# HELIX DARK BLUE 5 AUDIOTEC FISCHER



## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Hey guys... Was going to grab one of these up, from woofersetc for 249.99 free ship and New..
I was on the amp's home page, and it seems this may be the older unit of whats avalable now.. - But wonder if it really puts out what it says..???? - Was thinking of getting it to replace my boston acoustic, GT-42.4. that i use ch 1+2 front compo,- channel 3+4 to run my SVC, 4 ohm sub. And thought this may be better. ???? Thoughts ???

Here's the specs on the helix
Cont. power rating RMS/Max. power at 4 Ohms/13,8V: 4 x 75 + 1 x 350 Watt 
Cont. power rating RMS/Max. power at 2 Ohms/13,8V: 4 x 110 + 1 x 550 Watt 
Cont. power rating RMS/Max. power at 4 Ohms/13,8V bridged: 2 x 220 + 1 x 700 Watt (1 Ohm Woofer) 
TIM distortion: < 0,03% 
Signal to noise ratio: > 93 dB 
Bassboost : 0-18 dB 
Setting range highpass : 10 Hz-2,5 kHz 
Setting range lowpass : 40 Hz-4 kHz 
Regelbereich Bandpass : 15 Hz-4 kHz 
Setting range bandpass: 10 Hz-30 kHz 
TIM distortion: < 0,04% 
Signal to noise ratio: 200 mV - 5 V 
Fuse: 1 x 100 A 
Input impedance: 10 kOhm 
Dimensions (HxWxD) mm: 64 x 282 x 570


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

I`m pretty sure that specs are correct. they listed it for 299 now.


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Victor_inox said:


> I`m pretty sure that specs are correct. they listed it for 299 now.


That funny. -- if ya go to ebay... they have it for 249.99


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Bought it.. Hope im not sorry, seem like a no brainer for a 5 channel at 249.99
old// new stock


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

my2006c6 said:


> Bought it.. Hope im not sorry, seem like a no brainer for a 5 channel at 249.99
> old// new stock


You`ll like it, congrats! 50 bucks a chanel, cheap.


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

here is link. 
Helix Dark Blue 5 Audiotec Fischer 5 CH 1840W Component Speakers Sub Amplifier 4016050224507 | eBay


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Victor_inox said:


> You`ll like it, congrats! 50 bucks a chanel, cheap.


How will this compare ??? to my boston acoustic GT-42.4,, That i run front channel's to Imag DYN component,[ 100 rms ] and rear bridged for SVC 4 OHM Sub..
Im hoping it works sub better..


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## DrFred (Jan 19, 2013)

Hi -
I have the same era Helix Dark Blue 4 channel and really like it - bought it used and been very pleased with it's quality and features . Only drawbacks I found are the crossovers are not well marked or have any detents so it can be difficult to tell exactly , where they are set and the footprint is kinda large compared to more modern designs . Kelly


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

my2006c6 said:


> How will this compare ??? to my boston acoustic GT-42.4,, That i run front channel's to Imag DYN component,[ 100 rms ] and rear bridged for SVC 4 OHM Sub..
> Im hoping it works sub better..


AUDIOTEC FISCHER makes best amplifier in the world, not this one but legacy alive.


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

DrFred said:


> Hi -
> I have the same era Helix Dark Blue 4 channel and really like it - bought it used and been very pleased with it's quality and features . Only drawbacks I found are the crossovers are not well marked or have any detents so it can be difficult to tell exactly , where they are set and the footprint is kinda large compared to more modern designs . Kelly


Thank, its great to get input on buying a amp.. And i saw it was around the size of my boston amp, in which i have no issue with..
As for the adjustments, it seems alot of amp's have that issue and i could never understand why they ignore that tiny issue which is very important ??
I had bought a new PPI, 9004, and well,,, Ill never buy that cheap quality again... Hated the amp..


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Ill post my thoughts on it when it arrives.. and its all hooked up..


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## mires (Mar 5, 2011)

I hope it will be hidden


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

mires said:


> I hope it will be hidden


Why ??, because of the size ?.
In my 2006 vette convertable, you cant even see the big boston thats behind seats when standing and looking for it. And if i open hatch/trunk, you can only see the boston if you stick your head in trunk and look forward. So size isnt issue for me.


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## DrFred (Jan 19, 2013)

" Hope it's hidden " - I suspect Mires comment was a slam about the cheesy look of the amp which as an owner of one myself I can say - falls right in the category of " only a mother could love " - in my case - I was after features and build quality and looks are fortunately , not a concern ! Kelly


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

DrFred said:


> " Hope it's hidden " - I suspect Mires comment was a slam about the cheesy look of the amp which as an owner of one myself I can say - falls right in the category of " only a mother could love " - in my case - I was after features and build quality and looks are fortunately , not a concern ! Kelly


Thanks DRFred, I guess ill know more on the looks when it gets here..
And last thing i was looking at was how pretty it may or not be.
Just didnt want any junk amp, like alot of cheap made one's now. 
But not slamming anyone's amp...
Gee, when i first got the vette system up graded, i added a new cheap amp i had for temp use and it was CEA compliant and did 75 rms @ 4ohms, and amp did what it said, and was built better than a PPI amp.. It was a jenson 760.4


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

mmmmmmmmm, I got the helix dark blue 5 amp in today, - Now i have alot of alternator whine when running veh ???.. 
It never did it with the boston acoustic gt-42.4, or my orig cheap amp i had [jenson] or a defective channel PPI. 
Im sure its a waist of time contacting whoofersETC, as i no they will say connection and or wires.. I guess i could try better wires.. Any thoughts guys.


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## percy072 (Feb 13, 2014)

my2006c6 said:


> mmmmmmmmm, I got the helix dark blue 5 amp in today, - Now i have alot of alternator whine when running veh ???..
> It never did it with the boston acoustic gt-42.4, or my orig cheap amp i had [jenson] or a defective channel PPI.
> Im sure its a waist of time contacting whoofersETC, as i no they will say connection and or wires.. I guess i could try better wires.. Any thoughts guys.



Might be related to one of many possible causes...and yes Woofers may not be of any help. Stumbled onto this, seemed to be pretty well laid out and help to find the culprit...Hopefully it's not a bum amp 

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j...VNIGbyg5HWJj8-w&bvm=bv.70810081,d.aWw&cad=rja


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

It`s only 20 000 posts around here about alternator whine. one more will do no harm.
Noise is always ground loop/bad power problem, nothing else, your amp has nothing to do with it, I`m sure. fact that previous amp didn`t have that noise mean nothing. ground at the battery first.ground RCA shield to the amp ground. Ground loop isolators do wonders too.


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Thanks.. Im going to recheck all conn, and i do have a new set of twisted rca, for a 5 channel amp that im gonna try.. Just seem weird last few amps i had,, had no noise issue.
Also gonna check, and clean my ground... I will know tomorow if it does it..


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

ground at the battery first.ground RCA shield to the amp ground.

So are you saying , ground amp rite to the battery ground ?
and ground my RCA grounds,, to amp


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

You try only one thing at the time to locate a fix.


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## soccerguru607 (Nov 4, 2009)

Victor_inox said:


> AUDIOTEC FISCHER makes best amplifier in the world,


That's because you own top of the line Brax Matrix and been hugging it in between your legs like a pillow while asleep


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

soccerguru607 said:


> That's because you own top of the line Brax Matrix and been hugging it in between your legs like a pillow while asleep


I don`t need a pillow I have Brax for that


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## soccerguru607 (Nov 4, 2009)

LOL that's exactly what I was saying ahahahhaha


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Victor_inox said:


> It`s only 20 000 posts around here about alternator whine. one more will do no harm.
> Noise is always ground loop/bad power problem, nothing else, your amp has nothing to do with it, I`m sure. fact that previous amp didn`t have that noise mean nothing. ground at the battery first.ground RCA shield to the amp ground. Ground loop isolators do wonders too.


Hey i got it, the alter whine is gone..
Got home from work, and rechecked everything. all good conections.
So i , went ahead and put in the new stinger wires i had here that are made to go from head unit to 5 channel amp, and then i figured it out.

Last night i had front components run off the amps 1&2 channels, and sub in the 5th..
. but had not yet ran rca's to amp on channel 3&4, or on the speaker output side of amp for rear speakers.
Seems amp didnt like channel 3 & 4 empty. mmmm ???
Seems that would of not been the problem, but i guess if it fixed it im not going to try to figure that one out. - lol.

When i was looking today before i figured it out i did see, i had a small amount of the whine noise when car wasnt running too. and thats when i thought ?? - sounded like a speaker connection.. Just glad that i found it. 
Ill let ya know in few days what i think of amp..


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Here you go, no miracles in electronics.
Standing by for your impressions on the amp.


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

Victor_inox said:


> Here you go, no miracles in electronics.
> Standing by for your impressions on the amp.


MMMMMM, After listening to some c.d"s and hearing a diff in sound compared to my boston acoustic amp i was using, ( GT-42.4 ) I was ready to say ? about the Helix and the diff i hear.. Hard to describe, - But i think its that the boston amp, put out more power, and im comparing that to the helix, which is lower in power. Seems that speaker selection could play big part also in amp comparison..
But the helix being a 5 channel def, helps out on the sub that im using. Seems to get more out of it since it is a 5 channel amp... 
Seems with my component speakers, [ Image Dynamic ] - I was able to push them harder with the boston amp, before any distortion,,then the helix, - then again im a little lower in power with helix then using the boston amp.
And again diff speakers could change all that.
Over all amp, seems fine and ill be doing more fine tuning. As im not up much on say , Sub sonic adjustment ,and booklet that came with amp is ?? lacking on adjustments.. It has so little info in it that it doesnt even give power and ground wire recomended size... It accepts up to 0 gage, but amp doesnt seem to have the means of needing that big of a ground or power for the power it puts out..
But again its geman made and they may go by ?? on what one should use for wire size...


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

So im still tuning the helix darkblue 5 amp and this may be a dumb question to ask but , 
On the amp there is the adjustment , Bass boost level control for channel 5 for the sub. - 
And amp also comes with rotary remote control that manuall calls sub woofer level
Are these one and the same ?? 
and if so, im assuming i leave amp at mid point and adjust bass with remote ?
Booklet that came with amp is limited on info..


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## BEAVER (May 26, 2007)

Bass Boost and Level Control are two different things. Lever control is essentially a volume control for your subwoofer, while Bass Boost is a volume control for a specific frequency.

Turn the boost to zero and set the sub gain with the level control at 2/3 to 3/4 max. This leaves you wiggle room to turn it up for recordings that lack bass and/or showing off.


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

BEAVER said:


> Bass Boost and Level Control are two different things. Lever control is essentially a volume control for your subwoofer, while Bass Boost is a volume control for a specific frequency.
> 
> Turn the boost to zero and set the sub gain with the level control at 2/3 to 3/4 max. This leaves you wiggle room to turn it up for recordings that lack bass and/or showing off.


OK, ill try that.. little confused on that sub gain you mention.
I adjusted the input levels for all channel's all ready, so im asuming you mean to turn up my rotary control to 2/3 to 3/4 ??

Been out tuning amp.. Put the bass boost at zero, and adjusted LPF for sub
Wasnt happy with lacking bass, so i raised the level on head unit to +3, and then increased my input level adjustment on amp to a little higher setting 3/4 clockwise.. Seems ok, so i guess raising input gain on amp for sub should be ok ??
Guess if it works , Amp is hard to tell where LPF is at ,, but i cranked up head unit and then adjusted LPF, so i heard only low tone/kick bass.. Visually looks like LPF is at 100


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## jankychopii (Oct 27, 2014)

my2006c6 said:


> OK, ill try that.. little confused on that sub gain you mention.
> I adjusted the input levels for all channel's all ready, so im asuming you mean to turn up my rotary control to 2/3 to 3/4 ??
> 
> Been out tuning amp.. Put the bass boost at zero, and adjusted LPF for sub
> ...


Bump

How's this amp been? Is it worth it? Im thinking about buying it atm. Is it under or overrated? Thanks


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

jankychopii said:


> Bump
> 
> How's this amp been? Is it worth it? Im thinking about buying it atm. Is it under or overrated? Thanks


Its been a great amp.... Been cranking it. and it doesnt get to hot. 
Very clean sounding amp. And it seems to put out rated power, and not under.


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## jankychopii (Oct 27, 2014)

my2006c6 said:


> Its been a great amp.... Been cranking it. and it doesnt get to hot.
> Very clean sounding amp. And it seems to put out rated power, and not under.


Oh ok, would you recommend it for an SQ setup?


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## my2006c6 (Jun 29, 2014)

jankychopii said:


> Oh ok, would you recommend it for an SQ setup?


Yes i would..


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