O/S Us Amps...quick ?

[96MaxGLE 10+ year member]

Do you guys think that these o/s merlins r underrated? Seems to be a good deal. I love the o/s equip. Let me know what you think...

http://cgi.ebay.com/MERLIN-by-US-AMPS-Old-School-2130-4260-Matching-Pair_W0QQitemZ110060383791QQihZ001QQcategoryZ4950QQcmdZViewItem

Click to read more...

 

[diatribe 10+ year member]

I have never seen that series of USAmps. The Merlin's that I have seen don't look anything like them. I would find some info on USAmps website before I bought them.

 

[briman1001 10+ year member]

I was checking those out to. They look pretty sweet. Not sure about the price though. Could be a lower line but the PCB layouts look pretty good. If you buy they let me know how they perform. I have also been looking at the newer model merlin series on ebay also.

 

[96MaxGLE 10+ year member]

I couldn't really find much info on them other than the specs that he states. Wish some of the US AMPS GURUs would chime in

 

[lsm 10+ year member]

That's a steal if you ask me. That is a very early version, you can tell by the heat sink. I'm planning to buy a plasma for my new house otherwise I'd buy them myself...

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

looks pretty solid, looks like an old build

 

[shiipseki 10+ year member]

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?showforum=43

us amps forum jr might chime in.

 

[96MaxGLE 10+ year member]

the seller contacted me saying

"As far as the specs on these little gems, I pulled them right from the manuals. Due to their small size, and I mean compact, when bridged, they strongly advised to run them at 8ohm. They are power chip amps which provide very strong, clean 4ohm power but when bridged they would run too hot to run 4ohm due to their extreme compactness and inability to dissipate the heat. At least that is my thought on them.

Keep an eye on them. I have had a lot of interest, but everyone is looking to run them like high current competition amps which they definitely are not."

I'm thinking about possibly doing 3-way active w/ these, but recommended 8ohm operation is kinda scaring me away. My IDQ8s r dual 4ohm.

 

[briman1001 10+ year member]

I don't buy it. Those things have to be able to run 4 ohm bridged. They look beefy and well made. Almost any amp can run 4 ohm bridged.

 

[96MaxGLE 10+ year member]

Yea thats what i was thinking...maybe someone can give me a 100% answer

 

[CJW 10+ year member]

I have 2 merlin 2130s. One from 1995 and one from a year or so before that. The heatsinks and boards bewteen the 2 gens changed slightly. Well the boards changed dramatically. But the sinks were just different lengths. The end cap on the older one has a mispelled word too lol. 'crafted' is spelled 'crafed'

And no they are not rated to be stable at 4ohm bridged. I've never tried to run them lower so I can't tell ya. Overrated? Not sure never benched mine.

I can post up pics if anyone wants of the differences.

 

[96MaxGLE 10+ year member]

I guess 8 ohms bridged wouldn't be bad, if I just used some 8ohm drivers. Its very tempting for me to get them just to have them.

 

[kevinaddison 10+ year member]

I don't buy it. Those things have to be able to run 4 ohm bridged. They look beefy and well made. Almost any amp can run 4 ohm bridged.

3000watt us amp I have 2of them so call for any question 321-624-2160 I live in orlando