Why the hype for old school amps?

[rammie 10+ year member]

Ive seen a lot of hype for old school amps like US Amps, Phoenix Gold, etc, just wondering what makes them so good?

And on a related (i think?) note, whats with the underrating of power? Like if they know the amp can make 200+ watts, why would it be rated at 150 or whatever?

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[Beat_Dominator 5,000+ posts]

Back from the late 80s to mid 90s there were a lot of "cost no object" designs being built. The quality just seemed to be better build wise and sound wise for many products.

 

[95stroked1500 10+ year member]

more of them were solidly built in america with better craftsman ship and parts than is used in most amps today. but you also need to consider back then, all of our wages were less $ and the amps cost more per watt than today. and thats looking at just the # figure, not counting in what the dollar is worth today vs yesteryear. if i'm coming across on that right.

kind of like buying an older car that's made out of steel instead of the plastic cars of today.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Ive seen a lot of hype for old school amps like US Amps, Phoenix Gold, etc, just wondering what makes them so good?

Nostalgia, for one. Everyone has fonder memories of yesteryear. Also they were rock solid amps that will run forever, compared to many of the "just last long enough to make it past the warranty period" designs of today.

And on a related (i think?) note, whats with the underrating of power? Like if they know the amp can make 200+ watts, why would it be rated at 150 or whatever?

Well, relating it to the "old school" amplifiers...original sound competitions divided competitors into classes by the rated power output of their amplifiers (0-50w, 51-100w, etc). So manufacturers would highly underrate their amplifiers to give competitors an edge. These amplifiers were given the loving nickname of "cheater amps". Thus a competitor could compete in the 0-50w class, for example, yet in reality have nearly 500w of true power in their system. Linear Power for example had an amplifier with a "competition" rating of something like 12.5w x 2 @ 4ohms that really output over 100w per channel. Put two of those in your setup and you qualified for the 50w class, but truly had over 400w of power.

Now that having an underrated amplifier is pretty irrelevant for most competition formats....it's more a form of marketing for current products. People ooh and aww over amps that far exceed their rated power output like they are something special, even though the manufacturers are fully aware of what the amplifiers are capable of. The new RF Power amplifiers or somewhat older Pioneer PRS amplifiers are prime examples of this. Both of those amplifier models will for the most part more than double their rated power output.

Though in some instances, where the underrating isn't as severe, its simply to make sure that every amplifier that rolls off the assembly meets or exceeds it's rating. No two amplifiers will have exactly the same output....so if you build the amplifier to output 200w per channel, but only rate it for 150w or so....you're pretty assured that the number of amplifier's failing to meet their rated power will be virtually zero (excluding those amplifiers that are simply malfunctioning). So, in those cases it's simply to insure the consumer is receiving exactly what they are expecting.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The classic under-rated amp was the Orion Concept 97.1. Rated at either 1 watt or a half a watt per channel, I don't remember which. The amp was in reality a beefed up 2100HCCA and put out well over 100 watts a channel and was stable into .25 ohms. Everyone knew the rating was BS but none of the other manufacturers said anythig because they knew that they were being less than honest with their own ratings. That amp was the one that single-handedly did in the old IASCA power classes.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

I always wanted one of those Orion Concept amps...//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

Ive seen a lot of hype for old school amps like US Amps, Phoenix Gold, etc, just wondering what makes them so good?

Higher quality parts, military spec circuit boards, tighter tolerances on the components used.

How many Boss, Audiobahn, or even recent Orion amps do you think you'll see still in use 20 years from now?

I've been out of car audio since the mid 90's, and I cant believe how cheap looking most of the amps made by well regarded brands look to be made.

Cheap tin work with fans have replaced solid heatsinks.

Glowing emblems are more of a selling point than the circuit designs used.

Class D sub amps with 10% distortion are commonplace.

If you had been around when the old school amps were new you would understand what Im talking about I guess.

 

[Paddywad 10+ year member]

Got to love Steve Mantz and Zed Audio!

 

[jeremiah 10+ year member]

was lanzer a good amp in the 90's

 

[Rich B 5,000+ posts]

was lanzer a good amp in the 90's

In the 90's Lanzar amps were made by Zed.

Yes, those were excellent amps.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

 

[desertheat 10+ year member]

Pure simple bliss, no frills, massive power supplies, clean looks..... not signal processing, 400 knob phase adjusting, backlit, color changing, equalizing mini computers...... They were simply. AMPLIFIERS, they did one thing well, They AMPLIFIED

 

[smd4life 5,000+ posts]

they pwn...end of discussion

 

[PESteele 10+ year member]

cause alot of them were more handmade by actual people instead of some random robot in china. Also they were more focused on making good amps for enthusiests instead of selling to the masses

 

[Motovet 10+ year member]

Got to love Steve Mantz and Zed Audio!

x2

 

[SonnyD 10+ year member]

Higher quality parts, military spec circuit boards, tighter tolerances on the components used.
How many Boss, Audiobahn, or even recent Orion amps do you think you'll see still in use 20 years from now?

I've been out of car audio since the mid 90's, and I cant believe how cheap looking most of the amps made by well regarded brands look to be made.

Cheap tin work with fans have replaced solid heatsinks.

Glowing emblems are more of a selling point than the circuit designs used.

Class D sub amps with 10% distortion are commonplace.

If you had been around when the old school amps were new you would understand what Im talking about I guess.

Brother, we could be twins .........I too got out of car audio in about 93 or 94.

Now I'm attempting to get back into it, and I'm not finding the quality and sound I remember from the "old" days. I'm not prepared to spend a couple of thousand for an amp. I'm amazed at the wattage I'm seeing for 200.00, but I'm not very impressed by the quality. I still have 2 of my original Xtant amps, my monoblock will be fine for my subs, but my 4X45 isn't going to cut it for the Rainbox Pro-Fi Kicks.....Man, I wish I had kept my old PPI A600 and A404.........I guess I'm going to end up with a "old school/new School" system!.........unless upon reading more hear, I find a new amp with the quality and sound of the old stuff......anyone?

Regards Sonny