MTX Audio Thunder 2150

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $60.00 from Pawn Shop

Year / Model Reviewed:
 MTX 2160

Strengths:
Good power, sound quality, easy to use.

Weaknesses:
I have yet to have any problem with this amp. Its never over heated, never quit working.

Summary:
First off this is for 2160 not the 2150. When i bought this amp, i had no clue how good it would be. My previous amp just broke so i needed another one. I stopped by a pawn shop just to see what was there. I noticed the MTX amp in the back of the case for $60. i thought why not, looks fine. So they tested it and sold it to me. As soon as i got it hooked up, i fell in love with it. I have it running two Rockford P1 10". It works like a dream and puts off perfect sound. I can't even run it at its peak power because its too much for the subs. This is a great amp. I am giving it a 5 because i only paid $60 for it!

Similar Products Used:
older kenwood 280 watt amp.

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Local

Year / Model Reviewed:
1987 Honda Accord

Strengths:
Small and very powerful. Underrated.

Weaknesses:
It got hot but it never seemed to comprimise the performance. Only shut down a couple of times but was quick to reset as powerful as ever. Also kind of inneficient even though it is only 300 watts rms it would benefit from a good capacitor.

Summary:
Great amp for the price. MTX always uderrates their products power outputs. Good sound quality for bass but not the best for mids and highs but that is not what the amp design is focused on. Used for two years on a set of 12 inch blue thunders then two years on a set of eclipse 12 inchers. Always amazed people that I was only running 300 watts and many times surprised myself. Now the amp is in a friend hands and is still going strong. Never had any problems other than a couple of overheats on hot days but that is to be expected when you run an amp as hard as I did. Overall I am very pleased with it's performance and durability.

Similar Products Used:
Eclipse(great) Focal(amazing)

Price Paid:  $370.00 from Mainstreet Audio/Vid

Year / Model Reviewed:
 MTX 2150x

Strengths:
Strong low frequency power very low T.H.D. % Built like a war tank Probably the best amp for under $500

Weaknesses:
does run kinda hot, keep it ventilated

Summary:
I have 6 mtx Thunder amps in my vehicle with two of them being 2150x's each pushing a Cerwin-Vega Vega124. I have won numerous SPL AND SQ soundoffs using this combo as these amps are abundantly powered (especially in the low freq. range) and have fantastically low distortion. Although i agree that they do run hot i have NEVER had one thermally shut down or blow. They have been in 3 of my SPL vehicles and just wont die (but i have destroyed TWO of the vehicles with vibration induced damage!). An excellent amp for the money and if properly installed and calibrated (yes, I'm MECP certified) these amps will piss off your neighbors and crush your competition for years on end. A+

Similar Products Used:
Xtant, Cerwin-Vega, Phoenix Gold, Kicker

Price Paid:  $500.00

Year / Model Reviewed:
 1998

Strengths:
Under rated, but who cares if it keeps blowing

Weaknesses:
Blows up, more time in the shop that in your car. Don't use it on any speakers you like or don't care if it fries them

Summary:
Powerful for the price and thats about it. Not really clean, overheats easy. Biggest problem is it blows really easy. I've had mine repaired twice. The second time I wasn't abusing it at all. Was running 1 10" at 4ohms in a banpass, and I wasn't even pushing it. All for a suddent for no reason, it become quite, with no base and sounds like the gain is turned way down. But actually its blown... And to add to that cost, any speakers you have hooked up to it will be blown too. After I had that problem, I tested the amp hooking it up to a pair of 6x9"s to see if it was the sub that was blown. That was a mistake, fried my 6x9. Still have the amp, but I'm not going to bother getting it repaired. Maybe they are better now, but I wouldn't touch another again. Oh yeah about their warantee, the first time it blew it was like 1 month over the warantee period. would they overlook that, and repair it for free or a discount? Nope, full price. I didn't think that was right, after all I had just bought one of their more expensive amps, some service to go along with it would have been nice. (that was at the MTX distributor in Canada, not at my local shop)

Price Paid:  $0.00

Strengths:
Not a bad amp for the money

Weaknesses:
very sensitive amp.. clips easily which is deadly to speakers.

Summary:
had the older model 2160. This amp will work fine on a lowend set of components or most low end subs.. Don't turn the games up more than half way, this amp clips HARD and easily. I've blown about 3 subs using this amp and its not from overpowering. SQ is ok, not bad for the money.. high s/n ratio but the thd comes out at high volumes so be careful not to abuse it or it will abuse your speakers. Amp is solid though, hard to damage.

Similar Products Used:
probably comparable between the RF punch (RF's now lowend) and punch power amps.