Hey guys,have any of you heard of or "heard" Lightning Audio???They sell a complete sub package.
12-15 inch sub woofer in box
matched amp
all cables wires fuses connectors
On sale for 198.00
what do you think?I am looking to just enhance my sound.I have an f-150 extended cab with stock stereo/speakers.
Also had thought about Sony xplod??
I don't know anything about this stuff......Heck I don't even know what a converter box is for(do I really need one of those???)
thanks for your opinion
For
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Lightning Audio is an ok brand. Quality is on par with most lower priced names like Jensen and Profile, which will get you a stable amp with no frills. Nothing wrong with the amps, but there are far better subs out there. If all your looking for is some low end and your not too concerned about SQ, the price isnt that bad, by all means buy it.

IMO, stay as far away as you can from Sony Xplod equipment. You can do much better. A converter takes speaker level signal and converts it to an RCA plug. If the amp has speaker level inputs, you dont need one. Just run some wire from your speakers (2 of them, left and right signal) and it will work fine.

Since your looking to buy a sub, it would be a good idea to get some filters for your stock speakers to filter the bass frequences from them. It will allow them to play louder without distortion, and they only cost a few bucks from places like Crutchfield. Or you can make your own for less.

 

Lighting Audio is owned by Rockford Fosgate so you know u have some good stuff. I have one of the bolts series amps and it pushes like crazy! They have some newer series of gear and its even better. Im with kens64, dont but the Xplod from sony. Its way overrated.

 

It would have to be. (It is....the power series anyway)

and its the worst line they have

wrong, im sorry to say but Bolt is, by far, an "inferior product"


Compared to?

I dont see where one is beter than the other at all. Both overrate equally. Both are "inferior". (inferior is more PC than other words i have chosen.)

Better than nothing tho!

 

You're right. both xplod and the bolt are 'inferior' products. pushes good compared to other products within the price range. (I only paid like $100 for amp). and you're also right, they both overrate...my amp is rated at 750w. the rms is like 250@2ohm. the sony xplode is 1200w which makes novices say 'WOW 1200w!' but really it can only handle like 200-300w. good questions renegade.

still better than nothin tho!

 

Fuses, thats the key. I have the formula here somewhere. The fuses rating will roughly tell you what to expect fom almost any amp.

Like my amp for instance, has 4 40 amp fuses and will put out 15-1800w RMS off of 13.8v (normal battery power).

3 40's is good for about a grand.

2 25's on a 1000w amp should now tell you somethin is up.

Lemme find that equation. Its handy to have when shopping, or when just needing to slap a little ownage on the kid who thinks he was 2 million watts in his Civic.

 

Fuse amps X the actual Volts getting to the amp = the total power able to pass that circuit.
Power supplies are 80% or so efficient.
Class D output sections are 75% to 90% efficient.
Class A/B secions are 60% efficient.

13.8 (my fords actual continuos output) x 120 (fuses rating on my amp)= 1656 for my supposed 2000w amp.\

For example.

 

"I dont see where one is beter than the other at all. Both overrate equally. Both are "inferior". (inferior is more PC than other words i have chosen"

Inferior to what? Your fantastic 4 fused amp? Didnt you ever start out with something less than "the best"? Lightning Audio amps have clean output with distortion low enough to not worry about. They reach their power RMS ratings and the price is good enough. Unless you can hear less than 1% distortion. If so, hire your butt out to NASA or some home audio company, they could probably use you.

 

Thanks for reply's.Thanks kens64.I think your the one who gets it.I am just starting and learning,so I cant and won'tspend that much to begin with.Thank you for good reply's guys!!I will let you all know what I got and how I like it.It won't be sony

 

You, sir, dont get it. I wasnt speaking to you. AND Im done candy coating this. This amp is a POS plain and simple. It is the lowest line produced by RF and has the worst failure rate. Its not a point of arguement. I wont sell LB at my shop because of the better than 65% return rate, which is only slightly better than Sony's. With these two brands failure is not a matter of if, its when. Yet, they do have their place. Something IS better than nothing. (which i stated already and you skipped over.....conveniently) Thats not the point.

If you like LB thats fine. If you want a cheap amp to hold you over until you can afford a better one.....thats fine.

If someone says this is a "good" amp, ill be here...again. Either is an acceptable buy here, the LB possibly better, but dont make it out to be something its not.

My fantastic fused amp, as you call it, is American Bass, hardly the best looking line or performing, but very inexpensive for what you get. The fuse rating was used only for reference. (the answer is yes, it is better since you asked but that has nothing to do with this now or ever) I was old it did 2k from the owner, i was NOT told it only did it at 16v. I found the formula, found out what it actually did and thought to myself..........if everyone knew this, they too would be able to figure what was the best "bang for the buck" all on their own. Im sorry that doesnt sit well with you. Do you have a problem with making an informed decision? That formula will allow you see what the amp REALLY puts out no matter what the salesman is saying. *NOTE: The forumula can be wrong both ways!! Some amps will peak for short bursts well above fused ratings......and some amps will never meet the proposed specs no matter what you do.

While im at NASA ill pull a few strings at BEst Buy so you can get a job more suited to you. Ill get you in as salesman and you can get paid to lie to ppl about LB's published ratings,(which they will NEVER hit no matter how much you drink) and continue the rape of unsuspecting customers. Amazing that you believe that rms rating are the only stats that are inflated.

In closing, the two lines are among the lowest of the low, and one was temporarily made out to be more than it was. Thus my post.

In the future id appreciate it if you didnt twist my posts to suite your LB fanboy agenda.

 

LOL, I am NOT a "LB fanboy" by any means. And I never made it out to be something its not. I said to buy it for cheap, clean power, with no frills. I guess Im a "fanboy" because of that.

"Amazing that you believe that rms rating are the only stats that are inflated."

Where did I say that? Read my post again, a 2nd time if you really have to. Try using glasses, if you need them. I look at RMS ratings, and at what voltage and impedience. Max ratings are useless. Which is what you were obviously taken with when you bought your amp.

You can keep your contacts at Best Buy, Im sure you really do have some. I dont shop at chain stores because the salesmen dont know anything, and the products are overinflated mostly because of brand name. If I wanted 90% of my money to be spent just because of the name on top I would buy RF, JL Audio, etc. Instead I look at Adire, Vifa, Peerless, ED, etc. Ever heard of those names? Probably not, they are not in Circuit City and they will match or beat any "popular" speaker or sub specs for far less and usually sound better. I have no problems owning a Profile or Jensen amp either. They are clean, powerful, and dont overcharge for the name. If you consider those POS amps, better stop reading the audio mags that beat into your head that RF and JL are the "best" brands out there. Try making your own decisions.

I offered my opinion, and you are really getting way too bent out of shape just because I disagreed with yours. I didnt know your opinion meant so much.

How do you know about failure rate if you dont even sell the products? Or is it just because you heard it from somewhere, so it must be true.

You want POS? Go look at Boss, Rockwood, Pyramid, etc. Or is that what your store sells? The Lightning Audio amp will do the job, pure and simple.

"If someone says this is a "good" amp, ill be here...again."

Its not a bad amp. Its a GOOD amp for someone starting out.

 

exactly, my starting one when i was a REAL novice at audio.... Ilooked at max rating. Now that i know a lot more, im going with the USAmp600. A good brand with awesome quality.

 

Nice choice. IMO US Amps are fantastic amps.

 

JL Audio amps and subs aren't the best??? That doesn't make sense since the inception of JL as a company their woffers have been at the top of the heap for a while now and have brought home numerous trophies. Their amplifiers are also now a force to be reckoned with. CEA compliant and underrated. What I've noticed when shopping around for amps (even though I only buy JL) is you pay about a dollar per RMS watt. 1200 W max amp for $300...humm...you're probably only getting 300 W RMS at best and will probably never reach that 1200 W plateau. just my .02

 

JL subs arent the best. They are very very good, but not the best. Especially for the price.