Are Orion & Directed Audio amps any good?

[White trash wagon]

I'm still in the market for a 5 channel amp. As you may have guessed , I'm following auctions on ebay. What's the consensus on these 2 amps?

Orion Cobalt CS500.5 amp
Directed Audio #6550 amp

Scott

[ThreeFingerPete]

the only Directed amps I've heard anything positive are the 2000+ watt monoblocks that alot of the SPL competitors like.


other than that, Orion & Directed have very little place in the audio market, and I haven't used many of their newer stuff (as in, I used Orion before it was DEI)

[BP]

The Cobalt series is crap. Directed makes some cheap high current amps great for SPL, they even held the world record for a while. When I say cheap I mean they are dirt cheap and decent quality. I've never seen anyone use them for any kind of sound quality though.

Personally I'd look at either Eclipse or Audison, both excellent brands. Then again I wouldn't do a 5 channel amp either but thats your call. I'd recommend a good Class D amp for the subs and a good 2 channel one for the fronts and not even use rear speakers. If I did I'd just run them off the front channels.

[EW]

Nothing wrong with 5 channel amps that are designed properly and fit your power requirements.

[cltgt]

I don't know how good Orion is these days, But back in the day they were the Sheot! That's all I used to run; 2100 and 225 HCCA's. Nothing like having two Monster amps and two Indestructable work horses pushing out over 3000 watts yet being able to compete in the 251-500 watts class :D

[BP]

The same old Orion amps are still popular, they make lots of power but are inefficient as hell. Kind of like my XS100s, they make 1500+watts but also take 0 gauge wiring and several batteries.

[ThreeFingerPete]

I don't know how good Orion is these days, But back in the day they were the Sheot! That's all I used to run; 2100 and 225 HCCA's. Nothing like having two Monster amps and two Indestructable work horses pushing out over 3000 watts yet being able to compete in the 251-500 watts class :D

3000w? 18volt electrical system?

[zcs626]

3000w? 18volt electrical system?
its traders villiage CEA standards. ;)

[cltgt]

3000w? 18volt electrical system?

No. Standard 12v system with a 200amp alternator and external regulator at 14.4 volts. 1 deep cycle battery and 2 one farad caps per 2100 HCCA; plus one extra deep cycle and cap for the 225 HCCA's.

That wasn't uncommon back 10-15 years ago.

[cltgt]

its traders villiage CEA standards. ;)

Fill me in on this traders village thing. I've seen this before but don't know what it is. Is it some kind of flea market?

If i can get a hold of a scanner, i will post pics of some of my past systems and work from way back in the day. :)

[zcs626]

Fill me in on this traders village thing. I've seen this before but don't know what it is. Is it some kind of flea market?

If i can get a hold of a scanner, i will post pics of some of my past systems and work from way back in the day. :)
yeah, like all the mexican junk they throw out there like Pyle, legacy and stuff. some kid brought a system in from there to me and their "8 gauge" amp kit. our 12 gauge speaker wire core was actually thicker than their "8 gauge" wiring core. it was histarical

[cltgt]

you get what you pay for... Guess i will stay away from there.

[sDun]

We had a short chevy w/ a hcca425 and a 225 on 6 15s and a bunch of mids & highs. This was back in the late 80s.