Sundown Audio SALT-2 Subwoofer Amp Review The New Old School

When it comes to electronics, including our audio, there’s always newer and better. Tape decks gave way to CD’s, and CD’s gave way to streaming and Hi-Res Audio. But newer is not always better. Quality often gets sacrificed so products can be more affordable. Sometimes old school products are better. And in rare instances, you find a manufacturer making new products with old school quality. Such is the case with Sundown Audio and their SALT series car amplifiers. They’re the new old school. Up for review is their SALT-2 subwoofer amp.  MSRP is a very fair $875.

 

Features and specs:

4,000 x 1 @ 2 ohms RMS (when linked)

2,000 x 1 @ 1 ohms RMS mono

1,000 x 1 @ 2 ohms RMS mono

500 x 1 @ 4 ohms RMS mono

Frequency Response : 10 Hz – 250 HZ

Digital Class-D Linkable Mono Block Amplifier

Variable bass boost @ 45Hz 0-9dB

24dB variable subsonic filter: 10HZ - 50HZ

24dB variable low pass filter: 35HZ - 250HZ

Phase shift control 0-180 degrees

Power, clipping & protection indicators included

Thermal, voltage, speaker short, and dc-offset protection circuitry

Included Input wired remote control displays voltage, temperature, and clipping

Sensitivity : 6V - 0.2V

Dual MOS-FET PWM Power Supply

Efficiency : 90% <

Signal / Noise Ratio : 90DB <

Damping Factor : 400 <

Phase Shift Control 0-180 Degrees

Tested Voltage & THD : 12.8V & Less Than 1% THD

Operation Voltage : DC 9V - 15.5V Power Input

Recommended Fuse : 200 Amps

Dimensions : 15.74” L x 8.67” W x 2.80” H

 

The Sundown Audio SALT-2 came in a nice-looking color printed box, with photos and specs of the amplifier. Opening the box revealed a well-protected amp held in place by custom foam. Materials used in the construction was mostly metal. Quality of materials used, as well as fit and finish, are excellent! This is their premium amp and it shows! Also included was the bass remote, remote cable, Allen wrenches, and owner’s manual.

 

I absolutely love the old school quality of the Sundown Audio SALT series. To explain why, we first need to talk about the history of amp design. As time goes by, prices tend go up. And this included components. So manufacturers to try to keep prices down, have turned to lower quality components. This has caused lower performance. Sub amps many years ago, used to perform better, and handled power better. A sub amp that put out 300 watts at 4 ohm would actually double the power to 600 watts when the resistance dropped to 2 ohms. And it would double again to 1200 watts RMS when dropped further to 1 ohm. The internal components were better made and would put out more power. But now days, an amp rated a 300 watts RMS at 4 ohms, would only put out maybe 500 watts RMS when dropped to 2 ohms, and maybe around 750 or 800 at 1 ohm. And instead of rating their power at 12 volts, most amplifiers are now rated at 14.4 volts which not all vehicles hit.

 

This is what’s great about the Sundown Audio SALT series amps: their old school design.  When you drop the load from 4ohm to 2ohm, the power actually doubles.  Drop the load again from 2ohm to 1ohm, and the power doubles again.  The amp is also rated for the published power at 12 volts.  Their SALT series stands for Sundown Audio Low-Voltage Technology. Most amps are rated with published power at 14.1 volts, yet some alternators may only put out 13.6 volts or less. So being rated at full power at 12 volts, no matter what voltage your alternator is putting out, you will get the published power.

Sundown Audio however does not stop there. While they don’t publish it, may not recommend it, and it could void their warranty, their SALT amps can even handle ½ ohm loads! I would suspect this could be for you competitors, where you aren’t going to be running it for long lengths of time, just a couple minutes for competitions. And the quality continues even further. While most amps are made with Chinese components and made in China, some are made in China with some Korean components. The SALT series however take things even a step further. They are made in Korea with Korean components. It adds costs all around to do it this way, which increases the cost of the amp. It ends up being well worth it though. It’s a better performing amp that will last longer.

 

Ok, I’m going to date myself here, as I have been doing car audio for a VERY long time! But it kinda reminds me of my very first car audio system, that I powered with a very old school Rockford Fosgate Punch 75HD. Advertised at 37.5 watts RMS x 2 at 4 ohm, but really put out closer to 50 watts a channel at 4 ohm, and was able to be run in tri-made, which I did. That little amp powered a pair of 4” coaxials in the front, 6x9 co-axials in the rear deck, and a single 12” Punch Subwoofer. It ran close to 1ohm for a stereo amp, and it pounded hard all day long!

 

This Sundown Audio SALT-2 reminds me a bit of that amp, as this thing looks like a beast! The massive heat sinks are plenty to keep it cool. Connections on both sides are very well made, and solidly put together. The 0 gauge power and ground, followed by the 4 gauge speaker outs along with the line outs and stepping switch tell you this amp isn’t for the faint of heart. And looking inside at the beefy high-quality caps, power supply, as well as quality soldering, I was glad to see that they could be a new old school.

 

The layout was very user friendly. One side has your power, ground, speaker and remote turn on connectors. The other side contains your RCA ins and outs, remote turn on, as well as cross-over settings for high-pass, low-pass and subsonic filter. Tuning it was very simple.

 

And with the gift that keeps giving, Sundown Audio continues to impress. The bass remote is second to none. Not only is it used for the amount of bass output, it also advises you on the status of your amp. It has an LED readout that not only tells you the voltage that your amp is seeing, it also tells you the temperature of your amp. These can be not only helpful but also critical. Knowing the temperature can tell you your amp is on the verge of overheating, so time to tone it down.

 

All of this seems to be creating a synergy. It’s a compilation of parts, whose synergy created is higher than the sum of their parts. A product that leaves the competition in the dust. They even had their logo printed on both the top and the bottom. So no matter how you have it mounted, it looks great! Remember that scene in Ready Player One where Wade opened up the box and was looking at his newly delivered Nube Suit? Looking at the freshly installed Sundown Audio Salt-2 amp, it feels a lot like that. Now let’s see how it sounds.

 

Brandon Beal: Drop That Booty Down Low-  bass beats were nice and tight and super clean, had really good low end extension, and hit really hard!  But when he dropped the booty down low, it was really low but also really clean.  It hit so hard my whole truck shook!

Tiesto & Sevenn: Boom-  some bass beats were nice and as deep, but were super clean, tight, and played with authority. Others were deeper, yet were still super clean, tight, and played with excellent authority.  And then others were so deep, yet while still managed to be super clean. And it was like an earthquake in my truck.

Techmaster P.E.B: Activate-  so so deep!  It’s my old school subwoofer torture track.  Not only does it put out some serious bass, it shows how deep it can go.  Again, it was all super clean, yet so loud and shook my whole truck!

 

The Sundown Audio SALT-2 amplifier performed extremely well!  It provided excellent power to my sealed 12’s.  Motors were extremely well controlled, providing extremely tight quick beats when the music provided it. And when the provided bass was longer and sustained, it was extremely clean and smooth, providing tons of output.  It also proved to be very under-rated. Rated at 1000 watts RMS, our unit provided 1,495 watts at 2ohm.  And for 2 sealed subs in limited space under my rear seat which isn’t ideal, I still managed to get 131db. So the amp was very under-rated, provided real power, and made my not ideal set-up perform at its best. It will do the same for yours. And the bass remote with LED that also monitored the temperature of the amp and the volts it saw, also performed in spades.

 

The Sundown Audio SALT-2 amplifier proved to be a real performer! After listening to it, I can whole heartedly agree, as Wade Watts said……..Ohhhh…Yeah! With an MSRP of $875, some may consider it out of their budget. But whatever your wattage needs for your subs, Sundown Audio has a SALT series amp that will work for you, and worth every penny. It’s worth saving up for. And it will provide years of use. Based on its design, features, quality, and performance, the Sundown Audio SALT-2 has earned our Editor’s Choice Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.sundownaudio.com.