I've been searching for an amplifier for my MyVi to make some improvement over the sound. Due to the limited budget, I've been searching high and low in few forums and finally ended up with this Lightning Acoustic LA-502 which was sold by Fofit.
This is a 2-channel amplifier. For those who don’t know, 2-channel means
this amplifier could support 2 speakers individually with two different
connections. A good 2-channel amplifier shall have two individual circuits; I'm
not sure about this unit though.
Expectation for this amplifier is very limited with the price given less than RM200. My purpose is to make enough difference, on the positive side of course, to the MyVi stock setup. I’m looking for more solid sound, both treble and bass.
Installation was done by Howie Choo. I would say he has done a good job. Although mine is the only the third MyVi he has made installation, his experience and skill was shown and proved throughout the installation process.
I’m not sure if such a budget amplifier will sound difference with some burn-in, however my expectation was met as soon as the amplifier is working in my car. The amplifier is tested out with some audiophile CDs, which were copied from friends. The overall loudness has improved, as expected. I don’t need to tune up the volume to have similar loudness. A level of 16 (on the stock HU) has produced enough dimensions that I need.
The bass has became more solid, not until extend of “boom boom”, but it’s no longer flat, if you know what I mean. The treble is marginally better, the improvement is less obvious than the bass.
The adjustment or tuning option on the amplifier is limited, as according to Howie. With such a low price, I'm not surprised. I found that when I switch off the player, there are some noises coming out from the player, which will distort when I press the fuel pedal. I'm not sure if this is the fault of the amplifier, or is it the installation. But as soon as I switch on the player, the noise is gone. This means that I had to always on the player to prevent this disturbance sound. When tuning to FM, there are some disturbances to the sound, with some unwanted noise mixed into it. I suspect that this might be caused by the Hi-Lo Converter which produces electrostatic that is disturbing the aerial signal.
