AMPLIFIERS
Fusion FE-402
By Paul Sonoda
Posted on Tuesday, Jun 1, 2004

"Fusion" is the union or blending together of things. In the case of Fusion Car Audio, fusion represents the blending of wild and crazy New Zealand marketing with cool car audio products. In a relatively short period of time, Fusion has taken the car audio community by storm, or, should I say, by green aliens.

The subject of this review is the Fusion fe-402. The first thing you’ll notice is...it’s green, fluorescent green. If you’re looking for this amplifier to subtly blend in to your Mercedes Benz, think again. However, if you’re looking for a solid performing, inexpensive amplifier with tons of features, the Fusion fe-402 has landed.

First Look
The Fusion fe-402 is a full range, two-channel, Class AB amplifier wrapped in a bright fluorescent green anodized heatsink. The fe-402 has a continuously variable 18 dB-per-octave high-pass and low-pass crossover that’s selectable on the endplate of the amplifier. For the maximum flexibility in system tuning, the frequency adjustment ranges are different for the high-pass and low-pass crossovers.

The fe-402 has gold-plated RCA connectors capable of accepting up to 8 volts (RMS) of audio input. On the same side as the RCA’s are all the audio adjustments. On the other side of the amplifier, the gold-plated oversized 4-gauge power and ground connections and speaker connections provide all the high power connections. The outputs of the Fusion amplifier can be configured for stereo, bridged, or "Tri-Mode" operation. (Tri-Mode operation is where the amplifier runs both stereo and bridged configurations simultaneously.)

Closer Look
One of the first things I noticed was the great number of dials and switches on the amplifier. The fe-402 packs features you would typically find on a more expensive amplifier. Not only do the high-pass and low-pass crossovers have different tuning ranges, this amplifier also includes a 45 Hz bass boost capable of up to 12 dB of boost. To protect your subwoofers from over excursion, the fe-402 incorporates an 18 dB-per-octave subsonic filter that is continuously adjustable from 20 Hz to 55 Hz. The Fusion even has a remote bass control that lets you fine tune the bass to your personal taste.

Inside the amplifier is a technology called the F.I.S.T. (Fusion Intercooled Semi-Conductor Technology) cooling system. Fusion claims this is an innovative method for mounting the power and output devices of the amplifier. When I opened the amplifier (do not do this as it might void your warranty), I found the power and output devices mounted down with a bar in the shape of a little green heatsink. This is supposed to promote cooling on both sides of the output devices. The claimed result is lower distortion and better reliability due to excellent thermal stability. Pretty cool, literally

Installation
The installation of the Fusion fe-402 is simple and straightforward. The mounting feet supplied with the amplifier are placed on the corners of the endplates. The amplifier includes green and a red LED lights on the signal end of the amplifier — the green light lets you know the amplifier is receiving power and the red LED is a status indicator that lets you know if there are any problems. The 25A fuse for the amplifier is located next to the power connections and is easy to access. The connections of the fe-402 are well marked and easy to use.

Manuals/Web Support
The owner’s manual not only provided all the necessary information to install the amplifier, it also had nice illustrations that made the job easy. An additional nice touch was the "Power Cable Calculator" chart that recommended a particular gauge power cable based on current draw and length of power cable needed to reach the battery. The company’s Web site, www.fusioncaraudio.com, is a zoomy-cool flash-based design. I was able to locate the fe-402 amplifier fairly easy. There was no spec sheet or owner’s manual available for downloading. I did notice that the specs on the Web site did not match the specifications listed in the owner’s manual. Since the fe-402 has so many adjustments and settings, it would be best installed by an authorized Fusion Car Audio dealer.

Sound Q & Performance
This is where the Fusion fe-402 really shined. The owner’s manual listed power ratings for the amplifier at 12.6 and 14.4 VDC. At 12.6 VDC, the fe-402 produced 52.6 watts per channel into 4 ohms, 89.1 watts per channel into 2 ohms, and 178.2 watts bridged into 4 ohms. Raising the voltage to 14.4 VDC, the amplifier produced 61.6 watts, 113.3 watts, and 226.5 watts, respectively. The Fusion fe-402 easily exceeded the specifications printed in the owner’s manual. More importantly, the amplifier did not appear to strain to product these numbers. In fact, it seemed effortless.

On the efficiency side, the Fusion fe-402 performed the way that you would expect for an average Class AB amplifier. At maximum power, the fe-402 varied between 62 and 68 percent efficiency. At one-third rated power, the efficiency dropped to a predictable 26 to 30 percent efficiency. The maximum current draw recorded was 24.3 amps, well within the safety limit of the supplied 25 amp fuse.

The sound quality was excellent. The interesting thing about the fe-402 is that it sounded more powerful than what you might expect from an amplifier in this price or power range.

Summary
The Fusion fe-402 is an excellent performing amplifier loaded with features that allow you to get the best sound for any situation. Regardless of if you’re driving midrange and tweeters or your subwoofers, the fe-402 will exceed your expectations. To sum it up, the Fusion fe-402 performs as brightly as its fluorescent green heatsink.