This is my first thread and I would like to say hello to all. I have an Optimus sound system in my car that consists of 8 amps. I have had these amps for many years and are all of the same style and have required very little in the way of repaires. This system sounds good but I would like to increase the output. I first want to beef-up the power supply by either replacing the fets or the op-amp that controlles them. I have read on another thread that the switching pulse width is fixed??? I would like to hear your comments and/or recommendations. These amps have plenty of board space and although considered mediocre, I have found them to good amps.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
Hi If you increase the DC voltage on the rails of any amp you now have increased the amount of heat the outputs must load thru the sink. You will end up baking the amp to death.
My reasoning is that whom ever designed these for RS also did the math to spec the Aluminum sink to the power band these were built for.
So increasing any power output < Boosting> Is not recommended, and based on my personal knowledge of the guys here and their experience with these devices I am sure that is why your not getting the answers your looking for.
Anything is possible, but some designs are more marginal then others.
Now if you want to make a MS-2250 out of a MS-2125 then your doing something achievable, as thats what PG did when they built that monster. they took the MS-2125 and boosted the internals supply to get the MS-2250. they doubled the output by increasing the rails from 42 volts to 63 volts.
If you want or need more power, please buy it already designed and marketed in a amplifier that has the robustness designed in from the beginning. It will last longer, and give less PITA over its lifetime of use.
"Boosting" and or "hot rodding" of amplifiers in not for the new or inexperienced at this area of Engineering. You might just turn the back of your car into a BBQ pit by accident. I did a few back when i did not know any better, more of a alpha male thing back when that was my brain on stupid.
It took many hours and lots of parts, and I could have just bought what i was looking for and been done with it and moved on to better things.
Today car amplifiers are so cheaply made overseas that if you shop wisely you will find all the power you want for cheap and save your time for more important things in life like having fun.
My reasoning is that whom ever designed these for RS also did the math to spec the Aluminum sink to the power band these were built for.
So increasing any power output < Boosting> Is not recommended, and based on my personal knowledge of the guys here and their experience with these devices I am sure that is why your not getting the answers your looking for.
Anything is possible, but some designs are more marginal then others.
Now if you want to make a MS-2250 out of a MS-2125 then your doing something achievable, as thats what PG did when they built that monster. they took the MS-2125 and boosted the internals supply to get the MS-2250. they doubled the output by increasing the rails from 42 volts to 63 volts.
If you want or need more power, please buy it already designed and marketed in a amplifier that has the robustness designed in from the beginning. It will last longer, and give less PITA over its lifetime of use.
"Boosting" and or "hot rodding" of amplifiers in not for the new or inexperienced at this area of Engineering. You might just turn the back of your car into a BBQ pit by accident. I did a few back when i did not know any better, more of a alpha male thing back when that was my brain on stupid.
It took many hours and lots of parts, and I could have just bought what i was looking for and been done with it and moved on to better things.
Today car amplifiers are so cheaply made overseas that if you shop wisely you will find all the power you want for cheap and save your time for more important things in life like having fun.
Thanks for your response. I have already decided to leave them as they are after reading several threads on the subject. All 8 amps are of the same design and I do not wish to replace them. I am happy with their sound and thought that a simple change-out of the output transistors would yield more power...thats not the case and I'm not going to tamper with them. It's a case of 'too much is not enough' . I will play with speaker types and locations to improve the sound instead of more power...I'm already at 1370 watts in a small mustang with 30 speakers (I refuse to grow up!!!). Again, thanks for your response.
. I will play with speaker types and locations to improve the sound instead of more power...I'm already at 1370 watts in a small mustang with 30 speakers (I refuse to grow up!!!). Again, thanks for your response.
The RS optimus actually aren't bad amps. They weren't assembeled with much care, but the circuit design is nice. As long as you check and make sure all of the solder joints are solid and all of the transistors have adequate grease, they should last for years. I'm not promoting them but many people make them out to be worse than they are. Like everyone's said though, trying to mod them wouldn't be worth the time or the money. It's not hard to find a lot of power for a good price these days. By the way, which model number are they? I read you said you had 8..
I had really good luck with one of them (340 watts?) running a set of IDQ 12's many years ago.
The amp never failed, I replaced it with an Alpine so that I would have a better brand amp. The alpine cooked it's outputs so I went back to the Optimus. It has been sitting in my garage now for a number of years, but still works AFAIK.
I always laughed about it. My friends made fun of me, but for such an inexpensive amp, it performed admirably. Not only that, but I had it bolted to the sub enclosure, so the amp was vibrated it's whole life.
The amp never failed, I replaced it with an Alpine so that I would have a better brand amp. The alpine cooked it's outputs so I went back to the Optimus. It has been sitting in my garage now for a number of years, but still works AFAIK.
I always laughed about it. My friends made fun of me, but for such an inexpensive amp, it performed admirably. Not only that, but I had it bolted to the sub enclosure, so the amp was vibrated it's whole life.
Sorry for the long delay in response. I have one 340, four 170's, two 100's, & one 150. The 340 and 150 are 4-channel. Some I purchased new many moons ago and some I picked up on E-bay for a song-and-dance. I currently have a pickup and all the amps are boxed up in the garage until the bug hits me again. I was also using 2 Optimus crossovers (3-way), an Optimus passive EQ. I liked having all the equipment match (same brand). I also have a Coustic system with 380's and 190's but I got tired of replacing output transistors. They are also sitting in garage. I also have Pioneer and Jensen amps which have held up very well over the years.
I would say bridge or run them at 2 ohms, put a fan on them, and try to run more efficient speaker setups with them. Also try to supply full voltage to them for most output. Standard stuff but it works. Or if you can find larger sizes of them to swap in if you want to run that type of amp. I've had some cheaper amps that worked great, some better ones I was not impressed with....you never know and it depends on the install/application.
The best upgrade to any amp is processing. (EQ's) . This will help you maximize the output of an amp. If one don't work, run 2 or 3 of them in series. This should pretty much max the output of the amps, and then some. Running the amps without an eq is like running a drag car on 87 octane. Gotta have em. That is how in the early days, you could take a Rockford Fosgate Punch 45, and run Eight 12 inch subs. Run some eq's first. But make sure you get a good one that has a 45hz-50hz boost with at least a 15db or more gain. Should make a huge difference.
On the Optimus amps, I remember around 1990 or so, a guy was running Four 18" Radio Shack subs on Optimus/Realistic equipment. He was happy, and the car was thumping hard. Impressive for what he spent on it. Get a decent eq or two, and it will make a world of difference...
On the Optimus amps, I remember around 1990 or so, a guy was running Four 18" Radio Shack subs on Optimus/Realistic equipment. He was happy, and the car was thumping hard. Impressive for what he spent on it. Get a decent eq or two, and it will make a world of difference...
I never ran EQs, they always degraded SQ and made it fall apart at a lower volume. I'm not saying there are not good ones out there, or that there are not installs that will do better with them. I just swapped other things until I did not need one...and it was more difficult. However I'll have my first DSP soon as I can put it in the car. I have a parametric, it works wonders on my IB subs but I don't use it for any highs EQing. Now I have to run all new RCA to HU because I have this EQ in there
After tinkering with the system I discovered speaker placement to make the most difference. I removed 2 tubes (of the four) from the trunk and aimed the ports toward the rear of the trunk and fed each with a bridged 170. My bass increased dramatically. Of the 2 crossovers I was using, one had a built-in bass boost that could be switched from 45, 60, or 120 hz. That along with the passive EQ gave me more than enough boost...too much if turned too high. Right now everything is sitting in my garage until I get another vehicle that will hold it all. I am currently running a Pioneer amp with 2 tubes and a bass booser (home-made) that I bought some 20 years ago from a retired TV repairman. So far the best bass I ever had came from the rear cavity of an 86 Comaro with a tube with 2 eights in it sitting on top of two 6 1/2 bazookas. The combination of the cavity size and speaker placement was great. For having such small speakers, it would make your vision fuzzy when the bass hit and the car sounded like it would rattle apart. When you opened the hatch...the bass dissappeared.
jol50 said:I never ran EQs, they always degraded SQ and made it fall apart at a lower volume. I'm not saying there are not good ones out there, or that there are not installs that will do better with them. I just swapped other things until I did not need one...and it was more difficult. However I'll have my first DSP soon as I can put it in the car. I have a parametric, it works wonders on my IB subs but I don't use it for any highs EQing. Now I have to run all new RCA to HU because I have this EQ in there
What DSP are you looking at?
I have a Pioneer DEH-P880PRS to put in.EnvisionAudio said:
Should clarify to say those were all analog EQs and none were highest end like audiocontrol/etc. Found a lot of analog crossovers are that way also. Do have a big RF parametric but never used it. It will be interesting to see what the Pioneer does with it, and I still have to change my door installs they are weak on midbass...then it should be better. I can get 20Hz test tones out of my subs easy and the comps seem to work well for mid/highs until I want to try active, I mean find time to do another install.
The issue now is hardly any of these HU can do midbass, not sure how I will do that as I would like to try it. May have to figure another way. And many also can't do a full range rear at the same time as active front, the fronts alone suck at out of car use like if I work in the yard on something. I need highs/mid/midbass/sub/rear....lol.
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