Skip to main content

US Amps USA-100 (Part 1) Old-school American Style Amplifier

Most famous car amplifier in 90's era them are all made in USA. Just like Rockford, Orion, Linear Power, MTX, Petras and so many more. They are the American style car audio amplifier that feature true RMS power output. The sound is clean and loud. Today I got this US Amps in the mint condition. The model is USA-100 and I believe it is only 2 x 50 watt. Although at this moment I don't need any amplifier anymore, but by looking this amplifier condition, I could not resist to have another one.

This is the smallest family in the US Amps line up. I got it for under US$100 and my quick check, this old school car amp is still original inside out.

The transparent back case for showing-off the internal components is the trade mark of the US Amps. It is definitely not my style but it's okay to have it. At least I don't have to open it up to know what the components inside.

There is a lot of big transistors. So many transistor that I can say it is too much for 2 channel amp. I could count there is 4 transistor for each channel. As it claims about 50 watt per channel? It is really not a fake rated power amplifier.

The toroidal transformer is small and the supply capacitor are also small. Again, as I count the transistor on the power supply. To many as I can describe for this little amplifier. Maybe I should put additional capacitor bank outside the amplifier to support rush current. It will make it perform better.

Did you notice the wrong color code not align with the wording in the RCA line input? The Red is commonly for right channel and the white is commonly for left channel.

The screws are like never been touch before. It is just like a brand new amplifier. I am sure glad to have it.

Part 2 final can be find here

Disclaimer: Any statement and photos in this article are not allowed to copy or publish without written permission from the writer. Any injury or loss from following tips in this article is not under writer responsibility.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

OPA1622 Vs. OPA627 High Performance Op-amps Comparison

This op-amps comparison topic is actually boring, but at the same time, many of us still curious about what others think about it. The reason is simply because of the op-amps variation are hundreds and they are depends by the implementation. The op-amps are considerably cheap and an interchangeable electronic components but they are not built for the same function. So in this discussion, I will focus on the modern Vs. vintage high performance op-amps in the simple non-inverting pre-amplifier gain stage.

Vintage Multibit R2R DAC Tier List

At the very beginning of this year, I committed to explore the best multi-bit R2R DAC. This is simply because I have plenty of the resources (from broken old unit CD player of course) and ability to build them up. If you think this kind a recycle from old un-used unit to become something useful, than I should stated myself giving contribute for greener world:) After all DAC that I built in this year, I think it is better for me to list them up again in one single page like this. Then I will rank them up in a simple tier list. The reason for this, so you all know what my opinion about of those vintage multibit R2R DAC especially in the sound quality.

Signal Path Capacitor Comparison - Elna Cerafine Vs. Silmic II

I you following the discussion online, there are many endless debate about sound quality improvement from one capacitors to another. Some of them did a comparison between certain branded capacitors, which in my opinion, the result are very subjective. To make this comparison more crowded, so in this post will I adding another capacitor comparison.  Previously I did a capacitor upgrade on the Pioneer KEH-P9750 head unit using Elna Silmic capacitor for the signal path only. I will take this opportunity to compare between the Elna Silmic II and the Elna Cerafine. Both capacitor are produced by the same company. I believe the result would be more objective.