Twofer: "Seem suspicious?" and "Which would you allow in your system?"

[geolemon]

I used to sell Rockford Fosgate a decade or two ago. I even had the honor of an introduction to some of their engineers, one of the years I was at CES as an advisor for a small local brand. I love that their engineers have their own signature icons on the amp PCBs, and that they are proud of that. So I have a soft spot I suppose.
But I also am a DLS fan. I have a brand new DLS Ultimate A2 and A6 that I've been hanging onto for over a decade now - but plans have changed. I'm going to cut those loose (cry!). I need 9 channels to fit into half the amp rack, now.
Either my 12W7 or JBL GTi 12, my four Exodus Anarchy midbass, and I settled on two of my Dynaudio Volvo domes, and Bohlender Graebner magnetic planar tweeters.

I mention RF because of these amps:
Specs: https://www.pasmag.com/technology/te...plifier-review

• RF T400x4ad for tweeters and mids (with gains set to half, most likely)
• RF T400x4ad for midbasses (100x4... or more)
• RF T750x1bd for the sub (3 ohm, either way) - I'd probably get about 600w to it.

Pretty intriguing to have amps so small, I could show off the install AND get a "THAT is what's powering things??"

However, I came across this today on Ebay (yikes?), which has me thinking about DLS as an option again:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/114775624780?epid=23041921701 - scroll to the description, you'll see what I'm skeptical of.

• DLS CCi44 for tweeters and mids (with gains set low)
• DLS CCi44 for midbasses (85x4)
• DLS CC-1000 for the sub (3 ohm, either way) - I'd probably also get about 600w to it.

Unfortunately, DLS no longer sells those 4 channel amps on their site, which is my preferred trusted way of buying from them.

So two questions:

1. Is it possible that these amps actually DID get love from "amp doctor" Gordon Taylor?
   
   • Anyone suggest someone else to buy DLS from?
   
   
2. Are either of these amp options you would NOT want in your car, and why?

[Euphonic]

I work with the RF amps and know nothing about the DLS amps. I like the RF amps, they just keep increasing the prices. For example, at the beginning of the year the T400x4ad and T750x1bd were probably sold for $399 each, starting in April the T400x4ad went to $439 and the T750x1bd went to $429, and as of June the T400x4ad is going to sell for $489 and the T750x1bd for $479.

[geolemon]

Yes - I thought I had found some cheaper, when I was starting to decide - that sounds about right. I haven't been watching prices, just thought I lost out on some deals I'd stumbled on earlier.

Unfortunately the prices on amps IN GENERAL are all over the place these days. Fortunately, it's still cheaper than my formative years in the 1990s when "$1/watt" was a good price for good amps (y'know - back when we had to walk uphill, both ways, to school?). I bought my Alpine V12 amps... first gen. The sub amp was bridged to 400x1 and cost me $399, the stereo amp IIRC was 75x2 and would have been $299 for a 300 watt amp. I thought I stole them, in a world filled with Phoenix Gold and Orion amps that were nearly double that price per watt.

The $300/$300/$400 price points sure would be more appealing than $440/$440/$430. That's not necessarily why I keep looking for alternatives, but it's certainly making the bang-for-the-buck shrink out of their favor when I do compare, now.

Did you find the dongle approach annoying at all?
And is the fan noise audible at all? Let me rephrase that - present? I'd feel confident opening them up and replacing the fans in the future if I ever needed to, so I'm not too worried about "fans", but I'm curious if they did put nice quiet fans in there?
I know they get hot since they have a giant amp shoved into a tiny case so fans are a necessity - probably "too hot to touch" after listening loud, I imagine?

At any rate, the DLS amps don't have dongles which makes it easier to make a good looking point-to-point install with some fancy-but-inexpensive self-made RCA interconnects - and I've changed my strategy for the box and amp rack, to buy me a few more inches without cutting my sub box down - so the DLS option wouldn't be a squeeze either.

I still think it must be pretty cool to have a huge sounding system, then show off your "huge" amps that are powering it...

[Euphonic]

The dongle approach can be annoying, depending on the install. It's not as bad as some of the other similar amps from JBL, Wetsounds, or Memphis though. The fan noise doesn't seem to be an issue. They only seem to run after they warm up (and they will get quite warm, even at idle). I'd listen to one, but I don't have any on display anymore. Stock is starting to get low.

[geolemon]

Well, I did pull the trigger, in part because I did find some good deals-

I bought two of the CCi 44's from SSA (Sound Solutions Audio). Never bought from them before, but they are a supported vendor on several forums, and they had a good price - $361 each. That undercuts the RF's at this point, and they are class A/B yet still compact. And I think the install will look sharper with my hopefully attractive looking RCAs plugged right into the amps. And no sketchy Ebay vendor.

I was going to buy the CC-1000 from DLS directly for $500, just for the feel-good factor... but their website was down! Some sort of PHP error.
All for the best I guess, I found an Amazon listing for $400 from a legitimate shop in California, Prime free shipping.

And also pulled the trigger on a miniDSP 8x12 while the ordering was happening, so I'll have everything I need as I'm building the amp rack.

I guess it's time to pull my DLS A4 and A6 out of storage and put them up for sale...
I actually have some RF Prime amps in there too- the lady of the house will be thrilled to hear I'm selling some things