powerbass amps

I need some input on these amps. I've been looking at their website and was wondering if their amps are high quality. I basically just haven't ever heard any of their products personally and if anybody has got experience with their amps, and I'm looking at their mono amps for bass, share it with me.

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'85 Toy

I have one of they're 4 channels and like it very much... never messed with any mono but im sure the quality is there for the price I feel like they're very nice...

Thanks. I've seen good and bad about them, mostly good though. I like feedback from people that actually have used them or sold them. Anybody else? Mainly wondering if their RMS ratings on their amps are true, unlike Hifonics for instance.

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'85 Toy

Nobody else has info on these amps?

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'85 Toy

for the most part they are decent amps, just nothing really special about them. ive sold a few of their amps in the past and i had nothing to complain about and as far as power output a quick look at the electrical specs will tell you about what the amp will produce. total fuse rating multiplied by the running voltage of 14.4v will give you a general idea of the maximum wattage that amp will give you. if there are no external fuses then the manual should tell you what the maximum current draw is and then multiply that number by 14.4.

if the amp specs mention anything about "MAX POWER" rating, this rating should be completely ignored and instead you should make your judgement off of the rms power rating.

There's nothing in the manual about current draw, but the only thing I see that might be an indication is the size of the power and ground wire they recommend for this Hifonics Brutus BX2200D amp. It says use 2 gage wire. The rep at Hifonics swears its 2200 watts RMS at 1 ohm mono, but I don't think so. Any thoughts "soundandsecurity"? I'm learning, or trying to about this.

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'85 Toy

If they quote RMS ratings, then they should be true else subject to consumer protection laws.

It's when anyone quotes anything other than "RMS" Watts that there are problems - except perhaps "Music Power" which is the same as "peak power" peak Watts which is essentially useless because both are TWICE the (RMS) Watts.
However some "peaks" mean whatever peak "power" existed for xyz microseconds etc - a totally useless measure.

"Watts" is an average aka "RMS" value. Tho technically there is only one "Watts", because of corruption it is often stated as "Watts RMS" so clarify that it is not any other measure of Wattage.   

Blame the audio industry for starting with its "Music Power" to make it seem that amps and speakers had twice the power capability.


As SNS said, fusing it one of the best confirmations.
If any fuse-less amp does not state what external fuse should be used, IMO stay away. If they don't know enough to specify what fuse (because that's a safety issue), then how can they design or support that amplifier?   

Power is Amps times voltage. (Being DC means it is a "true average" which means it is an RMS value.)
Since energy cannot be created, the max output power cannot exceed the (max) input power.

Hence if 2 40A fuses = 80A total, at 14.4V its 14.4 x 80 = 1152W.
In olde days it would have been 1104W based on 13.8V.
So that amp probably has a max sustainable output of 1000W = 1kW or less since it has some inefficiency (losses) which are rarely less then 10% of throughput. 80% is often assumed as the (max) efficiency.

And though a fuse can run all day at 110% of its rating, they should generally not run at more than 70% of their rating tho many amps may run at 90% or 100% under the assumption it's not a common event.
EG - hence our 80A fused amp might take 14.4 x 88 = 1267W (10% more), though a "normal load" would typically be below 70% x 80A = 56A (806W @ 14.4V).

I've seen quiet a few amps that aren't fused, but I don't know if their manual tells what size fuse to put in line on it. I know the Brutus amp I referred to didn't have a fuse or any info in the manual as to what size fuse to use. The Hifonics rep told me what size to use, but I don't remember the fuse size right now. It just seems that info should be easier to get without calling a company and asking for it. I'll call them again tomorrow and see what they tell me. As far as the Powerbass amps, I was looking into getting their ASA-1500.1D amp and it says its 1500 watts at 1 ohm mono. I think it has 3- 40 amp fuses in it.

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'85 Toy

the current draw rating might be disguised as another spec such as a recommended fuse rating for the main power wire. why are we suddenly talking about a hifonics amp? i thought this was about powerbass...

anyway, no external fuses and no max current rating. the lack of a current rating really says something is fishy because as oldspark said, its kind of important to know how much current the amp would draw under normal safe conditions. anything above this rating would cause damage to the amp, which is why it is a safety issue because if the amp catches fire then your car probably will too.

but if all you have to go with is the power wire size then you can estimate the output well enough to make a judgement. 2 gauge wire is good for about 100 amps of current, but the wire MUST be copper, not aluminum or copper clad aluminum, and MUST actually be a true 2 gauge. car audio power wire is not regulated in any way so there are cheapo amp kits and power wire made for car audio that is at least a size smaller than it is marked to be. its usually pretty obvious when the wire is undersized if you cant already tell from the price being much cheaper than other wire of the same size.

if the wire is a true copper 2 gauge, then you are good for 100 amps of current. so 100 x 14.4 = 1,440 watts. now you have to take some of that away to account for the amp not being 100% efficient, lets assume the amp is 90% efficient and that drops the power down to 1300 watts at 1 ohm, that is also assuming you are supplying the amp with a solid 14.4 volts with no voltage drop when you turn the volume up. i think it is safe to say you will get at least 1100 watts from that 2200 watt amp. and notice another funny coincidence... when companies rate their amps with the MAX POWER rating i mentioned earlier it is always double what the actual rms rating is and 2200 is double from 1100. case closed.

with 3 40 amp fuses in it that powerbass amp looks legit on the power rating of 1500 watts at 1 ohm

I can understand amps not being fused - ie, if they blow they blow and no fuse will prevent that because of their design - but to not advise what fuse to use for their supply ELSE provide a maximum Amperage... IMO that becomes a safety issue. (Sure, I know they don't want to give a realistic fuse rating because then you'd figure out any ratings bullsh.)

3x40A = 120A. By my ROT (rule of thump) x10 => ~1200W output, so 1500W is not unreasonable, and it's obviously not a 2x peak (music power) value.
14.4 x 120 = 1728W so an input at 100% of fuse rating means an 87% amp efficiency for 1500W out. (Or 79% if 132A in @ 14.4V.)
Of course some amps specify 15V etc supplies.

But I'm into power, not amplifiers. (I reckon I'd use much higher voltage amps for high power in my vehicles.)

Soundnsecurity, I was referring to the Hifonics amp just for comparison with the Powerbass amp that I'm looking into. It seems they are a better company than Hifonics once I look at what you and oldspark are telling me. Sorry for the confusion. I appreciate any advice you 2 give me. It helps to understand what you're buying before you get ripped off.

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'85 Toy

just for reference, this is the wire ampacity chart i use for figuring out how much current you can send through any given size of wire. the values are already over rated by about 20% to comply with electrical building code. it is always good to over size your wire to avoid the risk of burning up a wire.

Wire current rating chart

the different columns are just different types and designs of wire that electricians use. i would go by the first column to size car audio wire up until you get to 0/1 gauge wire or larger then you switch to the second column.

Thanks a lot. That'll help.

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'85 Toy