my dad has a pretty old alpine amp in his explorer that he said i can have. it cost him around $700 in the early 1990's. on the top of the amp it says Alpine 6/5/4/3 Channel Power Amplifier 3566. does anyone know anything about this amp? with todays updated technology, should i just get a decent $200 amp? any help is appreciated.

Actually, the technology in car amplifiers has not changed that much in the past 20 years. So as long as it still works, it'll probably do a good job. In fact, it's probably better than some of Alpine's amps today, as they have gone mass production now concentrating more on quantity than quality. Alpine still makes decent stuff - I just bought their new 9815 head unit and a CD changer - but like other companies that have gone mass production ( RF, Kenwood, Pioneer) the quality doesn't seem to be what it used to be.

As for your particular amp, I don't know anything about it other than what you posted. By the info you gave, I can tell you that it's a 6 channel amp that's capable of running as few as 3 channels. Generally, amps that can power 6 channels have plenty of power.

I'm registered on Alpine's site where you can download product manuals, I'll see if I can find one for your amp.

thanks, i think ill just keep that amp then.

I got a spec sheet for your amp off Alpine's site. I'll email it to you.

I had an alpine V12 that blew on me... it was old but it thumped. I got it for 60 bucks so 6 months of use was okay...

I'm all about Alpine amps have 3 of em in my car ahahahhaa 2 V12's and a MRF320 (or somethin)

i got a v12 alpine amp and its pretty kick azz. anyway does anyone know if those amps have an automatic speaker shutoff incase it gets too hot or something??

Yeah I have friends who have said good things about older alpine amps. As runriot said, the tech hasn't really changed, and they built the old amps (both car and normal) real tough - I use a 20 year old $80 Rotel amp with my sound system in my room and it kicks ass, much nicer than a friends new $400 Denon.

But as I said, I have no hands on experience with them so good luck >>

This post has been edited by kamixZR: Jun 26, 2003 - 9:01 AM