Devastating amp, delivers more wattage than meets the eye
Written: Jun 20 '02 (Updated Jun 20 '02)
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Pros: High watts per dollar, clean power, Proven RF track record - a great amp
Cons: You pay for the name, but RF's underratedness makes up for this
The Bottom Line: Tons of bang for your buck, oozes power and clarity. A new punch amp might be just what you need to drive those subs into aural ecstasy!
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| nick1326's Full Review: Rockford Fosgate Power 360.2 Car Amp |
Rockford Fosgate has always made some of the best available amplifiers in the car audio industry. Although I personally liked the old Rockford better (prior to the introduction of their head unit line to be exact) RF still offers extremely high quality circuitry and componentry and their incredible line of Punch amps. Additionally, they do maintain their stringent quality control and their nice policy of conveniently underrating their models, which really simply boils down to more value for your dollar, but more on that later.
Car audio is a subjective topic of discussion -- Your choice of product has alot of variables; Some people want to simply shake the ground with distorted and overpowering bass....some of you want an absolutely audiophile grade true-true sound, some people are aiming for a nice pure clean sound with more than ample bass to lay down a sweet listening pocket and to keep those kick drums pounding your chest.... I myself could probably be pinned somewhere between options 2 and 3.... No matter what kind of enthusiast you are (or perhaps not just an enthusiast but a competitor) Rockford will fill any void or desire you may have - especially in their amp line. However quality costs dollars, therefore if you are shopping for Profile and Jensen componentry, you'll probably be turned off by ANY higher-end amp price and not just Fosgate. I'll assume you are reading this because you already understand that quality costs and I hope you'll continue to read because Rockford is worht every penny and here's why:
Firstly, the RF factory has a convenient habbit of over-watting their amps well beyond spec: For Instance, the 360a2 is spec'd to push 90 watts continous per channel (2 channel) but bridge into mono to yield a fi-360 watt output. In actuality, according to the birth certificate that came with mine, she's pushing 118 per channel (187 at 2 ohms stereo FYI, NICE) and a whopping 486 in a mono load. If you consider that this is over 100 watts of power more, than you really reduce your watt-per-dollar ratio substantially, therefore, while some people criticize RF's higher prices, I must defend them: WHile Rockford amps cetainly will cost more than your standard Jensen amp, the prices are really pretty much inline with many of the higher-end producers in this class (Phoenix gold, Lanzar, etc etc) And while most high-end companies DO underrate their products, it seems Rockford gives you the most 'free watts' of all of them by a considerable margin. This is where you really gain back additional value from your purchase. THe only downside is you really have to be careful about over-driving certain speakers....Nevertheless, it has been my experience that overdriving is a GOOD thing if you don't go crazy, and UNDERDRIVING speakers is far more damning and damaging to the drivers - particularly due to distortion and the resulting deformation of the voice coils. More watts is better, most of the time!
On the topic of distortion and sound quality, this is where Rockford's Punch line really shines - Aside from the fact that the monster wattage will rock your eardrums and provide ample power for those subs, the THD is very low and aside from the statistics, you have to consider signal to noise ratio AND the actual purity of the power -- Numbers can lie! THe simple fact is your ears are the best factor in determining how good an amp is - There are ways to print amazing stats on a mediocre amplifier and while the numbers report one story, you ears may tell you something completely different. Any reputable shop will audition any amp they intend to sell. Bring a diverse selection of discs you listen to and also a few genre's that you DON'T - this can be very useful in hearing true sound purity...For instance, I'll guess that many people shopping for watts wouldn't consderin bringing a classicla vocal or piano track to listen to - but give it a try and see the difference between components - IT IS ALOT EASIER TO HEAR DISTORTION AND IMPURITY IN MUSIC THAT IS INHERENTLY CLEAN, AS OPPOSED TO MUSIC THAT IS INHERETLY ALREADY DISTORTED IN THE RECORDING BEFORE IT GETS THROUGH YOUR SYSTEM!!! Signal to noise ratio is over 105 dB which is excellent, and the actual sound quality is superb, or at least my ears say.
The Punch amps are certainly worht your time looking at, and you might just fall in love. Be sure to check out those individual birth certificates (between individual units) and you'll see exactly how many free watts you really can squeeze out. One word of warning - While these amps ARE stable in a one-ohm mono load, they DO get hot and will occasionally shut down thermally, frequency depending on how high you have the gains cranked up. As always, since you will probably be running a very clean high-voltage head unit (like I do) I suggest setting the gains on the amps lower. This means you'll need to turn the volume on the SOURCE higher for higher volume and since the source is probably cleaner than the amp, you get a cleaner sound at higher volumes....Try it, it works. Good luck, audition these amps until you are convinced - but I am sure you will be satisfied. Happy listening
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 370.00
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Epinions.com ID:
nick1326
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Location: Long Island, NY
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Music, Motorcycles, Drumming, Surfing, the finest cigars and living life to its fullest...
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