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Best place to get an amp?

Limeybastard

Active Member
May 29, 2017
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Shady Hills Massive, FL.
Done my due diligence and I feel the Texas Star dx500 or v model will suit my setup consisting of the 955hpc.

My question is where do folks on here buy from? I was going to by from an eBay seller 7eighteen electronics, apparently their a brick and mortar store in NY for over 20 years, issue is according to them amps dont have warranties. Was hoping to at least have a DOA warranty. Anyone heard of them?

Cheers
 

If you buy from a reputable dealer, then they will offer a warranty of some kind. If they don't, then I would have to think twice about the dealer, or the amplifier/radio/whatever.
Expect to pay for a reputable amplifier, they are not free. I look for bargains too, but I seldom find one without 'problems', sort of...
 
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If you buy from a reputable dealer, then they will offer a warranty of some kind. If they don't, then I would have to think twice about the dealer, or the amplifier/radio/whatever.
Expect to pay for a reputable amplifier, they are not free. I look for bargains too, but I seldom find one without 'problems', sort of...

Yes, I was looking preferably for a new one. But is there a list of "reputable" dealers on here?
 
I picked up my little amp from a truck stop CB shop.

When doing business on Ebay, I tend to look for vendors that have been there for several years, served hundreds (if not thousands) of customers, and have a rating in the mid 90's or higher. I also read their reviews, and look for themes. For example, I may note that most of the commentary may say, "Product shipped quickly, and worked as it should."

I have read reviews on a vendor, in the past, that indicated that the vendor had a written "no return" policy, but made an exception for a particular individual. My guess is that some guys will have an official policy of "no return", because they've had problems with people hooking up some things wrong, frying it, then trying to return it, claiming "DOA". The "No Return" policy allows them to "feel out" issues, case by case, and gives them an out of they think they are dealing with an idiot.

You may wish to contact the vendor that you want to use, to ask him, specifically, if he's willing to take a return, if the product is "DOA". If he is a highly rated, long-time vendor, he probably won't have a problem with it. He probably tests each unit before shipping, anyway.

Although, I found a guy, on Ebay, that rebuilds Northstar engines; he was highly rated, had good reviews, been on Ebay a while, many happy customers. So, I shipped my Cadillac out to him, had him rebuild my engine. Without going into detail, I am very unhappy with his work.

It's a crap shoot, on the web. The best you can do is try to find something that shifts the odds to your favor. But, good odds don't guarantee a win, every time.
 
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I picked up my little amp from a truck stop CB shop.

When doing business on Ebay, I tend to look for vendors that have been there for several years, served hundreds (if not thousands) of customers, and have a rating in the mid 90's or higher. I also read their reviews, and look for themes. For example, I may note that most of the commentary may say, "Product shipped quickly, and worked as it should."

I have read reviews on a vendor, in the past, that indicated that the vendor had a written "no return" policy, but made an exception for a particular individual. My guess is that some guys will have an official policy of "no return", because they've had problems with people hooking up some things wrong, frying it, then trying to return it, claiming "DOA". The "No Return" policy allows them to "feel out" issues, case by case, and gives them an out of they think they are dealing with an idiot.

You may wish to contact the vendor that you want to use, to ask him, specifically, if he's willing to take a return, if the product is "DOA". If he is a highly rated, long-time vendor, he probably won't have a problem with it. He probably tests each unit before shipping, anyway.

Although, I found a guy, on Ebay, that rebuilds Northstar engines; he was highly rated, had good reviews, been on Ebay a while, many happy customers. So, I shipped my Cadillac out to him, had him rebuild my engine. Without going into detail, I am very unhappy with his work.

It's a crap shoot, on the web. The best you can do is try to find something that shifts the odds to your favor. But, good odds don't guarantee a win, every time.


Indeed. I had contacted the vendor, he stated amps dont have warranties.
 
Did he give any indication of how he ensured that he wasn't selling a faulty unit? Even with top notch QC, bad units can still slip through.

I might be inclined to keep looking. I may also be inclined to pay more for the same thing, from someone else, if that means that I would be able to return a bad unit.
 
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Did he give any indication of how he ensured that he wasn't selling a faulty unit? Even with top notch QC, bad units can still slip through.

I might be inclined to keep looking. I may also be inclined to pay more for the same thing, from someone else, if that means that I would be able to return a bad unit.

He seemed nice enough, just explained to me that due to part swappers there was no warranty or return. They appear well established. I mentioned their name in first post.

Price of the Texas star dx500 wasn't dirt cheap either, about average but it was already modded and bench tested to go on 11m.
 
Yeah, I've not heard of him, or done business with him. And, there's lots of folks, good businessmen and scoundrels alike, that I've never heard of, lol.

The guy that rebuilt my Cadillac engine was well established, and as I said, had great ratings and all that. But, I still got shafted.

Give it a few days, see if anyone here has actually done business with them, and proceed accordingly, I suppose. It might be, too, that someone may have a better alternative, I don't know.

I will say, though, that I can understand the "no return" policy, if it it would make me uncomfortable.
 
He seemed nice enough, just explained to me that due to part swappers ....

Well, I'm gonna call BS on that! It has NOTHING to do with parts swappers.
He is selling NEW equipment and any parted out returned units should be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Even WallyWorld has an unconditional return policy for defective components.

spend your money elsewhere.
 
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The TNT straight 4 or 6 pill dont look bad either, cheers 9C1Driver.

Im assuming the remote jack option is for exciter? Which wont apply for my application.
Remote jack was (a few years ago) for remote power on.
I have had a few TNT series as well as a few other series X Force amps. The TNT 600HD will do a good job with your radio.
 
Remote jack was (a few years ago) for remote power on.
I have had a few TNT series as well as a few other series X Force amps. The TNT 600HD will do a good job with your radio.

Cheers fella. I guess the difference in db and S meter factors will be moot from a 4 pill to 6 pill. The american inside me, keeps being pushed into higher numbers meaning better ;-)
 
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I read an interesting thread on here about the Ameritron amps and how the poster was looking at getting this amp to initially use on 11 meter with a view on also being able to use it on HAM in the future when he or she got licensed / educated up.
It was all interesting until when some mentioned the fact the Ameritron required an "exciter" which meant a foot pedal to press down to use if one wanted to use it on 11 m. Is this true? I ask since I can see myself evolvling into the HAM world, and being left with redundant hardware .
 
I think what they mean is you need to have some power going into the coax. It is not a low drive amp. Check the specifications for the minimum power input required to drive it. I have an amp here that has to have a minimum of 65 watts to get it going.
Also the remote switch for a ham radio comes from the inside of the radio which keys the amplifier. I'm sure that some of the CB amps used a remote power on feature so they could hide the amp.
The Better Business Bureau maintains files on complaints against companies that don't take care of business.

It is true that even with the best Quality Control an occasional defective unit can get through.
 
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