Kenwood KAC-M3004 Compact 600W 4-Channel Car/Marine/Powersports Digital Amplifier

This little amp put a smile on my face! I did not have much faith the rated numbers were accurate, turns out this little bad boy is underrated! I have an SMD Amp Dyno and decided to try out this amp in bridged 2ch mode...it surprised me!Rated @ 8 ohms (bridged) - 100W x 2 @ 14.4VMeasured wattage at 8 ohms (bridged) - 132W x 2 @ 14.2VRated @ 4 ohms (bridged) - 150W x 2 @ 14.4VMeasured wattage at 4 ohms (bridged) - 192W x 2 @ 13.93VRated "Max Output Power" - 600WMeasured Dynamic RMS Power at 2 ohms (bridged) - 374+357 = 731W !!See my full video review on YouTube under the channel for BigDWiz.I also tested this little amp in the 3 channel mode, using 2 channels for 6.5" coaxials and the other two channels bridged to a single 10" 4 ohm MTX Blue Thunder subwoofer. The amp sounded very clean and dynamic. I was playing back FLAC files through my Kenwood KMM-BT312U head unit in my toolbox boombox. I bought this amp to use in the toolbox boombox, was so happy with the performance, I also ordered the matching 300W monoblock, the KDC-M3001. I'll test this when it comes and report the results.I don't have reliability statistics as this amp is relatively new to the market. I can say compared to similar sized amps such as the Rockford Fosgate PBR-300x4, the Kenwood eats it's lunch. The PBR isn't bridgeable (also not 2 ohm stable) and isn't nearly as flexible as the Kenwood.It is my opinion Kenwood has set the bar here for the mini amps. At about the same dimensions (except thickness) as my iPhone 6 plus, it's simply incredible this little amp can put out over 700W dynamically! Great job Kenwood!

While updating an old explorer high top, I updated the TV to a 24 in flat screen. Knowing the TV speakers would not cut it, my plan was to use the 4 high quality 4 " units already installed in the ceiling and rear finished wood panel. I used this amp which worked perfect. After rewiring all the speakers to the new amp and adding the power/ground/ignition wires, I was almost ready.Here is where it got unnecessarily complicated. The factory conversion used a headphone jack output. I thought I could use that as well. But the TV would shut down the sound and then reset after a power cycle. Hmmm.. I went with a Digital Audio Converter as I had a SPDIF output. Then I found out I needed a DAC with a remote volume control- adding yet another remote to the user (handicapped).Lesson Here- DAC's DO NOT CONTROL VOLUME FROM THE SOURCE. Being a rookie, this was painful.Next I decided I COULD use the headphone OUT signal after bypassing the OEM wiring which was suspect at best. New cable that was headphone to twin RCA jacks. Added two RCA splitters so I connected to all 4 RCA ports on this magical amp and everything worked now.The power out of this little amp is very impressive to my ears. It packages well as I needed it to fit into very tight cubby space. The instruction paper was very well documented- as long as you have good eyesight or magnifying glass. I downloaded it from Kenwood and was able to magnify it on my pc :)Because this amp was marine rated, seemed a perfect for a vehicle parked outside year around in the NE.Durability is not know yet, but many other reviewers are very happy. The initial Quality also seems above average. You get what you pay for. Buy it.

This mini amplifier is great! While it may be small in size, it has plenty of features. The switchable and variable high/low pass filters on both pairs of channels are great. In my application, which has the amplifier tucked away inside a center console, it still barely gets warm (though this is the cold part of the year - so I expect that's part of it). The sound is clean and clear and is more than enough for any non-competition system. I'm running my two front speakers on the A channels of this amplifier (HPF at 80 Hz) and running a single 4 ohm subwoofer off the bridged B channels of the amplifier. It's more than enough for my subwoofer, which is an 8" high excursion unit in a small sealed box. My only complaint about this amplifier is a minor one. It's somewhat tricky to adjust the gains unless you have a good view and access to that end of the amplifier. Using a small screwdriver it's very tricky to find the gain potentiometer knobs since they are quite recessed into the unit and much smaller than the hole for the screwdriver. It would be better if the knobs were either flush with the hole (and the same size), or if they stuck out of the unit instead of being recessed. However, once you get them set it's not like you will be adjusting them all the time. My only other wish would be that all the wiring connections be on the same side of the amplifier, instead of having the RCA inputs on the opposite side from the outputs and power connections. However, I believe it's probably not possible with this small an amplifier - or they would have to be on the long side of the unit, which also wouldn't work in my installation.All in all, for the price and size of this unit, it's an amazing amplifier. Back when I first got into car stereo many moons ago (early 1990s) an amplifier with this performance would be 4+ times the size of this unit and 2-3+ times the price. This unit gives all kinds of possibilities for stealth installations and at the price, running a 50w channel for each driver in a component system, if that's your thing.