PPI 900.4 questions----

[Tracktor]

I just picked up a PPI 900.4 to run two Pro 80's. What is the best setting for this? The manual is a bit confusing as far as how to run this amp bridged into two channels. Instead of messing with it I'd just figured I'd ask what settings are already working for everyone else.

Thanks!

[Murphy8166]

I would call tech support at PPI. Not many people here run that amp.

[Nitrousbird]

I would call tech support at PPI. Not many people here run that amp.

LOL, a lot of people here run that amp - they also run the Polk and NVX versions of it as well. There is no better bang for the buck amp than the 900.4 on the market, period.

http://www.polkaudio.com/downloads/manual/PAD40004MN.pdf

Page 6 shows exactly where to wire the speakers. Change the channel mode to ST. Adjust gains/crossovers - done. Hook RCA's to FL and FR.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Nitrousbird

[Murphy8166]

Yeah no better bang for POS amp.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Murphy8166

[skyskier]

Nitrousbird........I have about 6 or 7 PPI Art series amps that I absolutely covet. I won't let them go, no how, no way. They are at least 15 years old, totally power hungry, run hot as a mo fo, and the best amp I have heard to date. However, I have not purchased a PPI product in ages. I have noticed the low prices though. How does this new PPI amp stack up to the Art series of days gone by? Is this the same story as MB Quart who reigned supreme until they sold out? Serious question.

[shawndoggy]

Nitrousbird........I have about 6 or 7 PPI Art series amps that I absolutely covet. I won't let them go, no how, no way. They are at least 15 years old, totally power hungry, run hot as a mo fo, and the best amp I have heard to date. However, I have not purchased a PPI product in ages. I have noticed the low prices though. How does this new PPI amp stack up to the Art series of days gone by? Is this the same story as MB Quart who reigned supreme until they sold out? Serious question.

precisely the same story as mb quart. badge engineering (not saying the "new" ppi's are bad, but the only relationship to the art series is the name).

[Murphy8166]

And it is a shame that there is even a nsmeing relationship.

Those ART amps are classic! Does not get much better.

[Tracktor]

Yeah no better bang for POS amp.

Why the eff would you even open the thread then? Are you that pathetic that you have time to post a negative comment on something you obviously know very little about?.......................I have a few high quality amps that I use in different applications including a couple of cool old-school Zapcos but I am not wasting them on a open air marine system.........

Nitrous, mainly wanted to make sure I had the speaker wiring correct as that manual vs the manuals for the polk/nvx were all different. I found out what the issue was & it seems to be working well know for a "pos" amp..............

[skyskier]

Tracktor....... My bad for getting this started. I have been curious about the new PPI amps ever since I saw the price. This looked like a good time to ask. I should have started a new conversation elsewhere.

Now, back to you and your system. If ever there was a speaker that could benefit from the very finest upstream electronics it is the Pro 80. I have heard those speakers driven by a bad amp. Not naming names here because a POS by any other name is still a POS. Let's just say it was a bad match and sounded horrible. That's the thing about horn speakers. If you feed them spooge it comes out as spooge times two. I have also heard the same speaker driven by gold standard upstream electronics. While I do not like the sound of a Pro 80 and never will, the difference could be heard by anyone. If your system does not have the goods, those Pro 80's will announce it far and wide. To be clear, I am not crackin' on your speakers. Just saying they do not forgive.

[Nitrousbird]

Yeah no better bang for POS amp.

Like you even f'ing know. You have proven to be nothing more than someone that will buy whatever the guy at your local audio store tells you to buy and spend a fortune doing it. If he said Wet Sounds was a POS you would spew the same crap here as well.

Mr. Brilliant, please show us all an amp, ANY AMP, that can sound as clean, put out equal power for anywhere close to the money (excluding the NVX/Polk and other re-brands of this amp). The PPI is $190...find us one for under $400. Prove us all wrong.

[Murphy8166]

I can buy an arc audio KS 300.4 for $275 all day long. And others on this forum have done the same. From an authorized retailer. Brand new in box drop shipped from Arc. That arc deal is open to anyone and everyone and many of the guys on this forum use it. I even know one that ditched his POS amps to go to ARC KS

Nitrous - your method is to go to amazon and find what ever flea market amp you can find. I prefer to do research and find where I can get the best product for the best price. What you don't get is that no one pays retail for these higher end products.

Have invoice in hand. What else do you want me to do to prove you wrong???

I attacked your amp, not you. Try to be civilized are keep the talk about the product if can.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Murphy8166

[Nitrousbird]

I can buy an arc audio KS 300.4 for $275 all day long. And others on this forum have done the same. From an authorized retailer. Brand new in box drop shipped from Arc. That arc deal is open to anyone and everyone and many of the guys on this forum use it. I even know one that ditched his POS amps to go to ARC KS

Nitrous - your method is to go to amazon and find what ever flea market amp you can find. I prefer to do research and find where I can get the best product for the best price. What you don't get is that no one pays retail for these higher end products.

Have invoice in hand. What else do you want me to do to prove you wrong???

I attacked your amp, not you. Try to be civilized are keep the talk about the product if can.

Thank you for giving an example of an amp that doesn't make the power of the PPI amp. Try again.

I don't have the PPI amp; I have the Polk equivalent. I love how that makes it a flea market amp (I guess Correct Craft uses Flea Market stuff, as they use these amps).

[shawndoggy]

Thank you for giving an example of an amp that doesn't make the power of the PPI amp. Try again.

I don't have the PPI amp; I have the Polk equivalent. I love how that makes it a flea market amp (I guess Correct Craft uses Flea Market stuff, as they use these amps).

Well... the polk speakers are good/decent, but certainly not the best out there (I know, I run them). Kinda weird to me that CC specs a "value" speaker on their six-figure boats.

[Nitrousbird]

Well... the polk speakers are good/decent, but certainly not the best out there (I know, I run them). Kinda weird to me that CC specs a "value" speaker on their six-figure boats.

I agree they aren't the best out there, but I couldn't beat my MM's for the money (and being a 2.7ohm speaker was a plus for my setup). Same can be said for Malibu putting Rockford in their 80-100k boats as well. What does MB run stock?

[shawndoggy]

Well... the polk speakers are good/decent, but certainly not the best out there (I know, I run them). Kinda weird to me that CC specs a "value" speaker on their six-figure boats.

I agree they aren't the best out there, but I couldn't beat my MM's for the money (and being a 2.7ohm speaker was a plus for my setup). Same can be said for Malibu putting Rockford in their 80-100k boats as well. What does MB run stock?

On 2012+ its the cheaper wetsounds stuff. My '11 came with some kinda meh skylon speakers.

My favorite oem system by far is the jl stuff mastercraft uses.

[wakesetter8796]

^^ that's a pretty legit system.

[Murphy8166]

Thank you for giving an example of an amp that doesn't make the power of the PPI amp. Try again.

I don't have the PPI amp; I have the Polk equivalent. I love how that makes it a flea market amp (I guess Correct Craft uses Flea Market stuff, as they use these amps).

Are you getting your info from the guy at the flea market....bless your little heart.

Directly from Pas Mag....

Specs on the Arc

4Ωx4 13.53 V 40 A 109.5 Wpc 81% 55%

2Ωx4 13.4 V 69 A 176.3 Wpc 76% 57%

4Ωx2 13.33 V 82 A 361.0 Wpc 66% 50%

PPI (pos) amp

Rated Power

Actual Measured Power

400 x 2 @ 4

346 x 2 @ 4

448 x 2 @ 4

The 346 is at 12.6 volts and the 448 is at 14.4

So you mean to tell that that there that big of a difference.... If you do the math - they are so close in power at 13.3 volts that I would challenge you to tell me how you can hear a differnce in 20- 25 watts?

Now stop backtracing - you are talking PPI amps.

Have you noticed how many nautique owners rip that crap out and put in other brands....go over to planet nautique or ask some of the resident nautique owners.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Murphy8166

[racer808]

I love my ppi set up. Could careless about the negatives I just read, my system pounds & is loud & clear. I get many compliments on it. We have excellent sound when boarding & surfing. To answer the OP, you bridge it by running the Left rear positive & left front negative, then repeat right rear positive & right front negative.

I run the ppi 600.2 to power my MB8's. ppi 900.4 for the pro 80's. ppi900.5 to run sub & interior.

[Earmark Marine]

Nitrousbird........I have about 6 or 7 PPI Art series amps that I absolutely covet. I won't let them go, no how, no way. They are at least 15 years old, totally power hungry, run hot as a mo fo, and the best amp I have heard to date. However, I have not purchased a PPI product in ages. I have noticed the low prices though. How does this new PPI amp stack up to the Art series of days gone by? Is this the same story as MB Quart who reigned supreme until they sold out? Serious question.

Here is a little history on the old/original Precision Power.

Those amplifiers were a power hungry Class AB, which was the standard for that era. They also featured strict power supply regulation, which was a staple for the best sounding amplifiers.

Jeff Scoon (the original president of PPI) and Bruce McMillian (the original chief electronics engineer) sold/left PPI and went on to create Xtant, which shared the same design philosophy. Xtant was sold to MTX. Jeff and Bruce went on to JL Audio about 15 years ago and created the Slash series based again on the same topology as the early PPI products. They still reside at JL Audio today and are responsible for much of what has been developed since then. There is no connection to the present PPI product which is no commentary at all on the current product, just a distinction.

MB Quart, Polk Audio, Boston Acoustics, a/d/s, PPI, Phoenix Gold, Rockford Fosgate, and countless others, have gone through a change of ownership, and some multiple times. Some survive. Some do not. Some are just a logo used to import and market a brand name that already has recognition.

Heck, most of the brands I use in home audio are under their third ownership now.

David

[Nitrousbird]

Are you getting your info from the guy at the flea market....bless your little heart.

Directly from Pas Mag....

Specs on the Arc

4Ωx4 13.53 V 40 A 109.5 Wpc 81% 55%

2Ωx4 13.4 V 69 A 176.3 Wpc 76% 57%

4Ωx2 13.33 V 82 A 361.0 Wpc 66% 50%

PPI (pos) amp

Rated Power

Actual Measured Power

400 x 2 @ 4

346 x 2 @ 4

448 x 2 @ 4

The 346 is at 12.6 volts and the 448 is at 14.4

So you mean to tell that that there that big of a difference.... If you do the math - they are so close in power at 13.3 volts that I would challenge you to tell me how you can hear a differnce in 20- 25 watts?

Now stop backtracing - you are talking PPI amps.

I have never been to a flea market in my life...sounds like you know a lot about them though.

Here is the actual Pasmag article for the PPI: http://www.pasmag.com/car-audio/test-reports/1805-test-report-precision-power-p9004-amplifier-

Looks like you are just quoting information for the Arc from an article directly linked off of their website:

http://www.arcaudio.com/p/ks-300-4

End result - even by your own admission, the Arc makes less power (even if it is close going by Arc's website) while costing more money. Thank you for proving my point.

[Murphy8166]

ummmm....I think the articles came form the same place. It says Pas Mag on the bottom. Maybe a reading comprehension course would be the next course of action??

[shawndoggy]

ummmm....I think the articles came form the same place. It says Pas Mag on the bottom. Maybe a reading comprehension course would be the next course of action??

Why the vendetta over this Murphy? For people on a very tight budget the PPI clearly does offer the most bang for the buck, and the pasmag articles do back up that it makes some pretty legit power.

I've not heard one back to back with a ks300.4. Have you?

[skyskier]

How many watts does not tell the story. It's all about the quality of those watts. You simply can't pick a winner without listening. I know that you guys know that. Just can't settle this one on the internet. That's actually kinda cool because it will force those who just have to know to do some experimentation.

David......thank you for the history lesson. It is interesting that my ears locked onto the PPI sound and then followed the designers over to JL.

[Tracktor]

Welp, thanks to those that helped. The issue ended up not being set-up. For future information if you are running an I-phone/Ipod through a Clarion EQ don't use the AUX input use the main. The internal line driver must not bump the output of the AUX inputs. I switched the RCA's on the "Input" side and it made a huge difference...........................................(Can't wait for the flaming on using a Clarion EQ instead of a Wetsounds 420).........

[shawndoggy]

did you adjust the input gains on the aux side?