Can PA amps be used to drive normal speakers or can they be adapted easily to do so?
Somebody local has just put up for sale a pair of 200Watt PA speaker amps for a song [ he is asking $100- for the pair] used but pulled out of a large building before demolition.
They are big and heavy and old fashioned but then so am I
Somebody local has just put up for sale a pair of 200Watt PA speaker amps for a song [ he is asking $100- for the pair] used but pulled out of a large building before demolition.
They are big and heavy and old fashioned but then so am I
If it has inputs and out puts compatible with consumer electronics, like RCA inputs and banana jacks for speaker outputs, why not? However, many commercial PA systems intended for churches and such will have 70 volt or 100 volt outputs that require transformers at the speaker location, and are definitely not hi-fi.
Mike
Mike
No These are not like that they have screw terminal outputs for various load and voltage conditions and they have a combination of screw terminal and 1/4 inch jack inputs plus a 24V input point.
If they could be easily modified to use as a 300W monoblock it might be worth my spending $100- to get them
If they could be easily modified to use as a 300W monoblock it might be worth my spending $100- to get them
As Michael says, just be sure it's not a "commercial" amp that has 100 volt outputs.
You can make the cables needed. You might find it noisy for home use, depending on your speakers.
You can make the cables needed. You might find it noisy for home use, depending on your speakers.
If it has speaker terminals for various load and voltage, that sounds like a commercial amp for distributed sound. Meant for speakers with transformers.
Yes but the question was "Can they be easily modified to use with home speakers?"
I have to assume it isn't as easy and simple as changing the input connectors and removing the output transformer then?
I have to assume it isn't as easy and simple as changing the input connectors and removing the output transformer then?
If you haven't already checked them out from the brand/model details or personal inspection, you could be looking at any old beat-up boxes that were used in a disco, live music or speech only reinforcement, background music, stage amps. etc.
They may have been good pro. or even amateur designs originally but you can't tell what problems they probably have now. Perhaps even $100 for the pair is too much or it says exactly what you're getting but no more.
PA products and systems are primarily designed to deliver maximum SPL for the money and usually have a limited bandwidth to ensure you get that rating at minimal cost to the manufacturer. Even so, the electronics can be anything from decent music reproduction to speech-only quality and you may be in for a lot of upgrading to get acceptable hi-fi sound quality from this pair.
If you're an energetic type who doesn't mind a challenge and you can afford to invest a lot more and make modifications to get it working and sounding more like a hi-fi system, then why not give it a try? If you'd rather avoid a major project like that, I would simply forget about PA gear right now.
They may have been good pro. or even amateur designs originally but you can't tell what problems they probably have now. Perhaps even $100 for the pair is too much or it says exactly what you're getting but no more.
PA products and systems are primarily designed to deliver maximum SPL for the money and usually have a limited bandwidth to ensure you get that rating at minimal cost to the manufacturer. Even so, the electronics can be anything from decent music reproduction to speech-only quality and you may be in for a lot of upgrading to get acceptable hi-fi sound quality from this pair.
If you're an energetic type who doesn't mind a challenge and you can afford to invest a lot more and make modifications to get it working and sounding more like a hi-fi system, then why not give it a try? If you'd rather avoid a major project like that, I would simply forget about PA gear right now.
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I know the brand and model number but I've not had a chance to check them out. There must be a few sets of these around tho as there seems to be an identical set for sale on eBay right now.
INKEL PA-838
Inkel Power Amplifier Model PA-838 (pair) | eBay
I've asked both sellers for pictures showing the insides but the heatsinks are external and are the same as the ones in my INKEL stereo amp which is rated 200W per channel and while big and clunky it is a reasonable good bass amp
INKEL PA-838
Inkel Power Amplifier Model PA-838 (pair) | eBay
I've asked both sellers for pictures showing the insides but the heatsinks are external and are the same as the ones in my INKEL stereo amp which is rated 200W per channel and while big and clunky it is a reasonable good bass amp
Ah...Sth Korean products. Inkel own or are OEMs for other brands like Audio Reflex and Sherwood. The brands are just about marketing in different countries where its worth changing to something more attractive to the locals than their own. Inkel doesn't exactly roll off the tongue so this probably worked fine for US consumer audio sales.
According to your description, there's only a tapped transformer output for 100V line, remote PA speakers. As Michael Bean suggests, that has to go in order to power low impedance, DC connected hi-fi speakers and you'll also need to install and set up a protection system tuned to the amplifiers' maximum power level for an appropriate load impedance.
I've only done this type of mod once and many years ago. I ran straight into a stability problem when the amplifier showed signs of oscillation after connecting a speaker. It took someone smarter than me to sort the problem out and it did become a useful mono amp but I never considered it Hifi.
According to your description, there's only a tapped transformer output for 100V line, remote PA speakers. As Michael Bean suggests, that has to go in order to power low impedance, DC connected hi-fi speakers and you'll also need to install and set up a protection system tuned to the amplifiers' maximum power level for an appropriate load impedance.
I've only done this type of mod once and many years ago. I ran straight into a stability problem when the amplifier showed signs of oscillation after connecting a speaker. It took someone smarter than me to sort the problem out and it did become a useful mono amp but I never considered it Hifi.
You can bypass the innards and connect directly to the speakers, but remember that the speakers are tuned for speech or background music, definitely not good at higher frequencies.
I got a pair at the flea market, Philips with small elliptical speakers. I removed the transformers, connected terminals straight to the speakers.
They sound like old wooden cabinet radios, not very clear at higher frequencies, and the sound is more warm and fuzzy than clear.
I used my Kenwood set to drive them.
I would either leave them alone, or recycle the cabinets, better buy car speakers from a scrap yard and build new boxes.
I got a pair at the flea market, Philips with small elliptical speakers. I removed the transformers, connected terminals straight to the speakers.
They sound like old wooden cabinet radios, not very clear at higher frequencies, and the sound is more warm and fuzzy than clear.
I used my Kenwood set to drive them.
I would either leave them alone, or recycle the cabinets, better buy car speakers from a scrap yard and build new boxes.
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Yep, it's a commercial sound amp meant for long runs and distributed sound. It does look like it can be used on its 8 ohm tap. Will it sound good? $100 will tell you. 😀
As is they will take a 1/4" phone plug input and have a 4 or 8 ohm output. So they will work as a stereo pair. You can probably bypass the output transformer. I expect them then to work as what I would consider mid-fi. From the other Inkel products I have seen they should have a current source driven differential input. A pretty normal Vas stage driving a two stage output section with decent semiconductor selection throughout. I would also expect DC output relay protection. So not start of the art but decent.
