Soundstream D200

Could use a little help (maybe point me to the correct Amp forum :))

I inherited the Soundstream D200. By default its dual mono, but supports bridged (which is what I want to do, gonna drive a single sub). The pdf that I found on the web basically says "send it to soundstream for a minor internal modification". I am hoping someone knows what that modification would be :)

For that matter, its possible the amp is already configured that way... but I wouldn't be sure how to check.

Horrible pictures of insides from the web if that helps:
http://ampguts.realmofexcursion.com/Soundstream_D200/inside1.jpg

I am happy to open mine up and take a good pic though.
 
Easy question,
In one position it will sound like Po-Po. In the correct position the amp will sound fine when bridged.
It won't hurt anything to test the amp to find this out. The correct position will only switch the signal in on one channel to the inverting input so its properly phased to bridge with the other output.

Hope this helps :)
 
This is one of the good ones! Designed by none other then the amp god himself Nelson Pass!

There is a very long story behind these amps. something about Nelson designed these for one company and then that company gave away or sold or one engineer left or something and soundstream ended up with them and law suits and all kinds of stuff. But the basic design as i understand it is a Pass!

Later D-II models added a better power supply section and a few other mods but did not sound as good. this could definitly use a power supply upgrade but keep the circuit the same.

Zc
 
heh, ya, not the first time I heard that actually.

What can I say. my car needs a sub, the amp fills the needs, and was free from my brother. Sad, but what are you gonna do? :)

What would you recommend, forget the rear channels in the car, and use this dual mono sub to drive front speakers?
 
I have 5 of these D series amps and am about to buy a 6th. I originally bought (2) D200's to run (2) Orion XTR12's (original ones). Then I bought (2) D100's to run one on each door. Each door was to have an ADS 320i component set and then finally a D60 to run another 320i component set in the rear. All run through and Altec Lansing ALQ20 control center. I bought all the stuff and never installed it. It sat for many years. I now have it split into 2 cars. I have a 200, 100 and 60 in my wife's truck and will have the same in my car as soon as I find another 60.

The switch inside is not a mono/stereo switch. It is a switch between the 2ohm and 4 ohm taps on the toroids in the power supplies. In one position it is for 4ohm stereo or 8 ohm mono. In the other position it is for 2 ohm stereo or 4 ohm mono use. Unfortunatly it is not labeled and soundstream tech support was of no use. If it looks like the amp was never tampered with, then it is in the 4ohm stereo position. To bridge the amp you merely use both positive leads as your speaker hook-ups.

As for the history, yes they were designed by Neson Pass. I have never heard the part about the other company or the law suites, but it may be true.
 
Sorry not trying to hi-jack, but I'm not being allowed to create a new thread...but this isn't too far off-topic. Anyway... Hello. New guy, here. I need to replace a Soundstream D200II, which was recently stolen from my vehicle. The amp was running my hybrid front-stage (ADS 320is tweets and x-overs w/ Dynaudio MW160 7 mids). Unbelieveable sound! I've been keeping an eye on ebay, but I haven't seen a D200 or D200II listed. I've auditioned several amps as replacements, but can't find anything that comes close to the detail & transparency the Soundstream delivers. Any suggestions as to what other "old school" amps I can consider that will give me the same or better SQ as the Soundstream? Thanks.
 
D200's and D200II's are on Ebay all the time. I watch every one that I see, just to see what it goes for. Generally they get from 175 to 225. I see a couple per month on there.

As for other old school amps that I would recommend would be the following. Not trying to start a debate. Just old amps that I would consider for my own system that are in that power range.

(1) A/D/S PQ10 or PQ10.2 They were 40x4, but briged to somthing like 80 or 100X2. Very nice sounding amps. I have owned several. A little warmer sounding than the D200.

(2) A/D/S PQ20 or PQ20.2 They were 80X4, but briged to somthing like160 or 200X2. Very nice sounding amps. I have owned several of these as well. They too are a little warmer sounding than the D200, but they have BALLS!!! Probably my favorite amps that I have ever owned. They are on Ebay all the time too, generally $200-$300 gets one. A/D/S also made a PH15 that was 50X6 (100X3), if that will integrate into your sytem.

(3) The only other amp that I can think of is the Harman Kardon CA260. It was 60X2 or 180 X1 and was WAY underated. It had something like 5 or 6 db of headroom. Still to this day, unheard-of power. I have owned one and it was incredible. It got stolen, and I have never been able to get hold of another. They appear on ebay every so often and generally go for $125-200. They just seem to pop up when I have no money. Like now! There is one on ebay. There is also a PQ10 and a PQ20.

Many people might say that the OLD Orion or PPI amps are comparable, but they seem to have a more "mechanical" sound to me.

Oh, or if you can find one of the old grey Phoenix Gold MS-275's. They were quite nice and weighed in at an under rated 75X2. I saw a broken one go for 70 something buck the other day!

This list is nowhere near all inclusive, it was just all that I could think of at the moment. If you have any questions, ask. I am ALWAYS willing to give a strong and biased opinion. hahaha!
 
Hey Nis, thanks man. Sounds like we're from the same era of car-audio. Odd you mention the "old" Orion pieces, as I have a vintage HCCA225 powering my front-stage, now. What's your take on the D200 vs the D200II? In one of the post above, Zero Cool seems to think the D200 has better sound, albeit w/ a weaker power supply. Also, I've heard quite a bit about the Class A Picasso's. How do those fair, compared to the D200's? I'd be running the Picasso bridged...would there be a significant degradation in SQ? Again, thanks to you and any others who offer help.
 
I started in car audio in about 86 and retired from installing professionally in 2000. I tend to like the stuff that left the biggest impressions on my younger days. Almost always the stuff I could not afford back then and cant find now! I didn't even look at car audio for about 5 1/2 years after I quit. Now I am looking back into it as a hobby and am just STUNNED at the industry a whole. Everything is CRAP! My wife's truck with a D200 on 2 Quart 8's is crushing a friend at work with 2 new Kicker 10's on some sort of 1000watt mono D-class junk. And the sound quality isn't even close. It's really funny because he is just baffled. I tried explaining his mid 80's db efficiency woofers are way too power hungry compared to my 90ish db old school "junk". He just cant understand why my 360 watt old stuff is louder and cleaner than his 2000 watts. And he will never understand the Soundstream D-series advantage! hahaha He scoffs. Gaa, they dont even have built in crossovers! Must be cheap crap. hahaha. Kids!

As for the original vs. II debate. I have compared them side by side. I liked the sound of the original better. They were very, very close. But to further fuel the debate. I have also compared original vs original and they sounded a little different from each other as well.

I cant speak on the Picasso. I have never even seen one. The shop here, dropped Soundstream right as they stopped making the D series. I haven't heard much else that soundstream has ever made. I judged a few soundstream equiped cars over the years. But there are so many differences in head units, speakers, cars, and most of all, INSTALLS. That they would be impossible to compare.
 
Zero Cool, you suggests upgrading the power supply of the Soundstream D200. Seems as though you're quite familiar w/ the D200. Is this upgrade really necessary & how will this affect the sound/SQ? I purchased one on eBay and something tells me it's either been repaired before or will need some repair, now. What does upgrading the power supply entail? Will there be any resulting degradation of the excellent SQ of this amp? Is there anyone you recommend to perform this upgrade & check for any anomalies? Thanks for any assistance provided.
 
I too have two old D200 amps. One is phenominal sounding. The other sounds fine, but has small crispy artifacts in the sound as well as actual audible mechanical sounds coming from the chassis of the amp itself while it is running. Maybe some sort of switching noise from the power supply? Currently I have it bridged driving a single 10" MB Quart sub because I can't hear the noises through the driver. Anyone know what this might be? Dried out electrolytic caps in the power supply? Bad filtering components in the power supply?

How about this power supply upgrade I hear about? What does that entail?

Both amps have some turn-on noise that I'd like to remedy, especially the sub amp, which has quite a knocking sound when powering up.

Brian
 
Hi and let me start by hijacking this thread... :D

I noticed that "dynosaur" mentioned he had the schematic for the D200.

I just picked up a lifeless d100II and will be rebuilding it. By rebuilding I simply mean replacing all the passive parts (resistors and caps) and transistors. I'm working on the ASSUMPTION that the transformer is still good.

Does anyone have the schematic for the D100 or D100II (I have one of each)?

I'm hoping to "refresh" them and replace my less than stellar a/d/s/ P640.2. My old a/d/s/ PQ20 was great, I replaced it with a newer version (P640.2) and have not been impressed. Looking back the two best amps I owned personally were the PQ20 and the D100. Looking at ampguts.com I feel much better about refreshing a Dx00(II) so I will go that route.

Yes I still have my trusty Erath servo system on my Orion 2125sx and a single a/d/s/ 10" in a .25 cft box (flat to 20Hz), but I need to fix up the front end amplification.

Any help on the schematic would be helpful.

I hope to document it for amp guts (along with the a/d/s/ P640.2 before it's sold) and for others interested in something similar.
 
So are the soundstream amps any better at sq than other amps of that time like blade, carver, audio art, ppi, etc...? I would imagine having two mono amps would be advantageous for stereo seperation, etc.. but what else is good about that series of soundstream? I've heard them in other peoples' systems and heard about them for years, but never owned one. Is the D200 a late eighties model, the board looks kind of primitive?
 
I have owned Carver, PPI, Orion, Nak, A/D/S and many others. The soundsteams are by far my farorites except maybe the old A/D/S stuff (PQ20/PH15/PQ10/etc). As for the primitive boards, I dont care if the board is made of plywood and bailing wire if it sounds good. I hardly do ANY critiacl listening of my 2 mobile systems (Soundream amps and ADS speakers) because my home setup destroys it. It is an Ancient HK tube amp that looks like it was assmbled by a child out of paperclips and bubble gum.... But it sounds wonderful! Looks arent everything. Besides, the shortest point from A to B on a circuit board is not a tiny trace winding all around and on both sides of a board. It is probably a short piece of jumper wire sticking up and looking ugly! Funtion over form.