WillistonAudioLabs

The cool thing about car audio and amps today is you can get a lot of wattage for reasonable prices. I still don't like manufacturers posting "6000W max" on an amp and/or box and it really puts out 1000W or less. That is just deceiving. However, these same mfg's overrate their speakers also, so as long as you stick w/ the same mfg, you are good, lol. Seriously though, I come from the old school where amps were $2-5 PER WATT! Yes, most of these amps were made in the USA and helped pay salaries for these people, but these days you can get 1500W amps for $150 or less (that's 10 cents a watt for those mathematically challenged). Globalization has opened up markets in lands where slave labor is allowed and this is what we expect now. There are still mfg's making amps in the US, such as Linear Power...but you'd better have a fat wallet...the LP2250 (250x2 at 4 ohms) goes for nearly $2000

Love the pic for this thread The first would be my brother's RX-7 in 1987 with six M&M Poly Subs (2 each 8's, 10's and 12's), all powered by a Punch 150 (first gen). He never had it measured, but it slammed in that 1st gen RX-7...best demo track back then was "Dirty Diana" by Michael Jackson. Beginning of the track would take your breath away.

Check the Richter scale for this 1996 Earthquake Power 40UHC. This amp was rated at 40W into 4 ohms so it could "cheat" in the competition classes (classes were divided by 4 ohm mfg amp ratings at the time). The amp was also rated to do 600W at 2 ohms or 1200W at 1 ohm. This is a Class A/B amp and Earthquake recommended (3) aux batteries if you used it at 1 ohm! I measured it to pull almost 170A of current at 1 ohm...do you think it did 1200W? Gotta watch to find out! Watch on YouTube in full 1080P HD or embedded below:

I'm getting ready to ask the community for a Zeus VII or VIII to test. Would also like a Ulysses to compare with the 25x2 high current amps I've been testing.

The video shown above was from another collector. I have a small collection of mostly Rockford Fosgate (and pre-Rockford "Fosgate") from 1973-1996, mostly amps.

Yes, this was a "stock" 8002SW, not modified by TIPS. The amp was not mine, sent to me by a LP collector as this is one amp I've always wanted to test. Amp was tested with feedback circuit on and off, no noticeable difference. It would, however, make a difference powering speakers and not resistors as in the Amp Dyno. This amp, based on it's power output, was/is mainly used as a subwoofer amp, but there's no reason it couln't be used in pairs to power components. I talked with Ray at TIPS while testing this amp and he said his upgrades would add significant power to the amp, but again, the amp wasn't mine, so this was left up to the owner. I think he decided to hold off for now. Maybe he'll send it back to me after getting the upgrades??

Now here's an amp on my "bucket list" to put on the Amp Dyno...the Linear Power 8002SW. This amp was available from approx. 1991-1997 and sold for $1600. It is a single channel (mono) 800W amp, which is Class AB and runs the full spectrum from 20Hz - 20kHz. Theoretically, you could use 3 or 4 of these amps to power subs plus mids/highs in a high end system. See how the 20yr old 800W amp performed on the SMD/D'Amore Engineering Amp Dyno! Watch on YouTube in 1080P or embedded below:

I thought I had a big collection until I met some other people on Facebook! I appreciate the support and look forward to populating this sub forum! BTW, this is not my collection, but this guy has a TON of nice gear!

Man, that's a first!!

That's exactly what I thought...why didn't it go into protect before blowing the outputs? The good thing here is the mfg will take this video and hopefully make the amps better. Here's proof I'm not paid by the mfg's to test amps and hide any bad results. This will be my last "new amp" video for a while. I'm going back to my old school roots, when amps were made here in the US with pride and craftsmanship! Did my phone have shit on the screen or did you blur the logo? Edit: Did you get a dynamic run on it first? Yeah, man, clean yo screen! LOL. No, I blurred out the name as the amp is rated for 1 ohm loads, not 1/2, so I believe MOST sub $200 1500W Class D amps would end up the same. I figured I would get some flack for blurring it out, but oh well. If the amp was rated to handle 1/2 ohm, then it would be a different story. Again, the video wasn't intended to bash any single mfg, but to show people why they should not run their amps lower than manufacturer's suggested ohm loads. I was asked by a mfg. rep to run the cert and uncert tests at 0.5 ohms though... I ran dynamic, then uncertified, then certified. It did over 1700W uncertified at 0.5 ohms

That's exactly what I thought...why didn't it go into protect before blowing the outputs? The good thing here is the mfg will take this video and hopefully make the amps better. Here's proof I'm not paid by the mfg's to test amps and hide any bad results. This will be my last "new amp" video for a while. I'm going back to my old school roots, when amps were made here in the US with pride and craftsmanship!

My SMD/D'Amore Amp Dyno claims another victim.... Here's a basic 1500W monoblock Class D amp and a great example of why you don't want to run an amp at a lower ohm load than suggested by the mfg. I was asked by a mfg rep (who will remain nameless) to test this amp at 0.5 ohms certified and uncertified. I was not happy with the result, but glad I caught it on video! See it on YouTube in 1080P HD or embedded below:

For those who like the old school "cheater" amps, here's my Amp Dyno drag race video:

A couple Orion Concept 97.3's... Sorry for the suckey picture, I picked these up and by the time I got home it was getting dark. One was picked up for a buddy, so only one remains in my stash

Here's the FULL test of the Kicker ZR240...with voltage issues, which have now been resolved. It is rated at 300W at 2 ohms mono, but does 400W easily provided 14V of input...Vid is a little long, I'll make them shorter in the future. Kicker ZR240 Full Test - BigDWiz

I've done a few amp tests, just need to get them edited and posted....howz 'bout a teaser?

So I just got in my Amp Dyno a few days ago and have been chompin' at the bit to try to get some stuff together to test. We actually put our house up on the market for sale about the same time I ordered the Dyno. Our house sold in just a couple of weeks, so things have been crazy! I'm currently in a rental, so access to the extra wiring and 240V outlets for running my big 250A power supply is just not available here. I'm working on a temporary solution now. Once you see the pics and voltage, you'll know why I'm telling you this... All that said, I decided to take my big AGM battery from Duracell and hook it up to the amp on the top of the stack of my moving boxes...a late 90's Kicker ZR240. The ZR240 is a 2 channel amp rated at 60x2 in stereo or 240W at 4 ohms mono or 300W at 2 ohms mono (12.5V). I didn't have a charger on the batt, thus the drop in voltage. Still impressive results based on the ratings! 4 ohms mono test @11.49V Certified Mode - 295W (rated at 240W @ 12.5V) 2 ohms mono test at 11.11V Certified Mode - 359W (rated at 300W at 12.5V)

Take it easy bro...FrankenSteve!

The reason some people want to see old school amp tests is because the myths and legends over the years have promised some amps produce "WAY" more than they are rated to. For me it's just because I want to know, so I'm going to test and show the results. I guess to answer your question, it's a personal preference. Some people want to see what a Stetsom 12kW amp will do, other's want to see what an Orion 225 HCCA "50 watt" amp will do...

I have an AD-1 on order and plan to test all kinds of amps, but initially, I'm focusing on the old school RF, Orion, Soundstream, a/d/s, and whatever else I can find in my stash. Those looking for specific amps and real power output, check out nd use Google Chrome so you can have it automatically translate the German (unless you can read it). This is not my website, but as you'll see, this guy has tested a TON of car audio amps.

"Only goes up to 24kw in mono mode..." Seriously though, how many amps go above 24,000 watts?? The additional cost of the needed resistors prob doesn't make sense. I'm not gonna answer your question as I'll leave that for Tony D

I was lucky enough to have an elective class in high school called "Home and Car Audio". My teacher would have been all over the AD-1! Awesome to hear the worldwide success of the SMD / D'Amore audio tools

Studying like I have a test tomorrow I know it will be a few weeks, but I'm

Ordered my AD-1 today!! I have a nice stash of amps to test...man it's gonna be fun, but I'm sure my 250A power supply will be a big limiting factor. That's cool, most of my old school amps consume well under 250A. Steve, if you see my AD-1 before it ships, please sign it. If not, that's cool, I'll just have you in the OSS labs / museum one day and you can do it then

This is what I've been saying for the past year or more I've owned my DD-1...it does what it says and those who hate on it have no reason to. They sometimes look at my scope's waveform and say it's clipped before the DD-1, but my scope is a $300 Velleman HPS50, with a very low resolution display. I have the benefit of an analog volume control, but a higher res scope display would help. I recently got in a B&K scope, but once I get the AD-1, the desktop scope will be gathering dust (until I start taking on repairing amps). I also have another tool I'll show soon compared to the DD-1 and AD-1...it's pretty cool and very old school....