Old schooler getting back into it.....have amp questions.

[45js45 10+ year member]

Ok,I was heavily into car audio in the late 80s and early 90s.Now,I look at all these amps and they have outrageous power numbers.What gives?I had a Punch 75 and 45 running everything and it rocked.I am looking for a amp but dont have a clue unless I am looking at the old dchool stuff.What has changed about the power ratings,are they different?

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[Bad4health 10+ year member]

rated at 14.4 for most. most the older companies sold out to bigger companies and making it more "cost effective" their products took a nose dive

 

[gunz4me2 10+ year member]

Hoffman's Iron Law took place and now you have subwoofers that require smaller enclosures than back in the day, but they take a ton of power to get loud. Also, technology, mainly class D and multiple hybrid classes, vastly improved to allow amplifiers to get more powerful and more efficient.

Of course, you still have those who fail to move on in life and relive their past by seeking out old school gear at outrageous prices on eBay. If you are stuck in nostalgia mode and want to overpay for your products, look no further than Linear Power and Blues Car audio. They are building amplifiers from leftover parts and pushing isobaric mounting kits for their "new" line of subwoofers. It's just like the good old days because it is the SAME stuff from the good old days. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[45js45 10+ year member]

rated at 14.4 for most. most the older companies sold out to bigger companies and making it more "cost effective" their products took a nose dive

how do I know when the companies I liked way back then sold out?I am currently looking at the Art series from PPI,I remember them as high quality.Also what about the punch series from Fosgate.Any thing good from them after the Punch HD series?

 

[CL1CKCLACK 5,000+ posts]

ppi is still pretty good. and imo stay away from anything rf besides the power series amps

 

[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

Welcome to the 21st century, we now use ported boxes and kilowatts of power to achieve SPL levels you merely dreamed of 20 years ago.

 

[PPI_GUY 10+ year member]

Well, contrary to popular belief, we old farts were using exotic _th order boxes back in the day as well. Plus, I will put most old school sound quality setups up against just about anything you are likely to find anywhere, nowadays. By the way, I hit 126db using one (1) Punch 45 back in 1990.

The main difference seems to be the rise of the hyper-wattage competition vehicles that are used in db drag contests and are only used to produce extremely short "burps" in an attempt to attain the highest SPL scores. While I have to admit some of the technology that goes into those type vehicles is impressive, any relationship to a musical recreation of recorded media is non-existant. But, I suppose there is a place for everything.

45js45, you asked about some PPI Art series amps. They can still be found for sale on forums such as this one and of course Ebay. Back in our day 2000 watts was impressive. Now, that's probably a pretty average system to most of these posters. One thing you will notice is that power is MUCH cheaper today. Remember how much an Orion 2100 HCCA would have set us back all those years ago? Now, the same money will get you 5000 watts or more! The trade-off is that most of the well known companies sold out and are being produced overseas today. PPI, Orion, Rockford, etc. are all imported. It's sad but, the market just will not support the pricing necessary to build car audio products in the US.

You and sound like like we were into car audio at about the same time originally. But, there's definately a learning curve nowadays. PM me with any specific questions you have and I will try to point you in the right direction.

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

as an old schooler myself.......Todays stuff is bigger and badder however its mostly

overseas copycats of another brands gear...You buy one brand and its someone else's product copied

and reconstituted in a another package .........I try to avoid big name brands and choose to shop

internet and small brands.......more value.....I do have old school PPIs in my truck,a 10 year old Diamond amp

and a FI Internet brand sub......I am thrilled with the SQ but todays kids would laugh at me because I cant shake

my windows out......But I can play my stuff full volume and it plays clear as FK !

 

[bigdwiz 10+ year member]

Ok,I was heavily into car audio in the late 80s and early 90s.Now,I look at all these amps and they have outrageous power numbers.What gives?I had a Punch 75 and 45 running everything and it rocked.I am looking for a amp but dont have a clue unless I am looking at the old dchool stuff.What has changed about the power ratings,are they different?

I am SO with you here....The brands I once knew as top notch are not so top notch anymore (PPI, Soundstream, PG, etc). I think the Rockford Power amps are still ok, I guess it all depends on what you are expecting from you system. My 2002 RF Power 550x (not quite "old school", not quite new) puts out 100x2 for the door separates and 350w or so to the single 10" sub in my stealth install. I'm not winning any SPL contests, but I also have balanced sound and have not lost any storage capacity.

It appears the majority of "new school" amps are rated a "max" power. Remember back in the days when Pyramid and Pyle were the only one's doing this? A 1000w Pyramid amp would be put to shame by a "45 watt" RF Punch 45. The days of underrating amps seem to be gone...Also are the days of us paying $279 for a 45 watt amp. I personally still appreciate the USA built amps of the 80's and 90's and I guess the younger generation doesn't understand this appreciation the same way I don't understand the obsession with early model cars....

 

[PPI_GUY 10+ year member]

Another point I forgot to make was about on-board filters (crossovers) on almost every amp sold today. When I competed, everything was based off an active crossover and then passives (many home-made) were used to 'tweak' the distribution of signals to an array of components. Today, all better quality components come with passive crossovers that can be tailored (to some extent) to shape the sound to your own tastes. The challenge is trying to conceal all your electronics when using sometimes bulky passive networks. Not saying either active or passive is better but, you will have to hunt for a quality active crossover these days or buy an old school Sony, Nakamichi, Alpine or something similiar. Not surprisingly, very nice examples of old school Sony XEC-1000 crossovers are fetching $200+ right now!

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I may be selling my old School PPI PROMOS 450 pretty soon...its a very powerful old school amp its the White Art series ...

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

If it's a PROMOS amp, it's technically not an Art series amp. The high current Art series were the PRO Art amps. The amps that preceded the Art series had the finned heatsinks and even though the white ones had similar graphics on them they are not Art series.

 

[RFCV 10+ year member]

I will put most old school sound quality setups up against just about anything you are likely to find anywhere, nowadays.

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[hatedonmostly 5,000+ posts]

Also are the days of us paying $279 for a 45 watt amp.

You call that a good thing, motherfucker?

 

[VWBobby 10+ year member]

I am 'only' 29, but I love any old SoundStream Reference amp, or even the Rubicon 404 I have. Even the old Jensen, Kenwood and other brands that are despised on here were great!

One of the last "Made in the USA" amps I'm using is a NOS Rockford Punch 501x "1600-watts", 4 x 65 RMS @ 4ohm. Its from around 2002. Getting ready to power it up for the first time this week/end. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

IMO the Class A and A/B amps have a lot more full/clean/dynamic sound than the new Class D amps. The higher quality ones, sound close or the same as an A or A/B.