Diamond Audio HX480.4 480 Watt RMS 4 Channel Class D Amp

The Diamond Audio HX480.4 is a HEX Series four-channel full-range Class D amplifier rated at 120 watts RMS x 4 into 4 ohms (480 watts RMS total), 185 watts RMS x 4 into 2 ohms, or 370 watts RMS x 2 bridged into 4 ohms, for 12-volt car, truck and UTV speaker systems.

Key Benefits

• 120 watts RMS per channel into 4 ohms across all four channels — Diamond rates the HX480.4 in RMS, so the 480-watt figure is four honest channels rather than a summed peak.
• Doubles to 185 watts RMS per channel into 2 ohms, so it holds up when a pair of speakers is run in parallel on a single channel.
• Bridges to 370 watts RMS x 2 into 4 ohms, which turns it into a two-channel amplifier for a pair of high-power midbass drivers or a subwoofer pair.
• Fully variable high-pass and low-pass crossovers from 40 Hz to 400 Hz with a steep 24 dB per octave slope, plus phase control, so a front stage can be crossed properly against a subwoofer amplifier.
• Four-layer PCB with balanced differential inputs, which rejects the alternator whine and ground noise that single-ended inputs pick up on long runs.
• Wide 10 Hz to 35 kHz bandwidth and a damping factor above 250 at 50 Hz into 4 ohms for tight cone control.
• Compact 9.92 x 6.8 x 2 inch anodized extruded aluminum chassis, small enough to hide behind a seat or under a dash panel.

Fitment

This is a universal 12-volt amplifier, not a vehicle-specific part. It fits any car, truck, Jeep or side-by-side build with room for the 9.92 x 6.8 x 2 inch chassis and power and ground wiring sized for its 60 amps of on-board ATC fusing (two 30-amp fuses). It runs on 10.0 to 17.0 volts DC and presents a 20 kilohm input impedance, so it will sit alongside another amplifier on the same set of RCA outputs.

Match it to the load, not the vehicle. Four-ohm speakers get 120 watts RMS each; 2-ohm speakers, or two 4-ohm speakers in parallel on one channel, get 185 watts RMS each. Bridged into 4 ohms it becomes a two-channel amplifier at 370 watts RMS per side.

Do not confuse it with its siblings in the HEX Series. The HX480.4 is a four-channel speaker amplifier with no dedicated subwoofer channel; the HX1200.5 adds a fifth subwoofer channel to the same four full-range channels, and the HX1600.1D and HX1200.1D are dedicated monoblock subwoofer amplifiers that will not drive full-range speakers.

Diamond Audio lists the HEX Series under car audio and publishes no IP rating, marine rating or conformal-coating claim for it. In an open cab or a side-by-side, mount it in a dry, protected location such as under a seat or inside a sealed enclosure.