Lightning Strikes In Amp Market
By TWICE Staff -- TWICE, 12/20/1999
Lightning Audio, which was purchased by Rockford Fosgate this summer, is entering the car audio amplifier market with six mid-fi models to ship in February.
The new amplifier line will be joined by several custom accessories to improve amplifier performance, said Lightning Audio founder Scott Deley. "For the first time, amplifiers can be personalized by the customer with accessories like the Powercell and Fanmodule."
The Powercell is a proprietary cap that integrates with Lightning amplifiers to add an electrolytic capacitor. It improves sound quality and places less stress on the vehicle's electrical system, Lighting Audio said. It also allows the amplifier to withstand bridging to as low as 2 ohms.
The PC1 Powercell is expected to ship in March at a suggested retail price of $129.
A second accessory is the Fanmodule. Users can remove the top plate of an amplifier and replace it with the fan kit, which provides continuous cooling over the PC board and output devices. This, in turn, improves sound quality by reducing distortion, the company said. Suggested retail price for the CM1 Fanmodule is $69.
Linear Power's new amplifiers include four two-channel and two four-channel models, which range in prices from $149 to $349.
The two-channel amplifiers are the S2.200, a 2 x 60-watt model at 4 ohms with a suggested retail price of $149, and the S2.500, a 2 x 150-watt model at 4 ohms with a suggested retail price of $349.
Four-channel Lightning Audio amplifiers include the S4.300 with a power output of 2 x 30 watts and 2 x 90 watts at 4 ohms and the model S4.600 with a power output of 2 x 50 watts and 2 x 125 watts at 4 ohms. Suggested retail prices for the S4.300 and S4.600 are $249 and $349, respectively
Rockford Fosgate has also revamped its Punch series woofers for improved power handling and reliability and is debuting two Punch lines called the HE2 and HX2.
Both use dual voice coils for flexibility of installation and feature improved peak-to-peak Xmax (the amount of voice coil area that is out of the field plate). This results in greater reliability and more power handling, and it allows the woofers to play louder, said Rockford Fosgate marketing director Chris Parvin.
The HE2 woofers feature stamped baskets with BART foam surround, while the HX2 woofers use cast LX baskets with BART santoprene rubber surround. Suggested retail prices for the HE2 range from $129 for the 8-inch woofer to $229 for a 15-inch model.
The HX2 line ranges in suggested retail price from $159 for an 8-inch woofer to $699 for an 18-inch model. Both lines ship in January.
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