# SOUNSTREAM REFERENCE 4.920 Review



## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Ok, I am just setting this up now while I have a chance. I will not be picking this up till later this afternoon (whenever I get the call that its in) Then it will be an hour each way. I am going out now to start the teardown of all the goodies behind my back seat. I will start by explaining what the last few setups have been and what I will be comparing it against. I know a good amount of people feel a watt is a watt and amps all sound the same. I do not! If you are reading this and feel that way just move along please, this will not interest you. My last few setups have been Excelon DNX8120, dcx-730 and Mcintosh 431, and 404 (8x100) to run my sub and 3 way active on my Oz audio Matrix elite component set. I have since gone with a rockford fosgate t600.2 running the set passive, and a jbl bpx500.1 for my sub. (sub being a solo classic 12) I will probably be trading out the sub for my all time favorite sub (nakamichi spw1200d) When I first install the amp I will be using the amp to drive the component set bridged on the passives, then I will run just the tweet and mid active from the amp. It seems to have a fantastic xover built in and would like to utilize them for testing and most likely for full time use. I will not be using any processor of any kind (dcx is gone) I will be removing the 3ways soon and adding cd1-pro horns and an idq8 later and will post reviews of that setup straight from the amp. Shortly after I will be adding a alpine 650imprint setup and depending on how I like that it will stay or go. I had ordered two of these amps to run my whole system but since they were only getting one of these in today I said I would wait. I am not sure if I will do two of them or just a two channel to go with it, smaller 4 channel....Who knows!!! I might hate it and ditch it all together. I do really like the rockford power amps and could just go with a matching set of those, they are absolutely spectacular amps plus they are coming out with BLT's for them soon. Speaking of BLT's I will be getting some for my setup after I play for a little while. I will say this of the company prior to holding, hearing, and seeing the new amps.... They are absolutely great to deal with, information is free flowing and they respond to emails asap! No other company I have dealt with is that responsive, honest and friendly as I am sure I was a royal pain in the A$$!!! (thanks for all your help, knowledge, and patience Grizz!!!)

I plan on using a variety of music from acoustic, live concert dvds, strong female vocalists, pretty much anything I can think of that has really distant, hidden, or subtle passages in the music. I will refrain from using my ipod, it will be cd/dvd all the way.
Here is a short list starting with dvd.
*Nora Jones *live in (forget, somewhere in texas, great dvd and well recorded)
*James Taylor *one man band (Really nice private show in Western Mass. where he lives and again a well recorded show in a fantastic acoustic environment)
*Led Zeplin *(forget the name but its just awesome)

Cds:
*Ray Charles *Genious loves company
*Pink Floyd *(pulse, remastered mumbo jumbo?)
*Patsy Clines *greatest hits
*Joss Stone*
*Lots of 80s rock*:rockon:
*Fleetwood mac live*
*Beach boys
Eric Clapton
Elton John live
Tons of Dave Mathews *(should give a great workout)
*Rat pack stuff
michael buble`* (rat pack covers but hell of a performer)
I will also be listening to some pretty raw recordings of some songs I have written and others have recorded for demo puropses and of course this will be useless information for all of you but no one knows what it sounds like better then me!

Also I should add I am not a big guts guy, I think a well layed out amp is pretty and all but that is as far as I go with it. I am not an electrical engineer and since there are plenty of them I will let them do what they do. There are also way to many pretenders out there! Since I feel that amps make a big difference I go by my ears, functionality, and long term investment. I know there are pics released of it so search around if you really want to see. This will strictly be based on what I just said above. Character sound (if any, I do feel that many amps on the market have signature sounds-for better or worse) functionality, and I dont think I will have a fair handle on the long term investment unless it goes kaput right away! I will update as I have more to note. I will take some pics of the box, and outside of the amp.
I hope you all enjoy, feel free to post ?s or things in particular you want me to check for or recordings to listen to etc.... Unfortunately this will also end up as some sort of speaker review as well since I will be going from 3 way passive, 2 way active, horns active, and with processor. I guess the good thing about all that is it will show its versatility or lack there of. Time will tell. Thanks for reading!


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Here are a few pics.... I love the looks, it is very classy and clean looking. (black or brushed look would be really nice!) I hate the lenght although I knew what I was in for prior to buying. I do love that it is low profile (thin) The RCA inputs are awesome, I hate those usual crappy ones, how much extra can it really cost to do this!!! The manual is very easy to follow and I love the humor in it. I also find the dials and buttons easy to use and very well marked. My only complaint about the packaging is that if they are going to bring back a classic they should have copied the box...Maybe just make it shiny! There are pleny of vents on the back of the amp and the heatsink fins are pretty deep. I am installing a fan into the mix since they will be behind my back seat. I love the looks so far and it feels like a well made piece. It is going to take me a while to get this thing in because I am doing a new baffle for my back wall and still have not taken everything else out of my truck yet! I will be sure to update as time goes by. I should have a full report on with the oz setup by this weekend and should have a full report with the horns and 8"idq by next weekend. I am going to be very critical about this amp but I am not going to lie....I really want to like this amp! I will not try and compare this to the old line for a few reasons. #1 is that they did not make a 4 channel with this kinda power, #2 WHO CARES...... if its a great amp its a great amp, I dont give a **** what they call it! If it sucks it sucks, either way it will have nothing to do with the name. Everyone is coming out with the old school lines.....Kicker, orion, I heard ppi, etc...... #3 I do not have a old ref on hand for side by side comparision, and its been a million years since I have been in a car with one. I was going to take a plunge and it was between two amps.... Soundstream Ref. and the new Nakamichi PA4100. I loved the last series of Nak amps (probably some of my all time favorites) but I liked the power and xover capabilities of the SS. We will see soon if I made a good choice or not! Plus if I were to get the Nak I would have to order online and I hate to take that chance. I have pretty ****ty luck so I buy from dealers. Plus I dont trust some random Jack Ass online. If I buy something local I know who to pistol whip if something goes wrong. But thats not what this review is about sorry.


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2008)

they do look nice, did you pick it up off Ebay or a B&M


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Sounds promising. I look forward to your review.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

As it states several times, I picked it up local (they ordered it). I dont like to by online or ****bay! I have bought on ****bay but I only buy from somewhat local or if its an older classic item that were pre ebay existance or company stores (cdt, imagedynamics, harmon, etc....) I just dont trust people. I hate selling on ebay even more! I know tons of people have great luck with online sales, I have not been so lucky plus I really feel that its a large reason why companys stopped making true HIGH END equimpment. People not only feel like they should get great for free. I know the needs of the general public really does not ask for high end either, but I really feel that these grey markets are doing more damage then good. I am a business owner myself so I guess I have a different perspective to it. But to each there own.


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

I agree, SS did a great job with the cosmetics of the new Ref line. I'll be looking forward to your review.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Ok.............first impressions! It was a royal pain in the ass to put in because of the fact that all the inputs and settings are on one side. In my particular install its a pain because it is mounted on a wall with everything facing down towards the floor and only about 3"s or so from the floor to the settings. Its not the first amp that has a variable bandpass xovers in my truck so I already had a plan that I used for all the others.......I run long power, ground, rca, and extensions for my speaker leads and rest it on my center console so I can tinker while I listen. When its done I just take away all the extensions, connect and attach and BAM! The all the dial adjustments are incredibly sensitive (which I really like) if you are willing to put in the time and patience it will pay off for you because you can really dial in what you like. Now I know I said that I would play it with the passives in a 3 way set but I didnt bother since I had to start un-installing it anyway and needed to take off the passives to put up a new back wall baffle. I ended up testing with just the 6.75 mid and tweet active from the amp, flat eq. I guess I will start by saying this about the addition of this amp............................
I have never ever heard DEAN MARTIN that LOUD in my life!!!!!!!!! WTF!!! It was insane how loud and in control this setup was! Now I kinda figured it would be this way assuming the stats were right. I would say they must be really close! We should find this out soon because I heard there was going to be a REAL review in p&asm magazine this coming month and I am sure they will do all the techno babble and a much more legit review then myself. Ok, now lets get to some of the music and what I did and did not notice from it. I started out playing some live stuff both dvd and cd just to see what kind of details it allowed? I ended up playing live stuff for about an hour, mostly solo acts with acoustic guitars just because it sounded so real. I will attempt to explain what I mean.... When someone strums a guitar there is usually a good amount of linguring of sound, it kinda fades....Well I would say that in most cases it fades sooner the it really is(maybe this is where the high damping factor comes in...I am not a pro with that whole concept but I was under the understanding it had to do with controling the speakers((thats my cliff notes version of it anyway)) Well during things like Every Rose has its thorn, or one of my favorites.... Warren Haynes live, when they strum, the lingering effect is so real, and timely its almost erie. Needless to say I really enjoyed this as I have not heard something like that in a long long time. Didnt have it with the Mac, rockford, or Nak. The one thing I had some trouble with was the low end.....It was a little to beefy overall. I am sure that with some tweaking it would have been helped and controlled. I also have to say that my OZ mids are absolute friggin tanks!!! I hope I am not making a huge mistake by getting rid of these and going with the 8" idqs and horns (more on that later). The high end seemed a little bright, not harsh, just bright. This could and probably is just a reaction to the power and with a little adjusting with the gains I am sure I could dial it in much better. It also was not setup ideal for a two way setup. I am going to be getting my horns and midbass this weekend so I will get some more time in on this setup but will get the new setup in much sooner then first thought. That should be a real test for this amp and me to figure out working xover points and gains, etc.....As of right now I have absolutely no worries about my purchase, my biggest problem is to figure out which ref. amp I want to go with it. I am leaning towards the middle size 4 channel bridged on the idq 8s and this big boy for the horns and channels 3/4 bridged to the sub. I will figure that out when I get the horns and mids on this amp. If it does the trick I will get another 4.920 and have two extra channels for incase down the road I go back to three way active. I will keep listing info. as I get more listening time in and especially when I get the new setup in as it will be setup more appropriately and can give a little more fair input. Also I did not get a chance to put the fan in, and when I tested it it was on my center console so it was "open" It is now behind my back seat with no fan. It did get a little warm while on the console and I had that baby cranked for about 2+hrs. Well more to come soon, I will get much much more detailed when I get things a little more organized/finalized but here is my first impressions.............also one last side note. As many people on here tend to use 8ohm drivers and there are so many people worried about the power issue (really not an issue but thats ok) of 8ohm drivers........THIS IS YOUR NEW AMP! I would love to see a highly sensitve driver like the jbl 2118h (what ever the model 8" driver is) on this baby!!! It would be a match made in heaven! Hope you all enjoy the read and probably stupidity that I call my audio life!


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## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

I like how this review is brewin' up. Love the minute details.


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

This review is beginning to arouse me :blush:


Did anybody see this?

Reference Contest


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Ok, I need to get some more updates but have had some serious set backs! I just could not get the horns to fit in the way I wanted. I could do different bodies but just dont feel like it! I have right now a set of mb quart qtd25 tweets and a set of IDQ 8s. I know that is just rediculous but spent a ton of time to do a really nice placement for the 8s and they are awesome! When the horns didnt work out I had to put something in so I through the quarts in. The setup is just not smart at all but it does sound pretty good considering. I have to add a secondary review to add to all this. I shut down all the xover points on the amp and added in my alpine 650 processor. I was anxious to see just what it could do. I went through all 8 mic. placements, set the xover and did my demo. First off to all those people that have said you lose the volume when using this......your not doing it right! I will say this, I think the eq was a hair less then what I was hoping for but I am going to blame it on the fact that I am using idq 8s and tweeters. I will say this, anyone that complains about the imaging being less then perfect I am going to guess its one of a few things.......poor equipment, placement, or once again someone is trying to rush the process and gets pissed when their shortcuts dont work! The imaging was absolutely spot on! I usually prefer my stage to be a hair higher but once I get a normal setup in I think it will be perfect. Back to the amp...... With the processor controling everything and the amp doing nothing but portraying the signal it was completely effortless and smooth. Once again this amp has got some serious balls on it. I cannot stress enough how great this amp would be for those people who want to use 8ohm drivers but are afraid they wont get enough power......THEY WILL.. (they would anyway, but this thing will make em ring!) I am completely satisfied with it to date. I am planning on getting the second one and will be running a set of Helix 801 tweeters, and a set of 802 midrange in my Apillars with the IDQs for now (if someone wants to buy the set of horns/idqs I will do it and use the helix 806 midbass) This set is absolutely awesome as I had the chance to hear them in a few vehilces and they were spectacular! I will be running these active off the amps and run the processor in 1way so I get the auto tune and T/A etc...... I will be sure to keep the updates coming as that will be the true test. Plus I will be really anxious to hear how well this amp does running a single 4ohm 12! Thanks to all that have taken the time to read!


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Ok, I have some more updates to add........ I am sorry to anyone that has been following for the long delay... I just got the ref 4.400 added in to the mix. So the setup now consists of the 4.400 running the Helix 801 tweeters and the helix 802 dome midrange on my dash. xovers set at 4k and up to the tweets and 4k and down to 630 (the pxa-h650 is running two way, 630 and up to the 4.400 and 630 and down to the 4.920) The ref 4.920 is running my Idq 8s in the doors and my sub which believe it or not is a solo classic 12 running 2ohms bridged off the 4.920. I am going to be swapping that out for one of my favorite subs (when I get more time) the nakamichi spw-1200d which is a dual 6ohm sub and will run it at 3ohms. I have to tell the story about the 4.400 and why I am absolutely rip **** about it. I received it from my local shop (special order of course) and brought it home and left it in the box because I was going to maine from Friday to Tues. and have access to a monster 3 car garage (one of the few places my truck will fit) and got everything ready to attach and mount when I realized the power terminal screw was really stuck. I actually broke my screw driver trying to get the screw loose. I was in a bad jam and realized that I had to get the screw out and just get a replacement at the local hardware in the morning so I decided I would gently just drill it out. Something I have done a million times and felt pretty comfortable with. Well long story short is it really fu$$ed up the terminal. I decided to take off the back plate and one of the side plates because I remembered seeing the gut pics of the 4.920 and it showd what looked like threaded holes on the otherside of the terminals....Thank god I was right. I attached a 4 gauge lead right to the underside of the power terminal and out the side. I was able to put the back cover on and it works like a champ. I was pissed that an amp like that would go out with a screw stuck in the mannor it was in. Of course no one is going to warranty it after the butcher job I did on the terminal and I know that part was my fault but I was in a jam and new this install up here was a one shot deal for a really long time. Everything is behind the back seat of my ram quad cab and you cannot see it. One of these days I will get a replacement part and fix it or send it in, but for now its gonna be ghetto! A quick recap of the 4.400 is that just like its monster size brother it has some serious balls to it. I cannot wait to see what these amps bench at because they must be underated. I am using the alpine 650 for two reasons......#1 is because with time being and issue and me hating most processors on the market right now this kinds seemed like it was worth the shot. Running two way active on it was extremely impressive. I think it is having a harder time with my configeration of it running two way active mode but going to one amp that is xover for mids/tweets and the other for midbass. I am using the sub out from the deck to my sub not the pxa. only because I want more control of it volume wise. I did play around for a while with just the 4.400 running off the front outputs from the deck with no processor and using the t/a from the deck, it was goose bump quality! Very little eq was neccessary. I think I am going to look to purchase a 4channel BLT and run the front outputs to the blt and run the blt in two channel input mode but 4 channel out so I can run just the amps and no pxa. I think I actually will get better results because I believe the processor is confused with this setup when it goes to auto tune it. Its pretty good, dont get me wrong, but just fiddling with the amp and deck it was outstanding. The traditional two way active setup with the pxa that I had running before was exceptional, thats why I think this is adding confusion. I could be completely wrong....but I doubt it  So again for overall power and quality these amps are absolutely the real deal and no joke. They %100 have the ability to play insanely loud without any effort, and reproduce what you put through it to the umpteenth degree. Despite the cluster **** with the 4.400 terminal I still give these amps two thumbs up in all catagories and do not miss my Mcintosh amps with these in place of. Also another side note about the terminal issue..... I have probably about the worst luck of anyone you have ever heard of. I once got back from camping in maine on the coast way up north in oct. and it was 104 everyday (freak heat wave) came home parked my truck, unpacked sat down to watch tv with the wife and lightning struck a tree that came down, pulled the wires out of our house, caused an explosion (small, thank god) and the tree cut my truck in half!!! That is how I roll I guess!


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## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

Thanks for the review  I have to keep reminding myself that patience is a virtue...

PS your reviews are so hard to read, maybe some paragraphs or sections? Just break it up a but cause they all look like long ass run-on sentences


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Probably because I do it in the "post quick reply" and cant see what I have already written....bad habbit I guess. Sorry, I will pay more attention next time. Plus I have a tendency to go into long rants! When I take out the processor and run the amps with the blts I will give extremely detailed reviews of its true performance based on the music played. (attack, high freq sparkle, midrange characteristics, etc.......)


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

WOW your right just went back and looked at the posts......Good call! I did not even realize they were that long!


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## fish (Jun 30, 2007)

Nice. I remember you saying the 4.920 got a bit warm, what about the 4.400? Where about would you say your gains are set on both amps?


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Gains are up around 3/4. I was not to particular because the pxa levels everything to where it should be anyway. I have not felt to see how warm the 4.400 gets since I have only really just tested it out for about 15 min. I am going home from maine tomorrow afternoon and will comment on the temp of these things tomorrow evening after I can run them for a few hours straight. I have them tucked kinda snug behind my back seat so I put two fans in, probably (hopefully) wont get to hot.


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## EricP72 (Mar 23, 2008)

hmmm wonder how much power that amp would put bridged to my sls 8 ohm 8" midbass drivers.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Hmmmm, my guess would be more then enough! Its a frigging beast! I was debating it bridged to something like a morel supremo 9 and just forget the sub all together. It has power for days.....seriously!


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

I just thought of something else I wanted to add regarding these amps....I know everyone wants to compare them to the old. I personaly do not see the need to compare. If its a great amp its a great amp! I will say this though, I would not trade the new ones for an original, and I loved the originals! I really think Soundstream has made an honest effort and really put there best foot forward on these amps. I dont think people can talk about these amps, and compare them to what have come out over the last several years. I would say the van-gogh was there last awesome piece prior to these. Actually even the EGA amps from that year were extremely nice amps. I remember using a 5 channel to run a set of two way quarts active with an id12 ported and it was awesome! Anyway cut the B.S. comparisons and hating on a company that was just building stuff that suited the general market. No one starts a business to not make money and dont forget it! Amps like this over the last several years have just not been in high demand, and I still dont think they are. These however will turn some heads. Get out there and try one.


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## rugdnit (Dec 24, 2007)

sorry about the truck man... that's some tough luck. i almost went with the new SS, but fell into a good deal on some old school sony XM-5540s.


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## Mahna Mahna (Mar 2, 2008)

Good review on the new Reference. Nice to hear they are as good (better) than the originals. 

I used to run original Reference 500 and two 300's way back when I competed.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Ok, so I have removed the alpine processor and run straight from the 8120 to the amps (had to use one of those ghetto splitters to go from the front out to both 4 channels and had my seperate preout to the sub portion of the amp. WOW, thats all I can say......WOW So much cleaner, powerful and just righ! There was enough dsp to help with T/A, EQ (almost flat) The xovers on the amps are absolutely fantastic. I dont like these amps anymore.....I love them... If anyone reading this was on the edge about power, functionality, and just plain old sounding "right" do not hessitate, do not fear, do not miss out! These are completely legit! I am adding a drz9255 into the mix and wiill termporarily run it as is with the amps doing the xover on the 3way set, and when I have time I will end up running the drz with the 3way active front stage and the amps will run wide open. I will update on those two setups as they are being used. Basically the 8120 will go into the aux input on the drz. cds will go through the drz direct but ipod, dvd, nav, and bt will be put through the drz. I know it sounds like over kill and kind of a waste but I need the BT and Nav. for work and am somewhat of a slave to the ipod for my constant commuting.


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## I800C0LLECT (Jan 26, 2009)

I'm excited...makes me wanna upgrade from my sundown 

I'm gonna keep reading this one.


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## daimojayi1 (Feb 6, 2009)

Wish we had all this gear in australia....

Hard pressed finding any decent amp that has 150WRMS x2 or x4 channel.


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## audiophiledave (Nov 8, 2009)

I had this amplifier in my car connected to the cdt audio es-620z components, just running off the front two channels, and it made the tweeters sound almost to bright.


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## OSN (Nov 19, 2008)

My only reservation about these amps was a spec that was listed that showed its frequency response to be 20Hz-20kHz +/- 3 dB. 6 dB fluctuation is TERRIBLE! Although
Soundstream website has 15 Hz-50 kHz and doesn't list a tolerance. The source may have been inaccurate.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

I want to post another update as I have had this thing for a while now and used it in a million different ways.....

I have it now running my oz audio ME380cs 3ways with the passives. I have the amp bridged for now so each set is seeing about 450ish. Before anyone starts to break a sweat.....these comps could care less! They dont seem to have a real power threashold? Its amazing..... The amp does get hot in this function. I ran it for a few hours maxed out and it did go into thermal protection. I am suprised since it was running a set of idq 8s in 4ohm stereo and I had a 3 ohm load to the rear channels bridged....NO PROBLEM! I do have it in really really tight quarters behind my back seat of my ram quad cab....not much breathing room at all. I am still impressed with the amount of effortless power this amp produces.. I think I am going to get the BLT for it just to see if it makes any difference (not needed, just wanna see) I was going to get rid of it and just do a two channel for the seperates (if I could find one powerfull enough) and a mono for the sub (or super flexible 2channel). I just cant come up with a reason to change it. I do plan on trying it with 2 channels going to the passives and bridging the other 2 channels back to the sub and see what happens....I am a big fan of these amps although I think the rest of the companys products are a little lower quality then I would look into personally. I took a chance and they proved they can produce great things when they want to. I love the flexibility of them, the power, the headroom, and I am not gonna lie....I also think they look pretty nice too. I would love to see a brushed nickel and black versions but aside from that there pretty great. I would consider the sound to be precise, true, and effortless. I have heard amps where you can really tell they are working hard to do what you ask. These just disapear. I really notice the ability when listining to tough, fast drum work at high volumes.... It just snaps and recovers as it is happening. I let Carter B. from DMB work this setup out for a while! I also noticed....that I didnt notice? anything stand out at any freq. No extra bump or dip in the lower, mid or high. I would describe it as neutral and acurate reproduction..... On another note......The oz midbass!!!! Holy Christ they are hands down the best/robust 6.5" (or 8" for that matter) dedicated midbass I have thrown in my truck to date! The other thing is they are really pleased just tossed in the doors (well dynamatted, etc...) I have them crossed at 50 24db and that was just because I felt like it is not normal to have it any higher.... The bulk of the listening was done with the set wide open! All xovers, etc.... on the amp were off by the way. Well for anyone that cares......I thought I would update.... I really have not had time to finish the instal how I would like, and I still want to add a nice deck into the mix as a pre amp...I am leaning towards a nak cd700 with the kenwood 812 going into the nak. (I still need nav, bt, ipod etc...)


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## Guy (Feb 16, 2006)

Nice to get the followup. 
Nice old school looks with a ton of power. Wow, that's a lot to give to a set of comps! 
I haven't kept up on the Soundstream saga (or really cared to, I guess)... I kinda remember something about them now being owned by the same folks that have PPI... it will be interesting to see what they do with their product lines, as PPI is supposed to be the flagship brand.


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## Maglite (Dec 28, 2009)

Nice review...I would have loved to use these amp...but don't have the room


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Guy said:


> Nice to get the followup.
> Nice old school looks with a ton of power. Wow, that's a lot to give to a set of comps!
> I haven't kept up on the Soundstream saga (or really cared to, I guess)... I kinda remember something about them now being owned by the same folks that have PPI... it will be interesting to see what they do with their product lines, as PPI is supposed to be the flagship brand.


From what I have seen....I dont think they are going to be the flagship anymore. Well at least I dont think the art collection or pcx will be any better then the reference. I think they will have a ways to go to be on par with it. As a whole I think the ppi lineup is being made to be above soundstream. I think some of the new ppi stuff looks nice (they have some art sq subs that look cool, as well as a pcx 3way set that looks nice) I think the pcx are supposed to be there top dogs, and art is in the middle, with the sedona's being more budget friendly. We will have to see though. There were not a lot of specs to go with the pics and product list.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

Guy said:


> Nice to get the followup.
> Nice old school looks with a ton of power. Wow, that's a lot to give to a set of comps!
> I haven't kept up on the Soundstream saga (or really cared to, I guess)... I kinda remember something about them now being owned by the same folks that have PPI... it will be interesting to see what they do with their product lines, as PPI is supposed to be the flagship brand.


I figured you'd show up. 

Well with the new SS amps.....Phoenix Gold releasing a new Ti amp line....and now PPI attempting to resurface I see this as a promising time.

Now I can be objective on this one and say that between the three companies PG has the most valid reason to resurrect an oldie considering the company is owned by a group of employees so really nothing changed with that company except for the top share holders changing hands, the market did a nose dive....they adapted to the changing market. 

Not positive on the story 100% so correct me if I'm mistaken.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

I have been following closely to the resurection of PG on there forum. Lots of pics and new info. added by the company all the time. I am extremely excited about the direction and attitude they seem to have! I think they will have the best product of all the new old? (if that makes any sense at all). I think they are trying to make as close to the ms as possible in todays market. We will see though!


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

I'd like to own a pair of the new Ti amps in a couple years when and if they are available fairly cheap. They have a more classy look than the hideous xenons I currently run. Good thing I don't have to look at mineI'd like to retire them while they're still working for the sake of nostalgia.


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## kvndoom (Nov 13, 2009)

That looks like an incredible amp; I just wish it were 8 inches shorter.


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## Maglite (Dec 28, 2009)

kvndoom said:


> That looks like an incredible amp; I just wish it were 8 inches shorter.


Yup


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## zpaguy (Jan 17, 2010)

Maglite said:


> Yup


X3 above


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## aphexacid (Oct 24, 2009)

So whats the story with this? It says its 140x4 on the ss site, but 160x4 everywhere else?


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

The manual reads 140. I know the review in pas mag did a test on them and they werent over rated. They sure seem like it though! If someone said 160 I wouldnt be suprised at all!


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

I was going to trade both my 4.400 and 4.920 this week but the person got banned? I just saw one of my all time favorite amps for sale and am willing to sell these as a pair to the right person for $475shipped. I will list it on the classifieds when I have time (the 4.400 is already there) but I figured since so many people are subscribed to this I would let people here have first dibs!


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Any interest?


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## kvndoom (Nov 13, 2009)

I wouldn't mind a 920.4, but I'd have to do a good bit of rearranging to get it in the car, since it won't fit in my designated space.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Well quit typing and start making room!!!!


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## Maglite (Dec 28, 2009)

kvndoom said:


> I wouldn't mind a 920.4, but I'd have to do a good bit of rearranging to get it in the car, since it won't fit in my designated space.


3 words...Stacked Amp Rack


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## uber_noob (Dec 12, 2009)

I was VERY close to purchasing this amp from a local dealer here in Houston...but when I asked to see it, the owner said, "SS is owned by Power Akoustik and the Ref's get so hot they could start a fire." He said he didn't like selling them and recommended an ARC audio Amp. I bought 2 ARCs and couldn't be happier. So, great review, and i almost one, but it was not in the cards this time.


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## Dammed (Dec 30, 2009)

Man I wish you wrote this 2 weeks ago. I have already bought a 4.920.  

Thx for the review man, this really looks promising. 

uber_noob, I think the salesman remembers the SmokeStream... But so far, seems like these amps don't belong to that brand.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Yes the company Epsilon owns power acoustic and several others as well...This is there first step forward towards building pretty high quality amps... I prefer these ref to the old ones because of the power/headroom etc....They dont really get that hot, the salesman obviously had alterior motives and was clearly mis-informed (who would start off by comparing these reference amps to power acoustic? The mother company doesnt mean a damn thing) . Obviously you didnt make a step down (I woulnt say a step up either)....I would say these amps can step up side by side to pretty much anything on the market..... I am glad you like the arc's, I never had one I was not more then thrilled with and never ever had any issues either, there just great! Well its 7:01 and my wife just said her water broke!!!! Gotta Run.....Wish us luck!!!


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## Dammed (Dec 30, 2009)

Good luck mate!  

Yeah, to think about the mother company would be like not going for a Lamborghini since it's an VW... (VW owns Lamborghini, Audi, Bently, Bugatti, Skoda, and Seat)


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## uber_noob (Dec 12, 2009)

I shouldn't have included that bit in his quote, but i didn't want to paraphrase. I still believe SS Ref is an excellent amp and I'm kinda still wanting one. However, his comments-there were many-were just enough to sway me as i was on the fence anyway. I didn't know he carried ARC when i walked in and I belived ARC to be too Expensive for my budget which was about $400. He said he stopped recommending the SS because of returns and other problems, but that he would sell me one if its what i wanted in the end... and then when I told him i would be switching from my JL500/5, he thought i was downgrading.

I made it clear i was after a beefy 4channel for that price. So, he sold me the ARC 300.4 for $350 which bridged makes 350w/channel in 4Ohms. 

But like you said, he probably had ulterior motives, but I couldn't be happier now. I may still pick up a SS ref to check it out and judge for myself which is superior.


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## zpaguy (Jan 17, 2010)

uber_noob said:


> I shouldn't have included that bit in hid quote, but i didn't want to paraphrase. I still believe SS Ref is an excellent amp and I'm kinda still wanting one. However, his comments-there were many-were just enough to sway me as i was on the fence anyway. I didn't know he carried ARC when i walked in and I belived ARC to be too Expensive for my budget which was about $400. He said he stopped recommending the SS because of returns and other problems, but that he would sell me one if its what i wanted in the end... and then when I told him i would be switching from my JL500/5, he thought i was downgrading.
> 
> I made it clear i was after a beefy 4channel for that price. So, he sold me the ARC 300.4 for $350 which bridged makes 350w/channel in 4Ohms.
> 
> But like you said, he probably had ulterior motives, but I couldn't be happier now. I may still pick up a SS ref to check it out and judge for myself which is superior.


Ulterior? lol! Nah, not a dealer!


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## Maglite (Dec 28, 2009)

uber_noob said:


> I shouldn't have included that bit in his quote, but i didn't want to paraphrase. I still believe SS Ref is an excellent amp and I'm kinda still wanting one. However, his comments-there were many-were just enough to sway me as i was on the fence anyway. I didn't know he carried ARC when i walked in and I belived ARC to be too Expensive for my budget which was about $400. He said he stopped recommending the SS because of returns and other problems, but that he would sell me one if its what i wanted in the end... and then when I told him i would be switching from my JL500/5, he thought i was downgrading.
> 
> I made it clear i was after a beefy 4channel for that price. So, he sold me the ARC 300.4 for $350 which bridged makes 350w/channel in 4Ohms.
> 
> But like you said, he probably had ulterior motives, but I couldn't be happier now. I may still pick up a SS ref to check it out and judge for myself which is superior.



The ARC "KS" is a great amp line. You should be very happy.


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## cleansoundz (May 14, 2008)

Good stuff


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Thanks! Just put in one of my new human reign's!!


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

They are the EXACT same amp internals, just different chassis! 
Its pretty nice!


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## Iron Maiden (Jul 13, 2008)

Bro thanks for posting. I have been out of the loop for a while and I was looking at this amp to power my OZ setup in my s10. I currently have two pairs of 6.5 powered by two 2 channel US Amps axtu600. Its plenty loud. I for one was sad when OZ went out of buisness.


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## Iron Maiden (Jul 13, 2008)

rexroadj said:


> Yes the company Epsilon owns power acoustic and several others as well...This is there first step forward towards building pretty high quality amps... I prefer these ref to the old ones because of the power/headroom etc....They dont really get that hot, the salesman obviously had alterior motives and was clearly mis-informed (who would start off by comparing these reference amps to power acoustic? The mother company doesnt mean a damn thing) . Obviously you didnt make a step down (I woulnt say a step up either)....I would say these amps can step up side by side to pretty much anything on the market..... I am glad you like the arc's, I never had one I was not more then thrilled with and never ever had any issues either, there just great! Well its 7:01 and my wife just said her water broke!!!! Gotta Run.....Wish us luck!!!


Must have been trying to unload overstock, I sold the Arc line and the kar ks series. I cant tell you how much I sold. They are extremley hard to get a T-shirt out of. I was ordering for 4 very busy locations. Finally got fed up with them and dropped the line. Arc makes some decent audio. I really want to try the refrence.


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

I too was very upset to see Oz go away  Loved there stuff! I have an Oz matrix elite 15d2 I am unloading


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## Iron Maiden (Jul 13, 2008)

rexroadj said:


> I too was very upset to see Oz go away  Loved there stuff! I have an Oz matrix elite 15d2 I am unloading


A little testimonial to the 15 matrix elite, we tried to blow two at the shop, hooked them to an Atomic 5000 and literally could not blow them. Ran some really nasty bass tones and really abused them and they would not die. I will try and find my video.


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## kvndoom (Nov 13, 2009)

rexroadj said:


> They are the EXACT same amp internals, just different chassis!
> Its pretty nice!


I've been wondering for a while if that was the case. So is the price difference all about the enclosure?


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

kvndoom said:


> I've been wondering for a while if that was the case. So is the price difference all about the enclosure?


So I am told? I guess the original design was extremely expensive to manufacture, but I was told the internals are exactly the same.....


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## bitperfect (Oct 1, 2010)

Have you had time for listening? How does the Human Reign compare to the Reference amp? I have heard the HRU is not as eficient as the Ref, but the HRU is of better quality.The HRU amps are also about twice as expensive as the Ref amps. Can you please give us your personal thoughts/experiences?


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## rexroadj (Oct 31, 2008)

Its a tough call really. For the $ I paid for the HRU I would do it again ALL DAY! Its is better at heat control and thats pretty much where the difference ends in my mind (it fit a little better too) To be honest for the price of the 4.920 (internet) its in my top 5 amps I have ever used. The xover is WAY better (more versatile), power seems pretty much the same, both can use balanced lines, etc..... 
I would also assume (its just that though) the hru. is a little better with lower ohm loads (most likely the heat thing) and has great clipping indicator lights. If you clip to far it stops playing any audio till its cut back so thats nice as well. 
I would not swap out my HRU for anything (I got a great deal and its in and works great), but if I already had the 4.920 in there I would not swap it out for the HRU either (unless its a size thing, both are huge just different dimensions).


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## yoshi5674 (Oct 13, 2011)

Im glad to see some good comments on Soundstream (I know this thread is dated).


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## mister2d (Mar 7, 2013)

yoshi5674 said:


> Im glad to see some good comments on Soundstream (I know this thread is dated).


I know this thread is dated as well. Just would like to add my 2 cents.

I have the Soundstream Ref 5.1000 which is the same build I gather, but just adding in a 5th channel.

I echo the glowing review. Just ssuuuuuuperb sound quality from this amp. From the mids to the highs...just amazing. If I can relate it to a food, think of smooth whipped butter. This amp takes your clean signal and whips it into pleasant listening shape. I've never experienced this before. Only had cheaper class D amps in the past.

The quality of low sub frequencies were a shock to me. There are a few songs I have with boomy notes with subtle, but punchier notes within them. I hear it very well when listening through a set of good headphones. Now, in the car I hear them with clarity and some authority! Just watching the accurate bass shake my mirrors is pretty unbelievable to me.

Yes, my amp is MASSIVE. And I really mean that in every sense of the word. But I made the space just for it and treated the install right.

Am I happy? 100%.

Sorry for bringing up an old thread. Just thought this amp needed more love.


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## mob17 (Apr 30, 2012)

Thanks mister2d. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on one of these but can't decide between the Ref4.920 and a Mosconi Gladen One 120.4!


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## mister2d (Mar 7, 2013)

mob17 said:


> Thanks mister2d. I'm thinking of pulling the trigger on one of these but can't decide between the Ref4.920 and a Mosconi Gladen One 120.4!


You can't go wrong with these options


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## kmbkk (Jun 11, 2011)

I know this thread is a little old, but does anyone know how these compare to the new PPI PC series amps? Yes I know they're from the same parent company. I'm looking good SQ amps.


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