Soundstream Rubicon 555

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Sound City (Internet

Year / Model Reviewed:
2001 Soundstream Rubicon 805

Strengths:
All of the above. I didn't mention that that this is the only time I have ever been cited by law enforcement for a noise violation. My driver window only was about 4 inches down and Boston was was playing "More Than a Feeling". The officer liked the music........just not that loud.hahaha. Oh, if you wan to make a nice investment in your car audio or just your car for that matter look at a product such as Dynamat. Since I have noone telling me how much I can write I'll just elaborate. I gutted my suburban and used a product "like dynamat" (bought on ebay) and lined the floor ceiling and doors during the install. I literally had to slam the doors shut because it was so airtight. Wow, the usual road noise was greatly decreased and I could pull right up into the driveway with my system cranked and the family didn't know I was home. Please remember, the windows are up. I hope I have given some useful information.

Weaknesses:
Hard to find/ price

Summary:
Talk about an awesome amp!! If you want an amp with the flexibility to power your whole system ( 5 channels) with plenty of power and to also handle those low impedance loads ....this is it. Now, I'm no car audio whiz per say but the need for lots of power in the mids and highs is unnecessary. Maybe 50 -75 watts per channel.However , that hungry beast of a sub or 2 or maybe 4 is hangin' out there looking for some juice. This amp will handle a 1 ohm load. What does that mean to you? Well, as the impedandance load gets lower the amp produces more power (if it's made to do such). I had this amp driving 4 Blaupunkt pcwg120 (12" subs which are of medial quality at best compared with todays new stuff) which created a 1 ohm load for this amp. It's output was incredible. I had infinity 6.5" components for the other 4 channels. Amps of this type are hard to find........most will be used. If you stick with an excellent company (such as Soundstream) it's hard to go wrong. Feel free to email me if you neeed a second or third opinion....be blessed.

Similar Products Used:
Alphasonik, Power Acoustik, Orion,Rockford Fosgate.....................NONE COMPARE

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $235.00 from Ebay

Year / Model Reviewed:
2003 rubicon 555-5

Strengths:
Ease of installation, extremely high-end build quality, clean, distortion-free, sound.

Weaknesses:
Honestly, this amp seems a touch on the weak side in the front four channels. I am running a pair of '06 Type R, Alpine Coaxials up front, and a pair of Kenwood Dual Mag Components in the rear.
The highly efficient Dual Mags sound great... but I honestly think that the Type R coaxials sound like they need a little more power than the 555-5 can feed them. It could just be that the Type R coaxials suck. I think that I am going to switch them out for a set of Boston Pro 6.5 components, to see if it is the amp or the speakers that are lacking.
Regardless, while this amp makes the speakers loud and clean... it definitely cannot give the mids the crisp, solid punch that you would get out of a quality four channel amp delivering 100watts RMS, into 4 ohms.

Summary:
This is the second Soundstream 5 Channel amplifier that I've owned. The sound is clean and distortion free, and the bass channel puts out more than enough wattage to drive my two Diamond Audio 8's, showing the amp a 4 ohm load. So much in fact, that I have to keep the gain on the sub channel turned most of the way down, so that the bass doesn't overpower the front four channels.
The amplifier offers excellent flexibilty with regard to fine tuning, and crossover adjustabilty.

Similar Products Used:
Soundstream 304 5-Channel. Clean, but even weaker than the Rubicon 555-5.

Punch Amps-Too harsh for midbass and vocals.
Alpine Amps-Clean and loud, but lacked warmth.

If I do it over again, I will probably go with a Zapco 4 channel. The Zapco, is definitely, the cleanest, warmest, & punchiest amp I've heard so far. The new KickerZX 4x100watt actually isn't bad either for the $200-$225 they go for on Ebay. Not as warm and detailed as the Zapco, but punchier and more defined than the Rubicon 555-5. That should be expected, considering that it puts out 100watts X 4 RMS, compared to the Rubicon's 40 X 4 RMS.

Price Paid:  $0.00 from SpeedSound

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2002/550-5

Strengths:
Clarity, 550 clean-real watts

Weaknesses:
NO

Summary:
I use it with MB Quart Reference components, a MB Quart 10"Sub and the head unit is a JVC KD-SH 909 R. The sound is realy Amazing !

Similar Products Used:
a lot..but nothing come close to Rubicon 550-5(555)

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Local Dealer

Year / Model Reviewed:
 2002 Envoy

Strengths:
Extremely good sound reproduction. No longer heats up at high load. If I ever decide to upgrade, for sure I am going with Soundstream. 550W peak, real 550w not wussy 550w

Weaknesses:
It has weaknesses? where?

Summary:
At first i was reluctant not to buy this product. The dealer was like... dude... you have no idea what you are tlaking about. I gave the amp a try. OMFG!!! was I impressed. It was like... perfect sound quality. At the beginning it had heating issues but one day, it just stopped, go figure. Right now I have the gain up 3/4th of the way and its doing justice to my little infinity component speakers. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good sound system. Im running with: ALPINE 7897 Head Unit Monster Pro Audiophile grade cables all around. 4 Infinity Reference Component Speakers 2 10" Soundstream Subs

Similar Products Used:
Rockwood 600W 4 Channel Amp (Worst POS ever) more like 60w....

Strengths:
Technically, it kicks ass. A most amazing amp. Thrilling bass and excellent midrange and tweeter response. The mid bass, which gives punch, comes through very loud and clear. Speakers used are MB quart and JL Audio 8 inch sub. Saddly my car now sounds better than our home theatre system.

Weaknesses:
There is nothing I do not like about this amp.

Summary:
Strong recommendation.

Similar Products Used:
Compared to a sony xplod amp, it is totally superior