Hello everyone.
The question: Is the Mosconi Pro 1/10 really that good? Is it that much better than the competition? Is it worth jumping through some hoops if I can use one?
Background:
I had a friend offer me a used Mosconi Pro 1/10 at a price that I'm very tempted by. It's approximately half of the retail price. I've read a bunch of high end installs that use them and that they seem to be one of the monoblocks chosen routinely for "high-end" installs. My first dilemma is space. I don't currently have room for a second amp, so even mounting it is going to involve a bit of work. My second dilemma is that I currently have space for a second subwoofer (if the car audio gods wish me to have it), the box has an empty 10-12" hole and another .55-.6 cubic feet waiting. If I got the Mosconi Pro 1/10 - I could end up needing another one... which means that my second subwoofer suddenly got a LOT more expensive. I don't have the budget currently for a second subwoofer, so I may end up rolling around with my current set up for a year or more before that happens.
My other option would be to get a MMATS M.2000.1 which would give me the same 1000w @ 2 ohms that the Mosconi Pro would give me, but it would also be able to deliver 2000w @ 1 ohm if I were to get a second subwoofer. Its a similar size to the Mosconi Pro 1/10, only an inch bigger which is inconsequential.
My subwoofer is currently a single Focal 10wm in approximately a .55-.6 cu.ft. box in my spare tire well. I'm powering it with the 5+6 channels of a MMATS 6150d so it is getting around 550w @ 2 ohm, but since its a 1.6 ohm subwoofer it may be getting closer to 700 watts. I asked MMATS about powering a subwoofer using the 5+6 channel on the 6150d, and a few people at the company (both in sales and engineering) told me that 100% the 6150d CAN do it ... but that one of their dedicated monoblocks would do it much better. The shop that sold me the 10wm also recommended that I put it on a Mosconi Pro 1/10 to do it justice. In both cases I trust who I spoke to and don't feel like I was getting a sales pitch. TBH though, I don't truly understand why an amp that I LOVE for playing 80-20khz wouldn't be just as good playing 10-80hz (which it is spec'd to do) - but maybe that's a different topic.
WinISD tells me that in this box I'll be hitting Xmax with ~650 watts. The shop that sold it to me said that they routinely install them with 800-1000w and that they prefer 1000w. Using WinISD it shows that I'd only be about 1-2mm above xmax from 10-30hz @1000w, so the 1000w doesn't seem so far off.