Stetsom v1k5 H - 1 Ohm

  • 6
    Participant count
  • Participants list

gunz4me2
10+ year member

Bat Country
1,676
5
Louisiana
Review of Amplifier:Stetsom v1k5 H - 1 ohm

I initially purchased this little amplifier to power my 13w6v2 loaded Stealthbox in a 2006 Mustang GT. The main goals were to have a lot of power in a small, efficient, form factor. From that perspective, the Stetsom delivers because it is a small yet powerful amplifier. When it comes to sound, this amp doesn't miss a beat.

Thus far, I tested some old Pink Floyd, mainly Echoes from Meddle and all of Dark Side of the Moon. This amplifier does not miss a beat when it comes to reproducing sub bass frequencies and it literally feels like one's finger is sliding up and down the bass guitar string during reproduction. I also put Thirteenth Step by A Perfect Circle on, and again, this little Class D sounds just as good as any high end Class AB amplifier that I ever tried in my vehicle. Sonic wise, I am truly impressed with this little gem and it is a vast improvement over the first gen Class D amplifiers that absolutely hated.

Now for the bad. The fan on this amp is super loud. I'm talking I hear it in the trunk over my Mustang's exhaust and fuel pumps during the quiet musical passages while driving down the highway kind of loud! I also noticed that this amp is super sensitive to rapid voltage changes. If I drive like a bat out of Hades, the sudden increase in RPM spinning the alternator up sends the amp into protect mode. As a result of these two negative points, I will be pulling the amp from my vehicle and putting it up for sale shortly.

So to recap, it's a small, powerful amp that sounds great BUT has a super loud fan with a super sensitive voltage protection circuit. I thought this was the perfect Class D amp for me, but it just isn't going to work out. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 
ive had clipping problems from these amps as well. when voltage changes fast the amp clips the signal so if you dont have the electrical its not really fun. the clip light is a great indicator though just wish it wouldnt be on all the time. in the end i ended up returning this amp in favor of the sundown 1500. thanks to the great guys at ssa i had no other problems. the fan ***** to. its just stupid loud idk why it was designed like that.

 
the amp goes into protect at 14.8-.9 volts i had this problem with my 14k during the winter when my alt would charge higher. I will agree the fans are loud. They are especially loud when you first turn on the amp but it gets a little quieter when it warms up. Im glad to hear the sound quality on this amp is amazing. I was very very impressed with my 14k as well

 
I could probably stop the over voltage issue with a capacitor (of all things) and i do happen to have one laying around. Sadly, the fan is a deal breaker. Granted, I know something had to give for this much power in a small form factor, hence the reason for the fan. I read other reviews where they say "slight" fan noise, and I'd like to know their definition of "slight". Maybe slight compared to my shop vac hooked up to the table saw with both running, but by no means is it a slight, barely noticeable fan noise.

 
yeah i hooked up my k2e for the first time tonight and it was 100 times louder than your amp (im guessing since i got 4 fans in my amp) but then after about 15 seconds it went back to how they normally run. I kinda like the noise because it sounds like a jet air plane about to take off hahaha it makes people be like what the helll is that.

The fan is the least of my worry because as long as you have music playing you cant hear it even if its just your highs. But if i have some one riding with me that i dont have any music playing i will shut off my deck because i will start to notice it after a while

 
After doing some probing around today, I believe I figured out my problem... I used the extra Konfused Distro block that I picked up several years ago. I knew there was a reason I destroyed the first one, but I couldn't remember why. Not only do the threads strip out if you change the wire, but the contact area with the compression fittings isn't the greatest. Lesson learned, buy cheap, buy twice, except in this case I already have a solution, or three!

EDIT: After fighting with the amplifier, and receiving a response from the Stetsom rep on another forum, it appears that 14.5 volts of idle voltage is indeed TOO much and at the borderline of kicking the battery tension protect circuit. As a result, I will be putting it up for sale. It's sad too because I liked the amplifier BUT I am not going to downgrade my electrical just to run it.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Here is the frequency response of the Stetsom now that I have a new toy to perform measurements:

Stetsomv1k5HFrequencyResponse.jpg


Here is how it stacked up against a Zapco Z100S2:

StetsomvsZapco.jpg


 
I was kind of disappointed to find about that they were designed for 13.8 volts AFTER I had purchased mine. I ended up bringing it to one of the local engineers who offers design and repair service to see if he could modify the voltage over protect circuit to trip higher than 14.6 to 14.8 volts.

 
For everyone who wanted to look under the skirt, here you go:

Gut1.jpg


Gut2.jpg


Sadly, it wasn't deemed safe to modify this particular amp to run over 14.5 volts. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...

About this thread

gunz4me2

10+ year member
Bat Country
Thread starter
gunz4me2
Joined
Location
Louisiana
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
12
Views
9,754
Last reply date
Last reply from
quackhead
Screenshot 2024-03-07 184329.png

Doxquzme

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
IMG_3075.jpeg

Daniel Lee

    Mar 27, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top