*SHOP* (Affiliate Links) Double Rock DR2000.1: amzn.to/41csZUM Down4Sound JP23 v1.5 - lddy.no/10uwo CT Sounds CT2000.1D: amzn.to/3N46uNJ SKAR Audio RP2000.1D: amzn.to/3KGukfr KICKER CXA800.1 - amzn.to/3DZGM7Y Alpine S-A60M - amzn.to/3zNiuvj Recoil RED1200.1 - amzn.to/3XCVJUf NEW Favorite Precision Screwdriver Kit: amzn.to/3IT0G7n Subwoofer Wiring Guide: www.the12volt.com/caraudio/subwoofer-wiring-diagrams.asp *Video Index* 0:00 Intro 0:50 Unboxing 1:45 Features and Specs 3:05 Amp Dyno Tests 6:49 What's Inside? 8:06 SKAR Comparison 8:26 Pros and Cons 9:11 Final Thoughts 9:48 EXTRA Tests *TEST BENCH EQUIPMENT* SMD / D'Amore Engineering Amp Dyno: goo.gl/sJTcf7 XS Power D1400 Batteries - amzn.to/2BPFCKW XS Power PSC60 Charger - amzn.to/2CHGcfs Fluke 1000A AC/DC Clamp Meter: amzn.to/2Rw5WDA Handheld Dyno: amzn.to/2u2EgKV My Favorite Screwdriver Kit: amzn.to/2x0VzcE _DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase from one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases_
You say this is a clone of the Skar... it may well be true, but since you are unaware of who Double Rock is... I'll share that I have met with, emailed, and had lengthy conversations at CES2020 with their factory reps from China. They make a LOT of products for car audio. I have a DR amp on my shelf from the 2020 CES, and several 12" subwoofers of various surround and motor types. It might be worth considering that Skar could be manufactured by DR. I know at least one other brand for certain that is.... a very well known brand that's been around longer than Skar.
Being a repair tech, the DR amplifier has Skar beat for vibration control. I am constantly seeing shorted transformer windings. They even secured the inductors. Nice ;)
I'd spend the 170 on this if I was in the market for an amp. Handled all the tests, looks good on the outside with no whack ratings, and internals look decent. Very nice!
A lot of times you're just paying for the name. And some times it pays to buy the name. And you'll never know until somebody does the tests and comparisons. You're doing Gods work, Big D.
Sometimes the name comes with better warranty claims and customer service so it rrally depends. On an expensive amp, id rather spend even more amd get a better name brand
@@derekgardin1512 Name only important for showing off and competitions - been there and done that. But if warranty is important, get the Amazon warranty that is 2 years for $16 or 3 years for $22
@@carrickdubya4765 riiiiight... i also remember the 90s, and there were more knockoff BS puffing twice before they ran out of breath. unless by showing off you mean it actually plays consistently while you're driving so other people can hear it. you can MAKE some brilliant pieces... you can buy a lot of dog-ass level equipment that only works till they close shop.
I have all Skar Audio components and subs in 3 vehicles all being run off of my collection of old school Rockford Fosgate amps. I had 1 problem with the surround on my 10 month old EVL-10 in my pickup. I emailed Skar and IMMEDIATELY got a warranty email with instructions. Within 2 days, my brand new sub was on my porch from Florida. That speaks novels for the company Skar is! I will gladly stand by them!
Mr D, Skar owes you for explaining and advertising the good and the bad about their equipment. Seems like a few diehards see Skar as something disposable, but reliability over time is the money maker. Thanks bro.
I like at the end how you made it a point to say enough electrical. To many people just look at the wattage and not the efficiency of the amp. Great test as always my man, keep it up👍!
Yeah I agree it's often heavily overlooked in car audio even if the efficiency was good or even great a 2000 watt amp is definitely pulling enough current that there isn't really no stock systems electrical charging system is equipped to handle such a load. Shit yer talkin 200 amps possibly up to that there's nothing no charging systems that'll be putting out that, plus all the other expected loads and draws from the system
@@buckalvinpossumweight6252 Right! I'm running 1800 now on my stock system and the only reason it works is because I don't hammer on it very often. I'm planning on upgrading to a second battery. Already did the big 3 and both my amps are pretty efficient, Kenwood 6006 dsp and a jp8 wired to one ohm. Just pushing 2 12's. I watch my voltage and I've never gotten lower than 12.6 but I'd love to be running 13.8 constant .
That amp is a great performer for the money. I think if you can affordable the little extra that the name brand amps and subs cost, it is worth it. A couple reasons. 1: good customer service is worth a lot if you need it. 2: supporting the companies that are bringing these products to us need us to buy from them in order for them to stay in business and continue bringing us the products we enjoy. Save a little more and get from the company you want to stay around.
@@johnd5542 like with soundqubed old hdc subs, those where $300 for 1 12, now the hdx that replaced it is $100 more.but their recones and stuff had been really fast, and all questions i have they always answered. I turned one hdc 12 into an hdx 15 mainly due to how easy they make it for you
Bro. Phoenix Gold was good. You get what you pay for. I have a lot of old school Phoenix Gold. I’d break out my M44 and M100 before I bought any of those junk amps. I don’t care how loud it is.
They had really good quality parts br and the sound quality was sent t non on the phoenix gold... old skool every time' that crossed all bridges needed to get them t be that God nw ts all about penny-pinching and n one has to try anymore and well they where good times to be alive... Point being the rnd has already been done today and you pad for that back n the day but you for sure got what you paid for and love the vid Big D. 🔉
Good morning big d! I'm staying with jp power. Skar never let me down, however the quality and the fact that JP is super cool and will talk to you. Just picked up a Denali for a spl build!!!
Great video as always Big D. I have been out of the car audio game for a few years but your vids still pop in my feed from time to time and something like this makes me think about getting back in with something small. With finances the way they've been I haven't been able to put a system togther but this amp has my interest peaked cuz I have been debating getting a Skar or Soundqubed ~2k and maybe a decent 15 or 18 but getting one of these would free up a few bucks to put towards a slightly better sub.
Know where you're coming from, so if I may: a little trick is to go "Non big name brand" marine equipment. Because all marine audio equipment is certified, even the no name brands make marine audio on par with the big guys. I wouldn't purchase a Rockville car audio amp, but have bought a couple of their marine amps and installed for friends (each time paired with Polk DB+ marine speakers), and I can tell you the performance and sound quality was surprisingly good. Even really good. And to compensate for the no name brand intentionally run each amp at 50% on the gain so as to not "overtax" them. But that has been my secret to saving money and being able to afford aftermarket car audio for the last 25 years, while still having a decent product. Just understand the no name brand of marine amplifiers do a good job driving regular speakers, but not speakers "and" a subwoofer with the same amp. I did try that initially (6 channel amp) but just not enough power for regular speakers and a subwoofer. If you want a subwoofer, then a seperate monoblock will be needed. If you match the power (wattage) well to the speakers you can get plenty of good sound with say 50-60 watts per channel. I think some of these systems I see with thousands of watts are cool if you can afford them, but also at the same time a little "over the top" for car stereos if you are not doing competitions etc. (PS. The Polk DB+ series, are some of the best speakers you can get regardless of price (usually $100 pair for coaxial) and have purchased and can say they impress; and I've been hearing good stuff about Recoil making some good speakers for the price too these days for speakers under the $100 mark.) So good luck and hope you can get ya a nice car stereo system soon if ya already haven't. One of the biggest crimes for car manufacturers is how bad car OEM systems still are these days! (Another option if you have the time effort and "know how" is if you have a "Pull and Pay" car parts lot nearby, is to go and find a car with a quality stereo that still has speakers in it and pull them yourself. You can usually tell if speakers are gonna work or not by their appearance. And given the price charged for these "used" speakers even if one doesn't happen to work, you'd be out of more time and effort than money. Most places charge only $10-20 per speaker regardless of brand or quality. Find a Mercedes or Lexus a high end luxury vehicle that has an upgraded factory system. Just remember even with the upgraded systems OEM stereo speakers rarely exceed 30-40 watts RMS. The in-dash units though will only work by brand. Those you'll still have to pick up aftermarket that have "universal" application. ) Also 1 "good" 8" or 10" sub can be fine for a car stereo, even better sounding than two cheap subwoofers. Just make sure whatever sub you get gets down close to that magical 20 Hz frequency. And no it doesn't take an 18" inch sub to get that low. It's about the build quality of the sub and sub box that enables frequencies in the 20-30 Hz range. However, Once you go past 1 subwoofer, the price really increases on a car stereo these days regretfully. Even using a "home" stereo sub is fine as long as you have an amp that will give you the necessary power to drive it. For an 8 ohm home sub, you'll need twice the power/watts from a 4 ohm amp remember. Home audio and car audio are little different. That's why I recommend marine audio, it is built different and more durable)) take care and all the best!
I actually own a Skar RP800.1D i had purchased for my work truck to run a Sundown SA-8 V3, and as soon as you showed off this "Double Rock" amp's font on the inputs and outputs i was like hmm.... those are the exact same fonts Skar uses for their RP series amps....so im assuming both of these companies are sourcing from the same Chinese manufacturer. To be fair, I've never had an issue with that RP800 running at 1ohm on subpar electrical 😅 (its in my winter work transportation, don't judge me)
@@calvinevans8305 - not really, since it only averages about 1/10th the max power when playing music. Also, he hardly even tests or shows thermal anyway 🙄
@@calvinevans8305 - it doesn't test either of those things. Look at the Power meter in the botton left corner of the screen, see the averaged power? All amplifiers can make speakers move, there is no specific point to the test aside from adding a bit of music to the video.
I agree.. In 92 i ran a autotek 90w amp priced at $300 bucks (over 3 bucks per watt!! Smh) . Pure power though, and bridged to a 1 ohm load it pushed my 1st car system. Two 10in.subs in a truck box I got for Christmas. Never looked at the branding though..in Ajo, AZ only Good Ole Radio Shack was the only stereo joint in town, so I'm assuming they were some realistic 10s maybe. Added a Alpine tape deck, and an eq booster, all in my 77 Chevy Malibu. I had the slanted box on the back underneath my back window, where the by 9s cutout holes are. About a couple years I bumped without anyone robbing my setup. I was called big D back then, but took it begrudgingly although 6ft4, 320lbs Fit the bill regardless of how I took it! Small towns in Southern Arizona.. i got many props for my 1st installment, alot of too short, 2 live crew, and NWA fed the setup nicely.. lol miss them daze, big D wiz!!!
Just an opinion but they must be pretty tough being they want to ban it. If it were junk it looks like skar would make a joke out of it. Thanks for sharing 👍
had 2 blow up on me I hooked one to power and it went into protect (it directly replaced another amp so I know the wiring wasn't the problem). had another one played it for about a week on low gain less than 1/4, went to turn it up slightly and the amp sparked and went into protect. definitely glad amazon does returns
i screwed up and bought a skar sub and amp kit. it included a 12 inch sub in enclosure dual 2ohm and was rated for 400 watts. the amp was 350rms at 1 ohm. the amp had something inside rattling around. they sent a new amp. it worked for about a week. the sub started rattling. blew a few days later. they sent a new sub and it was completely locked up. obviously a pre own but skar claimed it was new. yeah so no more skar junk for me
Im just saying, it turns the right way whether it's upside down or not. Max is on the left if it's upside down. For it to spin backwards you'd have to face it away from you which i can't make a case for.
What I think is interesting is that for the most part, the designs at this level are well known and bordering on generic at this point. Making them in a China obviously a big price consideration, and the choice of components (particularly in the caps) is the real variation unit to unit. At the type of power these things are putting out, you don't have to run them to the wall to get the volume you are looking for. You could probably run them about half way up and still rip your head off nicely. At the price, you can afford to keep a couple spares in inventory for quick replacement if there is failure.
I've owned 2 skar rp 2000 amps for about 3 years now. One is powering 2 American bass xfl 10 subs and the other is powering a skar vxf 12 sub. I have thoroughly put those amps through hell, including blasting hip hop songs for hours on my trip from Pennsylvania to Kentucky and I've never had an issue with them overheating, blowing up, or going into protect mode. So I can definitely vouch for their build quality and longevity. This low budget brand is pretty impressive. But I don't like the way that it's wired.
If your looking for another micro amp to test the VIBE audio 400.1 seems really popular over here in the U.K. it’s a 400w 1 ohm tiny amp and it’s really cheap as well at about 70-80 GBP
Do you have a database of all these tested products. Would love to have an efficiency ranked list that shows the most efficient amps, so that you can squeeze the most out of your car’s stock alternator 😅
One of the more important specs for a sub amp is Damping Factor(DF). Do you ever state the DF for sub amps? I know there is actually no easy way to test DF for verification of manufacturer claims. Thought that I'd just mention DF as not alot of people realize the importance of DF in controlling subwoofers and I know, being an old school competitor like me, you might could make a video explaining the importance DF and other less known amp specs play in choosing a good sub amp. As you are well respected in the industry as well as with consumers, I thought that would make a great video for you to educate newer consumers not aware of such specs. Another idea for an educational video for you to produce is on the more important specs of a Sound Quality(SQ) amp such as THD and beyond. Keep up the great work and awesome videos!!! Keeping old school alive!!!
Good point I researched a lot of amps for damping factor before I bought one. My B2 audio has a damping factor 400. Most sub amps have a factor of 80 , 100, or 200
All my Tru technology Amps have a DF at 300 which is more than enough but unless you are running IB, DF really doesn't matter which is why most companies don't post it and the few that do actually post at what ohm its rated at...but old school cats are still stuck on it because it did matter back in the 90s
@BENNYBLANCO14_916 Well, at 51yo having competed back in the day in IASCA and USAC, I'm definitely what you call Old School. LoL! Yes, DF is definitely a concern if running Isobaric, but also in Folded Horns along with certain types of 6th and 8th Order...8th Order being what I'm currently working on which is why I posed the topic. I've haven't researched it, but I would imagine the DF is also critical in a T-Line setup when utilizing a small woofer(s), but I can't say definitively that being the case. Back in the day, we ran expensive Class A and Class A/B in which DF played a major factor. I wish we had these cheap $-to-watt Class D amps back then. 2000 watts in those days would cost you well into the thousands for a decent brand...of which there were VERY few. Hell, I paid in upwards of $500 for my 50 watts amps back then...Orion HCCA 225s...let alone my HCCA 250s. So, yeah, I'm definitely Old School. LoL!
I run a ruthless 4500 and I’m super happy but I wish I would’ve known that I could strap 3 of these together and saved hella money lol. Awesome amazon joint.
They are all cookie cutters😂 Nothing like old school that had their unique heatsink and quality components. Nothing odd about the remote, it’ works basically the same (ccw to be at 0db and fully cw to be at +15db). Thanks for the vid!!
Skar is like a big baby. Even Audio Legion (which was the brand Skars build house sold products under) got told to stop selling products or he would take his 40 million contract elsewhere. Funny thing is Audio Legions products were priced well and were actually better quality than Skar. The owner of Skarbage didnt like that. Now Audio Legion is opening under another name sometimd
I just tried to check current price and availability of the 2k, they have removed that model of the Double Rock amp. They only have up to the 1500 watt model now.
First off, I love what you do Mr, keep up the good work! I was just wondering if you ever test the crossovers in the amps as well ? I have purchased budget amps, in the past, with crossovers that didn’t do anything.
Alot of this stuff happens in the oem world. If you have enough capital you can order the same amp from the same oem and rebranded it to your name. All they have to do is change just a little bit of the components used.
I bought 2 last week @ $166 bucks each. I watch your video and within 24 hours they went up $40 bucks. I was going to get 2 more but now you might as well get a Skar RP-4500
"We are different amplifiers, with different ratings, huh? We have different styles, but inside, we are same same. Same same, but different. But still same!! Konichiwa" - Dave Skylark
Maybe the bass switch is designed this way so if you accidentally hit the knob or fiddling with it in the dark you don't hot max and blow some stuff? Or it's just the Chineseium
Pretty impressive performance given the price. It's interesting to see how different amps perform under various ohm loads, in a perfect world you'd think the wattage would double every time the ohms halve. Also, curious if you've seen the post I made in the patreon community tab 👀 Fixed a friend's amp that caught fire
Perhaps, Perhaps not. That will be determined by how good the protective circuitry is on this clone. On the skar, it's quite good such that when one or two out of transistors fail, the protection circuitry is fast enough to prevent the power supply from burning down. I'd be willing to bet this clone does not have the same.
Meh, I blew 2 RP series that were running around 60% rated power (4 channel amps running my mids and highs) when I tried to warranty them they were "out of stock" then discontinued. For back ground I have a JS 320 alt and 3 agms. So voltage drop was not an issue. Swapped to Taraamps smart 3 (had SK 2500 still working) and threw the ts400/4 minis on my highs since I couldn't get my RPs replaced. The taramps been running strong for over 2 yrs now. I had a really bad experience with Skar CS, I'll never run them again.
@blake k. I figured, but if you hear of anyone else blowing up their amps (any amps really) I'll buy em! I love repairing amps and prefer to buy them so there's zero pressure to get them finished by a certain date....lol
Would you ever be willing to 12-13v tests? 90% of those with subs don't have the proper electrical and are running 2k amps and subs with a cap to "fix" dimming lights. Maybe like the ending segment?
I'm not sure why, and yes I'm puffin herb in the a.m., but my eyes saw BOSS styled lettering on this amp so thought to ask. What ever happened to Boss audio? Just curious, other than that, this amp was cool. It makes up power in other areas where that 1459(1500)watt part was rather "eh."
I bought a new xtr2500.1 and it's amazing I have it ran at .8 I was worried about it so I bought a jp23 v2 because I know it will run at lower ohm loads but the Orion turned down spanks the jp23 what r your thoughts running 4 8" vfl subs in ported box
Get the Soundqubed S1-2250.1 I have 2 of them strapped at 1ohms half ohms per amp and it handles. I also once had them strapped to half ohms .25ohms per amp and it also handles!! I got 2 18" Resilient Sounds Platinum subwoofers ✔️it out.
I bought this amp, had it for a little over a month before I began to have issues. I contacted amazon, they put me in contact with the manufacturer they refused to replace it and sent me back to Amazon and Amazon will only offer partial refund after I return the amp
I have the 1500, it's been fine so far. I'm curious what kind of problems you had. I only have the input level up about 1/3rd the way though. I got it on 2 kickers rated at 300 watts and they're banging hard.
@drewjohnson4794 sorry for the late reply I just saw this, the problem I had was the amp it started to make a loud pop through the speakers, when powered on........I did contact the company they asked for a video of what was going and sent me out a new one
I have a equation of probably some law I’ve not been able to read or digest, and it deals with wiring in series for speakers. I was going to wire a 3-way component set in my front doors, using in-line crossovers for the various speaker sizes. I was putting the 6” first, with bass filter, then 3.5” or 2” mid next in series using a higher frequency bass filter, and then a tweets last in series line on high pass filter. My question pertains to balanced power for each speaker set: does each speakers power handling ability dictate how much power it takes from the feed? If I feed 200 watts, will the power be absorbed equally in distribution to speakers? Or will my first speaker in series have to be not too power hungry for trailing speakers ability to get enough power? Cheers! Thanks again
The speakers draw what they draw. The crossovers dictate at what frequencies they draw. You shouldn't be wiring non-uniform speakers in series, that is dumb. The crossovers should also never be wired in series. You are completely confused about how to wire this up! You need one pair of conductors coming in, and each crossover's input connected get to that. The speakers then connect to the output of each respective crossover. So, each speaker has it's own crossover, and all the crossovers are supplied by a single input signal. It doesn't matter if the crossovers are inline or not... that's the way it works.
Hi i just have a question when you explain the wiring for 4, 2 and 1 ohms i noticed you said ethier you can do a single dual sub in parallel or 2 dual in series "parallel " so my questios is is there a difference between to dual subs wired in series and/or wired in series parallel?
Thanks for the video. This is rather interesting. Even though it is a decent looking amp, and safe to say a copy of a Skar amplifier, that's one thing about the Chinese economy. There isn't copyright, or patent laws, so about 50% of their economy is copying other brands products. With probably half of those products made in China advertised as the "real thing". What can't be seen is if the components of the amp are the same quality as Skar. I thought Skar had most (all?) of their products manufactured in South Korea, not China, and is one of the reasons for the quality of their products, and why they became a household name in car audio so quickly. They start off with a good solid design, and then quality manufacturing in South Korea. The majority of "better" brands of car audio (Orion, D4S, Rockford Fosgate etc) are manufactured in South Korea and I think that lends to their quality and durability. However, from the video Skar is "South Korean design" but Chinese made (Future Sound of China). Which I guess means that there are some good and reliable Chinese brands out there. But there is little Skar, or any company can do when patents are violated by Chinese manufacturers. This brand Double Rock only became available in December '22, and so long term reliability is yet to be seen. Whereas everyone who knows car audio, knows that Skar audio has a good reputation with their products as well as their customer service. Is it worth an extra $100 for peace of mind? I guess time will tell. But it's hard to fault people trying to save some bucks while upgrading their car stereo, because let's face it after market car stereo is expensive. Plain and simple. Being on par what people will spend on a home stereo system (that generally has much larger speakers). Especially when so much of it is manufactured in China. And OEM car stereos, even today after all these years still suck! That's the biggest crime of all. Just look at the new "fad" of touch screen car stereo units. What does a touch screen do for better audio fidelity? It's bling and nothing else!
Not a Skar fan, but installer/user error is usually the problem with these brands. Inconsistent wiring from amp to sub. Had to clean up ‘professional’ installation a couple times.
Turning something clockwise to raise volume when right side-up is still clockwise to raise when upside down (& visa-versa)… I think your issue was with how it was printed, or how the knob was marked, idk.
I think I would still go with the skar audio rp2000 for the warranty and support that you get an let's be honest it's only what 50$ more an you get a 2 year warranty and there support if u have any issues
I’ve been meaning to ask you..can a person use one of these amps in a home theatre for a sub amp? Is there a converter that can be used to make this possible? Home amps are so damn expensive, and I want to custom build some home subs, but the amplifiers are so darned expensive. If I could use some of these high power cheap car audio amps, it would reduce the cost significantly. If this is a viable option, please tell me how it could be done.
You can, but the cost of a proper converter from 120V-12V is not going to be cheap. See this previous video and what he used. I have a link to the power supply in the video description - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ED26Okgp6EI.html
Dude, the knob turns the same direction no matter if it’s right or upside down. And if I’ve seen knobs printed this way (I have), I would think you have too. Regardless, it still turns the same direction 99% of all knobs.
I went with ct sounds 2000.1d instead more efficient an doesn't get hot or warm at 1ohm. Skar is overrated an overpriced.The same build house built these amps.
When will we get to see tests of the new U.S. Amps on your channel? Their website is up now, but no purchase links. I think buyers need to call the phone number on their site to order one. Kickin it old school in more ways than one! Lol. But they say they are class a/b and high current, so that's a plus. But the wattage ratings in the manual PDF they have up are suspect. 2ohms bridged appears to be about double what it should, compared to the 1ohm X2 ratings and the higher impedance ratings too. I wanna see the tests before I try to buy one, but my god I'm hoping they are good. To have brand new, high current, 1 ohm stable, class a/b amps on the market again! That will be a good send IF they are any good! Please please please try to get one so you can let the world know!
@@wal Oh, okay. My bad. The website says "current products" and shows the 50 HC, 100 HC and the SQ 4 channel along with a manual PDF. So I thought maybe they were setup like some of the other small amp companies where you have to call or email to get pricing and buy. Sonido comes to mind. But that makes sense that they just aren't available yet. By the way, after skimming through the manual, I think I was wrong about the dodgy power ratings. It's kinda vague, but I think they are saying they are gonna have regulated power output. Depending on your ohm load.
