Trading in power and sound for the "wow" factor
Written: Aug 30 '03 (Updated Sep 03 '03)
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Pros: Digital display/controls, optional wired remote with a digital display
Cons: hard to install/uninstall, high distortion, low power, heft price tag
The Bottom Line: It carries a hefty price tag for something that is downgrade to years past. I would recommend the JL 500 1 for a lot more sound.
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| fredfunktified's Full Review: Alpine MRD-M500 Car Amp |
Alpine has been one of the biggest names in car audio for a very long time, however, their new line of amplifiers did little to raise the bar. Instead they, along with many other companies, have lowered the bar. Why? Because they have stereotyped their biggest consumers. They believe that all young people drive modified flashy Honda Civics or imports like the ones found in 2 Fast 2 Furious. They also believe that this generation is only concerned about one thing, and that is what I call the "wow" factor. Now I have to admit there is a good dose of "wow" with this product but at what cost?!
Installation:
This amplifier is more difficult to install compared to other amplifiers mainly because the brushed aluminum cover that hides the connections. On the positive side it does a good job of hiding all your wiring gong to and from the amplifier for a professional installation look. However, if you do in fact fit their stereotype of flashy import racer then you won't like how long it takes to install and remove this product. Everytime you want to remove this item, you have to remove the allan screws, pull the cover off, then carefully disconnect everything. The only really cool thing about this amp is the fact that the gain, crossover, and boost controlls are digital. It is really a pain for installers to have to lay inside of a trunk and have to use a flashlight and screwdriver to tune other amps. One other note, it doesn't come with the wired remote digital display/controller. It's an extra $39-$49. While it isn't necessary to use this product, it is really the only reason why someone could justify spending $399 for this product. It is the only thing that is really different than any other products on the market.
In car testing:
I chose to use a friend's car to do my sound quality testing in. Mike, one of my good friends, is an Alpine fanatic and everything in his 1998 Acura Integra is Alpine.
For his speaker, he is using Alpine's SPX components and two 10 inch type R subs in a sealed enclosure. The subwoofers obviously being run by the MRD-M500 and components being run off of another Alpine MRD series amplifier. We played various tracks from musicians like Sugar Ray, Dave Koz, 2pac, and Madonna that would give us a lot of variation and really test for sound quality. I also had handy my Fluke Voltmeter to test for current draw at the amp. The sound quality from the components was very good. The separation was above average but not superior in comparisson to other performers that I have heard in the past. However, this article is mainly for the MRD-M500 and how well it does or doesn't drive subwoofers. I have to say that the type of sound that we got from the subwoofers was unexpected. The subwoofers offered little deep bass extension and were very punchy. I have heard these subwoofers run off other amplifiers (MTX, Kicker, Rockford Fosgate, JL Audio, Zapco) and they can play pretty deep for there size. The one thing I like about ten inch speakers is that they sound more natural with music than any other sized speaker. When it comes to SPL, however, bigger speakers move more air. Anyways, the subwoofers almost sounded like really loud 6x9's with the tweeters disconnected. No matter how we played around with the settings on the stereo and the amplifier there was little difference. We tried adjusting the eq on the stereo, crossover points on the amp and or stereo, media xpander, boost frequency and levels, and the subwoofer level control. The subwoofers had a good spl, but the low frequency extension was missing. What we had was a more impactful type of sound would be best suited for custom kick panels up front. The good news about this amplifier, however, is that it is very efficients. When we disconnected the class A/B amplifier going to the components and left the MRD-M500 the current draw was really low. The current draw of this amplifier by itself was as high as 28.3 amps which is phenominal for amplifier that can put out peaks of 500 watts. Usually with class A/B amplifiers there is a ratio of about 10 amps of power needed for every 100 watts of output. So a 500 watt class A/B amplifier would typically draw about 50 amps. This amplifier needed a little over half the power of the A/B amplifiers. What this means for consumers is that you can run multiple amplifiers on a factory electrical system without having to be too concerned about blowing your alternator.
V12 expert series vs. Digital Display Series:
Cosmetics have to go to the newer amplifiers compared to the older ones mainly because of the digital read out. However, performance has to go to the older amps, hands down. The older amplifiers used class AB circuitry which is known to sound cleaner than class D. However, the distortion on these new amplifiers is so high that they will have a hard time competing with other lesser class D amplifiers that are out on the market. A good example would be Bazooka. They make class D amplifiers that put out 450 watts all the way up to 650 starting at just $199 and going up to $279. The distortion on the Bazooka amps are actualy rated a little better than the new Alpine class D amps and for a lot less money.
Anyways, back to the alpine amplifiers. Lol. The older amplifiers were anything but flashy but if you wanted a loud and clear amplifier for the money $399 would get you 750 watts of pure clean power. They even offered an amplifier that put out an excess of over 1000 watts if you really wanted some juice. Why is this important? Well it is important to someone that has Alpine Type R subwoofers, because the subs demand power and performance. The amplifiers make their power at a 2 ohm load. What that means for someone wanting to buy a Type R of any size is that they have to buy a dual 4 ohm voice coil sub if they want to run one or two single 4 ohm subs if they want to run more subs. Keep in mind the Type R subs can handle up 1500 watts a piece for the 15inch and 1000 for the 12 inch. That means that you will be underpowering your Alpine subs with your Alpine made amplifier. Not cool.
If consumers really cared about looks over performance, there are many amplifiers at the flea market that look a lot better. However, I personally don't believe that even import tuner crowd really cares about looks that much. They want or wanted Alpine because of the reputation it worked so hard to create and maintain about sound quality. Alpine actually downgraded the quality and power of their new amplifiers to help pay for the digital display and to say that they have an efficient class D amplifier.
A final thought:
If it has to be all one brand then you should try to find Alpine's older amplifiers if you plan on entering a competition or you are after performance. Also remember that everyone hears sound differnetly and some people can't hear differences compared to others. I recommend making a few choices and going down to your local shop and listening for yourself. You might not be able to hear a differnce between the older amps and the newer ones. Then again you might not hear a difference between a Bazooka amp and the newer amplifier. If you can't hear the differnce then it isn't worth the extra money. If you want looks there are many cheap amplifiers that use plexiglass, chrome, and neon lights to awe almost anyone.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 219
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Epinions.com ID:
fredfunktified
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Member: Fred Sallam
Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 2 members
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