# Soundqubed Q1-1200D Amplifier



## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

Been a while since I've bought a new amp, I think 1990  I've since purchased inop amps and repaired them, lots of old Soundstreams. I really don't like pushing a sub with such an old amp, and they do get quite warm after a while so I decided to do some research on these newer class D mono amps. Not much info out there on the Soundqubed brand other than I think the family has been doing the Digital Designs brand. The only Customer Reviews I could find on this 1200D is on their website. They do look similar to other brands out there. I've never tried a Class D amp so this is new ground for me, never listened to one except for the occasional car driving by probably has one. 
I could only order it from them directly and for $269.00 plus free shipping, I'll chance it. I can't tell but in the reading about setting one of these up, I think it has a clip light built in to the remote gain control so if it does, I'll post pics.

So, compared to an oldschool Reference 500 or 1000s, I'll post results.
We shall see


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

Here we go….
Yes, the remote gain knob has a clip indicator! Great.
I had to figure a way to mount the remote so with some thinking, sheet metal cutters, drill, tap, and screws, this is what I came up with. I also took a black permanent marker and darkened the green power light as it is very bright and would be annoying while driving at night.

I ran 4 gauge wire to a 200 amp circuit breaker (stinger) then to the battery. I also redid the grounds, also with 4 gauge, just to make sure of good connections to the body. Then ran 12 gauge to the sub. So far I’ve left the kicker at 4 ohms to see if it’s powerful enough.

Pics show the amps hidden well under the seats

Every thing works so far just sitting in the garage and it is very powerful. I will have to do some tweaking with the T/A and crossover points on the way to work to get it dialed in but so far it seems to work well.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

After some listening I guess 500 watts is not enough, I could run it to clip and it wasn't pushing the sub very hard so I will have to parallel the sub for 1 ohm and see if 1000 watts will do. We Will see 

Yes, this amp is better running at 1 ohm. Now the sub has come to life 

Now on to the settings.... After some time in the car, I'll post results of my opinion. I'm comparing this to a Soundstream 1000s and an old Rubicon 1002. But I guess for the money and it was put together in Korea, I won't expect much. We shall see....


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

OK, got to admit.... this thing does pound out the bass and stays cool. So for $269 its a decent deal. I'd rather blow up this than an old skool amp. Now to see if it lasts for a few years... Oh, nice that it fits under the seat of a civic.
:2thumbsup:


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

I wanted to keep the cars electrical stock as this is just my daily driver so I was looking for an efficient amp. I built the sub cabinet from 3/4 MDF. I laid out on paper all the cuts I needed from Kickers website and brought it to Lowes and had them make the cuts, they did this for free! MDF makes a lot of dust. Last night the wife and I went cruzing and I played some Three 6 Mafia to test things out. Very little headlight dimming and for a single 12, wow. So for a couple of 50+ year olds, kids were looking at us like WTF as we drove by. Yes this amp works well as a daily driver and has very good power output. Even the wife likes it...


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

i love my 2200d. after using that little clip indicator for so long i dont think i could live without it


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## james2266 (Sep 24, 2009)

Nice to see someone do a review on one of these AQ amplifiers. I am looking at the 2200 that SkizeR is talking about. Does he care to do a review of his for us too? I have only heard one from the line and it was in a more spl type setup so I am curious if it holds up to the usual sq amp players like Zapco, Genesis, Mosconi, Audison and the like. It was nice to hear that it compares favorably to the old Soundstream Ref line (or at least I think you were stating this).


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

james2266 said:


> Nice to see someone do a review on one of these AQ amplifiers. I am looking at the 2200 that SkizeR is talking about. Does he care to do a review of his for us too? I have only heard one from the line and it was in a more spl type setup so I am curious if it holds up to the usual sq amp players like Zapco, Genesis, Mosconi, Audison and the like. It was nice to hear that it compares favorably to the old Soundstream Ref line (or at least I think you were stating this).


Its a sub amp so its hard to really hear a difference.. but it does do more than rated cleanly and the fact that it has a gain knob (not bass boost) with a clipping indicator makes life so much easier


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## james2266 (Sep 24, 2009)

SkizeR said:


> Its a sub amp so its hard to really hear a difference.. but it does do more than rated cleanly and the fact that it has a gain knob (not bass boost) with a clipping indicator makes life so much easier


I really like that clipping light idea and from what I have read from others it is as accurate as an o-scope (which I don't have). I didn't know about the remote gain feature tho and makes me want to try it even more now. I am putting in my current amps today and truthfully if it doesn't work to my liking this time, I will save my pennies and grab one of those things. I love the fact that I could even run two Ultimo's off of that if I so desire down the road as well.


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## james2266 (Sep 24, 2009)

SkizeR said:


> Its a sub amp so its hard to really hear a difference.. but it does do more than rated cleanly and the fact that it has a gain knob (not bass boost) with a clipping indicator makes life so much easier


BTW, what resistance are you loading it to? 1,2 or 4 ohm? Do you have any light dimming issues assuming you have a stock electrical system. I would be running 2 ohm and if I get a 2nd Ultimo it would be run at 1 ohm.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

james2266 said:


> Nice to see someone do a review on one of these AQ amplifiers. I am looking at the 2200 that SkizeR is talking about. Does he care to do a review of his for us too? I have only heard one from the line and it was in a more spl type setup so I am curious if it holds up to the usual sq amp players like Zapco, Genesis, Mosconi, Audison and the like. It was nice to hear that it compares favorably to the old Soundstream Ref line (or at least I think you were stating this).


Should have mentioned....
The Soundstreams can run a sub @ 1ohm bridged but they do get pretty warm and class A amps are only about 50% efficient. I am using an old Reference 500 for the mids-highs and I do not get any interference like some people talk about. I love to use the old SQ amps for the mids and highs and I've not tried a class D amp for this. If I listen to older music, bass is pretty darn accurate. Comparing to a set of Cerwin vegas D8E and an old Kenwood Basic M2 amp in the living room. So yes, I'm very glad I purchased it.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

james2266 said:


> BTW, what resistance are you loading it to? 1,2 or 4 ohm? Do you have any light dimming issues assuming you have a stock electrical system. I would be running 2 ohm and if I get a 2nd Ultimo it would be run at 1 ohm.


when i had it in my daily i had the 2200d and 2 zapco amps for the front. just 2 decent sized batteries and had no dimming what so ever. it was ran at 1 ohm


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## Earzbleed (Feb 10, 2013)

No downside to the amps yet? I'm considering the Q1-1200D. Only thing is, the price seems too good to be true. I really like the idea of a gain remote instead of the stupid 50hz boost my current amp has. Only way I can really adjust the sub while driving atm is by going into about 15 submenus on the h/u.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

Earzbleed said:


> No downside to the amps yet? I'm considering the Q1-1200D. Only thing is, the price seems too good to be true. I really like the idea of a gain remote instead of the stupid 50hz boost my current amp has. Only way I can really adjust the sub while driving atm is by going into about 15 submenus on the h/u.


Get it. Had my 2200 for 3 years now and not a single issue

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 2


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## GLN305 (Nov 2, 2007)

Have no fear with these amps, I had one of the four channels and a 3500D and both were rock solid and clean.


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## Earzbleed (Feb 10, 2013)

Great, thanks for the reassurance. Looks like there still are genuine bargains around.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

90scaraudio said:


> Here we go….
> Yes, the remote gain knob has a clip indicator! Great.
> I had to figure a way to mount the remote so with some thinking, sheet metal cutters, drill, tap, and screws, this is what I came up with. I also took a black permanent marker and darkened the green power light as it is very bright and would be annoying while driving at night.
> 
> ...


OK, I noticed a strong magnetic field on the side were the RCAs plug in and also the seat rail, even with the stereo off. I noticed this when I was adjusting the gain. When I pulled it out from under the seat, it momentarily turned on and then back off, all in about 10 seconds. 
I now have the RCA side facing the back, sticking out from under the seat and the magnetic field is gone.  WTF!!!

OK, next issue... If I use both RCAs from the pioneer, make sure the time alignment is the same for both channels. Also, I don't like that the deck goes from 12dB to 34dB / Oct and the amp has a 24dB / Oct built in and always on with a sweep from about 20Hz to 200Hz. I really had to play with the time alignment and crossover settings to get it to sound good. I'm assuming that both crossovers were adding phase changes.


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

Good to know. I was looking at the 2200D for my truck. It's got me wondering how there subs are. They say run one 2200 with two of there 10's to get pretty loud and run two 2200D's for ungodly loud at Competitions. I need to do some more searching on how there subs sound for anything other then SPL. 

Kyle


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

*Re: Soundqubed Q1-1200D Amplifier UH OH*

 I'll try to be to the point....
So after listening to this amp since July I could always notice that the bass seemed to fade and it did not seem to have the punch that an old SS reference 500s had so I compared the two with a pioneer 10 TS-W2502D4. I paralleled the coils for 2 ohms and just rested it on the backseat without a cabinet. 
The Soundstream was frightening as it pushed this sub to almost its excursion limits without clipping!
The Q1-1200D would barely push the sub and would light the clip indicator!
So I popped the back cover off and started inspecting.
I found the negative speaker feed buss bar very loose, I could move it about 1/4 inch back and forth. The solder job was very poor, they shouldn't have soldered it at all.







:surprised:
Second thing I found was the fuse holder legs, just the back row, that are connected to the board, barley had any solder on them. So up to 120 amps going through a very small conduction area, hmm.
Third thing was the speaker output connector legs that are connected to the board had very little solder on them and I could see through the holes were solder should be. Again, very small conduction area, hmm.
I re-soldered all of these issues and it has a lot more punch. Seems to keep up with the soundstream now.
So the load was trying to suck current through these weak areas...  
Wonder how many have this problem. If you own one, you may want to check these areas for this issue.


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## Earzbleed (Feb 10, 2013)

Hmm, glad I haven't pulled the trigger yet. Found another major issue I need to deal with first.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

During my drive to work and listening to music at a moderate level, keep in mind that my Dayton 12 is a single voice coil and rated at I think about 250 watts. OK, my Soundstream 500s pounded this sub and never clipped, however this Q1-1200 clipped easily and still not half as loud. Very disappointed. After the items I found, it makes me wonder how much other crappy solder joints there are. Anyway, since I did re-solder, I think that voided the warranty. So, this thing was a learning project.... Be warned


Oh and there tech support said "I've never seen this problem and I have looked inside hundreds if not thousands of our amps. This seems to be an unfortunate case of electronics having a defect. Since you did do your own repair work this does void our warranty. If the amp is in good condition meaning no gashes, scratches, broken bits I will get you a refund minus the cost of re-stocking which is 20% of the shipped price. If you'd like to keep the amp I will have a tech look at it, if it's deemed unrepairable do to a man defect I will swap it out, however it is repairable there will be a service charge as the warranty is void."

Yea right.... I have a feeling that if I sent it back to them that they would charge me to fix it, but at least they offered....


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

Hmm. That sucks. I see quite a few people running there 2200 what amp. 

I picked up a pair of there 10's last week for my truck during there Q/Fire sale for old stock. Got the dang things for $32 apiece shipped. I took them out if the box and they seem to be built well. I'll post back when I replace my 10 yr old RF 10's there replacing. 

Kyle.


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## peenemunde (Aug 31, 2013)

90scaraudio said:


> During my drive to work and listening to music at a moderate level, keep in mind that my Dayton 12 is a single voice coil and rated at I think about 250 watts. OK, my Soundstream 500s pounded this sub and never clipped, however this Q1-1200 clipped easily and still not half as loud. Very disappointed. After the items I found, it makes me wonder how much other crappy solder joints there are. Anyway, since I did re-solder, I think that voided the warranty. So, this thing was a learning project.... Be warned
> 
> 
> Oh and there tech support said "I've never seen this problem and I have looked inside hundreds if not thousands of our amps. This seems to be an unfortunate case of electronics having a defect. Since you did do your own repair work this does void our warranty. If the amp is in good condition meaning no gashes, scratches, broken bits I will get you a refund minus the cost of re-stocking which is 20% of the shipped price. If you'd like to keep the amp I will have a tech look at it, if it's deemed unrepairable do to a man defect I will swap it out, however it is repairable there will be a service charge as the warranty is void."
> ...



I've had nothing but good interactions with the guys at SoundQubed. They are very willing to assist with any questions or concerns I have with their products. As for the 1200D sounding less then adequate, I suggest running 0awg high quality wire. The 4awg you currently have may be throttling the SQ output, that's my guess anyway.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

*Re: Soundqubed Q1-1200D Amplifier update*

I decided to take this amp apart to see anything wrong. I will post pics.
I re-flowed all the heavy solder joints and inspected all the mosfets and dual diodes for broken legs, everything was fine. 
I was quite impressed that they used decent mosfets in the power-supply!

On my bench... It seemed to work great then I plugged the remote gain control in... That's when I started getting lots of rumble and noise until I bumped and moved the plug at the amp end. So the main problem is the remote.
I've had it in my car for a week now, without the remote, and it's doing a fantastic job. If I plug the remote in, things go south.
So reflowing some solder joints and disconnecting the remote, there seems to be zero issues with this amp.

So now I have to chase down the problem with the remote.


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

That's good to know. I went ahead and bought the 2200D on Black Friday for a steal. I wanting to try running it at 1/2 ohm to one of there HDC4-12's. Should get pretty damn loud.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

Taking amp apart


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

This thing has 8 of these for the power supply...
*DFP70N06*
■ Low RDS(on) (0.014Ω )@VGS=10V
■ Low Gate Charge (Typical 70nC)
■ Low Crss (Typical 160pF)
■ Improved dv/dt Capability
■ 100% Avalanche Tested
■ Maximum Junction Temperature Range
*R**DS(ON) **= 0.014 ohm*
*I**D **= 70A*
*BV**DSS **= 60V*

And 4 of these for the rectifier...
FMU22U
V RM (V) 200
IF (AV) (A) 10
I FSM (A) 65
50Hz
Half-cycle Sinewave 
Single Shot




10 of these for the finals
IRF640N
VDSS = 200V
RDS(on) = 0.15Ω
ID = 18A

3 TL074CN opamps


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

Filter caps


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

These are the spots I re-soldered, some were ok but some were weak.

I looked at the remote connector solder joints and they are good.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

This long cable seems to be the culprit. I put together a shorter one with new ends and the noise disappeared, at least on the bench.
Notice the way the colors are in the connector, they are opposite 
Just beware if you make your own.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

Putting it back together...

Make sure the clips are fully seated. I got most of them with my fingers but had to use channel locks for a couple stubborn ones 


Now to test it in the car again... with the remote


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## TrickyRicky (Apr 5, 2009)

If people really wanted an input sensitivity knob in the front for the subwoofer amp then why not remove the potentiometer from the pcb and place it in the front? Only issue i would think may come up is the cable picking up noise....sort of like what you mentioned. Where you running it along with the power cable?


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

90scaraudio said:


> Notice the way the colors are in the connector, they are opposite
> Just beware if you make your own.


some companies do this. not sure why though


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

TrickyRicky said:


> If people really wanted an input sensitivity knob in the front for the subwoofer amp then why not remove the potentiometer from the pcb and place it in the front? Only issue i would think may come up is the cable picking up noise....sort of like what you mentioned. Where you running it along with the power cable?


WATTS UP!
I verified the problem on my bench, When it would rumble and make noise, it would draw all kinds of current and my test sub would be moving.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

SkizeR said:


> some companies do this. not sure why though


This remote pot looks like, as far as I could trace it out on the amp pcb, to control small transistors (could be Mosfet) that go through some resistors, then to the Op-Amp... Audio control does this on some of there pre-amp stuff. I think that's how they can get away with it and make long runs with phone wire to the dash.

No... I traced it out and the remote gain goes through a couple resistors and straight to a TL074 as far as I could tell, no other transistors in-between.
I'll give it a go and post results. I guess I should let Sound Qubed know what I found and repaired.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

I also posted this on DIYAUDIO, here's the link. Soundqubed Q1-1200D Amplifier UH OH! The pics are better quality there.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

That was it! I can overdrive my sub, (very old Dayton), and this amp doesn't clip. Good luck all...


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## peenemunde (Aug 31, 2013)

90scaraudio said:


> That was it! I can overdrive my sub, (very old Dayton), and this amp doesn't clip. Good luck all...


Glad you were able to figure it out  

I love Soundqubed, they've always been reliable and put out clean power for me. 

Got 3 brand new in box at my house right meow


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

90scaraudio said:


> That was it! I can overdrive my sub, (very old Dayton), and this amp doesn't clip. Good luck all...



So with the fix she is putting out way more power then the S500 you compared it to in the beginning?

I have a new 2200D sitting in the box at home that I really need to buy a sub for. Thanks again for the update.


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

so what was the problem?


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## TrickyRicky (Apr 5, 2009)

I bet a bp1200.1 can outperform it, lol. Have y'all seen the transformer in that thing its twice the size if most transformers.


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

What's retail on the bp1200.1?


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## TrickyRicky (Apr 5, 2009)

Its discontinued, so no retail. I sold mine for 225.00 in mint/near new condition. Worth every penny.


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## NA$TY-TA (Mar 25, 2009)

Got ya. At $269 retail the 1200D isn't bad at all. I tried the 2200D because they had it on special for almost 26% off on black friday and I got it for $317 shipped. When I do try it out ill post up what I think compared to others I've tried out.

Kyle


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

NA$TY-TA said:


> So with the fix she is putting out way more power then the S500 you compared it to in the beginning?
> 
> I have a new 2200D sitting in the box at home that I really need to buy a sub for. Thanks again for the update.


I just finished a MDF box for a Pioneer TS-W2501D4. I'm paralleling it for 2 ohms and will be putting the Soundqubed amp back in the car. The pioneer does sound good so far with the soundstream but it can take much more power. I will post what it sounds like this next week.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

SkizeR said:


> so what was the problem?


Bad crimp job on the remote connectors and some missed soldering on the board.


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## 90scaraudio (Mar 16, 2013)

Well the Sounqubed amp IMO does not put out as much as my Reference 500. I can drive this thing to clip and it does not hit as hard as even my reference 500s. I could not believe the clip light was blinking during moderate listening levels. Nothing like old skool power 
So, it's coming back out.


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