Soundstream Rubicon 604

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Ebay

Year / Model Reviewed:
1992 Rubicon 604

Strengths:
All the hook ups on one side. 1 ohm stable, doesnt over heat. Clipping indicators. EVERYTHING

Weaknesses:
Fuses are not on the outside of the amp. Thats it.

Summary:
Powerful as hell and clean also. I only deal with soundstream Rubicons because of how well they perform and how clean they are. The 604 was no exeption. It played my subs and highs very nicely with power to spare!

Similar Products Used:
Soundstream. Rockford is nice but I dont like class D amps that much. I want somthing that can run my lows but if I need it to can run my highs just as clean.

Price Paid:  $300.00 from eBay

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Rubicon 604

Strengths:
Literally everything. A ton of power to play with (realistically between 100 to 120 Watts per channel 4ohm or 180 to possibly 200 Watts per channel 2ohm), a fairly high Signal-to-Noise ratio, and a very low distortion rating (I have yet to hear any, and I don't anticipate hearing any). It gives you a lot of control (many adjustment options for crossover, independant gain controls for each channel, engagable sub-sonic filter or "Hawkens Bass Boost" for running subs, and much more). This is a 4/3/2 channel amp, meaning you can run 4 speaks, 2 speaks and a sub, 3 subs, etc... which is not a very common feature.

Weaknesses:
Due to all of the features it may be a bit "tricky" to figure out for those who arent familiar with Soundstream products or who are new to the mobile audio game. This is a professional quality amplifier, however, so that is to be expected.

Summary:
This is truely an amazing amplifier. The purpose of an amplifier is to do just that... amplify. It is not supposed to add anything in, or take anything out... but only to take the signal put out from the headunit and, well, amplify it. This amplifier does just that, and it does it well. I am running it off of an Alpine CDA-9815 headunit to a pair of Polk Audio Db series 6.5" components, and a pair of JL Audio 4" components. The amp is running 4ohm loads at 85+ underrated Watts per channel (more realistically around 100 Watts of continuous power per channel). Soundstream gave the amp a generic rating of "S/N >100db" and "THD <.1%", however the actual ratings are around 112-115db S/N and .02% THD. My JL 4"s don't take much to be happy, however the Polk Dbs are pretty picky about what they like (they are strictly a sound quality series, so they perform ackwardly with many amps that don't feed them right... meaning too much distortion, too little power, etc...). The 604 handles them flawlessly. I have run 6 amps on the Polks and this one is BY FAR the most musical. It gives them plenty of power to thrive on, and NO distortion... a perfect combination. I have had no problems with clipping, and heat is minimal. The amplifier is mounted upside down on the ceiling of my trunk (a no no for most amps, especially Soundstream...), however I have a fan blowing across the heatsinks to keep it cool. So far it hasn't even gotten warm. Out of all of the 4 channel amps I have run in the past, or dealt with, the Rubicon 604 is definately among the best.

Similar Products Used:
Rockford Fosgate Punch 400.4 (not their new crap), Soundstream Reference 400s, Soundstream Reference 414sx, Soundstream Rubicon 404, Adcom, Phoenix Gold, PPI, Xtant, many others...

Price Paid:  $400.00 from local dealer

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Rubicon 604

Strengths:
Amplifier makes a good paperweight. Also makes a nice target for long range sniper rifle practice.

Weaknesses:
Broke down twice in a six month period. Piss poor customer service. Soundstream name.

Summary:
This is the worst piece of SH#T that I have ever owned. The amplifier broke after about three weeks of usage. The dealer I bought it from contacted Soundstream, who gave him the runaround. He was told that that the waiting period for warranty work was between three and six months. Soundstream was apparently not interested in doing any warranty work. The dealer decided to have the amplifier fixed for me locally by a reputable electronics repairman. The amplifier was returned a few weeks later, and worked for about three months. When I turned my stereo on one night a few weeks ago, popping noises started coming through the system. After trouble shooting, I traced the problem back to the amplifier. When I brought the amplifier back to the dealer, there was a "graveyard" of broken Soundstream amps in his back room. The dealer told me that I am not the only unfortunate victim of the Soundstream name. Apparently, Soundstream's quality control recently went down the sh#tter. When I brought my amplifier back to the dealer the second time, another customer was purchasing a Rockford amplifier to replace his broken Soundstream paperweight. I eventually replaced the $400.00 paperweight with a Rockford Fosgate 550X. When the amplifier was working, the sound quality was mediocre anyway. The amplifier was powering my Dynaudio seperates in the front, and Boston Pro coaxials in the rear. I will never, ever purchase another Soundstream product ever again.

Similar Products Used:
Various ADS and Rockford amps

Price Paid:  $400.00

Strengths:
everything

Weaknesses:
weakness? not this amp

Summary:
I have used this amp to drive soundsteams reference seperates and a JBL gti1000( don't laugh, I did not think it could be of high enough caliber until I tried a bunch of "high end" subs)and it was awsome and unrelenting as far as power and clarity. This amp now drives Dynaudio's system 220 and two JBL gtx8's (another suprise from JBL, who would have guessed.

other associated gear:
alpine 7930 cd/tuner
monster cable cap
m series speaker wire and rca cables
a ridiculous amount of dynamat(covered from top of firewall to back of cab)

I believe in the KISS concept (keep it simple stupid), you will get better sound for your dollar by buying fewer items of better quality.

This amp will run two, three or four channel mode not to mention a mixed mono option which only a handful of amps can do, also it has fully adjustable crossovers and gain for each channel. It accepts four gauge power and ground, what more could you ask for.

stop reading about it and just buy it, if it makes me happy (the pickiest audiophile in the world) you will be happy.

Similar Products Used:
not much can compare, other soundstream or a nice McIntosh...adcom, kinda sorta

Price Paid:  $200.00

Strengths:
This amp is awesome. I have been powering all boston acoustics throught my car and the sound is unbelievable. When I turn on my stereo it is a beautiful thing. The amp never heats up and has MORE than enough power to get any job done. This amp has every last option that you could use and unlike most amps, it puts out REAL power. This amp even has a clipping control on it so it will shut itself down. Yeah you read it right, I paid an unbelievable 200 dollars for this amp when it retails for 750.

Weaknesses:
nothing

Summary:
I would recommend this amp to anyone who wants to put together a high end stereo like myself that doesn't quit.

Similar Products Used:
hi fonics, Alpine