If one cap in the power supply section blows, it could take out a row of power supply FETs that have no modern day replacement. I've even had FETs with the same part number have different specs NOW versus the FETs from 10 years ago.

 

Cool. Thanks for the input. Sounds like it'll just be easier to get something new so that's probably the route I'll go.