Alpine MRV-F300

Great sound, great value

I was struggling with amp choice for my Mini Cooper sound system upgrade. So many choices and nearly impossible to know how they sound like without install that amp into YOUR car to drive the speakers YOU have. So this review is based on R56 Mini Cooper with JL Audio C2-600 components and C2-690CX.

Installation of Alpine MRV-F300 was a breeze due to its well designed interface and physical size. I mounted it vertically behind side panel onto a 1/4" MDF in truck area and still able to access to all the control on the side. Owner's manual was well designed and can be easily download onto iPad to use as reference. All connectors feels solid once cables are in.

Now come to the sound. I was blown away when I first turn it on. For $200 it was clean and surprisingly warmish with great detail. No significant flaw and nothing harsh on high/mid, vocal is balanced with good stage image (I have 'sit' right in the middle between front seats), bass on another hand having been coloured, which made Bass sound massive, cello sound like bass before I had to readjust the crossover/gain for both front and back. This could be the speakers too. Since I'm using speaker level input so I set front gain to just below 9'o clock position, rear 6x9s gets minim gain. Front channel on full range and rear has low pass with crossover set to 80hz. This allows me to get well balanced full range without overwhelming bass.

I'm very happy with my choice, only thing I wish better is bass for control and less colouring, but this maybe the deal with most car amps on the market. I'm an audiophile when it comes to home stereo, this entire upgrade to my Mini Cooper sound system (speakers, amp and sound deadening) is cheaper then an interconnect cable I use on the phono preamp, but I can now listen to it for hours and enjoy.

Test CDs:
1. Diabolus in Musica . Accardo interpreta Paganini
2. Burmester Reference CD III
3. Dynaudio Accentuations Guitar Impressions
4. The Famous Sound FIM
5. In Admiration Of Music, Dali CD Vol. 1
6. Lakatos - Roby Lakatos and His Ensemble
7. Earfood, Roy Hargrove Quintet
8. Audio Reference III - The Super Extended Resolution Sound Of TBM

Nice quality!

This product made my infinity kappas come to life sound quality is impresive, i'm running 4 infinity kappas in my civic 2012 @ 2oms each volume became much better and i have the gain turn dowm.

stellar

This amp is awesome. Small, elegant, clear, and loud. This thing cranks the Infinity Kappas in my Sequoia. I love it

Great product

I have this amp running alpine type s speakers off of an alpine HU and wow, iv never heard something so clean. I tuned this amp using the smd cc1 and dd1. This really makes a difference from my old rockford prime amp. Also i have fans running to cool my amps and with the rockford, it would distort the speakers when the fans were on, now the alpine supposedly fixed that problem.

By Z on April 28, 2015 Verified purchase

Definitely a must buy for any car speakers upgrade!!

I purchased this amp to power my 2 RF p1650 for front doors. The speakers are at 55W RMS, and 110 W peak. I bridged 4 channels into two, and now I get 2 X 150 W RMS. Thats a load of power, but gain is turned down to 30% (approximately) on the amp and that powers my two RF speakers in the front... It delivers more than enough power, and It is more that I could've imagine... I suggest this to anyone who is upgrading stock speakers to aftermarket speakers.. The thing that the channels can be bridged, is amazing... i love it... I would probably buy it again if I had too.

Alpine for the win, for price and performance!

Bought this to power components in front coaxials in rear. One star for durability as I haven't had it long enough to rate that! Pro, sounds great, easy to hide, small and compact. Con, only one I have is mounting tabs/feet are plastic, would like them to be metal.

Audiophile sound

I have been into car audio since the late 80s and have always loved the sound of Alpine especially their amplifiers. I have not had a system in several years and decided to put one in my SUV. I ended up with this amp and the mono that matches with all Alpine speakers. I fancy myself an Audiophile and listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I'm currently on a Jazz kick and this amp really sounds great. Nice clarity, punch and power. I make excuses to drive whenever I can to listen to my system. It's better than my home stereo!

BEST AMP

I own 3 of these. 1 for each of my vehicles. The sound is just one of the best you could ask for. Perfect RMS match for most set ups. Wouldn't think of getting anything else.

Classic amp

Little power house to run anything you need. High pass, low pass, full and bridgeable as well.

By Duane on July 1, 2020 Verified purchase

*sigh*

I wish amplifier manufacturers wouldn't make us use a screwdriver to set the controls. Why can't they make it so you can adjust it by hand like the volume control on your radio? It would stop the gain setting etc. from getting scratched up and you could probably set it more accurately by hand. Other than that, it's a solid amp.