Looks Like Pyramid, Sounds Like McIntosh? Dragster DH-1804 4ch Amplifier

Рет қаралды 48,940

11 ай бұрын

#ampdyno #throwback #willistonaudio
Dragster DH-1804, four channel, 1200W amplifier from the early 2000's
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Пікірлер: 218

@girthquake9655 11 ай бұрын

I get Pyramid has a bad rap and it's a junk flea market amp, but that is what got me into car audio back in the mid 90's and very thankful I was able to get my hands on one. Thump, pyramid and Jensen will always bring back memories.

@thebreakbarrelshow 11 ай бұрын

I am just like you. We had a flea market near me and of course pyramid was the big one. Crazy looking amps , subs . Remember the gooseneck stereos. I think was pyramid. Yep , thump , jensen , crunch , SHERWOOD mtx subs got popular. Kicker comps..earthquake , orion..lol . I was in my teens and all this was heaven back in the day. Good memories

@jordanlee2936 11 ай бұрын

Same here. My first amp was a pyramid. Still got it in the store room.

@markhatcher4325 11 ай бұрын

I remember my cuz had a Jensen 100 watt 2ch amp would pound a set of Sony 6x9's with the good Ole Pioneer Supertuner 3 Cass. player with seperate bass and Treble controls it was Damn good back in the day

@user-mt9de5wt5y 11 ай бұрын

Jensen wasn't always a low end brand.

@markhatcher4325 11 ай бұрын

@user-mt9de5wt5y it had glass tube fuses for power and speakers protect inside the amp

@550n440 11 ай бұрын

I love seeing these old-school amps pop up! I remember seeing odd/rare ones in the Car Audio buyers guide and wondering if they were good or not.

@ghostemane85 11 ай бұрын

LUV that OLD School beautiful bean footage!!!...... Keep them coming .... Old school Hifonics please???

@Timsmo0th 11 ай бұрын

Very cool to see an unknown old school amp do well!

@darrylpioch2055 11 ай бұрын

That is a WELLLL designed PCB in the amp section. All the resistors grouped together in perfect rows all the predrivers in a perfect row, with zero wasted space… that’s impressive and took some really deliberate care. Also 67% efficiency on 4 ohms is extremely good for a class AB. With those numbers I’d have guessed it was class G or H setup without seeing the internals but I guess it’s just the fact they used hexfets and designed the power supply really well. Spectacular amp

@sunnyskiesblue 11 ай бұрын

That Lambo pic. That will always be my favorite Lambo style.

@Leonard-hk1nf 4 ай бұрын

Roll that beautiful bean footage! He’s talking about Butter bean for all you young bucks . Bringing back all the old school !

@michaelzernie7092 11 ай бұрын

Awesome score man. Love seeing these old school amps getting tested. It's crazy how far techs come. Keep the videos goin. Love em all!!

@brandonstock29 10 ай бұрын

Great attention to detail and giving us all the information we could get. Appreciate it Big D..

@greenreaper8663 11 ай бұрын

Really cool demo BIG D, thanks for sharing with us.

@emersonmayeaux2482 2 ай бұрын

Thats a fine old school amplifier. Definitely a collectors item. Great video Big D

@adamsinclair6739 11 ай бұрын

So glad you showed one of these amps. I graduated Mobile Dynamics Toronto in 02 and I had the opportunity to purchase them thru my school at a discounted price. Never bought any but always wondered how they performed.

@bigserge07 11 ай бұрын

As always, a great review and dyno test video. Been dying to see a dyno on the old school Visonik V2608 1000watt car stereo amplifier😮

@hankshobbies 10 ай бұрын

Great video as always….glad i found the new channel

@gnfnrs1186 11 ай бұрын

I had one of each. Sounded awesome

@albertopompilio1 11 ай бұрын

Amazing Amp I had one for a while when 1 of my Orions was in for repair. (The Orions had more bottom end, but the dragster was better at sustained output)

@dancingwiththedogsdj 11 ай бұрын

Young man (Big D), YOU are the hidden gem my good man! Taking time to show us these things and make it extremely enjoyable to watch and learn! You are da best! Now, go crank that puppy up and have a fantastic day! I have one last question for ya, although Joe Elliott says it better than I can...Do you wanna get rocked? 😉🍻🌎❤️🌮🎶

@stevencarlson5422 11 ай бұрын

Such a beautiful amp to look at

@mitchell4677 11 ай бұрын

Cool amp big D, can’t wait to see you get your hands on the new D4s minis 👍🏼

@minus3dbintheteens60 11 ай бұрын

Appreciate you showing us the transistors big boi 👍

@jayweb702 11 ай бұрын

Wow a company I've never heard of, love it!

@HifiVega 11 ай бұрын

I was always curious about this one seeing it hang on your wall. Turns out it’s a banger

@Guiltless765 11 ай бұрын

3:42 Had the chrome dome poppin.😂😂

@AzBigD 11 ай бұрын

Great vid Bro!!❤🤟😎👍💯

@bojangles1023 11 ай бұрын

Good stuff....thank you for the video

@kswis 11 ай бұрын

Another gem!

@jaywhy7556 11 ай бұрын

Long as time ago I had 2 12s pyramids in a truck box for 25 dollhairs on my surround sound at home early 90s and I was proud of my flee market sound. And it did lay the way for my still to this day sound addiction! Love it main!

@jasx1485 11 ай бұрын

I didn't know dolls had that many hairs

@SDS-1 11 ай бұрын

Very good design

@markgigiel2722 10 ай бұрын

As a loud rock music enthusiast in his 60's who also liked to KEEP being able to hear all the music and subtle nuances, I have NEVER been able to understand why people need that much power and actually CHOOSE to damage their hearing. Especially in an enclosed space like a vehicle it doesn't take much power to create a lot of sound pressure. People are so insecure, they need to SHOW OFF with a bigger better car or audio system. More power, more power. Like immature Tim Taylors.

@mrbass3 11 ай бұрын

Great video as usual these were quite common in the UK I had one but blew it😢

@ashylarry1589 11 ай бұрын

Coulda sworn I heard that W7 laughing 🤣

@Mr.Robert1 11 ай бұрын

W-7 Real audio equipment. Pyramid and all those 80s 90s goods with the FAKE boxes labels. All Junk. I sold it all I know.

@daveme3582 11 ай бұрын

Lovely amp. Looks immaculate inside as well. Those pots used are a cut WAY above most in quality. Often an area penny pinched even by prestigious makers. Considering the output when run mono single channel I HIGHLY doubt the amp section isnt up to snuff. My $ is on inadequate power supply traces somewhere in the supply section. Real shame the R&D boys didnt catch it before it went into production. Ive seen this happen on several home audio amps. Such a perfect amp all around outside that one oversight.

@jimbobdobbs1597 9 ай бұрын

Agreed on the power supply side, especially when either channel tested out alone.

@kgroovemaster 11 ай бұрын

I used to have a power acoustik lt980 2 channel....what an amp that was...powered some early rockford fosgate 12 inch subs well and also some sony 1200 xplods...

@scuff433 11 ай бұрын

very cool amp

@calvinevans8305 11 ай бұрын

It's a beauty.

@noelsantiago8613 11 ай бұрын

Nice!

@dougcastle1785 11 ай бұрын

I remember having a Rockford Fosgate Type RF Amp that thing was the cleanest most efficient amp I have ever owned.

@TheRealAaronWitchey 11 ай бұрын

Dang, looks like one of the ELAC's took a tumble!

@wal2 11 ай бұрын

She took a spill off the table onto the hard concrete 🤦‍♂️

@adampaffrath4299 11 ай бұрын

That’s a sexy amp! Had that jl slappin! When are you doing that small sub battle I’ve been dying since you teased it. Also please do some flea market amps I need that back in my Life! Keep bumpin ya big dummy

@russelllopez4171 11 ай бұрын

I still have 2 da1402’s but one I think is blown and the other needs some love Also put one of these with the 2402 into a 1986 mustnad hatchback where the dragster subs were inverted and the box kind of mimicked and engine with pistons and a hood scoop at the same time. It actually sounded really good with a lot of bandwidth.

@LuxAudio389 11 ай бұрын

I had Phoenix Gold amps and then X-Tant back in the day.

@SadLifeIndustries 10 ай бұрын

I remember seeing those amps at the “Super Sale”…. Wow, who knew?!?

@juanroque4452 11 ай бұрын

The amp did good numbers not very efficient but good numbers thanks Big D Williston for another great video stay the course my brother 🙏

@JasonWW2000 11 ай бұрын

Actually, the efficiency seems right on par for amps of this type (class A/B).

@bassjunkie2020 11 ай бұрын

My 1st amp was a Pyramid flea market amp But it was the real deal were talking the mid 80's! On 2 10s that were also Pyramid subs

@markhatcher4325 11 ай бұрын

Gold series?

@bassjunkie2020 11 ай бұрын

@@markhatcher4325 yelp

@todddooley793 11 ай бұрын

It didn't have a brick inside? Lol

@bassjunkie2020 11 ай бұрын

@@todddooley793 lol

@bassmansl9596 11 ай бұрын

Nice amp bro💪💪🔊🔊💯💯🤘

@ShawnKDooley 11 ай бұрын

That would have been a heck of an amp back in the day

@norbertholl 11 ай бұрын

This amp made in Italy by : Gt Trading, like Steg, Audioqueest, Eton Pa series, Audiosystem, Ciare, Boston Acoustics Gt series,

@arnoldsalazar5851 11 ай бұрын

That space age hustle, should continue with that bass line all the way through the song.

@HuntJ62 11 ай бұрын

I have a dragster 1404. 4 channel amp it's a great amp yet no one seems to know about it today my used it and a component set from dragster in his car

@romans116notw 11 ай бұрын

I had that CA&E issue with the mini on the front.

@todddooley793 11 ай бұрын

That was a lot of power back in the early 2000's

@n.shiina8798 11 ай бұрын

the heatsink and transistor clip design reminds me of Zapco reference

@Chris-B-Bassin 11 ай бұрын

Very cool. The price kept it from selling well but it's legit 👌

@christiandshatto7765 11 ай бұрын

All the transistor clamps remind me of the newer mosconi pro430,(& probably the 830too.)

@quevicular 11 ай бұрын

I like that amp. it's got class

@peterplague 11 ай бұрын

This looks exactly like a Zapco AG / Reference Series from the Mid to Late 1990's. Also was Dragster related or Owned by Twister in Italy?

@wtfbenny 11 ай бұрын

I believe so. Mosconi stuff ;)

@drumsmoker731 11 ай бұрын

I'm from Italy and even here no one got the plot totally figured out. It's all mix match of engineers, designers, failed and acquired companies, rebranding, etc. Think it all started with AUDIO SYSTEM (TWISTER was a line-up of amps by them in the early 2000s) then AUDIOQUEEST and then STEG, DRAGSTER (their amp guts are very similar to AUDIOSYSTEM's TWISTER and AUDIOQUEEST), MOSCONI. The only Italian brand that never changed for over 30 years is Audison and their spin-off Hertz.

@SuperWooba 11 ай бұрын

I like the new Smokey's Lounge sample. 😎

@martinez1701a 11 ай бұрын

I actually have the Dragster DW 84 8"inch subwoofer, pulled it out of my 02 Yukon it was in the stock subwoofer box. I haven't used it for anything yet so I don't know how it sounds.

@bones40447 11 ай бұрын

I'd like to see some stuff from PPI the first few years after they went to Korean builds. I had many of the PPI2360 amps and they seemed to be underrated. It was rated 90x2@4 ohms, 180x2@2 ohms, or 360x1@4 ohms. It also has 2x25 amp fuses.

@Kamakaze04 11 ай бұрын

The art audio series was nice.

@jimbobdobbs1597 9 ай бұрын

Yessir, PPI and rockford both religiously underrated their amp outputs to keep systems in certain power output classes. It was a sort of industry standard at the time, most of those "100" watt amps would do 3 X that or better

@theaudioasyulm 11 ай бұрын

I wonder if the designers only ever intended for the amp to run in 3 channel mode at 4 ohms and the protection is appropriate for those loads? (I suspect that the 2 channel test may have been unfair. Maybe try 4 ohm stereo/4 ohm mono to see if its stable?) Which would be a practical use for this awesome amplifier! Love your work D.

@nukedathlonman 10 ай бұрын

Wonder if one of the components like a cap is a touch weak, hence the triggering of the protection circut. That may (or may not) explain the difference in the power out put with the right side being weaker (or the left side being stronger).

@patrickcoughlin-qj9uk 10 ай бұрын

During the late 1980 era I had A pyramid pma 270 or a 280 To 3 metal case outputs no numbers on the devices except for a red strip / green stripe 2 dip 16 pin drivers with heat sinks no numbers Board branded. Earth star audio

@SoberBassHead 11 ай бұрын

Old school power house!!!!!!

@P-J-W-777 11 ай бұрын

Man I love me some JL Audio. I’ve been a JL Audio customer since I was 15. Wow, that’s been 30 years. I really hope that Garmin doesn’t screw up the quality. Fortunately Garmin is know to produce really high end equipment for boats and airplanes. Maybe JL will benefit from Garmin technology.

@HoUsEoFcAtS78 11 ай бұрын

That's the difference between quality and China. Even the newest amps will only last a few years. Nothing compared to the old Rockford Fosgate, PPI, Kicker, and Phoenix Gold amps of the early/mid 90s to the early 2000s. They have stood the test of time. And a lot of them still can be used daily still to this day. This amp is no exception. Very well thought through and laid out. Beautiful amp.

@bondovwvw 11 ай бұрын

That looks almost exactly like a zapco reference amp 360.4

@memyselfandi3925 11 ай бұрын

Big D, try the bridged test again at 12.5 volts. I had an old american bass that didnt like anything over 13 in low ohms. Idk, worth a try.

@crttechs873 11 ай бұрын

❤

@fishyfool 11 ай бұрын

Hey, with that rust, you get crap on the circuit board. pull the board and visually inspect it for rust/oxidization on the traces and the ic's. clean if nessessary.

@devanradomiljac2488 11 ай бұрын

any videos of you actually setting up an amp?tunning it ect ?

@donmacdonald8880 11 ай бұрын

I had a smaller version of this amp 2 channel was hard to find anything on it

@ronmock1978 11 ай бұрын

I had a pb gold 200 watts an a bazooka tube though I was bumping

@poppynokc1977 11 ай бұрын

Big D, Does that switch need to be on mono, opposed to the stereo setting it was on to play bridged?

@spyko7z 11 ай бұрын

If i remember right this amp was made by the same engeneers who made the boston gt series :) if you look the board are similar

@SuperBlah57 11 ай бұрын

check the prices in the book when he shows you that amp. look at the earthquake price vs wattage.

@99Duds 11 ай бұрын

Oh the oddness of old hardware. The test going into protect could be due to age of components or due to resistive loads being much harder on hardware in general or combinations of both. I think its the last one.

@bobdodge3171 11 ай бұрын

Dragster is still making amps/speakers

@travismclendon8961 11 ай бұрын

I would love to have that amp. It would be hooked up in my truck on the 4 8in mids I have in the doors.

@wal2 11 ай бұрын

Hit me up! I posted in on Patreon a couple of weeks ago, but it's still available

@iceman45ification1 11 ай бұрын

You made a video years back about a Dragster amp. Is this the same one? I think you did a head to head shootout against a Rockford Power 650, or was it the 1000C? 🤔Anyways, I always wondered how this thing performed. She's definitely a keeper. Love the quality that went into it. Great video BigD!! 💪🔥

@dancingwiththedogsdj 11 ай бұрын

I think that was a Harrison Labs amp that was a huge beast... And I am probably wrong, but that's what popped in my head when you said Dragster amp. Have a great day! 🍻🌎❤️🌮🎶

@iceman45ification1 11 ай бұрын

@dancingwiththedogsdj Nah, this was like 10 years ago at least. That Harrison Labs amp sure was a weird one though. Lol

@dancingwiththedogsdj 11 ай бұрын

@@iceman45ification1 Gotcha! Wasn't trying to lead you down the wrong path or anything but to me, looking up audio stuff, even if it's not what I meant to look for, rarely ends in having a bad time or anything... It's all fun and interesting! You have a great day and thank you for a pleasant response. Take care! 🍻🎶 P.S. - your screen name has forced me to go listen to Ice Ice Matrix (not a typo)... Great video too! Gotta turn it up though.... 😁

@oahupc4688 11 ай бұрын

would be interesting to know which op-amp they use.... that's the small 8pin chip.

@Mr.Robert1 11 ай бұрын

The L-7 Doesn't know it's hooked to an amp. It thinks its a head unit or an AM Radio.

@commonsense3505 11 ай бұрын

Got a Phoenix Gold smell to it

@s.o.s.exploration2412 11 ай бұрын

Still have yet to see you, OR ANYONE, with a dyno to test out the up to 6 channel capable Orion XTR 750.4 that I own and love. Hook a brother up! I'm dying to know its max since the birth sheet of mine states 185x4 or so @13.8 volts, 2ohm = 208 watts RMS. Dying to know if it pushes more than 1500watts RMS total with its mono 4ohms bridged (even though I'm running my 4 components off it rite now)... 🤔🤔🤔

@mxmang 10 ай бұрын

What's going on with the solder or is that heatsink compound on the fet legs?

@KGOO89 8 ай бұрын

K start with replacing all the thermal interface use idk maybe uh. Dammit I forgot Gotta clean both surfaces 101% first These amps are a lot more efficient than you tested thermal grease wears out with time loses thermal transfer capabilities It likely has thermal ‘tape’ of course

@vicdez 11 ай бұрын

Reminds me of Sony's "Big Red XM-7557" Mobile ES amps no?

@bayramoglumurathan925 11 ай бұрын

Your monitör speakers good.

@raymo6795 11 ай бұрын

...I wonder if this amp is from" GT Trading". They are an Italian manufacturer. They make "Steg", and "Audiosystems" amplifiers and speakers. I hear 'Steg" makes excellent amps and speakers, and "Audiosystems" is their more affordable brand.I have dealt with an Italian company called "Audiostatus". They are a distributer of brands that are NOT made in Asia, and deal with several European made audio gear...I often buy "ETON" speakers from them (German made) , they are a great resource if you wish to avoid Chinese products...as I do...but they offer Chinese made products as well...unfortunately, Italy has also been overtaken by cheap Chinese labor...great show Big D

@wal2 11 ай бұрын

I believe so!

@raymo6795 11 ай бұрын

@@wal2 …I believe they also made some of Boston Acoustics amps in the late 90s, great show Brother D✌️👍

@MannyGunzz 11 ай бұрын

Maybe the the volts were to high, 14.4 ? Maybe lower voltage?

@herus6672 11 ай бұрын

Probably amp powersupply filter didnt have enough capacity to run 2ch 4ohm test so it went to protect. I think the energy surge was too big

@caseytbss 11 ай бұрын

Why is this on the extras channel? 🤷‍♂️. I would post it on the main channel also! This is a great amplifier.

@wal2 11 ай бұрын

Unfortunately the old school amp videos don’t do well there for the most part. I decided to use this channel for most of the old products moving forward. May change the channel name too 🤔

@TS_sound 11 ай бұрын

Same design as Audio System Twister/X-ION series or Zapco old Reference series or Mosconi AS/Gladen one series or most of the Steg amplifiers.....yeah you should figure it out by now where this one goes....nevertheless nice amps, protection circuit is finicky one in these. Dragster is much more known in Russia and Europe than in USA.

@travishoel3755 11 ай бұрын

You had the Jl moving

@JoshTheCarAudioGuy 10 ай бұрын

I'd say the problem with the dyno numbers being off has to do with old parts being out of tolerance and out of spec I repair amps and that amp is built beefy enough to do 750 x2 at 4 ohm and 1kx2 at 2 ohm bridged if the amp got freshened up I'm pretty sure those would be ur numbers.

@wal2 10 ай бұрын

Happens with freshly repaired and even brand new amps

@erkanseker153 3 ай бұрын

Gerçekten güzel bir ampli eski cadence ampli leri andırıyor

@catswildlife4969 11 ай бұрын

Do you have a way to test distortion from an amp output?

@wal2 11 ай бұрын

Yes, but I don't do it since I don't think most people want to see

@LuxorVan 11 ай бұрын

Almost a red version of a Zapco Reference 750?

@arnicus208 11 ай бұрын

FYI: Same or not, I don’t know, but amps and speakers are still being sold under this brand. No idea as to their quality.

@Bassotronics 11 ай бұрын

My friend who got me into bass music said he was going to buy this amplifier but never did. I think that’s when he got the MMATS instead. I personally never knew where he got the money to get these amplifiers since he doesn’t work but then again it’s not my business.

@wal2 11 ай бұрын

MMATS was a solid choice!

@the_gixxer_mike 11 ай бұрын

Street pharmaceutical engineer probably. Lol 😂

@VisionSoundPDX 11 ай бұрын

They thought it was competition against the Orion HCCA in 2004. In 2005 they realized the guy who made this claim in 2004 was a fool and they fired him and dissolved the company. lol. This isn’t what happened at least I don’t think so. I just found it funny that they thought it could compare at that price point.