Here we have a great video put together by "MrRubenEsp" on YouTube. The video is a dedication to the old school car audio gear and installs. He mentions finding most of the pictures on the Internet, and I think he did a great job putting together the slideshow. Enjoy the video below!
I've asked before and will continue to remind OldSchoolStereo.com fans...please submit your photos/videos/installs/etc! You can reach me at oldschoolstereo at gmail dot com or via message on YouTube via username BigDWiz
BigDWiz - OldSchoolStereo.com
A website dedicated to the vintage and old school stereos of the 1980's and 1990's. Look for in depth reviews of amplifiers, speakers, subwoofers and more.
Showing posts with label precision power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label precision power. Show all posts
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Old School 1990's 50 Watt Cheater Amps Tested
This post will be a work in progress until I complete my round of tests on the 25x2 Watt "cheater amps" from the 90's. I'll include a spreadsheet showing the results and links to the videos I create for each amplifier. Thus far, the test will include:
1) Rockford Fosgate Punch 45HD - from approx. 1991, not a true high-current amp like many of the other's, but well known to be underrated and able to handle almost any speaker load
2) Orion 225 HCCA - from the early 90's, test will include the "Digital Reference" and maybe the "Competition Amp/X-over" models. One of the most feared cheater amps of the early through mid 90's.
3) Precision Power ProMOS 25 - also an early 90's cheater amp rated to handle 1 ohm loads and promises the warm, smooth SQ of an early PPI amp
4) Phoenix Gold MPS-2240 - part of Phoenix Gold's "Mobile Professional Series" the MPS-2240 is identical in size to the MS-275 and is a high-current amp rated at 24x2 and designed to handle loads down to 1 ohm
5) Phoenix Gold M25 - the "M" series from Phoenix Gold were known for superb SQ and are very popular among collectors and those building old school systems as well.
6) US Amps 50HCA - an early version of a 25x2 cheater from US Amps. No crossovers, no terminal strips, just raw power and old school flair
7) US Amps USA-50 - a late 90's 25x2 amp designed to handle loads down to 1 ohm
8) Zapco Z50C2 - mid-90's amp, small in footprint, big in SQ
Bookmark this page as it will be continually updated with more information on each of these amps!
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1) Rockford Fosgate Punch 45HD - from approx. 1991, not a true high-current amp like many of the other's, but well known to be underrated and able to handle almost any speaker load
2) Orion 225 HCCA - from the early 90's, test will include the "Digital Reference" and maybe the "Competition Amp/X-over" models. One of the most feared cheater amps of the early through mid 90's.
3) Precision Power ProMOS 25 - also an early 90's cheater amp rated to handle 1 ohm loads and promises the warm, smooth SQ of an early PPI amp
4) Phoenix Gold MPS-2240 - part of Phoenix Gold's "Mobile Professional Series" the MPS-2240 is identical in size to the MS-275 and is a high-current amp rated at 24x2 and designed to handle loads down to 1 ohm
5) Phoenix Gold M25 - the "M" series from Phoenix Gold were known for superb SQ and are very popular among collectors and those building old school systems as well.
6) US Amps 50HCA - an early version of a 25x2 cheater from US Amps. No crossovers, no terminal strips, just raw power and old school flair
7) US Amps USA-50 - a late 90's 25x2 amp designed to handle loads down to 1 ohm
8) Zapco Z50C2 - mid-90's amp, small in footprint, big in SQ
Bookmark this page as it will be continually updated with more information on each of these amps!
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
Unboxing Old School Car Audio Gear
I will be the first to admit, unboxing videos do not appeal to me. Why? Mainly because people do unboxings for things like cameras, camcorders, computers, etc. and there is no excitement factor there. Now, take a plain brown box (with unknown goodies inside), open this up on camera and share your excitement with the world! This is how BigDWiz does unboxings at the OldSchoolStereo labs!
First off, I must say not all of the unboxings I do on my YouTube channel are from purchases. Many are from trades and barters for other gear. This is a part-time gig for me and I don't have unlimited funds to buy all of this cool, old school equipment. Well, since I know opening these packages is exciting for me, I thought you guys might enjoy the experience?
Finding nice, old school car stereo gear is exciting in itself, but opening a package with unknown contents (well, unknown to you) is fun for all. Those of us who enjoy the old school gear also love to see "timeless classics"...the amps, speakers, head units, etc. that have either been babied or unused all of these years. I still find it amazing to see the condition of some of my 25+ year old equipment.
Most of these videos will just show the unboxing process, but in some cases, I may hook up and test the contents. Honestly, it just depends on how I'm feeling at the current time (and how much space is remaining on my iPhone's internal storage!). This brings up another interesting point....some of you may wonder what equipment I use to record and produce these short videos. Well, I have two words for you; iPhone and iMovie (we won't count "and" as a word!).
Recently, I've discovered making videos with the iPhone 4, is not only a simple process, but also gives a pretty good output video for viewing online. I also ensure use of the included ear buds / mic combination to get better audio, while still leaving both hands free to tear open the boxes. Once I capture the segments on my iPhone 4, basic editing is handled by the iMovie app for the iPhone. This $5 app turns your iPhone into a VERY powerful hand-held editing machine. If there is any interest, I may show the process I use to capture, edit and upload my videos to YouTube. You guys just let me know by making comments here or on my YouTube Channel.
While you are visiting, please Subscribe to my channel so you can get notification when I upload a new video. My intentions are to upload a new video every few days. As I've mentioned before, the more subscribers, comments, likes, etc. I have, the more videos I'll put up. I appreciate your enthusiasm as being an "old school nut" is addictive!
Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear
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Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear #2
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Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear #3
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Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear #4
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First off, I must say not all of the unboxings I do on my YouTube channel are from purchases. Many are from trades and barters for other gear. This is a part-time gig for me and I don't have unlimited funds to buy all of this cool, old school equipment. Well, since I know opening these packages is exciting for me, I thought you guys might enjoy the experience?
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| OldSchoolStereo.com Mystery Box! |
Finding nice, old school car stereo gear is exciting in itself, but opening a package with unknown contents (well, unknown to you) is fun for all. Those of us who enjoy the old school gear also love to see "timeless classics"...the amps, speakers, head units, etc. that have either been babied or unused all of these years. I still find it amazing to see the condition of some of my 25+ year old equipment.
Most of these videos will just show the unboxing process, but in some cases, I may hook up and test the contents. Honestly, it just depends on how I'm feeling at the current time (and how much space is remaining on my iPhone's internal storage!). This brings up another interesting point....some of you may wonder what equipment I use to record and produce these short videos. Well, I have two words for you; iPhone and iMovie (we won't count "and" as a word!).
Recently, I've discovered making videos with the iPhone 4, is not only a simple process, but also gives a pretty good output video for viewing online. I also ensure use of the included ear buds / mic combination to get better audio, while still leaving both hands free to tear open the boxes. Once I capture the segments on my iPhone 4, basic editing is handled by the iMovie app for the iPhone. This $5 app turns your iPhone into a VERY powerful hand-held editing machine. If there is any interest, I may show the process I use to capture, edit and upload my videos to YouTube. You guys just let me know by making comments here or on my YouTube Channel.
While you are visiting, please Subscribe to my channel so you can get notification when I upload a new video. My intentions are to upload a new video every few days. As I've mentioned before, the more subscribers, comments, likes, etc. I have, the more videos I'll put up. I appreciate your enthusiasm as being an "old school nut" is addictive!
Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear
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Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear #2
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Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear #3
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Unboxing Old School Car Stereo Gear #4
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Thursday, September 15, 2011
Old School PPI Pro Mos Amps - Precision Power!
Most of you old school car audio fans know the early 1990's was a time when aftermarket car audio was getting extremely popular. At this time, it was rare to find a factory CD player and the factory speakers were weak at best in most cases. Manufacturers such as Rockford Fosgate, Linear Power, Precision Power (PPI), Autotek, Orion and Soundstream (to name a few) were some of the very popular aftermarket car audio brands at the time.
The competition between the manufacturers was intense and each one was trying to best the other. Orion's HCCA series amps, released in the late 1980's were extremely popular and had an edge power wise on most other amps with their rating and ability to handle extremely low ohm loads. These low-wattage rated / low ohm handling amps came to be known as "cheater amps". The cheater amps could put out as much as 8x their rated 4 ohm power rating at lower loads. PPI hit the "cheater" market in 1990 with the Pro Mos 2050. Pro Mos was short for Professional Mosfet. This first gen Pro Mos amp was rated to handle loads down to 1ohm and would provide 4x it's rated 4ohm power at 1ohm. Cough up around $800 for a 50x2 amp, and get a 400x1 monster when loaded down. Interestingly enough, Orion's 25x2 "cheater", the 225 HCCA was stable down to 1/2 (some even say 1/4) ohm loads and would put out in excess of 400 watts and cost less than $600.
I've shown a comparison of the Orion 225 HCCA and the PPI Pro Mos 25 in a previous posting and video. You can see my preliminary power output results HERE.
These Pro Mos amps were available up until around 1995, adding additional models including the Pro Mos 12, 24 and 50 (replacing the 2050) beginning in 1991. They also released 4 channel models; the Pro Mos 425 and 450. These Pro Mos amps were no frills, offering no internal crossovers or bass/treble controls. They offered a DIN connection for powering a PPI pre-amp or crossover in addition to the standard RCA input jacks. The Power and Ground connections were made via 8 or 10 awg leads and the speaker/remote connection was made by an infamous molex connector. I say infamous because this connector has been a huge failure throughout the years. The wires don't stay inside the connector and the molex connector itself breaks very easily. Many people created terminal strips or soldered the leads to the circuit board.
The Pro Mos amps you see in the photo above are the "art series", finished in white including a unique design by an artist. These amps were also available in black with red lettering.
See the video demo below:
Also, visit YouTube and subscribe to my channel for more exciting OLD SCHOOL car audio gear!
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The competition between the manufacturers was intense and each one was trying to best the other. Orion's HCCA series amps, released in the late 1980's were extremely popular and had an edge power wise on most other amps with their rating and ability to handle extremely low ohm loads. These low-wattage rated / low ohm handling amps came to be known as "cheater amps". The cheater amps could put out as much as 8x their rated 4 ohm power rating at lower loads. PPI hit the "cheater" market in 1990 with the Pro Mos 2050. Pro Mos was short for Professional Mosfet. This first gen Pro Mos amp was rated to handle loads down to 1ohm and would provide 4x it's rated 4ohm power at 1ohm. Cough up around $800 for a 50x2 amp, and get a 400x1 monster when loaded down. Interestingly enough, Orion's 25x2 "cheater", the 225 HCCA was stable down to 1/2 (some even say 1/4) ohm loads and would put out in excess of 400 watts and cost less than $600.
I've shown a comparison of the Orion 225 HCCA and the PPI Pro Mos 25 in a previous posting and video. You can see my preliminary power output results HERE.
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| PPI Pro Mos 2050 (top), Pro Mos 12 & Pro Mos 25 - Image (C) OldSchoolStereo.com |
These Pro Mos amps were available up until around 1995, adding additional models including the Pro Mos 12, 24 and 50 (replacing the 2050) beginning in 1991. They also released 4 channel models; the Pro Mos 425 and 450. These Pro Mos amps were no frills, offering no internal crossovers or bass/treble controls. They offered a DIN connection for powering a PPI pre-amp or crossover in addition to the standard RCA input jacks. The Power and Ground connections were made via 8 or 10 awg leads and the speaker/remote connection was made by an infamous molex connector. I say infamous because this connector has been a huge failure throughout the years. The wires don't stay inside the connector and the molex connector itself breaks very easily. Many people created terminal strips or soldered the leads to the circuit board.
The Pro Mos amps you see in the photo above are the "art series", finished in white including a unique design by an artist. These amps were also available in black with red lettering.
See the video demo below:
Also, visit YouTube and subscribe to my channel for more exciting OLD SCHOOL car audio gear!
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