This is made by Jensen?

The Setup
A little bit of information on my current setup to get things started. I am currently running a pair of Phoenix Gold 600.1's, powering a JL 13W7 subwoofer (dual 1.5 ohm voice coils) in a custom slot ported box that's built into the cargo area of my 1999 Pontiac Firebird. I'm also running a Phoenix Gold 1200.1, powering six 12" subs in three separate bandpass boxes. My head unit is a JVC KD-SHX900, and I am running dual KnuKonceptz 0 gauge wire to the back. (One for power, one for ground). I'm also using a trio of Optima Yellow Top dual purpose deep cycle batteries, and a 200 amp Excessive Amperage alternator. I have a pair of Infinity kappa's 50.7CS components (5.25" speakers with 1" tweeters) in custom made kick panels, and Pioneer REV series 6.5" 2way coaxials for my rear fill. These two sets speakers are being powered by this Jensen 4 channel amplifier.

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Why try this amp?

Well, even though Jensen has a notoriously bad reputation in the car audio world, when I saw that this amplifier was CEA 2006 rated, with a decent price, I figured it couldnt hurt to try it out. (I love Circuit City's 30 day return policy.) I try to keep an open mind regardless of prior reputation, and give everything I test a fair chance.

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Opening the box

First thing I noticed was the weight. This thing is unusually heavy! I'm guessing it's mainly due to what appears to be it's black cast-iron build. This thing is built solid, make no mistake about it.

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Appearance

All in all, it's a fairly simple looking amplifier. The Jensen logo on the top of the amplifier glows a neon blue when the amplifier is turned on, which gives it a nice touch of style, without going overboard with chrome-everything, or dazzling-lights-galore. This amplifier looks like it's there to do a job, not just be pretty, unlike many other amplifiers..

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A couple of flaws in the design

I'm not a fan of the angled power wire/speaker wire inputs to begin with, but one major flaw in the design of this amplifier, is that the lip which hangs over the inputs - actually impedes you from using an allen wrench to screw tighten the connections. This isnt too much more than an annoyance, but I do not understand how this could have been overlooked in the design process. You must use the short end of the allen wrench to tighten the connections - just a little extra time in the end, I guess. (A ratcheting allen wrench sure would have been nice here!)

Another thing that isnt a 'flaw', per se, is that the RCA's and Power wire plug in on opposite sides of the amplifier.. This just makes it a bit more tricky to do a clean install, since the wire, and RCA's, generally come from the front of the vehicle, but no huge deal here.

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Features

One very nice feature of this amp, is that it actually has 4 channel RCA outputs. Many similar 4 channel amps have just 2 channel RCA outputs, and some have none at all. Thumbs up for this one, as it makes hooking up multiple amplifiers very easy for those who have limited RCA outputs on their head units.

Other features are pretty standard. Adjustable LPF/HPF, 18dB bass boost, and 2/3/4 channel operation.

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Setting things up

The wire inputs were nicely sized, and both the oversized 4 gauge power/ground wires I use, and 12 gauge speaker wire fit easily into the terminals without having to twist or trim any of the stripped wire.

Since I'm using this amplifier to power mids and highs, I turned on the HPF for all 4 channels, and set my front to about 95hZ (Since they're 5.25" components in the front) and my rear to 80hZ - right where my subwoofers start to slope (To 6.5" coaxials). After adjusting my gain to match the output of my head unit, it was time to give this amp a whirl.

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Performance

"This was made by Jensen?" I couldnt help but think, when things got started. This amplifier provided extremely clean power, even into a 2 ohm stereo load to my front components. The mids rumbled, and the highs were crisp and very clean. The settings were so easy to adjust (thanks to the larger than average knobs) I didnt even have to tweak them at all.

The sound produced was cleaner, and louder than many amplifiers that cost well over double the price of this amp. I was honestly very impressed.

Also, the amplifier remained cool to the touch, even without any fans. That was something I was worried about, since many 4 channel amps make a claim of 2 ohm stereo stable, but end up going into thermal protection after 30+ minutes of abusive high volume.

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Conclusion

With a CEA rated 90x2 watts RMS going to my front components, and a CEA rated 60x2 RMS going to my rear coaxials, this amp was able to make my speakers sound crystal clear, and loud enough to keep up with a very intensive bass-centered car audio system.

Do not judge this amp by it's cover - I'm very picky, and often overly critical of auto electronics, but this amps performance honestly left me amazed. It's like the little amplifier that could.

Jensen? Yes. Who'd have thought?