RM Italy vs Texas Star

[CowboyCody]

Some help for an uneducated CB Nut.
I know I am probably going to get blasted for this but i had to ask. Now that the Toshiba transistors are gone and we have to deal with the Chinese knock offs i was thinking that maybe the RM Italy stuff is starting to look better. The KL-203 and KL-503 are supposed to do fairly well on SSB, i have no idea how they are biased but they seem to get good reports if driven right. If it is still worth the extra coin to get a Texas Star or Xforce for that matter, someone give me some reasons why.

Thank you

 

[psycho]

Some help for an uneducated CB Nut.
I know I am probably going to get blasted for this but i had to ask. Now that the Toshiba transistors are gone and we have to deal with the Chinese knock offs i was thinking that maybe the RM Italy stuff is starting to look better. The KL-203 and KL-503 are supposed to do fairly well on SSB, i have no idea how they are biased but they seem to get good reports if driven right. If it is still worth the extra coin to get a Texas Star or Xforce for that matter, someone give me some reasons why.

Thank you

X Force TNT 350 is all you need to know. Reasons....because they give the best bang for the buck. Texas Star amps are way overpriced and RM amps are cheap junk.
That is only my opinion.

 

[CowboyCody]

The Texas Star and the TNT line seem to be similar priced to me, are you saying that the Texas Stars are overpriced for what you get?

 

[hotrod]

Some help for an uneducated CB Nut.
I know I am probably going to get blasted for this but i had to ask. Now that the Toshiba transistors are gone and we have to deal with the Chinese knock offs i was thinking that maybe the RM Italy stuff is starting to look better. The KL-203 and KL-503 are supposed to do fairly well on SSB, i have no idea how they are biased but they seem to get good reports if driven right. If it is still worth the extra coin to get a Texas Star or Xforce for that matter, someone give me some reasons why.

Thank you

having owned both they both do well. now they ARENT no xforce,fatboy,tnt ,ect,ect
the rm/klv dont take much more than 14 volts and 2 watt dx on am an about 10 on ssb
even though manufacture claims slightly more.between the kl-203 and 503 id ust get
the 503 or better yet the klv 500 [if ya can find them]texas star seem to a take a little
more drive but really they both performed about the same with very good results

 

[222DBFL]

Yep a TNT 350hd or a TNT 600hd like this

This one is a few years old, but was kept in a well maintained area. It has the toshiba 2879's in it. The 350hd is the same amp with 2 transistors instead of 4. Good amps. I checked the inside of mine out and the build quality is good. All beefy components.
I'm with psycho on this one. With the Texas star you have to have it modded for 11 meters and there are a couple of known components that take a dump. As a matter of fact there is another post about it somewhere. I just got this amp so I haven't had much time mess with it. I just bought it as I could pass the deal up. I really didn't need it, who am I kidding lol , I wanted it. But anyway, the TNT amps are built well IMO. I will pop the top and get some more photos tomorrow. God bless.

 

[CbRadiosPRONTO]

Had'em all. Hundreds on my bench. I'll take the Texas star over the others any day. This whole "competition amp" thing is a load of bunk.

Side note...I've got a 200hd xForce on my bench again today. Finally just upgraded it to toshiba's. Sent back a 600 for the second time and it's only 2 months old. In all fairness, I can probably blame it on the DEI's...idk.

Either way. I'll take the TStars.

BTW: they may not be around much longer. They really want to find a replacement to these frickin' overpriced 2879's.


CbRadiosPRONTO

 

[TonyV225]

I have had and still own several amplifiers and I love my Texas Stars, Only thing Ive had to replace since the mid 1990s is lightbulbs in the pushbuttons. I have a DX 500 here that has wore out pushbottons but I got it that waay a few years ago and never bought the new buttonassembly because the amplifier works fine as it is and I dont play with all the buttons ever!!!

My Ham HF Amplifiers dpnt have all them buttons for power their ran the way all amps should be setup to run and thats off the drive level from the radio. Youwant more power then add more drive and if you want less then back the input drive down. As a matter of fact this is how I run all my amplifiers Texas Star Rm Italy Palomar Gray and any of the others.

I understand that not all radios have the option of adjusting RF output on the front of or on every radio but thats the difference between a CB, Export or Ham Radio

Al the amplifiers are pricey and they can all blowup fail or last forever trouble free but its 2 things that control this and thats Luck of the draw or owner operation procedure in most cases. You wanta to fight and retune and tune again to get that last 25 - 50 watts that nobody is ever gonna notice then I dont care what amplifier you have or what you paid for it YOUR GONNA HAVE PROBLEMS

 

[222DBFL]

Tony the only reason I bought the TNT 600HD, Is because it's an older model, no DEI transistors for me, I'll take my chances with the toshiba 2879's. I don't over drive my equipment. As a matter of fact I am using a uniden 980 to drive the TNT 600hd . I had planned on using this amp with my magnum 257hp, but I like the way it's working with the uniden 980. I know I will never over drive it this way. Like you said it can be the luck of the draw or you get lucky and find one that hasn't been hammered on. I know the one I have hasn't been abused. It is in great condition inside and out. And I got a good deal on it. I have hooked it up and used it a bit last night, worked great. Does the job for me. Anyway just my experience. God bless.

 

[CowboyCody]

I have no intention of over drivng my amps to see bigger numbers, i have a TS 250HDV in the mobile hooked to my 148. i have it set up so that it swings around 125-150W, i get good audio reports all the time and have talked 50+ miles locally and all over the US on skip. i see no reason to pound it to get a little more out of it. I intend for it to last me a very long time, and i belive that it will. My question is if im going to purchase another one, and i cant get toshiba transitors can i still expect it to last? if i cant i might as well buy the cheapest thing out there that will work.

 

[222DBFL]

You can still get toshiba transistors yes, they just cost more. When making the purchase be sure to let them know you toshiba transistors. The toshiba transistor will last a long time like you have stated if you don't hammer your box daily and keep a good VSWR reading.

 

[CowboyCody]

I have not seen this option, how can you be sure you get the real Toshiba's? maybe someone can PM me a place that still carries them.

 

[222DBFL]

When you order the amp I would either call or email before hand and tell them to install toshiba transistors, they should have them, they are just more expensive as far as I know. I know they are not being produced anymore, but there are still some left.