1994 Earthquake PA-2300 Amp Tested

[@wal]

To answer Cincinnati Harry's comment. This is not a traditional "clamp test", I'm using the VRMS meter to determine Volts RMS at the speaker leads and since I'm using a resistive load, there is no calculation for power factor as there is when you use speakers (reactive load). The VRMS meter grabs the Volts RMS the amp passes to the resistors at a given ohm load. Output power is what we are determining here. You could also use a Clamp meter in place of the fluke volt meter I was using, but it's important it measure RMS voltage as most of the cheaper meters are not RMS and results would be inaccurate. See D'Amore Engineering's KZbin channel as they have a lot of info about wattage calculations and different meters you can use.

[@fridgdog]

Thanks for the info BigDWiz!!

[@johnboy9769]

BigDWiz this sure looks like the Coustic amps of the late 80s early 90s

[@wadehicks9270]

Good video there Dereck. Earthquake made some fine amps back in the day.

[@wal]

It seems most of their other models were underrated, not sure if my 2300 was indicative of all 2300's or not? Maybe I'll find another one to test so we can find out...

[@JonHunter80]

thats gotta b the best lookin amp from the mid 90's, at least possibly my fave with regard to looks, if it did rated I'd still buy one!

[@wal]

It’s pretty sharp. I’d like to test another as these should do rated power

[@hughmungus7756]

I had this version in 600 watt and I pushed 2 Zeus Comps..My first amp. Kept a damp rag in the freezer to keep it cool..lmao. From a pawnshop for 30$.

[@k9squad431]

I had that same amp but unfortunately mine got stolen along long time ago. I'm 47 now and would absolutely love to have that amp again if you would ever sell it please let me know Thank You

[@wal]

Sorry brother this amp is long gone, sold it many years ago

[@08magnumsrt]

I had 3 of those in 1995 hooked up In my GMC pick up. They were powerful amps. At first I had 6 JL W6 woofers one amp to each pair and then I went with 6 solobaric 15's They always worked and never failed on me..

[@mikemastin9152]

The pa-2300 amp is made by Furi.....and the power in the manual is actually false. It needs bridged @2ohms on very strong electrical to surpass the 1150w rating, as it draws 210amps to do that.

[@wal]

+Mike Mastin thx for the info! Maybe we'll get another one in to test on the Dyno

[@1boostup]

What happened to the smd amp dyno for this test?

[@mattsnider5904]

I had the 4300 Earthquake in the early 90s on 4 18 inch Crunch in a Ford escort lol. It was a lowrider without me trying to make it one ha ha!!

[@robertpalmer676]

Hello big d love your videos . Know this is a old posting but gust wondering about the phd2 . Herd its very high in distortion. Will it do its numbers at 1% thd . Which we all think its 1000@4 and 2000@2ohms

[@wal]

Maybe I’ll get one to try sometime.

[@stevenking2980]

Nice test big DWIZ

[@lx5.069]

Derek,got any info on the earthquake 3400x..can't find anything online about it...

[@fridgdog]

shouldn't the clamp meter be around the speaker wires? wouldn't the set up in the video include all the power lost to heat and inefficiencies in the amp not just the output power to the resistors/speakers? Do amp companies rate their equipment on input or output power? iv always assumed output but I really have no idea Great vid as always, keep em comin!

[@joselblopez9103]

Mi vida es EARTHQUAKE POR ESO LO LLEVO EN MI HASTA LA MUERTE ,SALUDOS CORDIALES DESDE MEXICO JOSE LB ME CONOCEN

[@harryparadise615]

i used to have the cheater version of this amp, the 2020uhc. this was pushing two atomic 1599 subs in a 1995 dodge shadow... with the stock alternator! LOL either way, the thing pounded. great memories :)

[@joselblopez9103]

eric burgos yo tengo mi PA-2020 UHC UNA JOYA TOTAL Junto con el PA-4100C,PA- 2075,PA-2030 y otro mas

[@gigaherc77]

Dereck when we see a ZEUS VII on a amp-dyno?

[@wal]

As soon as I can get my hands on one.

[@EURIPODES]

I found a annihilator ha400xr for $175 factory refurbished in the box. Should I? Bit of nostalgia for me because I had the ha200c in high school. But is it a good value? Can I get a comparable quality modern amp for that?

[@donjaun540]

Very nice earthquake amp. I have six earthguake amps. I wonder what ever happened to them??

[@lavarishayes6189]

I have and old school power acoustik ps2 1600. I was wondering if you had tested that amp before? And if power acoustik does what they say they do. Because personally I'm a Rockford Fosgate fan and I love their amps

[@tsi87supr60]

I'd suggest a rerun on the dyno

[@pastorofmuppets325]

I've always heard that these were a Zed clone. That basically Mantz design had been reverse engineered to create these. If that's the case, in my experience the old Zeds doubled power into 2 ohms stereo, and quadrupled when bridged. That doesn't explain the manual being incorrect though. The amp may have had something wrong with it.

[@anthonyconger6088]

Hey bro u ever test Kenwood amps or speakers?

[@MyBlowncobra]

Do you plan on testing an earthquake mini d amp..

[@chrisblack4525]

Still looking to see those ESX by Zed audio. I couldn't kill one using subs....ever. Lol Bring it Big D!

[@wal]

+Chris Black they are like the OS HiFonics...regulated, do rated plus 5-10%. Great amps 👌

[@just-passin-thru]

Thanks so much for clearing it up. because I didn't understand it. I mean back in the day( 1993-1994) Earthquake somehow was the shit! I even heard them pump out some loud bass but of course, that was in High school LOL. Anyways thank you very much for clearing that up! :)

[@Elitemonkeys32]

What is that app you use to calculate the power in watts?

[@wal]

***** JL Audio and Rockford both have them, but you need to use resistors instead of speakers to get accurate measurements. Unless you get a SMD AMM-1, which can measure wattage using speakers also

[@MrEscort351]

wat rms or power output is the 4300t please cant find it anywhere ?

[@wal]

MrEscort351 50x4 at 4 ohms or 75x4 at 2 ohms or 150x2 at 4 ohms

[@dd2kean9tlsfresh13]

What is that app called?

[@tony-nf8dd]

i used to have a pa 2300 on some rockford power series subs 600 rms and it killed my subs so belive me it can do more than its rated power!!!

[@danielhillwick8430]

I also ran this amp years ago. It was strong and loud but extremely dirty. It probably killed your subs from a DC current surge and super distortion.

[@krisoldaker4171]

Bringing back memories. Had 2 of these on 4 punch 12s in a 82 regal back in the day. Groundpounder

[@semimike19]

How come you never test any series 7 hifonics amps. I have several (pluto,thor, boltar, atlas). Would like to see results.

[@wal]

I test what I have and I don't currently have any HiFo 7 series. Those are my favorites though. Look back, I did test the Vulcan and Thor on OldSchoolStereo.com a few years ago. I can't believe I let those amps go, they were SO mint!! www.oldschoolstereo.com/2011/06/hifonics-vulcan-and-thor-vii-old-school.html

[@DieHardChevyMan]

I had two 2300 in a 78 Camaro! Ah! Very loud!!!

[@DieHardChevyMan]

R.i. ??

[@smtyson1650]

so does the black pa2300 makes the same power as the blue pa2300 series??

[@wal]

+shawn tyson I don't recall blue/black PA2300's?

[@audiophilesland969]

this amp will do 2ohm bridged.try it and you will see.

[@Var272]

Hey I have a Earthquake 4400TXO i purchased off craigslist for $30. I had installed to power my two pair off doors speakers. Seems to work fine. I have no clue about car amplifiers.I don't know the specs or anything on this amp. Is this a good deal or a rare find?

[@wal]

I think the amp is 50w x 4, but I'll look it up and let you know. Sounds like a good deal to me!

[@Var272]

Dereck BigDWiz​ I found a spec sheet. It's 85 w x 4 @ 4 ohms stereo , 250 w x 2 @ 4 ohms Mono

[@dougl4253]

Hey can u do D class 5000 can't remember the letters but it was a earthquake

[@angelohendren9823]

What's the dyno say about planet audio 1800.5

[@wal]

It says wooooo 😜

[@angelohendren9823]

@@wal what's that mean woo

[@angelohendren9823]

????

[@WayTewFresh]

Find an old 1 it has a different circuit board i believe the 1st ones had a red 1 and looked identical internally the later ones had a blue or green board dont remember

[@Ryanthesavagesmith]

I was given an earthquake pa-5040 4 channel amp by my buddy he said the rca were messed up so i took her home and tightened some screws on the board and it works perfect now i know it didnt hit specs but dont let that fool you earthquake used to make great amps and if you can get your hands on a working one you wont be disappointed

[@wal]

Nice amp!

[@Ryanthesavagesmith]

@@wal thanks bigD i actually have each pair of channels bridged @4 ohms running 2 massive audio gtx122 subs have had other amps with more advertivesed power but they dont come close to the QUAKE

[@MisaelLopez-rl2fx]

Yo tengo el PA-2020 UHC ,PA-2300n,PA-2150,PA-4020C,PA-4050,PA-2075

[@nazhoseincom]

it says 1150W @ 2ohms not 4ohms

[@wal]

2 ohms Stereo = 4 ohms mono on 2ch amp

[@jaydawg4065]

I'm just now watching this video.

[@teddyguerita]

big d wizz wen can u please dyno an earthquake powerhouse d2 shredder and or d3 the rock amps the grey ones. they were some beast little competition amps that had a few records from wat im told. I have both and can maybe send them out to u for testing

[@lx5.069]

Anybody have info on this amp...its a 3 channel is all I know...old school...

[@peloteroification]

lol

[@joselbearthquake4379]

Yo amo esta marca EARTHQUAKE ,EN MI COLECCION DE AMPLI CUENTO CON PA-2020 UHC PA-2300N PA-4020C PA-2075 PA-2150 PA-4050 MARK2 THURS .4 POWER HOUSE PHD2 POWER HOUSE 120.2 HOHMANN SERIES 2150

[@soundsofnature7015]

Doesn't this test assume 100% efficiency ?

[@just-passin-thru]

Um.... you just did the 4 ohms mono, but the amp says 2 ohms what?

[@wal]

4 ohms mono = 2 ohms stereo. The 2 ohm rating is stereo, not mono. Amp is rated at 1150W at 4 ohms mono according to the manual or 575w/ch at 2 ohm stereo which is 1150W total

[@just-passin-thru]

Ok ok, My bad

[@wal]

c8kwalk It was a valid question, and I should have clarified in the video.

[@terrancezatylny3217]

@@wal i got q collection of oldschool earthquake ifyou want to dyno a couple. Also an old zapco ag 6 ch

[@1-Six-dee]

BigDWiz did u contact a guy named Steven on let go or offer up out if NC a few weeks back on a earthquake 900? I believe u wanted to PayPal and the dude was scared off o think he is one of my friends o think the amp is purple

[@wal]

No sir, was not me

[@iceman45ification1]

Too bad it's not up to par with advertised power. Still probably better sounding than any of the new ones though.

[@wal]

Yeah, almost 800W of Class AB is still beastly, no doubt!

[@turbosucks]

That's a wrong result... I have used both the Zeus and pa 2300 and all the time the pa 2300 would drive more power and sound better than the Zeus amplifier where as on the Zeus series 7 u got more power.. It has to be the dyno!

[@wal]

+turbosucks there were different versions of the 2300, I'm trying to find another to try. It did not seem right to me either, but I don't like to make a conclusion without at least 2 samples (if one underperforms)

[@turbosucks]

+Dereck BigDWiz Awesome stuff though! Keep it up man... Maybe the old colossus and the old earthquake 4300

[@turbosucks]

+turbosucks Do you happen to have any link or recomendation on an aperiodic membrane sub enclosure? Old school style.. I built one in 1993 sounded great with impp pioneer 12" but would love to see some other designs...

[@GoshindoTanaka]

Man am dissapointed earthquake was my fav brand back in the day i had the twin model of this amp the 1000 bx from 96 and i was hoping that the 2300 was a 1500 rms amp but no even put the power that the company saids overpriced as hell from $ 745.00 i think you get a mtx 2300 or a punch 200 better and not be deceived.

[@wal]

Goshindo Tanaka Please note, there may have been some type of issue from this amp and until I can test another, I won't know for sure. I'll put a feeler out to see if anyone out there would be willing to send me one to test

[@GoshindoTanaka]

all right then theres some hope for the earthquake lol

[@theblooms]

I has a sad. :(

[@wal]

I sent the amp to a tech after the test so it could be gone over. It was given a clean bill of health and even recapped, but no difference in output when I got it back. Unfortunately, this amp is gone and I cannot test it again on the Amp Dyno. My test here should simulate certified test on the Dyno (to 1% THD)

[@rockystinson4528]

Dereck BigDWiz Hey bro been following you for a while. And love your vids. I have a few old school amps and am looking for a good technician to service them. Have any suggestions. And I know you've been asked this before sorry.

[@michaelbloom5342]

Rocky Stinson Unless you have Punch HD or DSM amps, Jeremy Brannon of Ebbco electronics in Antelope, CA is the best dude out there. For the Punch amps, they have to be sent to Jason Gibson of Freeman's Stereo in Charlotte.

[@pastorofmuppets325]

Rocky Stinson Are you a member ofthe DIYMA forum? There's quite a few reputable techs on there. BigDWiz will back me up on that.

[@pastorofmuppets325]

I've always heard that these were a Zed clone. That basically Mantz design had been reverse engineered to create these. If that's the case, in my experience the old Zeds doubled power into 2 ohms stereo, and quadrupled when bridged. That doesn't explain the manual being incorrect though. The amp may have had something wrong with it.