I would stay away from Pioneer as well. They used to make fantastic amplifiers. I own a six year old GM-X214, and it has never failed. That's because back then they used high powered MOSFETs, solid brass high current B+ rails, and a very thick printed circuit board. The last few years they've gotten rid of the brass B+ rails and just use the circuit board traces (lower current capability), they switched to cooler operating MOSFETS, and they used a thinner circuit board. Now, the 2003 models use FETs and output integrated circuits (IC chips in stead of MOSFETs). Just had the first one come in Monday with the emitter resistors burned to a crisp and a torched circuit board beyond repair. They have gotten very cheap in the last few years. I saw at least 3 per week in the last generation with all six FETs flamed and a blown ground trace.