Hi Kenny,
You've already gotten some great advice here but I'll throw in my 2 cents as well.
I use the GRE Super Amp 3001 and consider it to be one of the best pieces of equipment in my shack. I have 3 BC-895's and 2 BC-780's all hooked into it (lots of short custom-made coax lines along with a lot of right-angle and T-adapter BNC's :wink: ).
I live about 25-30 miles northwest of NYC, in northern NJ. My house is located in a valley. Using the supplied back-of-set antennas would only get me my local FD/PD/EMS units. I was able to put a scanner antenna on my old TV antenna mast and that made a world of difference in reception. I was able to hear most of the towns in my immediate area. Then I got the amp and I was really astounded. The amp allowed me to go from hearing what was in a 15-20 mile radius to basically the upper third of NJ and southern NY, as well as NYC and western Long Island, NY.
Location of your antenna/radio is most definitely a factor. My buddy, who lives in the same town as I do but on the side of a hill, borrowed the amp and found out it overloaded his radio. Because of his higher location, even being in the shadow of a hill, he only needed the roof-mounted antenna to hear everything I could hear.
Good luck and happy listening!