I remember back in 91 there was a small stereo shop in Huntington Beach, CA where I was living at the time. They had two white pyramid amplifiers that were made in the USA. Not just "designed" , but actually made here. I think I even saw some ads in my car audio subscription as well. They were white and resembled the phoenix gold MS series in the heat sink design. I couldn't afford one back then, but was very curious for a while, then basically forgot about them. I know pyramid makes so many cheesy amps nowadays, but I'm wondering if anyone else knows if any of these still exist. I would sure like to get my hands on one and see who was actually making them. Kind of like the premier amps pioneer made a few years ago that appeared to be US made by the way the internals and pcb were designed.
Pyramid/ Precision Power Amplifiers
PPI made High end Pyramid Amplifiers about the same time the Art Series amplifiers were being made. They were ordered by Pyramid. There were some contract problems and the amps did not reach the market in mass. These amps were in the Pyramid catalogs. They had the same model numbers as the PPI amplifiers. They were white powder coated. They were not overbuilt like the PPI amplifiers. PPI also built this style amp for G&S Designs and Black Max. The Pyramid amps were offered to me and my partner Paul. The only terms were that we could not market them in the USA. They did not want a lawsuit with Sound Around Electronics (Pyramid). We passed on the deal. We ended up buying the Lanzar PPI amps model 100 and 200. We also bought the Sedona 2 and 3 way crossovers for $21 and $22 each. These were the good old days. We did some crazy deals with Rockford also. These were the good old days.
PPI made High end Pyramid Amplifiers about the same time the Art Series amplifiers were being made. They were ordered by Pyramid. There were some contract problems and the amps did not reach the market in mass. These amps were in the Pyramid catalogs. They had the same model numbers as the PPI amplifiers. They were white powder coated. They were not overbuilt like the PPI amplifiers. PPI also built this style amp for G&S Designs and Black Max. The Pyramid amps were offered to me and my partner Paul. The only terms were that we could not market them in the USA. They did not want a lawsuit with Sound Around Electronics (Pyramid). We passed on the deal. We ended up buying the Lanzar PPI amps model 100 and 200. We also bought the Sedona 2 and 3 way crossovers for $21 and $22 each. These were the good old days. We did some crazy deals with Rockford also. These were the good old days.
I would definately like to find one of the "pyramid" ppi amps then. It would surely throw my friends off if they saw one in my car, haha. They know I like ppi, pg, orion, etc.. Plus, I would like to see the insides, for some reason I can't quite understand. Could you let me know if you ever hear about one?
Pyramid / PPI Amp
These were sold in the US - I remember seeing them at competitions. But they were hard to find given that Pyramid already had a flea-market image. This is similar to Jensen's little fling with their Nitro stuff in the mid 90's. The amps weren't bad, but their image was already destroyed by all those years of total junk.
I really hate eBay anymore. It used to be (around 1999-2001)that you could buy a cheap Pioneer CD player with no audio output [IOW - broken]for $5 plus $8 shipping. It's overrun with retail stores selling junk that nobody wants.
Made in USA Pyramid on eBay
These were sold in the US - I remember seeing them at competitions. But they were hard to find given that Pyramid already had a flea-market image. This is similar to Jensen's little fling with their Nitro stuff in the mid 90's. The amps weren't bad, but their image was already destroyed by all those years of total junk.
I really hate eBay anymore. It used to be (around 1999-2001)that you could buy a cheap Pioneer CD player with no audio output [IOW - broken]for $5 plus $8 shipping. It's overrun with retail stores selling junk that nobody wants.
Made in USA Pyramid on eBay
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
/\ Haha, wow that's one of them! Too bad I just bought a sony amp to fix and a hott set up for my friend on ebay. I'd like one just for the novelty of it. I'd actually run on of the 600 watt models in my car. That would really freak my friends and customers out
! They would never believe I had a pyramid running in my car. I'm going to tell my friends about that one and see if anyone will buy it. Its a little expensive for a 250 considering I won my A600.2 for a little over 150. Who knows, maybe after selling my borked punch amps I may have some $ to play with. Thanks for keeping an eye out for me!!
! They would never believe I had a pyramid running in my car. I'm going to tell my friends about that one and see if anyone will buy it. Its a little expensive for a 250 considering I won my A600.2 for a little over 150. Who knows, maybe after selling my borked punch amps I may have some $ to play with. Thanks for keeping an eye out for me!!Soundstream 500s Repair help
Envision Electronics,
I saw your post a few times and am interested in your ability to fix stuff. LOL. Okay, seriously, I have an old SS 500s that simply won't turn on. I got it on ebay, not intending for it to be DOA. You posted in one place that if you had the parts, you could fix it and send it back within a week. But this was in regards to a PPI. Is that true for all amps? I would have emailed directly, but apparently I haven't posted enough material to be trusted with your email address. Makes sense.
Anyway, your thoughts or help is appreciated.
Bob
Envision Electronics,
I saw your post a few times and am interested in your ability to fix stuff. LOL. Okay, seriously, I have an old SS 500s that simply won't turn on. I got it on ebay, not intending for it to be DOA. You posted in one place that if you had the parts, you could fix it and send it back within a week. But this was in regards to a PPI. Is that true for all amps? I would have emailed directly, but apparently I haven't posted enough material to be trusted with your email address. Makes sense.
Anyway, your thoughts or help is appreciated.
Bob
Re: Soundstream 500s Repair help
Back in a week, eh? That must have been a while ago when business was slower.
500s can have all kinds of problems. Typically, you've got dead MosFets in the power supply for one reason or another. Sometimes this is because the main toroid is shorted, the secondary common-mode coil has come unsoldered or the high current/voltage switch is bad. Of course, the Darlington output transistors could be shorted, shutting down the main supply.
I don't stock any of these components anymore, except some of the TIP output transistors. I don't think I have enough to actually complete a repair, though.
My basic rule for repairs these days is: You're going to wait for it. I work a full time job plus a side business that is going through some growing pains.
You might want to contact someone that does this full time if you're interested in getting the amp back in a week or two - with me, you might wait a month. I personally recommend Cecil "JustOneMoreAmp" here at this site and "onemoreamp" on the Phoenix Phorums forum site. He is as thorough as I am and comes with high praise from many "problem" cases.
RedWa said:
Back in a week, eh? That must have been a while ago when business was slower.
500s can have all kinds of problems. Typically, you've got dead MosFets in the power supply for one reason or another. Sometimes this is because the main toroid is shorted, the secondary common-mode coil has come unsoldered or the high current/voltage switch is bad. Of course, the Darlington output transistors could be shorted, shutting down the main supply.
I don't stock any of these components anymore, except some of the TIP output transistors. I don't think I have enough to actually complete a repair, though.
My basic rule for repairs these days is: You're going to wait for it. I work a full time job plus a side business that is going through some growing pains.
You might want to contact someone that does this full time if you're interested in getting the amp back in a week or two - with me, you might wait a month. I personally recommend Cecil "JustOneMoreAmp" here at this site and "onemoreamp" on the Phoenix Phorums forum site. He is as thorough as I am and comes with high praise from many "problem" cases.
RedWa said:
To me, a really nice dead amp is like a life hanging in the balance at the ER. I don't care if I get paid to fix it or not - I just don't want to see it go to the landfill for a fairly benign (or very difficult) problem. I started repairing car amplifiers at age 17 (I'm 31 now) and never looked back. I can count on one hand the number of amps I couldn't figure out without a schematic. [Carver M-series, Yamaha (circa 1988) and an Xtant 1001D]. Everything else has successfully been returned to perfect health. I can't count how many repairs I've performed, but I know it's in the hundreds - all brands, shapes and sizes. I really like the super rare ones. I just (like 20 mins ago) bought a US Amps KA-200 built in 1989-90 before they had any distribution north of Alabama. Of course, it's broken but I've never seen one EVER. I can add it to my repertoire once it's back in action. I will probably refinish it as well, stripping the old anodize/dye finish and reanodizing.
As you can tell, I take my car amplifier repairs very seriously. If this 500s is in any good condition at all, it's worth repairing. You have to remember that the 500s was $900 new. A $75-100 repair is STILL worth the cost.
I hear you. A little work can fix many a things. I used to own a Carver M240. At least I think that is what it was called. My father in law still owns my old Carver home receiver. Very full sound.
How do I go about getting an estimate on getting the 500s fixed? I took off the cover to see the burnt area under the yellow cylinders. You could tell it was 1 or 2 components on each side that fried. I have no idea what the underside looks like. If it is as simple as replacing these components, then all is good. But couldn't the board be messed up from the burn? I am handy with the mechanical requirements to do the work, but would need a lot of direction on what to do. I have a good camera and could start a new thread to walk through a repair by an newby.
Thoughts? I'd love to fix it myself. But for $100, I'd love to simply have it fixed. Anyone out there from Mpls, Minnesota?
I completely hi-jacked this thread. Sorry for not starting a new one.
How do I go about getting an estimate on getting the 500s fixed? I took off the cover to see the burnt area under the yellow cylinders. You could tell it was 1 or 2 components on each side that fried. I have no idea what the underside looks like. If it is as simple as replacing these components, then all is good. But couldn't the board be messed up from the burn? I am handy with the mechanical requirements to do the work, but would need a lot of direction on what to do. I have a good camera and could start a new thread to walk through a repair by an newby.
Thoughts? I'd love to fix it myself. But for $100, I'd love to simply have it fixed. Anyone out there from Mpls, Minnesota?
I completely hi-jacked this thread. Sorry for not starting a new one.
RedWa said:
Starting a new thread is a good idea, but you really need the basic tools for repair. A soldering iron is fine, but you need a way to power the amplifier up without blowing something else up. A current-limited 12V power supply is ideal for this and they are available for around $50 at most electronics distributors. However, if you don't think you'll ever use it again, then it's not a worthwhile venture.
Burnt marks under the yellow cylinders (these are input filter capacitors) could indicate that electrolyte has leaked out of the capacitors and shorted out portions of the board. This repair means pulling all 18 capacitors out and cleaning the board, then replacing every one of them with new - about $30 in parts if nothing else is damaged.
Another possibility is that the MosFets (transistor switches) which reside under the circuit board have cooked themselves and the board to a nice crisp. Replacing these is somewhat easy, but one must remove the entire board (as you must with any SoundStream) to access them. I believe the part numbers on these are STP50N06 or IRFZ44.
Along with the MosFets, there are usually at least one or two transistors in the output stage that are shorted. These are TIP102 and TIP107 Darlington types. These are not commonly available and must usually be ordered from a specialized supplier. www.audiolabga.com is a good start (just checked - they have them). The output stage of these amplifiers uses an a-typical Class A predriver. I believe there are parallel cascode 2N4401 on cards. These will short when the outputs explode and cause endless further explosions until you replace them.
If all this sounds over your head - it probably is. I (and the others I recommend) can do these repairs in our sleep. In fact, I just recalled all these part numbers from memory - which might explain how many SoundStream amps I've repaired in the last decade.
Like I said, I'm a busy dude - but I could do the repair, no sweat, only if you don't mind waiting a few weeks. OneMoreAmp Cecil is in Cali - another guy that goes by Dr. Fosgate is in Michigan, and I'm in Dayton, OH. Dr. Foz might be your best bet distance-wise, but I haven't had any personal dealings with him...
Let me get you the link to where you should be posting your pics and asking for more specialized assistance:
http://phoenixphorum.com/car-audio-vf3.html
If you need to discuss this further, just contact me on my website's Contact Form at the address in my signature below.
This is great help. The only thing you mentioned that concerns me is cleaning the board. I don't know exactly what that entails. If it is using some rubbing alcohol to remove any residue, I'm fine, but if it means a special chemical cleaning and potential repair, I'm probably in trouble. My father in law is a retired EE from IBM. His oldest son (other than me) just finished his EE degree at the UofM. Dad can help as he is all old school in approach and touch. And it seems the components are available to buy. In other words, I am thinking this is a worthwhile activity.
Another note: I have been checking out the US Amps. Some nice stuff out there. Anything to stay away from? I am looking to turn my family sedan into a comfortable SQ car. One sub and upgraded mids and tweets. Two or three amps total. I won't need all the power the 500s has, but I want at least 400 clean watts behind the system.
I am a little flustered with speakers as I assume they have dropped in quality the same as the amps. Any recommendations. Back in the late 80s, JL subs and MB mids hit the sweet spot just fine with a SS or PPI driving them.
If I do go for the repair myself, I'll post some pix to the link you shared.
Another note: I have been checking out the US Amps. Some nice stuff out there. Anything to stay away from? I am looking to turn my family sedan into a comfortable SQ car. One sub and upgraded mids and tweets. Two or three amps total. I won't need all the power the 500s has, but I want at least 400 clean watts behind the system.
I am a little flustered with speakers as I assume they have dropped in quality the same as the amps. Any recommendations. Back in the late 80s, JL subs and MB mids hit the sweet spot just fine with a SS or PPI driving them.
If I do go for the repair myself, I'll post some pix to the link you shared.
I had to open it.. besides, there is no warranty seal
Notice anything odd about this picture \/ and the one above????
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
ppia600 said:C'mon, it can't be that difficult to see???Take another look... By the way, there is another up for auction. New old stock.
Uh, other than the usual "extra space" Pyramid is known for? We already know it's a PPI amp. What else should we be looking for...?
WAIT WAIT WAIT!!! I SEE IT!!
The DIN input is actually THERE, just totally covered up. LOLOLOL. Hilarious, to say the least. Interestingly, Pyramid HAD a line of DIN input and output amps, but I think they were a different pinout than the PPI.
Hey, the extra space is extra heatsink for extra cooling!!
Haha, thanks for actually looking... I figured some guys probably would ignore it considering my current status, haha. I thought it was pretty funny, good thing I'm using rca jacks. Apparently this was an already manufactured ppi 2050m and it didn't pay to remove the din jack. Surely someone will have to come in and correct me on that, but it seems the only logical explanation. There are a couple more for sale if anyone wants a quirky piece of history. I didn't buy mine to use, just wanted it for posterity.
Haha, thanks for actually looking... I figured some guys probably would ignore it considering my current status, haha. I thought it was pretty funny, good thing I'm using rca jacks. Apparently this was an already manufactured ppi 2050m and it didn't pay to remove the din jack. Surely someone will have to come in and correct me on that, but it seems the only logical explanation. There are a couple more for sale if anyone wants a quirky piece of history. I didn't buy mine to use, just wanted it for posterity.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.