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The SMD / D'Amore Engineering Amp Dyno AD-1 arrived at the HQ today...the first amp i tested was the first amp i saw, sitting on my test bench. The Sundown SAZ 1500D. Keep in mind: The test bench is only a basic indication of what the amp is capable of doing. The true spirit of the AD-1 is to find out if your car, can let the amp do what it does. In this test, i used a single 14v battery from XS power (a D1400) sitting on a 10a charger. The amp has 2 8ga positive and 2 8ga grounds. Sufficient for me to play around with my test bench in most situations, but is it enough to get rated power from the amp? Watch and see. I decided to go straight to Dynamic mode because the battery was a little low from me not charging it in about a month. Dynamic mode on the AD-1 does NOT refer to "peak" ratings. It stresses the amp out in a dynamic way that is still considered RMS. Closer to what you could expect if you are listening to music, which is dynamic in nature itself. Anyway, i did it at 1ohm and the number was good. Then i decided to grab the camera, drop it to .8 and do it again. Then, i went ahead and dropped it to .5. Note the VM-1 up top....aint no digital volt meter gonna be able to read voltage like this can. enjoy! It is NOT an in depth video, it is my first run. I can do this ALL DAY with many scenario's.. Next runs will be on a BANK of 12v, 14, or 16v batteries. in the future, once my battery bank is installed and i have a more robust power supply, i will test in all modes, in all impedance's.

In fairness to the dyno, it updates the "minimum voltage" it saw WHILE the new maximum power number was found. In other words if the amp being dyno'd hits clipping the power number will stop increasing and thus the battery voltage number will lock in at that power number. Even if the voltage continues to drop. If the amp isn't making any more power, the dyno quits updating the power and voltage numbers. But with all that being said, yes the VM-1 is insanely fast!

Has a -2.5 and a -7.5 track. On the highs amp: -0 was too quiet for me and -5 sounded like it clipped to much. Same with the sub amp. So here's an in-between

Every shop should have one of those. That's pretty damn sweet.

Here are the dd-1 tones I use along with my own personal suggestion. Keep in mind this is only my preference based on my experience. Your individual needs may vary https://www.dropbox.com/s/95ldtt7npyce07r/Snow's DD-1 Tracks.zip

Hey guys! We're giving away $2,500 in Scosche prizes and all you have to do is enter! The contest ends April 30th so make sure you submit your info soon. We will randomly select the winners once we close the submissions. May the luckiest person win! Facebook Contest Page: https://www.facebook.com/sonicelectronix?v=app_130685177115401 Alternate Link: http://sonicelectronix.pgtb.me/2RpsDl

Just wanted to post up and say congrats to my good friend and web-admin Kyle on the new arrival! It's a boy! Have fun my bro, because having kids is a great thing and definitely gonna change your life for the better. I know it did me (i will let him post pics if he wants)

Thanks Everyone! Wife is doing great and here is a picture of em that I took right before we left:

Hey on the thumb with hot needle thing. Next time take a small drill bit, TINY. And drill your thumb with your fingers..NOT A POWER DRILL lol. It doesn't take long to get through your nail and a relieving squirt of blood will confirm that. I used to smash my fingers all the time when I worked at my stepmoms bottling factory. IMO better then a needle because you don't go farther then the nail...plus needles scare the shit outta me.

i hope all the amp companies start to use this as a standard . i know i will nutt hug any that does. lol

Hmmm, Maybe stick the 4 channels here

Something else to do is meter the speaker wires at the amp to see exactly what the amp is reading

Not a reactive load, purely resistive. Which is the most difficult load in terms of delivering power. Reactive loads whether inductive or capacitive can be difficult for an amplifier to drive in terms of stability. These are tests that every manufacture should do during the design phase of an amplifier. Once the amplifier's design is set, these things are seldom an issue, and if they were an issue there is nothing a consumer would be able to do about it. Purely resistive loads, or 0 phase loads, tax the power delivery of the amplifier the most. Easy test to do at home, measure amplifier input current while burping some subs at a frequency that is produces a 4 ohm reactive load. Do the same thing on the amp dyno at 4 ohms, or another purely resistive load. You will see the input current to the amplifier at its maximum during the resistive load test.

Dang man...that's an awesome tool. You, Tiny and Juan should be hella proud of the impact your having in this hobby Oh and by the way...it almost looked like lil Wayne getting arrested in that episode of cops

Wow the SMD volt meter is crazy... You could see it dipping to 13.1 even when the dyno couldn't. This is really a wild machine

cops in the background = win

stock Honda alt, XS power d5100r up front, D3100 in the back and 2 runs of Shok Industries comp 1/0 wire. no big three either.

As in DC Power Kyle? Congrats my friend!!!

Same speakers but the pillars were never finished, just enough to look good and get to shows,

do a run. add a new battery. do another run. Gain 142.33 watts. Proof to the customer that what you did, made a difference, might make them want to spend more at your shop. This is no gimmick, it is a very powerful tool and one that help can take your shop to the next level. It's main goal is not to hurt anyone's feelings, although it might.

Ordered my X-12 on March 28th, trying to wait patiently till June 21st!

I have a revised stiffer surround for the 10" frame in stock to test -- working on re-building an X-10 motor. As I don't have all of the new parts available in bulk yet this X-10 will get a Z v.4 coil and spider -- and I'll compare CMS to the Z v.4 10" I made. As CMS is the only figure I really need to know to figure out if the surround is stiff enough. Here are a few pics of the X-10 soft parts and motor that haven't been show yet : * Original parts; 60mm long 3" D4 coil * Fun pic with parts upside-down on the motor and frame * Very tall pole extension to keep the coil from smacking into the top plate when it leaves the gap (as the suspension allows that much throw) + the top plate has a small bevel on it as well as another safety measure. The tall pole extension also gives us more linear x-max. * Frame on the motor. One thing about the new motors with the tall extensions is that they won't work on "standard" frames as the pole extension would be too tall -- unless, of course, one machined customer spacers to get the basket higher. Other coils will work on the gap but other frames aren't practical to use (except other tall frames like the Ti style).