There I was.. staring at the makeshift page for cops towing, a towing company that sells what they yank out of the cars. Located in Oregon, and it only happend to make it's way in front of me because I was googling to find a particular amplifier model to disect and study (more on that later)
Scrolling down the amplifier page I seen a small, blurry picture and could barely make out 'Audio Control system90' and whole bunch of adjustment knobs on the top. I remember thinking at first 'Equalizers don't belong here..'
It was going for about 90 bucks and it looked fancy so I hobbled by google again and dug up what little I could find on it (it's rare.. google it I dare ya!)
Apparently the System90 was an amplifier line produced with several models that included various goodies like EQ lineout's, PFM (programable match filters), etc.
Deciding that I just had to have a peek inside it knowing AC's quality reputation, I contacted cops and asked if they would ship. The answer was yes.
Low and behold.. the Audio Control System90, Model 50.. Disected for cleaning and viewing pleasure.
Specs:
Four channel Bridgeable power amplifier
Four channel Equalization
18db/per octave crossovers
Programmable Frequency Match (PFM)
Selectable low pass / full range output
Speaker level inputs
50 watts x 4 or 150 watts x 2
PS stage -
6x IRFZ34N
TL494 PWM
Isolated transformer
AUDIO stage (per ch) -
TIP35/36C matched output pair
MPSW56/06 Pre-drive
External damping diodes
Overall Dimensions - 13"l x 5.6"w x 2.5"h
NOTES: Has 4 IRFZ34N's mounted to sinks center of amplifier board, and in vicinity are two LM393's.. Any ideas what they did here?
Let me know what you thin of it.. for 90 bucks I know I didn't go wrong.
- Matt
Scrolling down the amplifier page I seen a small, blurry picture and could barely make out 'Audio Control system90' and whole bunch of adjustment knobs on the top. I remember thinking at first 'Equalizers don't belong here..'
It was going for about 90 bucks and it looked fancy so I hobbled by google again and dug up what little I could find on it (it's rare.. google it I dare ya!)
Apparently the System90 was an amplifier line produced with several models that included various goodies like EQ lineout's, PFM (programable match filters), etc.
Deciding that I just had to have a peek inside it knowing AC's quality reputation, I contacted cops and asked if they would ship. The answer was yes.
Low and behold.. the Audio Control System90, Model 50.. Disected for cleaning and viewing pleasure.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Specs:
Four channel Bridgeable power amplifier
Four channel Equalization
18db/per octave crossovers
Programmable Frequency Match (PFM)
Selectable low pass / full range output
Speaker level inputs
50 watts x 4 or 150 watts x 2
PS stage -
6x IRFZ34N
TL494 PWM
Isolated transformer
AUDIO stage (per ch) -
TIP35/36C matched output pair
MPSW56/06 Pre-drive
External damping diodes
Overall Dimensions - 13"l x 5.6"w x 2.5"h
NOTES: Has 4 IRFZ34N's mounted to sinks center of amplifier board, and in vicinity are two LM393's.. Any ideas what they did here?
Let me know what you thin of it.. for 90 bucks I know I didn't go wrong.
- Matt
ppia600 said:
Yeah, one pair per channel. The 'cards' appear to be part of the modular design and seem to host the entire channel on each of them. Thats what I gathered at a glance anyway, I wanted to take the time to really dig into tracing the routes on those mosfets but just didn't have the time.
1moreamp said:Evening,
Nice Old School amp from Audio Control, I was looking over your pics, perhaps you should visit Amp-guts and post them there along with the others from this era in Car audio. I am sure everyone would appreciate you efforts...
Thanks for the peek
Thank you, I didn't need another amp but I couldn't pass it up. I have actually been trying to get a good pic set for amps that are not on the ampguts site and I'm slowly submitting them. The last amp I submitted a few weeks ago has not made it's way up yet. Not sure what the update scedule looks like over there.
- Matt
tsmith1315 said:
Well, if you Google the system90 series not much shows up, especially for the model 50. You get a good share of hits, but when you dig deeper you find very little of the results. What I have been able to surmise is that at one time AC tried to integrate their processing goodies into a package with certain purpose built amplifiers. For example the system90 model 11 was a center channel amplifier. It didn't do DTS or anything, just a small sumed mono amplifier for center channel purposes. Then there was the model 20 and 40 which I didn't dig into, and then my model 50 which appears to be the cadillac of them all.
My guess is that they didn't hit target sales to keep the line going because the system90 line only had a few models and there didn't seem to be any new lines after that which suggests it was pulled early in life. Speculation of course. Given AC's quality standards and on-shore manufacturing I would say the price probably scared a lot of end users away, which only left the super techies with the money that knew what to do with it. Then of course there was also the crowd who liked AC's processing but wanted to use their own amps with it and that probably ate up half the sales potential with the super techies with the money.
So what probably ended up happening to most of them was they ended up in SQ installs that entailed buyers with the money, and a loyalty to AC products. Or loyal AC users who were excited to try the new line of amps. All speculation, again. What we need here is somebody from audio control to chime in
- Matt
if you're a collector of the system 90, i have a model 11 sitting in the closet....
pics
http://www.hunt101.com/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/8845
pics
http://www.hunt101.com/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/8845
Envision Audio:
Can you attribute anything in particular to their unreliabilty?
I like the layout and have considered using a similar format for signal processing. But having large vertical board 'modules' in a vibration prone environment is worrysome.
Did your customers have a reasonable interest in them, aside from the exclusive pricing?
Can you attribute anything in particular to their unreliabilty?
I like the layout and have considered using a similar format for signal processing. But having large vertical board 'modules' in a vibration prone environment is worrysome.
Did your customers have a reasonable interest in them, aside from the exclusive pricing?
tsmith1315 said:
Not really - we sold them to individuals with zero trunk space in cars like MGs and Porsches. Even higher end customers then were still looking for separates in their larger cars. It might have done better with more power, but then it wouldn't be as small. It was 40W x 4 for $650 retail (I think our price was a bit over $600). Compared to buying a 4 channel Alpine and an Audiocontrol EQLs, most people went for the "more stuff the same money". I think brand recognition for Audio Control wasn't in the amplifier business - and they had no presence in the competition circuit except for signal processing. It was confusing to many people!
IIRC, the return rate was ridiculous. Since they were warranty repairs, we never repaired them. I have worked on them personally in the past few years, and their biggest trouble is popped outputs. Something about lack of heatsinking and using a pair of TO-220 parts at 2 ohms comes to mind as a very bad idea...
Quoted from Envision audio:
"Not really - we sold them to individuals with zero trunk space in cars like MGs and Porsches. Even higher end customers then were still looking for separates in their larger cars. It might have done better with more power, but then it wouldn't be as small. It was 40W x 4 for $650 retail (I think our price was a bit over $600). Compared to buying a 4 channel Alpine and an Audiocontrol EQLs, most people went for the "more stuff the same money". I think brand recognition for Audio Control wasn't in the amplifier business - and they had no presence in the competition circuit except for signal processing. It was confusing to many people!
IIRC, the return rate was ridiculous. Since they were warranty repairs, we never repaired them. I have worked on them personally in the past few years, and their biggest trouble is popped outputs. Something about lack of heatsinking and using a pair of TO-220 parts at 2 ohms comes to mind as a very bad idea..."
Did they all use to220? The op says his has the tip35/36 style...
"Not really - we sold them to individuals with zero trunk space in cars like MGs and Porsches. Even higher end customers then were still looking for separates in their larger cars. It might have done better with more power, but then it wouldn't be as small. It was 40W x 4 for $650 retail (I think our price was a bit over $600). Compared to buying a 4 channel Alpine and an Audiocontrol EQLs, most people went for the "more stuff the same money". I think brand recognition for Audio Control wasn't in the amplifier business - and they had no presence in the competition circuit except for signal processing. It was confusing to many people!
IIRC, the return rate was ridiculous. Since they were warranty repairs, we never repaired them. I have worked on them personally in the past few years, and their biggest trouble is popped outputs. Something about lack of heatsinking and using a pair of TO-220 parts at 2 ohms comes to mind as a very bad idea..."
Did they all use to220? The op says his has the tip35/36 style...
EnvisionAudio said:
Just mount it in a silicone dampened enclosure with some forced air ventilation and a fresh air inlet from outside the trunk then, lol? I actually thought about building a sealed amp enclosure and having one inlet vent and one outlet vent totally isolated from trunk air volume to keep the amps super cool, never got around to building it though. And of course some filter screens to keep the fans from sucking in small animals haha
yesterdaysyouth said:
Wanna sell it? I was considering using a center channel in my next install.. would be neat to have matched products like that from the old days.
EnvisionAudio said:
How about a former AudioControl dealer?
They were very expensive, low powered and not reliable. I remember them well....
I have a 87 vette I was going to do a SQL install in and am seriously considering keeping this one. I was going to flush the amps anyways and use forced cooling in the panel gap so heat wouldn't be a big deal. The design should yield rated power, albeit low. But I was going to use all four channels on front stage, which was going to be split between the dash and door areas because the kicks in that car are virtually undoable (barely enough foot space as it is)
Doing this allows me independant control of each area and EQ control between the dash and doors, so it should be a tweakers paradise for me. I hooked it up and it has TONS of boost/cut in the EQ and sounds really flat when everything is centered. I reall liked some of the things they done with the design, and hey! I got PLENTY of tip35/36c pairs in the bin
I think it'll be a sweetheart in the application I'm contemplating.. anything other then the negatives you listed I'd care to know? Have an old manual laying around for it?
- Matt
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.