Profile A1200xl

Price Paid:  $80.00 from ebay

Summary:
i just recently purchased this amplifier from ebay. i got a killer deal $80 shipped. i now have it powering my 2 JL audio 12W0s. it sounds really good and gives the subs plenty of power.i would estimate around 450 RMS bridged at 4ohms. maybe just a little more. the amp is pretty basic and took about 2 minutes to get hooked up and going. a couple of the red leds on top are out but it is still a good looking amp. it is pretty big, so make sure you have plenty of room lol.

Strengths:
good power, not a bad amp for the price. profile makes some decent amplifiers.

Weaknesses:
i really havent found any. i am just using it mono and with some lower level subs, so it pushes them well

Similar Products Used:
i have used all of the bottom of the line amplifiers; Legacy, pyramid, power acoustik, jensen,. i would have to say this profile and the power acoustik amp are tops of the cheap amplifiers i have used

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Profile a1200xl

Summary:
I paid $130 for it used. It was factory reconditioned before I bought it. I wouldn't wish this amp on my worst enemy.

Strengths:
Nice looking amp. Easy to install

Weaknesses:
This amp flat out sucks. My Alpine 503 puts this amp to shame. The Profile is huge, so you must have a lot of space for it. It will barely push my 2 Infinity Perfect 10s.

Similar Products Used:
Alpine V12 503, RF 55.2, both of these amps put the Profile to shame and take up half the space.

Summary:
Profile A1200xlMRSP: $469
Price Paid: $250
Dimensions: 8 7/8 x 2 1/4 x 23 3/4
Rated Watts As Listed By Manual: 300x2 (4ohm)(14.4v)
600x1 (4ohm)(14.4v)
Special:
Subwoofer Crossover at 80hz, 18db slope
DC, Short, and Thermal Protection

Good: For the price paid, this was a pretty good amp. It has a solid feel to it(although the bottom has a decidedly cheap sheet metal feel to it). This is the old model of the Profile California Series(black paint splash). It does not have the quick connection feature found on the newer models. Install was as simple as it gets. Power, remote and ground then your speaker connections. The Sub crossover was either on or off. Since this amp was to be used as a sub amp, the crossover was on most of the life span of the amp. The power strip light was a nifty effect, although it most likely would be cheap looking to try to base your install around it. In my install, the amp had a cover that did not allow the light to pass, so it wasn’t ever really noticed.

Bad: Power was pretty good and estimated around 500-650 watts of useable power. Although this is a good number of watts, due to the size of this amplifier, you would expect more(which of course it does provide, but at a cost of heavily increasing distortion). It can drive in 2 ohm stereo mode all day and barely become hot with normal listening of a average basshead. This amp may not win competitions or output awards, but it will drive your subs pretty well. 2 ohm mono brought on some volume, but nowhere near the stereo setting. A attempt at 1ohm stereo brought on protection circuits faster then I could goose the volume to max. So, its only good down to 2 ohm stereo.

The Ugly: This amplifier clips like hitting a brick wall. Most higher quality(and more expensive)amplifiers will gradually ease into clipping. Not the a1200xl. You’ll have good clean power and if the gains are not set right, at peaks, you’ll hear it. Try pulling more out then its capable, since there is little reserve, and its a wall of distortion. But this has a silver lining of sorts, you’ll quickly be able to tell where the limits of this amp is in your install. You’ll not have to worry about slowly destroying your amp due to overdriving distortion that you might not notice(admittedly, not that this happens alot with such little distortion, but I tried to make a plus out of it.)

Recommendation: You’ll get what you pay for. If you can find a good deal on it with a nice warranty and you have the room in your vehicle, then its a good amp. Its a must buy if you find a nice one used and the seller has a reasonable offer.