# Pioneer GM-D9601 and GM-D8604



## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

Credit to Nick_Arnez over on SMD for the gut pics. 

These seem like good bargain amps. 

GM-D9601 $189.99 over on sonicelectronix 


> GM Digital Series Class D Monoblock Amplifier
> RMS Power Rating:
> 4 ohms: 500 watts x 1 chan.
> 2 ohms: 800 watts x 1 chan.
> ...




















GM-D8604 $159.99 over on sonicelectronix 


> GM Digital Series 4-Channel Class D Car Amplifier
> RMS Power Rating:
> 4 ohms: 100 watts x 4 chan.
> 2 ohms: 150 watts x 4 chan.
> ...





















New forum boners?


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

I've found myself wondering about them. It pretty much ended there though as I know nothing about them or anyone who has run them. Also, I have no idea what the hell I am looking at in those gut pics lol.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I will be running the 9601 shortly. Power and speaker connections seem adequate. My only real complaint is the amp is a little tall, and i wish the mounting feet where a full circle not a horse shoe. I will save the rest of my opinions until I have it hooked up. For the $155 i paid for mine I plan to rock the hell out of it and love every second.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

They Look like nice amps and offer good value, I have a Kappa 1 and I wish it was taller and not almost 15" long


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## New2SQ (Dec 9, 2013)

I've seen them in person at a shop and owner seem to like them ("best budget amps"). Never got to hear them though


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Ha, I just ordered this exact combo- I got them on eBay BNIB from Techronics, $305.xx shipped for the pair. The 9601 was $176 and the 8604 was $128. Sonic does the price match thing, so if you're keen on buying from them, see if they'll match the eBay price. I have another 8604 that I acquired in a trade here last week so I will be running all 3 in my setup. From what I have read, they seem to be beefy little amps. The 8604 I already have is very well built. I love the downward-angled terminals, like the ones on the Kenwood XR-xS amps. I wish all the terminals/controls were on the front side instead of the ends, but for as small as they are, I can't complain.


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## pjc (May 3, 2009)

I ran a pair of the gm-d8604 in the past. And am about to run another pair. 100x8 for alot if flexibility. P99 as the deck. So I can do a 3way plus efficient sub. Or 2way with double the power to the mids and a sub. Love these amps. And tiny!


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

pjc said:


> I ran a pair of the gm-d8604 in the past. And am about to run another pair. 100x8 for alot if flexibility. P99 as the deck. So I can do a 3way plus efficient sub. Or 2way with double the power to the mids and a sub. Love these amps. And tiny!


Or 3

1 bridged to midbass
1 on mids and tweets
the other on subs


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

edzyy said:


> Or 3
> 
> 1 bridged to midbass
> 1 on mids and tweets
> the other on subs


I'm doing one 8604 to horns/2118, and the other 8604 bridged to vented 2206H. The 9601 will be running a pair of W15GTi.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

mikey7182 said:


> I'm doing one 8604 to horns/2118, and the other 8604 bridged to vented 2206H. The 9601 will be running a pair of W15GTi.


It's hard to breath just thinking about it :laugh:


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

Since they give a 1ohm rating on the 8604, I wonder if they are 2ohm bridged capable and if so, what they put out bridged at 2 ohm.


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## edzyy (Aug 18, 2011)

mikey7182 said:


> I'm doing one 8604 to horns/2118, and the other 8604 bridged to vented 2206H. The 9601 will be running a pair of W15GTi.


That's gonna be amazing


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Inigma said:


> Since they give a 1ohm rating on the 8604, I wonder if they are 2ohm bridged capable and if so, what they put out bridged at 2 ohm.


From Pioneer's site:



> To prevent circuit shutdown, Pioneer's new digital amplifier circuit "Protection Control System" senses its internal temperature and automatically moderates input level accordingly. Stable, durable circuitry lessens the risk of high input power for the unit to achieve 1 Ω connection. This design enhances the flexibility to connect multiple subwoofers to a system.


The 1 ohm stereo output is lower than 2 ohm, so ultimately it would make more power at 4 ohms bridged than at 2. If it is stable at 2 ohms bridged, my guess would be it puts out somewhere around 225-250w.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

edzyy said:


> That's gonna be amazing


Should be fun.  I've missed having the impact of that kind of setup lately. I am trying to work out a way to use JBL's 4th order BP enclosure design for this one as I have never tried that. Just went out to fire up the Craftsman 10" table saw I scooped up off CL a few years ago though and the motor is frozen.  A new 3HP motor is around $200 from what I can find. Time to scour CL for another used saw I guess.


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## Inigma (Mar 17, 2012)

They are pretty tempting for a complete matching budget build. I've been looking at these, the JBL GTO-EZ's, and the Alpine MRV's. All three of those lines can be had for pretty darn cheap, but the Pioneers have higher RMS ratings than the others. I wish I could find a test on the GTO-504ez to see if it's under rated like the GTO-501ez SMD tested.


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## pjc (May 3, 2009)

Inigma said:


> Since they give a 1ohm rating on the 8604, I wonder if they are 2ohm bridged capable and if so, what they put out bridged at 2 ohm.


They should be 2ohm stable bridged since they are 1ohm stereo stable. I ran my first setup at 2ohm bridged to a sub and it did cut off every now and then. So not doing that again.


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## Alrojoca (Oct 5, 2012)

No band pass filter for the sub amp?


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## alex912005 (Jan 8, 2014)

I've been wondering about these amps too, mainly the GM-D8604. Has anyone been using this amp for a longer time ?

Here are some more pics of the guts:

StüvenCarhifi - Multimedia & Navigation - Hamburg - GM-D8604


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## robtr8 (Dec 6, 2011)

I installed a pair of 8604's in a buddies boat. One for the two pair of in-boats and one bridged for the pair of tower speakers. They play clean with a lot of authority without sounding hurt. I left room on the amp rack I built for a 9601 someday.

Overall, I think they are one of the best bang for the buck amps out there. Only other amp I'd consider would be the PPI Phantoms.


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## scionboxrox (Jan 12, 2009)

I currently run 2 GM-D8604's bridged on my mids/tweets and 1 GM-D9601 on 2 - TS-W310D4 subwoofers. I love these amps over my previous ones. (jbl GTO1004 X2 and jbl GTO14001 X1)

I have ran these Pioneer amps since March of 2013.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

I scoured the web and forums searching for reviews on these before buying them. The only negative one I found was some kid on ca.com and it turned out he clipped the amp and fried a coil. From DIY guys to installers and shop owners, the consensus seems to be they are great little amps. They do rated power, run cool, are efficient and compact. Sold.


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## alex912005 (Jan 8, 2014)

There are a lot of bad reviews on amazon; check those too


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

alex912005 said:


> There are a lot of bad reviews on amazon; check those too


Where are you seeing those? The reviews I saw on Amazon were overwhelmingly positive for both the mono and the 4 channel. I think 23 out of 30 people gave the mono 5/5 stars and 23/31 gave the same rating to the 4 channel. Given that people are more inclined to post a negative review than a positive one, I'd say those numbers are pretty good.

I read one guy said not to buy it used/refurb'd as it had issues, and another guy traded his in for a "more powerful Alpine." One actually said his started smoking "10 minutes after Best Buy installed it" which is precisely what happens when the pros at BB wire a quarter-ohm load and use 8awg power wire.  

Anyway, not defending the amps, just didn't see many legitimate negative reviews out there. Well, not nearly enough to deter me from buying or to outweigh the benefits.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

The amp that mikey7182 has came from his trade with me. I would have ran it in my wife's car if I didn't decide that she really needed a 5 channel amp. That amp, by the way, came from pjc.  So yes, that one BNIB GM-D8604 has made the rounds. 

Build quality certainly looked solid, and I really liked the power:footprint ratio on these. For the price, they are hard to beat. I just wish Pioneer offered a 5 channel version.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

rton20s said:


> The amp that mikey7182 has came from his trade with me. I would have ran it in my wife's car if I didn't decide that she really needed a 5 channel amp. That amp, by the way, came from pjc.  So yes, that one BNIB GM-D8604 has made the rounds.
> 
> Build quality certainly looked solid, and I really liked the power:footprint ratio on these. For the price, they are hard to beat. I just wish Pioneer offered a 5 channel version.


Ha! Well I will be the first one to finally use it 

My other two arrived this morning. Here are all 3 next to my H701:




I really am impressed with their build quality. And I do agree- a 5 channel offering would be nice. Kenwood has it with the XR-5S, PPI with the P900.5, and quite a few other brands who have small amps.


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## Jeepit (Feb 6, 2014)

I have had the 8601 for a few weeks now and I can say its not bad. It sounds clean and seems to do rated power. I agree that it is a bit tall but should fit under the seat of most vehicles.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Nice Mike. I look forward to hearing your thoughts once your install is complete. I have enough room under the xB seat that if I'd kept the GM-D8604, I would have stacked it with a GM-D8601 with some "breathing room" in between.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

I wish I had that kind of room under my seats! I don't think I could fit one, let alone two.


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## REGULARCAB (Sep 26, 2013)

I still haven't checked to see if the 9601 will fit under the seat. The mechanism sticks so far down and moves w the seat. May have to make a stacked amp rack... and leave room for a processor... oh darn


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## Midwestrider (Aug 10, 2007)

I think these may be the ticket for my first class d amps. 
Price is right and so is the power...


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## pjc (May 3, 2009)

I want another used 8604 if anyone wants to part with one.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Ha... Maybe Mikey would be willing to sell you your old amp back.


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## mikey7182 (Jan 16, 2008)

Nada chance!  

I did pick up the second one for $127 shipped BNIB on eBay, so they are pretty inexpensive as it is. I think they were even a bit less on Amazon. May want to poke around the web a bit.


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## pjc (May 3, 2009)

Been searching. I know they are inexpensive. But figured I'd try. I have one headed my way for $100 shipped from a buddy. 
I'm planning on running a 3way of all Dayton drivers and sub. It should be a nice inexpensive setup.


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## pjc (May 3, 2009)

Got a 8604 I'm about to list if anyone needs one. $100 shipped. Just got a great opportunity to one a certain brand of equipment . So no more pioneer at this time for me.


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## rton20s (Feb 14, 2011)

Nice. Did you ever even install it? You may have had more GM-D8604s in your possession than just about anyone else.


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## bose301s (Dec 8, 2008)

Definitely looking at the D9601 for my sub, currently running an Arc KS Mini 500.1 but want more power at 2ohms and the ability to run at 1 ohm and I think this should work well. Just curious if anyone had compared the Pioneer to the Rockford Fosgate R1200-1D or the NVX JAD1200.1?


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## pjc (May 3, 2009)

rton20s said:


> Nice. Did you ever even install it? You may have had more GM-D8604s in your possession than just about anyone else.


I just bought it from a buddy. It was installed in his car. It's actually on its way to me. Was going to order another to go with it. Love these amps. But going with something different only because its a chance to go with a company that is smaller and I'm proud to "represent" so to speak. Build will hopefully start next few weeks.


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## Reckless (Mar 14, 2014)

Do you think the Pioneer would work well with the following equipment fine?

8604 to run Wet Sounds 10" Marine Tower speakers (they need 300W RMS/600W Peak)

9601 to run a SPL sub from Wet Sounds XS-XXX V2 (needs 1000W RMS/2000W Peak)

My installers are begging me to buy Wet Sounds amps which are $1k a piece.


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## robtr8 (Dec 6, 2011)

Reckless said:


> Do you think the Pioneer would work well with the following equipment fine?
> 
> 8604 to run Wet Sounds 10" Marine Tower speakers (they need 300W RMS/600W Peak)
> 
> ...


The GMD's should be fine if you're sitting in party cove or surfing. I'm assuming you'd bridge the amp and run just one pair of REV10's. Make sure you sound deaden the dog house and you might try an FAE system.
If you're wakeboarding (open environment/waves/wake/motor) plus 60 ft back, you need all the power you can get. Take a look at ARC KS600.2's for the tower.


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## robtr8 (Dec 6, 2011)

robtr8 said:


> The GMD's should be fine if you're sitting in party cove or surfing. I'm assuming you'd bridge the amp and run just one pair of REV10's. Make sure you sound deaden the dog house and you might try an FAE system.
> If you're wakeboarding (open environment/waves/wake/motor) plus 60 ft back, you need all the power you can get. Take a look at ARC KS600.2's for the tower.


Also, check out Exile Marine. Specifically the http://exileaudio.com/store/index.php/tower-speakers/surf/sxt9q-surf-tower-speakers.html More SQ.


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## Reckless (Mar 14, 2014)

What is GMD? This is for my party bus. I don't know if I will be overdoing it inside the vehicle. I plan to unhook the speakers and put them outside as well. My bus is 36 feet long and already has 6-8 old Alpine Type R speakers. 

I looked at Exile but was more impressed by Wet Sounds. If I could I would have bought their amplifiers as well. I really like the company.


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## robtr8 (Dec 6, 2011)

Gotcha. The GM-D8604's should be fine, bridged, for a pair of tower speakers in that application. Have you listened to the REV10's? Not a pleasant near-field experience but prudy awesome, at a distance.


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## toylocost (Jul 4, 2011)

Wow just found out about these amps. Makes me want to sell my Alpines and just buy three of these instead.


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## Reckless (Mar 14, 2014)

robtr8 said:


> Gotcha. The GM-D8604's should be fine, bridged, for a pair of tower speakers in that application. Have you listened to the REV10's? Not a pleasant near-field experience but prudy awesome, at a distance.


What about the GM-D9601 for the XS-XXX? It says it needs 1000W RMS.


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## robtr8 (Dec 6, 2011)

Reckless said:


> What about the GM-D9601 for the XS-XXX? It says it needs 1000W RMS.


Worth a try. Can you squeeze a bigger driver in? More surface area would be helpful. The 15" Alpine Type R is a lot cheaper than the WS sub.


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## Reckless (Mar 14, 2014)

I paid $450 for the sub brand new. I have plenty of room but I usually don't like 15" subs. Not tight enough for me. My installer recommended I install more subs throughout the cabin to level out sound.

I just bought the ws-420sq equalizer/PA for $150 but not sure how I'm going to use it.


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