# Alpine amps?



## ebrahim (Sep 21, 2009)

Are the Alpine monoblock amps any good?


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## captainscarlett (Mar 15, 2011)

My view on Alpine; I really love them, but all their stuff, to me, was really bass shy, speakers, subs and amps. Swapping from Alpine amp(s) to JL, for me there was a night and day difference in the bass, with JL amps being fuller. I have huge respect for Alpine, but they're just not for me.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

I like my MRV-F409 but not others.


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## DDfusion (Apr 23, 2015)

Cheap and reliable. Good value


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## ebrahim (Sep 21, 2009)

There is an Alpine mono block amp that is under $100 that could power my single Rockford Fosgate Punch Power XLC sub but I might end up going all old school on the amplifiers or stay with the current line up of 2015.


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## DLO13 (Oct 24, 2010)

alpine is solid - people have competed and won countless competitions using them.


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## ebrahim (Sep 21, 2009)

Solid how and are you just talking about their top of the line or everything they have in general?




DLO13 said:


> alpine is solid - people have competed and won countless competitions using them.


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## Weigel21 (Sep 8, 2014)

I used to be somewhat of an Alpine Fan boy, if you will, back in the early to mid 2000's. Loved their V-Drive HU's and V12 amps of that time. 

Must be looking at the MRV-M250. 

Not too thrilled about the terminals requiring spade connectors on the wire, but other than that, Idon't see many having any issues with it. Well, guess if you are planning to run a ported setup, it lacks a variable SSF.


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## ebrahim (Sep 21, 2009)

Yes, I am planning to go ported with the subwoofer in the future since i prefer ported over sealed for some odd reason.


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## Weigel21 (Sep 8, 2014)

Bass preference and/or genre of music preferred. 

Anyways, one could opt to buy an external SSf down the road, such as those by Harrison Labs, but I don't particularly see why not to opt for an amp with a variable SSF, even if it cost a few bucks more.

However, let me ask this, what drew you in to that particular amplifier?


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

Alpine has made many monoblocks, and I would dare say that they weren't all equally capable within their power envelope.

If it's a small class D amp you're looking at, it's probably because you like the size and the price and that it's a brand name.

is that going to make a more costly monoblock seem like a better deal if you find out that the Alpine is only accurately rated and the 'better' amp you find, is underrated and puts out more power for extra cash outlay?

I would buy an Alpine monoblock without hesitation if it fits my needs and I wanted an Alpine, but I would also buy almost any other amp brand too, even those Hifonics, Power Acoustik and PPI or SoundStream cheap lines because I don't really have brand snobbery as a buying decision hinge point.

I would like to keep all my amps the same brand, and the same line/versions, if possible during a build but I've never had that happen even though I would prefer it. Because I re-use my equipment a lot, and an amp that is working properly is almost always going to work properly in any system I put together, IOW I don't see where an automotive amplifier choice, hinders or decreases the SQ of a system so much that it's audible to me.

That's given the power of the amp is suitable and the load I present to it is within specs.

Aesthetics of an all Alpine system count, but not really in my situation. I'm not rich enough to be investing in multiple amps at considerable cost each time I put together a system... you however, might display or compete, and a mish-mash of brands might be a detractor.


I know when I look at build threads and see multiple brands of amps in a build, nothing remotely matching I want to make the leap that the designer of the system had a specific reason for choosing which amp and why.

In my case, I choose amps based on power and fitment, and that I own them already,haha.. and nothing else. I also don't do build logs, haha...


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## ebrahim (Sep 21, 2009)

@cajunner

I use to be anal about having the same brand of amplifiers when it came to a build but it came down to spending more money than needed. Right now I have the Hertz HCP-4 amp and an old school Rockford Fosgate 360a2 amp. My subwoofer is a dual 4 ohm wired to an 8 ohm load but I would like to find one with more power and therefore the sub is 500 watts rm and the sub amp is bridged at 360 x 1 @ 4 ohms at 13.8 volts so who knows how much power the sub is getting.

The Alpine amp is 500 x 1 @ 2 ohms and it is below $100 with shipping on eBay right now. I am not into buying an expensive amp like Mosconi since I am not competing or building a demo vehicle for any manufacture. I am more into old school amps because I love them plus back then I was in love with some brands including Orion, Rockford Fosgate, PPI and Phoenix Gold amps to name a few. 

I prefer old school gear.


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## SentraStyleEMW (May 16, 2008)

I just recently put in an Alpine MRV-M500 into a buddies car. I had that and a couple of first gen Type R's laying around in the garage. It had enough power for those subs. He wasn't looking to win any SPL or SQ comps so it fit his needs perfectly...and it was free so he couldn't complain. I was very impressed with the over all sound.


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## evlushn (Sep 7, 2015)

Cheap and reliable about sums it up on alpine Amps


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## ImK'ed (Aug 12, 2013)

Alpine amps the old ones are bullet proof. My brother still runs a mrv 1000 my cousin bought that in 1995 then i took it in 2003 its been in many cars systems no in brothers. What an amp! Then i bought a mrd m1005 in 2005 i liked it seemed fine this is when class d amps started getting smaller. I then once walked into a local audio shop and saw the older mono mrd m1001 rhis as the massive one with dsp, even though rated same as the newer m1005 this sounded more powerful and gutsy i loved this. Then for years didnt get alpine and went out of audio then 2013 bought pdx m12 and mrx f35. Pdx m12 i liked this amp clean powerful sexy looking but they have a small on off tick not major but its there think papasin had same issue. Now the mrx f35 souded very good for a cheap amp but **** me the loudest on off tick ive ever heard in any amp. Its not a pop or timing issue but a tick on both on and off. Alpine replaced amp.but same even bench tested countless times different power supplies and even battery out of car to test amp inside to eliminate any wiring issue and doesnt matter what speaker or tweeter or crossover or source or no source or mute plugs or capacitors on tweeter non of these made a difference. The cone doesnt move or move in and out like ive seen on some amp start ups but its a loud tick kind of like if you connect your tweeter to a 1.5v battery but that will make it move out but on the amp its same click but doesnt move out. 

Im rambling on waiting for rocky 4 to start damn adverts (commercials) personally i prefer the first 3 rocky movies the rest are cheesy as hell but nothing else to watch. I know nothing to do with question. Just thought id share.


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## OldSchoolAddict (Sep 23, 2014)

I like the older V12 models the most, but the MRVs are great too.

Alpine shines the most when it comes to headunits in my opinion. Amps and speakers... eh.


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## captainscarlett (Mar 15, 2011)

OldSchoolAddict said:


> I like the older V12 models the most, but the MRVs are great too.
> 
> Alpine shines the most when it comes to headunits in my opinion. Amps and speakers... eh.


^ X2


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