buyer beware
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=113904
Printed Date: May 28, 2024 at 9:22 AM
Topic: buyer beware
Posted By: i am an idiot
Subject: buyer beware
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 7:11 AM
I do repairs for a local pawn shop, the owner called me and asked if I could pick up and amp and check it out for him. I get there and ask what it is doing or not doing that makes them think it is broken? The salesman replies with "The old grey mule just ain't doin what I know she should be doin. I take the amp from him and immediately notice the lack of weight. I think boy is this going to be good. I get it to the shop and put it on the bench and notice right away that it is just as I suspected, a chip amp. Meaning that it has an output chip just like a radio. Max 18 watts a channel. It is working just as it should, for a chip amp that is. I have seen many 14 inch amps with 8 inch circuit boards inside them. I almost did not remove the cover from this jewel. I am glad I did. This amp was about 20 inches long. As you can see in the top picture, it is rated at 1600 watts. It has a single 40 amp fuse on the end. 
When I removed the bottom cover, I was expecting similar, but there was way less than I expected to see. 
The following pic is of the actual amplifier board. 
Replies:
Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 7:31 AM
Wow, that is one amp that should NEVER overheat. I hope they were using a steel (or should I say steal) heat sink as aluminum would make that thing weigh nothing.
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Kevin Pierson
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 8:01 AM
Nope it was an aluminum sink but it did have a steel bottom cover, still in all it weighed next to nothing.
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Dayuhm! I remember installing something like that in a T-Bird YEARS ago... It was running the 5X7's in the rear seat... VERY small power supply (we found out AFTER the fact) Not quite so bad as the NO power supply in this "beast"... LOL
The guy came back the very afternoon of the day I installed it... The speakers had CAUGHT FIRE! Not a joke... O-N F-I-R-E.
We told him this was a crap amp, and we HIGHLY recommended he at least upgrade the speakers, but he wanted this amp on those rear stock Ford speakers...
There was SO much DC on the outputs, and he was driving it SO hard, the voice coils of the stocker Ford speakers overheated to the point of catching fire. We disassembled this swap-o-rama special to find the VERY MINIMALIST power supply, and a big ol' 4 channel bridged STK chip in there... It, IIRC, was marked 2000 watts! Its fuse rating? 20A.
At least they isolated the audio inputs from that big noisy amplifier end... :)
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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 10:28 AM
That's classic. Gotta love the flea market. I especially like the "1600 watts" claim on the front.  ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 1:05 PM
 " but it says 1600 watts on the amp. I got a real good deal on eBay for it." ------------- Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA
Posted By: forbidden
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 2:23 PM
You flatlanders will buy just about anything.........
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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.
Posted By: ckeeler
Date Posted: May 19, 2009 at 2:25 PM
looks like the inside of a "walkman". waaayyy long ago before the days of portable MP3 players, lol.
Posted By: ianarian
Date Posted: May 20, 2009 at 2:34 AM
Haha, Nice post Idiot, Throw a bag of sand in there and sell it with a high quality 18_ga power cable.
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This is what I do for FUN!
Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: May 20, 2009 at 9:31 AM
i am an idiot wrote:
Came back to giggle again... Noticed the (I'm sure) VERY effective ventilation holes, and the extreme care with which they covered them with the felt... to keep foreign objects away from all that high-current circuitry.
forbidden wrote:
You flatlanders will buy just about anything.........
WHA...!?!?! You mean like Chrysler products?  ------------- It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."
Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: May 21, 2009 at 6:52 PM
good lord thats awesome how people can make that kind of garbage and still sleep at night. any idea what they were going to charge for that hunk of scrap? i think my very first wal-mart amp had more circuitry than that
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Posted By: whiterob
Date Posted: May 21, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Lol, that is awesome. It is amazing that anyone would not notice how light the amp would feel when buying it. I guess they planned on no one opening up the amp to look at the circuitry (or lack thereof).
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: May 21, 2009 at 7:55 PM
I have no idea what it initially sold for, they gave someone 60 dollars for it on a loan. They were trying to sell it for 120 dollars.
Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: May 22, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Dood, 120 bucks for a 1600 watt amp? That's a BANGIN deal! ------------- Support the12volt.com
Posted By: aznboi3644
Date Posted: May 22, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Should have gotten a Sonic Impact T-amp or the new Dayton T-amp.
Better power that fits in the palm of your hand
Dayton Amp
------------- Custom Enclosure Design
Posted By: soundnsecurity
Date Posted: May 24, 2009 at 7:36 PM
1600 watts for 120 bucks, thats only 13 cents a watt, what an awesome deal if you are 13 years old.
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Posted By: thatfloorguy
Date Posted: May 24, 2009 at 11:34 PM
More like 16 watts RMS,( @ 2 ohm's ) Anzboi's Dayton pushes more, LMAO. Thx again for the thread on the enclosure
Posted By: whiterob
Date Posted: May 25, 2009 at 12:37 AM
aznboi3644 wrote:
Should have gotten a Sonic Impact T-amp or the new Dayton T-amp.
Better power that fits in the palm of your hand
Dayton Amp
Did Dayton buy Sonic Impact or something? That design looks pretty
similar........
Posted By: aznboi3644
Date Posted: May 26, 2009 at 2:01 PM
does look similar...Doesn't surprise me though...Sonic Impact stop making that model I believe
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Custom Enclosure Design
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