Alpine amps booting up new wave

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2002 (8540 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Alpine has taken the wraps off of their new series of mono amplifiers and, in the process, created quite a stir.

What, you ask, could possibly get bass junkies more excited than a herd of fuming bulls on the streets of Pamplona?

The answer my friend, is digital.

You see, Alpine’s latest amp features digital technology and this apparent Midas touch (case in point, the CD and DVD crazes) could start a new wave in amplifiers.

Yes many parts of high-quality amplifiers have become digital, such as gain control, but few have gone out of their way to design a completely digital amplifier.

Enter Alpine’s new line-up of V12 AccuClass-D amplifiers, the MRD-M500 ($697) and MRD-M300 ($548), featuring complete digital treatment from stem to stern.

“Basically, there’s no real analog devices inside the unit,” says Ross Osioway, Central Canada Sales Representative for Alpine Electronics. “As soon as the analog signal enters the amplifier it becomes digital.”

How’d they pull it off? Osioway credits their new custom DSP (Digital Signal Processor) front end and a highly accurate digital amplifier stage for that neat little feat.

Here’s how it works.

The amplifier receives an analog signal from the head unit (just as any other amplifier would). A high-quality Analog-to-Digital Converter (reverse DAC) translates the signal into digital data (zeros and ones) which travel through the DSP, where crossover, time correction, gain and parametric EQ can be fine-tuned.

“Because it is digital, there is so much more processing capability (compared to a normal analog amplifier), without having problems such as distortion and phasing.”

To make any audio adjustment, the subdued-looking cover flips up to reveal all controls and an LCD display. This, of course, allows for hassle-free adjustments and very precise tuning. For me, it is the true beauty of the digital medium.

Of course, mono amplifiers must also produce a lot of cone-spanking POWER and this Digital Duo do not disappoint — try 250W x 1 RMS at 4 ohms for the M500 and 150W x 1 RMS at 4 ohms for the M300.

But what SPL addicts (those who crave or compete for high Sound Pressure Levels) will really love about these two amps are the efficiency ratings that allow you to load up the hatch with a multi-amp setup that won’t punish the charging system.

To put it into perspective, Osioway compares the MRD-M500 to last year’s Alpine wonderamp, the MRV-1507 ($999).

“Four of these MRD-M500s together will draw about the same current consumption as one of those (MRV-1507s).”

To satisfy even the most demanding bass junkie’s fix, say eight amps working in unison, Alpine is prepared.

Osioway says it’s a breeze to set-up these amps identically and with the RUX-4280 ($169) Remote Amplifier Control Center (RACC) fine-tuning can be carried out from the dash.

Almost sounds a little too good to be true, doesn’t it? Here we have a high-quality and hi-tech amp that’s easy to tweak. And oh yeah, it’s digital to boot.

Well, here’s my only gripe. There is no digital input for the amp. This means that the signal created in the head unit must switch from digital (if it’s a CD or DVD player) to analog, then back to digital again, with signal quality lost in the process.

But with the strong acceptance of the current series, Osioway hints the next generation of digital amps (due in the next year or two) will feature fibreoptic inputs to carry a digital signal and circumvent this issue — not a very long wait for pure digital paradise.