cheap chinese crap. There is a filter on ebay when you search for an item you can select U.S. only. I never search without it. However even with it some chinese sellers have gotten good at hiding their location on ebay. Always check feedback and buy american. $18 isn't bad for a paperweight I guess.

 

Check out the wetsounds amp, Same As the Arc Amp but its less money and kicks ***, I have it on my 07 SG.

 

500 watts is the WLS rating(when lightening strikes)

What size is the power fuse?

amperage X Volts = watts......keeping in mind that the main power fuse is usually much higher than required........

 

Hong Kong is a beatiful city. Was there in the 80's in the Navy. It was still under British rule. Even then you could see how cheaply made things were.

 

I bought my Arc used off Ebay for about half the cost of a new one. There's a guy right now on Ebay selling 4 used Arc mini's for $210 or best offer !

 

I figured it was junk when I bought but said what the heck, i'll try it out anyway. I have installed tons of amps in my day for my friends, my step-son, and myself so I am not a newb at amps. Always used Pioneer, Kicker, Rockford Fosgate, etc. I knew I was probably wasting my time when I bought this one though.

 

Don't feel bad I got a cheap amp too. At frist sounded like crap but than I rechecked the wireing (Pos to Pos and Neg to Neg) all the way thru the sound system..... Just making sure the speacker wires were right made a big difference. Little amp cheap price big sound. and if it craps out..... I'm out $20 bucks.....

 

Did you use the high level inputs or the low level RCA inputs? If your head unit doesn't have a low level line out (RCA) you should use the high level.

 

so whats you're recommendation for a good american amp to use?

hardware wise, it is basically the same. but there is some software involved that makes it different. can you tell? i dunno, just what i learned from my research

 

Happy birthday to the op.