Tiny footprint SQ amp for front stage imaging

[ca90ss]

I've installed quite a few of the RF mini amps and have always been happy with them.

[Serieus]

Got the amps in and playing today, haven’t tuned the DSP for the new system yet other than some rough level matching and crossovers (no eq or TA yet) so more to come on sound impressions. Noise floor seems good (on par with my JL RD900/5), and great power output. It’s kinda shocking to see these in person, they’re just so tiny for the power output!

Getting some crackling out of my tweeters at medium volume now that definitely wasn’t there before this weekend, but I don’t think it’s the amps…thinking it may be input clipping in the DSP (only happens on heavy bass, like a hard kick). I don’t remember ever adjusting it after I pulled it out last weekend, but maybe I did. I’ll do some troubleshooting & tuning tomorrow and follow up with some more notes.

Also, heard the fans kick on while I still had my hatch floor open, they’re quiet (only noticeable because the engine was off & climate control also off, so no other noises in the car) but interested to see if they ramp up higher and get noisy. I wasn’t able to hear them once I put the hatch floor back down after finishing setting gains.

[Serieus]

Alright, feeling pretty good about things now...spent a few hours today cleaning up the wiring a bit and tuned the system. I also level matched my JL RD900/5 that I pulled out to compare apples-apples with as a two way system + sub (Focal 6WM & AF GB10, JL 12TW3) and I'm leaning towards liking the RF a bit more - bare in mind though that I don't have a quick/easy way to swap between the amps, so there were several minutes in between testing. The tweeter crackling was from the inputs and that has been resolved as well. Size and power output aside, the RF sounds a little more dynamic particularly in the bass region (perhaps the "constant power" tech at work, along with the generally increased power?) and somehow a little cleaner up top...can't say that I noticed any audible difference in the midrange. Both sound great.

For the fan noise, I think they do ramp up a little when they get warm but I wasn't ever able to hear it while in the front seat. There was a barely noticeable hum from the rear seat while I was tuning and obviously a bit more when the floor was out of the hatch for adjusting gains. I felt the amps after listening for awhile and they definitely get hotter than the JL amp, but no surprise there given that they're pushing quite a bit more power out of maybe half the size. I had an Alpine PDX-F4 years ago and it also ran pretty hot, I don't think these were any hotter than that. I'll drop a fan or two in the floor to help circulate air a bit more but I don't think there will be any issue...they mention "Real Time Thermal Sensing with Rollback Technology" in the specs, I can't find any details on the specifics of how their rollback works but I assume it gradually decreases power output to prevent overheating like a few other amp lines.

Noise floor is about the same between the two, no real audible difference that I could tell. I never really had any issues with noise with the JL amp in my old car, a '17 Altima, or the current car which is a '20 Niro.

They'll be staying in the car for sure and I suspect I'll have them for quite awhile given the size and power output, they'll fit damn near anywhere. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you do end up going with these, really great stuff. I was researching the other day about the pricing updates on these guys...I was initially wanting to get one of the T1000x5ad's when I purchased the RD900/5 a couple of years ago, but it was too expensive - the price drops came in two weeks after I purchased could have saved some money just getting one the first time!

[geolemon]

Alright, feeling pretty good about things now...spent a few hours today cleaning up the wiring a bit and tuned the system. I also level matched my JL RD900/5 that I pulled out to compare apples-apples with as a two way system + sub (Focal 6WM & AF GB10, JL 12TW3) and I'm leaning towards liking the RF a bit more - bare in mind though that I don't have a quick/easy way to swap between the amps, so there were several minutes in between testing. The tweeter crackling was from the inputs and that has been resolved as well. Size and power output aside, the RF sounds a little more dynamic particularly in the bass region (perhaps the "constant power" tech at work, along with the generally increased power?) and somehow a little cleaner up top...can't say that I noticed any audible difference in the midrange. Both sound great.

For the fan noise, I think they do ramp up a little when they get warm but I wasn't ever able to hear it while in the front seat. There was a barely noticeable hum from the rear seat while I was tuning and obviously a bit more when the floor was out of the hatch for adjusting gains. I felt the amps after listening for awhile and they definitely get hotter than the JL amp, but no surprise there given that they're pushing quite a bit more power out of maybe half the size. I had an Alpine PDX-F4 years ago and it also ran pretty hot, I don't think these were any hotter than that. I'll drop a fan or two in the floor to help circulate air a bit more but I don't think there will be any issue...they mention "Real Time Thermal Sensing with Rollback Technology" in the specs, I can't find any details on the specifics of how their rollback works but I assume it gradually decreases power output to prevent overheating like a few other amp lines.

Noise floor is about the same between the two, no real audible difference that I could tell. I never really had any issues with noise with the JL amp in my old car, a '17 Altima, or the current car which is a '20 Niro.

They'll be staying in the car for sure and I suspect I'll have them for quite awhile given the size and power output, they'll fit damn near anywhere. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you do end up going with these, really great stuff. I was researching the other day about the pricing updates on these guys...I was initially wanting to get one of the T1000x5ad's when I purchased the RD900/5 a couple of years ago, but it was too expensive - the price drops came in two weeks after I purchased could have saved some money just getting one the first time!

So you may have indirectly answered a concern of mine -
You are running it with a sub and mids/tweeters - sounds like that's a non a issue, the power supply has the cahones to apply everything?

Have you really cranked it up full tilt? I've been "what if"-ing about music where the bass really slams, wondering if there was any impact to the other channels - or the other way around, if at full-tilt you don't get the proportional impact - running out of power supply capacity?

I keep wondering about using a T1000x5ad on a sub and midbass and the mid/tweets on a T400x4ad... But I'd really be stressing the 5 channel and practically idling the 4 channel.
On the other hand - I wouldn't want the power to the sub limiting my highs and mid at all.

But sounds like that wouldn't be a problem?

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

[Serieus]

Indeed, I think the power supply is plenty powerful to keep up. I like to listen pretty loud and it had no issues keeping composure at slightly uncomfortable volumes.

I did settle on a slightly different layout - tweeters and sub on the T1000x5ad with two unused channels (will eventually be used for either a center or rear fill), mids/midbass on the T400x4ad. Mainly went this route to help split the higher draw components between the amps for heat purposes since I do have them in an enclosed space, and the four channel has marginally more power (something like 140/channel vs. 115 on the five channel) - inaudible difference for sure but can't hurt anyways

[steelwindmachine]

the Pico line was mentioned earlier, but here's a pretty compact all-in-one: https://mosconi-america.com/portfolio/pico-68-oem-dsp/

Unsurprisingly, the smaller you go and/or more consolidated, the higher the price.

[geolemon]

the Pico line was mentioned earlier, but here's a pretty compact all-in-one: https://mosconi-america.com/portfolio/pico-68-oem-dsp/

Unsurprisingly, the smaller you go and/or more consolidated, the higher the price.

I just found a dealer in the USA... Sent them a message. Not even near my state so they may not even respond.

Not sure how cost effective it'll be in comparison to a MiniDSP 8X12 / RF T750x1bd / T400x4ad / T400x4ad
But asked them to advise and quote me
- Pico 8|10 DSP / Pico 4 / Pico 4 / Pico 1
And also
- Pico 8|12 DSP amp / Pico 1

We'll see how they compare.

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[TheObjectivist]

hey OP, did you ever look into the biketronics stuff?

[geolemon]

I did, and thanks...
I may take a look again but I think it was higher price and less cosmetically appealing from a brand I didn't have experience with.
I didn't officially put it in my comparison - I'm going to look again but that could have been because the power wasn't in range or something. Hang tight, I'm off to look again...

EDIT:
I'm back.
I didn't see any subwoofer amps, for one thing. My 12W7 is a 3 ohm sub and my GTi 12 is a dual 6 ohm. I probably have a dual 2 ohm XBL^2 sub I would be happy with, but I really want to play with the W7 and GTi.

Also - the 4 channel amp has a TON of power, even the smaller one. That's great for my 4 XBL^2 midbasses but maybe even too much for them, much less the dome mid and planar tweeters. Kick ass - but holy crap that is power.

[geolemon]

So I pulled the trigger - not on RF T-series amps but DLS CC amps.
CC-1000 and two CCi 44 amps.
They don't have quite the "wait - THOSE are your amps?" factor, but they are still pretty compact.

They are DLS, and class AB (except for the sub amp) so sure, you can call me un-brave or wise for my SQ install (I'm personally still flipping between those emotions myself) but I'm confident they are a good choice.