Kenwood amps....good? bad? ugly?
 

I am looking at a couple of Kenwood amps either a Kenwwod 749S or a X501 to put in my truck. What is everyone's experience with them or any Kenwood amp for that manner? I will be using it to bi amp the MusiComp crossover that comes with PSC 316 MB Quart speakers if it matters. Thank you for any and all replies.

David

'Just a few questions......
Why Kenwood ? Price ? Availability ? Special Features ? Size considerations ?

There are several other manufacturers more-highly regarded in the amp market....Rockford, Kicker, PPI, MTX, Xtant, PG, JL,
just to name a few

brokeagin,

I am running a Kenwood KAC-729S bridged into 2 Phoenix Gold 8" subs running parallel. This amp has tonnes of power! When I was running it in stereo, I wasn't that impressed with it, but now that it is in parallel, the bass is incredible for 2 8's. I'm also running a Kenwood KAC-846 for the 4 speakers, factory in the rear and Phoenix Gold up front. The sound is awesome. Really impressed at how clear it is, although I have to attribute a lot of the clearness to the equalizer.

It is true, that Kenwood is cheaper than most other brands, but they perform extremely well. It really depends on the amount of money you want to put into it. At $1600 into my system already, before I bought the KAC-729 (just bought last week), I had to go a little cheaper, and I thought the Kenwood would be the best bang for the buck.

Anyways, good luck, I'm sure whatever you decide to do will be better than what you already have, and you'll be happy with it.

i am using the x501 in my 95 x-cab F-150 i have 6 1/2" excelon speaks up front and 5x7 mb quarts in the back. the amp has 4 channels the first 2 channels on amp "A" are running all 4 of the speakers (running in parallel) sounds great this way but has no fading capabilities which is ok by me. since my truck has captains chairs i took out the center console and built a box\console for the L127 kicker square speaker which runs off of amp B bridged getting about 300w to it i can have it cranked for about a 30 min drive with out it clipping or getting too hot. don't get me wrong it does get hot just not too hot and has never clipped. the head unit is a kac-x815. i bought all of my kenwood stuff at a local kenwood factory outlet for around half of what you'd pay for in the stores. so look in your area for a factory outlet or e-mail kenwood for the closet one it will save you a lot of money.:cool:

Kenwood amps....good? bad? ugly?
 

I guess I should have also mentioned one reason for choosing Kenwood is I have always had good luck with their head units. I have never used their amps before. Another reason is I can get most any Kenwood car audio component at wholesale prices through my employer. BUT I still do not want to buy a Kenwood amp if it is not able to power the MB's I am going to be adding to the truck. The amp is not going to be used for subs, just to bi-amp the front crossovers...

Thanks for the replies,
David