Hello all,
I'm sure there have been tons and tons of threads about "new amps vs. old amps". I have a pretty specific scenario I'm pondering and a search for "POWER1000" didn't reveal any specific hits in 10 pages of results.
I have an early 90's (possibly late 80's) Rockford POWER1000 Mosfet - the Handcrafted Fan-Cooled 4-Channel beast with the "Caboose" connector cover. It's been sitting in my closet since I yanked it from my 1987 4Runner about 15 years ago (4Runner is sitting in storage). I do have plans to completely restore the 1987 4Runner and use this amp in it as a "nostalgia build", but that will still be another 5 years away (at least).
For my daily driver, I already have a new RF T15001-bdcp (and an older bd1500.1 as a spare). I had a T20001bd but it was stolen, and replaced it with the 15001bdcp - not quite the same :( It's a nice amp, but I'm pondering using the old POWER1000 instead. I'd need to get it re-capped and looked over, but that would be the case when I get around to using it in the old 4Runner anyways.
It will be driving (3) JBL W12GTi's (dual 6 Ohm coils) - so Impedance might be an issue on the POWER1000 unless I want to only run half of the amp bridged @ 4Ohms (3x 12 Ohms in parallel), or try to bridge each pair of channels @ 2Ohms (3x 6 Ohm coils in parallel - splitting one sub up between channels).
I know some competitors used to run the rear 2 channels @ 2Ohms bridged and leave the front 2 channels unconnected - supposedly it would put out the most power this way w/o hammering the power supply. But I'd be running front and rear in this fashion :o
I did have some mods done to the amp about 20 years ago by a Rockford specialist in Houston. I believe he increased the Supply Rail capacitance in the PSU, and bumped up the +/- rail voltage slightly (more voltage swing) - this was said to optimize the amp for a single 2 Ohm Bridged load on the rear channels.
What are your general thoughts on the quality of Bass this classic A/B amp will give me compared to the more modern T15001bdcp (and T20001bd) models? From my memory (last time I used it 15 years ago), the POWER1000 was one heck of a beast for the low-end! "Authoritative" is the way I remember it. The impedance of my setup is making things a little bit of an issue though. Re-thinking my sub setup is not out of the realm of possibility.
I know the "All amps sound the same" debate runs rampant around here - and I'm certainly not in that camp :) But it's been WAY too long for me to use my own recollection of this amp to compare to the newer BD series (and I'd have to get my POWER1000 re-capped just to make a 1:1 comparison - not cheap.)
General thoughts? I'll probably end up tracking down another used T20001BD unless someone talks me into resurrecting the beast!
Thanks for letting me ramble, and Rock on! :rockon:
I'm sure there have been tons and tons of threads about "new amps vs. old amps". I have a pretty specific scenario I'm pondering and a search for "POWER1000" didn't reveal any specific hits in 10 pages of results.
I have an early 90's (possibly late 80's) Rockford POWER1000 Mosfet - the Handcrafted Fan-Cooled 4-Channel beast with the "Caboose" connector cover. It's been sitting in my closet since I yanked it from my 1987 4Runner about 15 years ago (4Runner is sitting in storage). I do have plans to completely restore the 1987 4Runner and use this amp in it as a "nostalgia build", but that will still be another 5 years away (at least).
For my daily driver, I already have a new RF T15001-bdcp (and an older bd1500.1 as a spare). I had a T20001bd but it was stolen, and replaced it with the 15001bdcp - not quite the same :( It's a nice amp, but I'm pondering using the old POWER1000 instead. I'd need to get it re-capped and looked over, but that would be the case when I get around to using it in the old 4Runner anyways.
It will be driving (3) JBL W12GTi's (dual 6 Ohm coils) - so Impedance might be an issue on the POWER1000 unless I want to only run half of the amp bridged @ 4Ohms (3x 12 Ohms in parallel), or try to bridge each pair of channels @ 2Ohms (3x 6 Ohm coils in parallel - splitting one sub up between channels).
I know some competitors used to run the rear 2 channels @ 2Ohms bridged and leave the front 2 channels unconnected - supposedly it would put out the most power this way w/o hammering the power supply. But I'd be running front and rear in this fashion :o
I did have some mods done to the amp about 20 years ago by a Rockford specialist in Houston. I believe he increased the Supply Rail capacitance in the PSU, and bumped up the +/- rail voltage slightly (more voltage swing) - this was said to optimize the amp for a single 2 Ohm Bridged load on the rear channels.
What are your general thoughts on the quality of Bass this classic A/B amp will give me compared to the more modern T15001bdcp (and T20001bd) models? From my memory (last time I used it 15 years ago), the POWER1000 was one heck of a beast for the low-end! "Authoritative" is the way I remember it. The impedance of my setup is making things a little bit of an issue though. Re-thinking my sub setup is not out of the realm of possibility.
I know the "All amps sound the same" debate runs rampant around here - and I'm certainly not in that camp :) But it's been WAY too long for me to use my own recollection of this amp to compare to the newer BD series (and I'd have to get my POWER1000 re-capped just to make a 1:1 comparison - not cheap.)
General thoughts? I'll probably end up tracking down another used T20001BD unless someone talks me into resurrecting the beast!
Thanks for letting me ramble, and Rock on! :rockon: