I found some unknown brand amplifiers in here and this Blaupunkit PA2150 Class T amp seems interesting. Do you guys think it will be suitable for my mini Isobaric sonotube subwoofer Although I am still building it.
Hey there SC
Blaupunkt isn't exactly an unknown, they are one of the oldest car audio manufacturers in existence.
In the past they made some highly respected equipment, mostly head units in the 70's and 80's with wonderful German mechanisms and excellent tuners.
Their amps have historically been fair performers. Not current hogs like American designs, but plenty powerful and a little noisy. Their 5-channel 5350 from the early '90's was a *very* good amp, but that was about the last of experience with them.
Given the price of the unit you found, it's probably a good deal.
You could find a seriously good amp on ebay for less than that, but you take the risk of buying a used amp that doesn't really work.
Here's an example (I have nothing to do with the seller):
Again, that is if it works when you receive it.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18796&item=5703076251&rd=1
Hope that helps a little
Tim
Blaupunkt isn't exactly an unknown, they are one of the oldest car audio manufacturers in existence.
In the past they made some highly respected equipment, mostly head units in the 70's and 80's with wonderful German mechanisms and excellent tuners.
Their amps have historically been fair performers. Not current hogs like American designs, but plenty powerful and a little noisy. Their 5-channel 5350 from the early '90's was a *very* good amp, but that was about the last of experience with them.
Given the price of the unit you found, it's probably a good deal.
You could find a seriously good amp on ebay for less than that, but you take the risk of buying a used amp that doesn't really work.
Here's an example (I have nothing to do with the seller):
Again, that is if it works when you receive it.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18796&item=5703076251&rd=1
Hope that helps a little
Tim
Thx Tim, this is the comment I am looking for. I sort of know that Blaupunkit is a known cuz I saw them in many stores when I was looking for HU. What I mean is overstock.com have many unknown amp which excluding this one. Like Virtual Reaility, and some others don't even have a name brand. Anyway your recommendation is pretty good, do you have any more particular brand that you will suggest ppl to buy?
S.C asked;
Well, I'm a bit of an old timer, having no experience with anything newer than '94 or so. And much has changed since then.
Compared to speakers and head units, amps are more reliable. I personally have little reservation about buying a used amp. In fact I haven't bought one new since '87 or so. That said, there are lots of good old amps out there for sale. Here are some...
Alpine's 3542/3/4 (2/1 channel) and 3553/4/5 (4/3/2 channel) were decent, had built-in crossovers, and were reasonably priced.
Autotek's BTS series model #'s 7xxx were very strong amps, and sounded great. They were very well made by Zed in the USA. xxx in the model # refers to the total power into 4 ohms, for example a 7100 is 50W/ch. Most would absolutely double power output into 2 ohms.
Hifonics series V through VIII were all very stout, with lots of features. Also very well made by Zed audio.
While on the Zed subject, Rodek is another line thay actually made, and were almost too similar to the Autoteks. Equal praise for Rodek.
Orion's GX and SX series. Primarily the 80WPC to 150WPC models. 280GX means 2x80 watts into 4 ohms. They will double power output into 2 ohms as well. The GX's aren't bridgeable without an external adapter, but the SX's are. Very basic, solid dependable, and powerful amps.
Linear Power's xxx2 series. Again, xxx means the total power ant the 2 that follows means 2 channels. 3002 is 300 watts, 2 channels into 4 ohms (2 x 150W.) Again, stick to the 60WPC-150WPC range. Very solid, dependable expensive amps. Some are bridgeable, some are not.
Harmon Kardon's CA260. At 2x60W, consistently outperformed good, expensive amps rated for more than twice it's output. Very, very stout amp. I still have one of these.
Soundstream d200. Excellent sound, plenty of guts. Almost a shame to use for subs, it sounds so nice. But do it anyway, you'll be happy.
Zapco Z220. 115WPC, and VERY expensive for that ampunt of power. Very well designed, very well tested. I still have a couple of these, too.
And my favorite unsung hero...
Alphasonik.
Several models: A-255, MA-2055 through 2125, and PMA-2070 through 2150. 2 indicates 2 channels, the following number indicates the output per channel. Several models used Class A circuity under license from Threshold, (my favorite of these is the 2100).
These were the first Class A car amps I'm aware of, dating from '83 or so.
(Do not, under ANY circumstance, buy a PMA 2050. If it ain't broke, it will be.)
Certainly better amps existed, but these sounded very good and produced good power. Good enough to show the faults in the rest of your system, and anything better than that is waste.
I recommend paying roughly 50¢ per watt for used amps of this caliber, a little less for the Alphasonik and Alpine.
And remember, don't pay any more than you are willing to risk. There is a chance it will not work when you get it.
Tim
Well, I'm a bit of an old timer, having no experience with anything newer than '94 or so. And much has changed since then.
Compared to speakers and head units, amps are more reliable. I personally have little reservation about buying a used amp. In fact I haven't bought one new since '87 or so. That said, there are lots of good old amps out there for sale. Here are some...
Alpine's 3542/3/4 (2/1 channel) and 3553/4/5 (4/3/2 channel) were decent, had built-in crossovers, and were reasonably priced.
Autotek's BTS series model #'s 7xxx were very strong amps, and sounded great. They were very well made by Zed in the USA. xxx in the model # refers to the total power into 4 ohms, for example a 7100 is 50W/ch. Most would absolutely double power output into 2 ohms.
Hifonics series V through VIII were all very stout, with lots of features. Also very well made by Zed audio.
While on the Zed subject, Rodek is another line thay actually made, and were almost too similar to the Autoteks. Equal praise for Rodek.
Orion's GX and SX series. Primarily the 80WPC to 150WPC models. 280GX means 2x80 watts into 4 ohms. They will double power output into 2 ohms as well. The GX's aren't bridgeable without an external adapter, but the SX's are. Very basic, solid dependable, and powerful amps.
Linear Power's xxx2 series. Again, xxx means the total power ant the 2 that follows means 2 channels. 3002 is 300 watts, 2 channels into 4 ohms (2 x 150W.) Again, stick to the 60WPC-150WPC range. Very solid, dependable expensive amps. Some are bridgeable, some are not.
Harmon Kardon's CA260. At 2x60W, consistently outperformed good, expensive amps rated for more than twice it's output. Very, very stout amp. I still have one of these.
Soundstream d200. Excellent sound, plenty of guts. Almost a shame to use for subs, it sounds so nice. But do it anyway, you'll be happy.
Zapco Z220. 115WPC, and VERY expensive for that ampunt of power. Very well designed, very well tested. I still have a couple of these, too.
And my favorite unsung hero...
Alphasonik.
Several models: A-255, MA-2055 through 2125, and PMA-2070 through 2150. 2 indicates 2 channels, the following number indicates the output per channel. Several models used Class A circuity under license from Threshold, (my favorite of these is the 2100).
These were the first Class A car amps I'm aware of, dating from '83 or so.
(Do not, under ANY circumstance, buy a PMA 2050. If it ain't broke, it will be.)
Certainly better amps existed, but these sounded very good and produced good power. Good enough to show the faults in the rest of your system, and anything better than that is waste.
I recommend paying roughly 50¢ per watt for used amps of this caliber, a little less for the Alphasonik and Alpine.
And remember, don't pay any more than you are willing to risk. There is a chance it will not work when you get it.
Tim
Thank you very much Tim, you are the most helpful person I meet in Car Audio forum by far, althought I didn't hanging out in here too much. Anyway, I had ordered the Blaupunkt PA2150 on last week already, and I am planicing about my misunderstanding of sub amp. Since I have a isobaric sub, two sub driver parallel connected to each other will decrease its imp from 4ohms each drivers to 2ohms together which will make the amp I had ordered operating unstably. I had worked out a summing block solution for this amp. I will summing the stereo -> mono frist then feed the singal to the amp I had ordered and treat the amp as monoblock to each driver, and one of them will reserve the polarity connection. Eventhough panicing suck, I learned something in the process. 1. don't use the Y-adaptor to sum the stereo to mono, 2. a more clear view to opamp circuit, and 3. I finally learned how to use Eagle tool to draw PCB.
Thank you for the kind words.
The summing block is a good solution to your dilemma. However, there is one possibility for concern, and that is if the amplifier has separate gain controls for each channel. With the Isobaric system, it is most important for both speakers to receive exactly the same signal in order to work together as one unit.
An alternative, would be to wire the two woofers in series (in opposite polarity, of course) and bridge the amp into mono operation at 8 ohms. Power output would be equivalent to a 4 ohm stereo load.
The summing block would still be a fine addition, as it would deliver a true mono signal into the amp. I will reply to your power supply question in that thread.
I should really learn to use Eagle as well. I'm still laying out PCB's by hand. Soon, I will be doing a car preamp that may get a little too complex and compact to lay out manually...
Tim
The summing block is a good solution to your dilemma. However, there is one possibility for concern, and that is if the amplifier has separate gain controls for each channel. With the Isobaric system, it is most important for both speakers to receive exactly the same signal in order to work together as one unit.
An alternative, would be to wire the two woofers in series (in opposite polarity, of course) and bridge the amp into mono operation at 8 ohms. Power output would be equivalent to a 4 ohm stereo load.
The summing block would still be a fine addition, as it would deliver a true mono signal into the amp. I will reply to your power supply question in that thread.
I should really learn to use Eagle as well. I'm still laying out PCB's by hand. Soon, I will be doing a car preamp that may get a little too complex and compact to lay out manually...
Tim
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