Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Audio Precision Power PCX-480 or Soundstream RUB600-4?

I'm looking to power my current setup which is polk Dx 6.5 components up front and a polk Dx10 with one amp. I'm looking for the highest quality per dollar and I am willing to spend at the very very most $400 on an amp.

My other consideration is that I would like to eventually get an Infinity Perfect 12 (or something comparable) or two in a sealed box, and at that time would use this amp to power one or both of these subs.

Which of these amps is better or do any of you have a suggestion for a better amp or sub?

The PCX series has been plagued with some quality issues. I think I would lean towards the SS.

The Rubicon series also has some quality problems.
Anything produced after 1999 by Soundstream (not including the high end equipment) has had durablitlty and dependability problems.
Something like 1 out of 1000 has a problem/defect.
Caps blowing, mosfets over-heating frequently, resistors frying, etc.
Repairs covered under waranty, but who wants to send their amp back to the manufacturer, and be without music for a couple of weeks.
Once reapired problem is fixed for good.
The amps perform well and are very good for the price.
It's just not the same quality SS was putting out in the early to mid 90's.

Actually, the Rubicon was an improvement in quality over the Reference line it replaced. Much more stable power supplies. Still may have had some issues, but not as bad as the last.

These are just the two amps I've been looking at. Is there another amp I should consider? I want good power and sq, and reliability is definitally important.

Maybe look at something like this on e-bay

Mac on ebay

I don't know if this would eork for you but
if you want clean power and reliability these
are the best amps around IMO.

IIRC, they were a replacement for the s/sx version of the Reference series.
The straight Reference series (ie Ref300, Ref604, etc) where the best quality amps Soundstream ever put out.
The quality degraded with th s/sx versions.
And in my opinion, the DaVinci was one of the greatest amps ever produced,
along with the Phoenix Gold Outlaw.

Soundstream amps are generally great as long as their not over 2-channels. Remembering my Reference 405s and the problems that it had given me with blown out power arrays on 4 occasions, as well as my friends on 6 diffent occasions. In my opinion anything Soundstream before '96 or the 2-channel rubicon models are generally really good. What the hell, just save up for the Da Vinci.

I've had all sorts of amps over the years and the class A soundstreams, Precision Power art series, and xtants are my favs. I'd scope out a 3300 xtant on ebay. They are getting pretty cheap these days. The only downside to xtants are that the covers get blemished.

Actually, I want to buy new. I'm tired of dealing with problems that previous owners caused with my audio equipment such as missing covers and bent adjustment knobs.