I recently picked up a MARS (Mobile Audio Reference) Reference 100 Car amp at auction. it appears to be new in the box but is definitely an old amplifier that has been sitting around for a long time.
I found a product card inside that List's an address of 14431 Chase St. Panorama City Ca, 91402 which appears to be an AT&T store now. One photo I saw showed a facade that looked like it was the same shape as the amplifiers distinctive heatsink. Obviously the company is long gone now.
The insides looked VERY well laid out for a car amp. high quality stuff! nicely done. Curious if anyone has any 411 on these guys???
Zc
I found a product card inside that List's an address of 14431 Chase St. Panorama City Ca, 91402 which appears to be an AT&T store now. One photo I saw showed a facade that looked like it was the same shape as the amplifiers distinctive heatsink. Obviously the company is long gone now.
The insides looked VERY well laid out for a car amp. high quality stuff! nicely done. Curious if anyone has any 411 on these guys???
Zc
I think the company folded in the late 90's, but I'm not sure. I have never seen the stuff, but I wanted to try it. They had a Reference 100 MKII listed in the 1996 buyers guide, MSRP $850. This was the lowest priced amp they had in their line and probably newer than the one you picked up. I would like to see pictures too.
By the looks of those resistors it has to be atleast 25years old. I had a few LP's that were over 25years old and some of them had those resistors. Those gold plated RCA's could of been added later on because I doubt they were even thought of back then, especially in car audio. What are the values on those big caps? Its weird it only has three output transistors (being t220, which are very small) for each side with those big *** caps.
This amp actually likes quite similar to an Orion GX2150 I have in my posession. I think my Orion is a bigger amp, but perhaps yours is maybe just a 100x2 version of my 150x2 Orion. I'll take a few more pictures when I get home, but this pic is one I have. Both amps have what looks to be a similar design layout, and a similar design usage of white 8-pin ICs, plus many other components from what i can see by the pics including push-buttons, gain controls, and clamps. perhaps MARs became Orion? This GX2150 is stamped with a year of 1989 on the PCB. Does your MARs have a push-button for bridge operation? If it does, then yours is more like the SX version rather than GX line from Orion.
Am I close in saying this?
Am I close in saying this?
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I wasnt calling this amp an orion design, instead i was pointing out similarities. Orion old school amps are tough and expensive to find as it is, with this amp if related being possibly the rarest of this design and posibly an important predecessor. The older the better in my book. The gx series amp which i have looks similar in design minus the push switches which ive seen on the sx series of orions. When you power this amp, does it full 10-15 amps for the first second? my gx does that.
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I don't really have anything to contribute. It appears to have a lot in common with the orion amps.
Heatsink profile near the outputs looks like the old 280gx
0.24 ohm emitter resistors like the xtr2150
Opto-couplers (as were already mentioned)
Buttons and switches like some of G2 orions
LEDs like many of the Orion amps
Inductor as DC input filter same style as many Orion amps
White transformer core like many of the early Orions
Identical screws, clamps and double-sided tape as those used in Orion amps
Heatsink profile near the outputs looks like the old 280gx
0.24 ohm emitter resistors like the xtr2150
Opto-couplers (as were already mentioned)
Buttons and switches like some of G2 orions
LEDs like many of the Orion amps
Inductor as DC input filter same style as many Orion amps
White transformer core like many of the early Orions
Identical screws, clamps and double-sided tape as those used in Orion amps
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