Digital Designs M4 Half Assed Review

[Th3pwn3r]

I just decided to create this thread to do a slight review of my Digital Designs M4. Before getting to that I'd like to thank Zac Davis owner of Tinker Toys in Beloit, Wisconsin, if you need a system for a good price he'll make sure to get you the best bang(yeah, shitty pun) for your buck. So on to the amp, first off the thing looks great, DD has always gone with a KISS approach to their amps, no unnecessary lights or graphics, just a solid color with some an engraved DD logo and amp name, in this case M4(the M4a has M4a engraved into it and so on per amp). Next I'd address the size, just about any 5kw amplifier will take up some space at 22"L x 9.12"W x 2.5"H and add some weight to your vehicle but you're definitely getting a lot for the real estate in my opinion, comparable amps such as a DC Audio 5k and Crescendo BC5500 are a bit larger.

On to the hardware side, the terminals look and feel to be of damn good quality, no worries about stripping out a set screw, the signal inputs are very solid where they're set as well. One issue DD needs to address is that they have a cutout on the mounting area for a screw to pass through BUT this cutout is blocked by the speaker outputs, the feet should have mounting tabs should have extended out a bit further. Also, I thought I had blown something up when my amp had no output because the switch to go from master to slave got moved, the switch protrudes quite a bit making it very easy to move with pressure to it, had this been recessed or flush it would have been much better.

Now I'll talk about output although I can't say too much yet. I have my DD 9515 wired to 4 ohms so it's not the loudest setup in the world but it's satisfactory for now, at 4 ohms you can't see any fluctuations on the stock voltmeter, I have a 1993 Ford Ranger with a junkyard alternator and remanufactured battery, oh yeah, I also have a DD SS4a running on stock charging and even when playing it loud(what is loud for this setup) I don't see any issues with voltage dropping. Long story short this(these) amp(s) is/are VERY efficient although most higher end amps are when being run at 4ohms.

TLDR;

Pros:
Looks very nice
Very efficient
Per other reviews does at least rated power
Has hardware you can torque down on
Smaller footprint than other comparable amps
Comes with bass knob!!!1(I don't use it)

Cons:
Master/slave switch protrudes too far and is easily hit
Mounting design should be improved
Manual isn't as detailed as it should be and obviously was written by someone who isn't the best at English

In the near future I'll add another 9515 or two IF I decide to stick with DD subs and then I'll wire down to .75 or 1ohm and see how everything goes. I don't expect stock charging to support it but I'm interested to see what happens when this amp really wakes up. I'll keep you all posted.