Car Audio Buff

The Arc Audio 4200SE is a medium-sized 4-channel amplifier, measuring approximately 19 1/2″ x 8″ x 2 1/2″. The power connections are on one end and the signal connections, on the other. This arrangement allows for maximum isolation of noise by keeping the noisy power and ground cables as far away from the signal and speaker conductors as possible. Throughout the amplifier were similar thoughtful details, dedicated to the minimization of noise and maximizing the sonic performance. The amp is relatively plain looking, finished in a low-sheen black and brushed aluminum, but it is nicely put together, with panel-mount RCAs and very good fit and finish. The Arc Audio emblem on top illuminates when the amp is turned on: in blue if everything is working correctly, and in red if there is a problem. The manual even explains how to remove the illuminated logo and custom paint it to match your install, and then how to sand off the paint to make it light up again when you’re done! The logo’s illuminating background can also be changed to over 200 shades of color using a sequence of events using the remote bass control knob. Nice!

The top-mounted controls are hidden under a brushed aluminum panel, which is removed by taking out four small Phillips-head machine screws. Lifting off the panel, (complete with Mr. Zeff’s signature laser etched onto the brushed aluminum) you find a great assortment of switches and knobs. In fact, there are no less than 28 separate controls, enough to satisfy even the most avid tweaker.

This is one of the few amps in recent memory that uses individual gain controls for each channel, something I feel is missing on many “would be” high-end amps. Sure, one control is easier to set up, but having the extra control of independent pots allows you to finesse the installation and provide a little compensation for things like speaker proximity. You can’t do this stuff with a balance control without affecting all the other channels, not to mention that in many cases a single pot is not always well matched left to right throughout its range of adjustment. Chalk up another point for the legendary Zeff attention to detail, and his understanding of the application for the product he’s designing. Here’s a guy who clearly does not take the train to work… I’d bet a lot of money he drives a car with an audio system in it, and like the rest of us enthusiasts, he “gets it.”

The 4200SE has some of the most comprehensive crossover capabilities in any amp at any price. Each pair of channels has the usual highpass and lowpass settings, but the range of adjustment is from 30 to 550Hz, which is wider than most, plus there is a x10 switch allowing for those frequencies to be multiplied by 10. In other words, you could set either crossover anywhere between 30 and 5,500Hz!

And, the preamp section control doesn’t end there. The crossover slopes can be set individually for 12dB or 24dB per octave slopes, or even set to a bandpass setting with a different slope on each end if you prefer! I’ve seen some digital crossovers that were not this flexible and well thought out.

Additionally, there are controls for bass boost level and frequency, allowing up to 18dB of boost, ranging from about 20 to 80Hz. Then there are special signal steering switches for using the amp in bridged mode that allow the user to select whether the left or right signal is used when stereo bridging, or the sum of the two for subwoofer applications. Still other controls allow the remote level control to adjust the level of all four channels, or just the rear channels so it can be used as a subwoofer volume control with an adjustment range of approximately 60dB. There is also a pair of RCA outputs for routing the rear signal to a subwoofer amplifier.

The controls and configuration of the amp are extremely flexible, allowing for virtually any conceivable installation requirement, and were obviously designed by someone who “gets it” when it comes to high-performance car audio.

Verdict

The Arc Audio amplifier is sonically excellent. Plus, the included features are among the best thought out and most useful of any amplifier I have tested in recent memory. But, this performance and flexibility does not come cheap. At a retail price of $1,399.00, this is not an amp for everyone.

If you merely considered the amp in terms of watts per dollar there are quite a few amps that will provide almost double the power per dollar spent. However, very few of those have the attention to detail, flexibility of features and sonic excellence of this one. So, the choice is yours. If money were no object, this would be a pretty easy choice… but I have to wonder how many $1,399.00 4-channel amps are sold… even great ones like this.

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