MB Quart REF1.800 (REF 1.800)

I got this to go with the ref. 480.4 its like a match made in heaven. solid bass great punch and clean sound. They really do complement each other. If you love sound and you have quality speakers, don't hesitate on these amps, get a set to power your speakers. you will not be disappointed. I have this on two 10's at 2 ohm load. Very goog vibes all around.

first of all coming from a sony amp this thing is nice, the bass from my sealed subs is so tight, can really feel the kick from the drums and the bass guitar in my rock and, its really small and has the flexibility to be ran with two of the same amps for 1600 watts at 2ohm. Overall really good sound. Dont know how long it will last because i just got it but still havnt had any amp crap out on me, just stolen.

This MB Quart monoblock is a great value. Just take a look at the suggested retail price. MB Quart is a higher caliber product with an unbeliviable amount of R&D incorporated into their products, ultimately making MB Quart superior. Just for example, the RMS ratings on this amp (REF 1.800) is a CEA compliant rating. Although Sonic offers this amp at an ubelivable price, don't be fooled by competitors. Fosgate, MTX, and other leading namebrands saw their heyday in the late 80's and early 90's, but MB Quart has been a consitent top performer. Many retailers stopped carrying the MB Quart products in their storefronts due to the inability to move the product due to pricing. The pricing on MB Quart products were higher due to the simple fact that MB Quart is a superior product. Bottom line: You get what you pay for; There is no such thing as a free lunch. Currently I am running this amp on 2 JL W3v3-4 subs at 2 ohms feeding 650 CEA compliant watts to them.

At the recommendation of a friend, I bought this amp for a temporary setup pushing a JL Audio CP212-W0v2 Slot-Ported BassWedge. Since you can hook 2 of them together & get 1600watts @ 2 ohm, I will more than likely keep when I upgrade the subs later.

Not sure of the durability yet, but it seems well built, looks great & does not get hot. I love it.

I purchased this amp as a replacement for a failed Phoenix Gold amp. My other gear was 90's era, mostly PG. This amplifier has controls on both sides, my other one had all the controls on one side, thus I had to rejigger some of the wires and such. When the amp arrived (quite quickly, I might add) it was double boxed and in perfect shape. Once I accounted for different mounting holes and plugged the old ones, the install was quick and painless. I mounted it in the vertical plane, one not specifically recommended by the maker. That was the way my PG gear was set up, with finned sink. No matter, it runs very cool, with no thermal or voltage issues. In any case, I can set up a fan if need be. It is currently running two MB Quart 4ohm.10' 's for a pretty easy to drive load. It is a Class D monoblock...very efficient and logical for this type of setup. I think that the PG class A or A/B that I was using had a higher sq, but getting their new owners to repair it was like trying to get a goldfish to ride a bicycle. And very costly. Sound is very good, though I might need some fine tuning help in the future. My set up uses an eqxover with its own subsonic filter, thus the one on the amp is redundant. And set to its lowest level. I cannot switch off the eqx's xovr, or the one on the amp. I have not quite resolved that one yet. Unless I run a separate rca to the 1.8 and bypass the eqxovr. But that would also bypass the eq. Not good. I would rather use my EQX's xovr, as it is set at 90hz. The 1.8's is variable. Bottom line, lots of value, and flexibility. But some of the points built in to address limitations of older gear may make it challenging to integrate with older gear. It feels very solid, and weighs in at a hair over 9.5 lbs. I am sure that you could put together a very solid system if you started out fresh with all amplification from MBQ. Especially if you used one of the multichannel products. Connections that are plated are silver or chromed. If you use the provided end caps, you wont see those. As a monoblock, you will not have options such as stereo, this is a dedicated subwoofer amp.
It has dual speaker terminals, that are internally connected. So one sub, l+r the the speak, l+r to the amp. Two subs, l+r the the speaks, l+r to the two two sets of terminals on the amp. A slightly simpler hookup than back in the bridged mono days. And two speaker wires instead of one. If you are using a woofer setup with more than two speaks, you are on your own.:) A wired remote sub output control is included, many other makers charge extra for that.

Overall I am pretty satisfied, the cons are pretty minor, and these days, most amps are similar in layout, power, ground, remote and speaker leads on one side, filters, gain, boost, rca ins, remote, master/slave on the other. For this one. If your are debating this one, and are sitting on the fence, maybe this will help you to decide. Cheers!

Pros: Good looks, and the orange "chicklet" that lights up when the amp is on is nice, especially at night. Lots of solid power and headroom. No turn on or off thumps. If you need it, you can link two of these together. If you do that, I sense the purchase of a new alternator in your near future. If you need it the onboard xovr is a good thing to have. Same for the subsonic filter. Wired remote output control.

Cons: The end caps are lightweight and kind of cheezy feeling. However once in place they integrate well. In my case, my rca's have 90 degree angled ends, and I could not use them. If you are using regular rca's no problem there. But it looks ok without them.
Equalizer and subsonic filters, while adjustable, are not bypassable.
If you use the highest quality 4ga. wire, or at least if it has thin insulation, be prepared to cut off a few strands of wire so the exposed wire will fit in the power connection.