Alien Amplifier? 2001 Power Acoustik Area 51 520x2 Amp Dyno Test and Review [4K]

[@wal]

Shop (affiliate links): Amazon: is.gd/walamazon Down4Sound: is.gd/jpisnobigdummy Elac Uni-Fi Bookshelf Speakers: amzn.to/3FUThiL Elac Debut 6.2 Bookshelf Speakers: amzn.to/35i6RjK One Time "Tip" for Video Support: paypal.me/BigDWiz DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase from one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases

[@fredinalaska]

I actually have the area 51 800x4 and the sound quality is amazing no bulls**t clean!

[@dyslectische]

Can you tell me wy certified test 1% thd ? I have here some Amps that in the paper tellsnme 10% thd . Is that the old OR Just the specs off a shit amp?

[@houseofpain3580]

I bought a JBL Partybox 110: awesome.

[@stevenhansen9007]

I love this amplifier it would make a great subwoofer amp and how much do you want for it I’m just curious

[@fredinalaska]

@@stevenhansen9007 i have the 800x4 version which is Korean made im selling but I'm in Alaska and shipping would be more than the $180 I'd ask for mine lol

[@cppctek]

That thing is a relic. Love it!! Would look cool in a 90s Honda period correct setup

[@wal]

That would be cool 😎

[@briansouth9325]

Keeping with the aliens...... I say Ford Probe lol

[@ls_812]

@@briansouth9325 I'm dead 💀😂👽

[@stevenhansen9007]

Derek this is a cool app like I said before if you’d like to sell it let me know I’m curious what you’d want for it because that would be us that would be one heck of a subwoofer amp

[@markperkins9445]

CRX for sure

[@itdoesntmatterwhatyourname6128]

Really enjoyed this video. Can't believe I'd never even heard of these amps, let alone seen one until now! For sure on the list of coolest amps that I've even seen!

[@wal]

Totally why I like showing off stuff like this. I come across amps all the time and I’m like wow, never seen one of those!

[@dyslectische]

@@wal brand caliber do you know Them ? Have some old Amps pick up today

[@SpaceGhost_da_BassGhost]

Man you took me back with this amp. I remember in Dallas back in 2003 2004 they used to have these huge liquidation sales in like big convention centers where alot of people were selling lots of random overstock goods and stuff. every now and then you'll see a whole section full of car audio goodness. I wish they will bring those back. They had good deal there.

[@vwbug1975]

I got a pair of Audiobahn subs from one of those liquidation sales at the local coliseum in 2000?2001? ... I miss those, and also the computer shows. The internet killed them, but it's understandable since there is no need to load up trucks with stuff, haul it across the state, and pay to rent floor/booth space.

[@winkletown8828]

They did those all over the country. I remember scoring some absolute gems at those shows.

[@wiredperformance6130]

Back in the day these worked for fronts but would melt mosfets running subs with them. Thanks for showing the actual power they made!

[@wal]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ranchosdelnorte]

It looks like an air cleaner for carbureted cars. Would be cool to put it on top of that V6 subwoofer enclosure. Unfortunately not all car audio youtubers are as chill as Big D

[@sizzlelitt8846]

I ran that amp for 6 years bridged on a masive rockford 12 in a custom 3.5 cubic foot ported box it banged so hard in my 94 cherokee...i still have it its heavy and beat up still works

[@wal]

Nice 👍

[@jeremyhearn8941]

Great video! Cool to see this oldschool amp! When I was young and getting into car audio, I remember seeing these amps at bazaars and small car stereo shops. Always thought it was a pretty interesting amp

[@volvo09]

Love the front cover of that magazine... I miss my JVC elKameleon deck. (I had the LX-30) i'd love to find another, but they're a tough find.

[@303nitzubishi4]

Yes I noticed the mag cover too; I had the deck at the bottom with the full screen display/spectrum analyzer

[@LiLthirtSty]

I just picked up a lx333

[@621ELECTRONICS]

When I was a teen there was a store called The Anderson’s in Columbus ohio, they had a few locations, but sadly closed down a few years ago. Anyway, they sold this model and had one on the display board. I thought it was a cool looking amp, and even if it wasn’t great quality you won’t find any high end amps with the odd looks like this, so it fit a market if you were going for appearance, but still wanted a little more than a factory stereo. Glad to see this bench tested as I always kind of wondered what it actually put out! I'll also add I have seen a few of these for sale over the years, last one was really trashed looking though and wasn't worth buying, even though as I recall it was pretty cheap.

[@wal]

Always fun seeing the unique amps

[@adaboy4z]

Good find. Another Amp I didn't know about.

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@bphillipstn]

Love seeing amps from the 90s early 2000s. My dad sold car audio for years. Takes me back.

[@wal]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@myoneblackfriend3151]

Gems like this is why your channel is above and beyond awesome.

[@catch22frubert]

Great video as always Big D. Obviously not the highest performance amplifier ever made, but definitely unique and extremely hard to find in new condition 20 years later. Definitely extremely rare to see an amp in this condition from 20+ years ago.

[@famousmoon]

Might also add this was it's very first time ever to put out any power, prior to this video it was only just powered on to check out the neon light,

[@EcSsAwS]

Had one of these back in the day too. These and the Sony Xplode amps with the Pentagon shape were very unique

[@wal]

Yes! And Xtant made subs in that shape and SAS made triangular ones too

[@beerman9807]

@@ElectronicMusicUnderground lol I remember them clear sub in 15 with teeeters in the box they sounded good

[@beerman9807]

I loved that Sony Xplode amp , I had the black and silver one and it sound good on my my HX2 12’s

[@volvo09]

Back when those Xplode amps were out I bought an Xplode tape deck and it was awesome, had great power for a basic deck. Wished I never got rid of it.

[@c0c0asauce]

I think A/B amps are a bit more satisfying over long listening periods. Especially when you are limited to a simple system like a family vehicle that's dedicated to haulin. Cool looking for the right car.

[@DJTJ13]

I had this amp and also power acoustik with the gauges built in. I love both of them. Had them in a hatch back and looked awesome.

[@BigYank33700]

I remember installing one of these back in the day. I also remember it coming out after they discontinued their Apache line.

[@brockfijal9244]

I had this amp back then it actually made my two 12-inch Pioneers bump pretty good

[@wal]

😬👍

[@floydbeard5073]

I have never seen one but it definitely is cool looking. Thanks for the review friend🤙🤙

[@TFOTLITBOK_P1_7]

That sound is out of this world :)

[@TheBrokenLife]

Ahhh yes... The era where Power Acoustik completely jumped the shark with their exterior designs. I bought a 75x2 a few years before they went this way (which was always a great amp for what it cost) and went back to the same shop to browse a couple years later and was like... what in the science fiction is going on here? 🤣 There was another brand that was also on the cheap end and went way overboard in styling about the same time too... Maybe Boss or Crunch? I can't remember anymore. I just remember a bunch of kind of plastic/chrome amps all dropping about the same time. OH... And the NOS bottle bass tubes. 😂 edit: I remembered... It was the Audiobahn amps that looked completely insane right about this time. Lots of weird mesh, bars, chrome, lights, etc.

[@RedHammerBodyShop]

These kids don't know what (jumped the shark) even means. Lol

[@TheBrokenLife]

@@RedHammerBodyShop Probably not in the literal sense of the origin, but it's still a known colloquialism. Few people know where "OK" came from, but it's probably the most well known and often written bit of communication in all of human history. Soo... I won't sell the younger generations so short. I wasn't around when the Fonze jumped the actual shark, but I know what it is. 🙃

[@RedHammerBodyShop]

@@TheBrokenLife maybe where you're from, but I could ask every kid within 50 miles what it means and they'd be completely clueless, much less know where it came from. Lol

[@TheBrokenLife]

@@RedHammerBodyShop Use it more so they know then. Be the change you want to see. 😆 🦈

[@RedHammerBodyShop]

@@TheBrokenLife na, I'll stay in my box and keep pushing the outside further out. I've done my share of teaching, it's just not worth it to me anymore. My kids are grown and gone, time to be the old man behind the fence, then the dead man. This world is gone. Lol

[@rapidfire_entertainment_of8724]

I'll always take your advice when it comes to amplifiers and subwoofers.....keep up the great work...from Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹 🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹🇹

[@wal]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@laquinnwilliams9592]

My brother had the 1200 area51 amp on two volfenhag woofers back in 2003 in his dodge neon with the Pioneer deh p6600. That little neon was banging

[@iwiredit]

Those double copper bars were in all those power acoustik amps like the with the windows where you could see the guts, I remember way way back years ago a car audio shop sold power acoustik and if you went in there to inquire about the amps the sales man would try to point out the "copper bar's" and the quality. Power Acoustik had some cool amps back in the day. I had the Acoustik Power Acoustic 2400-2 High Current Amplifier. It was capable of running 1 Ohm Stable It was a surfboard size amp. Had a plexiglass window on top with 2 needle gauges and a BIG 1 OHM symbol in the middle. You could see all the guts on display, It had dual power, ground, and remote hook up's One set on each side of the amp and dual speaker hook up's the same. It was kind of a hybrid amplifier for its time beings how it was two amps sharing one board more or less and thats how the class AB amp was able to run at 1 ohm pretty cool. You would have to be an old school amp inthus to know what amp im talking about. They were something to look at. I had It pushing two 12" Kove Audio Armageddon's rated 750 each rms true power 1000 peek. Kove Audio was a solid brand. Not sure what that amps was giving them but they moved those woofers, power wasnt all the clean though. Id love to see one of those on the Dyno. That would be so cool to what kind of power that amp produced.

[@dilbeckskate]

Been waiting for this one :D

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@jeanamisilva]

Had one of these arround 2004 running 2 Earthquakes 12, on summer it used to cut off due to getting to hot, it was a cool amp to have at the time tho, cool video, had me going back in time.

[@MrDopey32]

I've never seen one, but that is pretty slick looking. Love it! Thank you Big D

[@fanatic26]

I had 3 different systems back in the day using Power Acoustik for highs and while I knew math and knew they didnt do rated power I always thought they sounded much better than the other cheaper amps out there circa 2000

[@shanecabbage2187]

I definitely've never seen one of these. Thanks for sharing! Wishing you all the best, and ease keep the amazing videos and information coming my/our way, you always put a smile on my face! God bless

[@AREA_51_King_Boss]

Haha 😂 this my product 😉👍 thanks!

[@SQ_Silverado]

Awesome intro 🙌🏽

[@wal]

Thank the US Government for dropping those to the public 😜

[@adampaffrath4299]

Dude power akustic had some sick amps back in the day , yeah they didn’t make the power but looks wise they had on lock. I had one of their amps back when when someone stole my system and I loved it for time being

[@mattinmo]

I was 16 years old in 2001 and I remember these amps in Crutchfield

[@TheSFFV]

Cool intro Big D. I actually have never see that thing. Very cool

[@sakostwwy1903]

Great video. I was really happy to hear you talk about the sound. Proving once again, power is not everything. An amp also needs to sound good!! Very cool and unique amplifier for sure.

[@wal]

I don’t typically mention since SQ is subjective, but in this case I was pleasantly surprised. Those Elac bookshelf speakers just sound excellent

[@kenclark3615]

I really enjoy your channel I am old school car stereo guy from the 80 I have a question have you ever done a review on a Zapco 150 A and Parabolic Eq ?

[@wal]

I’ve done a couple of Zapco’s, but not that one

[@sketchyssk8shop]

Love these unique amps.

[@michaelmiller7350]

This one is a classic, the intro, overall vid and Unique Freaking Oowsome amplifier! Outer space maaan

[@wal]

Thanks brother!!

[@calboggs744]

Wow I completely forgot about the Area 51 line. I had 2 of the 1200.2’s pushing 4 Boston acoustic g2 10’s in a sealed box at one point. I absolutely loved that set up at the time hahahahaha

[@stormyyoung6344]

Cool looking amp.

[@ROCKNROLLMODS]

Those elacs are very nice speakers! I imagine they probably make most amps sound good! You should buy a vintage set of yamaha "ns-10m's" they would be more brutally honest about the amplifier quality. Or even a set of auratones.(behringer reissued) either one is passive and ready for amplification, and will sound great when sent a great signal. But will be horrendous when sent anything lesser. Keep up the awesome videos! At this point in my life, "if Big D don't review it, I don't buy it." And your name must be mentioned in Amazon reviews more than anyone else! Thank you so much for everything you do!

[@SuperBongface]

That amp looks rad...never seen one before...very unique and collectable in my opinion..you da man! Thanks for the video Big D! Yeauh!

[@wal]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@kencreten7308]

Love the intro music. Where's Scully and Mulder? :)

[@wal]

They’ve been taken 😜

[@kencreten7308]

@@wal Haha.

[@winkletown8828]

I wish companies would bring back this creative awesomeness like they did years ago. UFO amps, Horror theme amps, all kinds of craziness existed. Bring em back!!!!

[@wal]

I like unique stuff too!

[@vincentrusso4332]

Wow, how awesome not only to find one but BNIB, and dude sent the brochure..love this audio forum, not all....Fantastic as expected Big Dizzle. Edit : have to say for its age and class A/B I'm not too mad except the price back in the day was comparable to better names, again thanks Big D for all the research and editing work!!

[@wal]

what an awesome community! Thanks Dylan and Brian!!

[@vincentrusso4332]

@@wal speaks volumes you spent an hour just enjoying it...as an audiophile that's great advertisement for PA

[@TheBrokenLife]

As I recall, you would have never seen these anywhere even close to MSRP back in the day. The stores that carried stuff like this were the type of places where everything was always "half off". The big deal at my local Power Acoustik dealer was always buy-one-get-one-free subs. Always stuff like Pyramid, Audiobahn, etc. Basically, all the swap meet brands. I can still hear the radio ads in my memory. 😆 In-store they would have better stuff, but they were never authorized to carry any of it so they never advertised it. I always suspected the higher end stuff fell off of a truck somewhere.

[@vincentrusso4332]

@@TheBrokenLife don't make me pay the shipping to send Big D the Pyramid with the silkscreened graph on the front to be tested.... yeah your exactly right, however the magazine allows one to order at msrp.

[@vincentrusso4332]

@@TheBrokenLife I've had 2 sets of audiobahn, one happy homeowners set in the factory bandpass and two comp models, for what I spent I'm not mad at all. My son blew the bandpass right before he went in the miltary from clipping the piss out of em and some undesirables stole the comps out of the Scirocco. Never owned any of their amps. Clear Pyramid subs...oh yeah local NAPA in Surry Virginia, the MTX gear we drooled over at the True value, living in BFE has its drawbacks fo sho. Lol

[@drrckhamilton]

Woah!!!! I remember this amplifier. Crazy!

[@wal]

Yeah boi

[@drrckhamilton]

@Williston Audio Labs Hey D, I just got this very interesting amplifier from Precision Power, the PC1800. I'm sure not the old PPI, but it stands upright to preserve space. Look it up. Suppose to be Korean made, and the internals look pretty interesting. Can't wait to try it.

[@anthonybarra2391]

Great review. Looks a well built, quality amp.with design quirks.

[@donjaun540]

Wow Big D, WOW!! What a cool find. That's bad ass!! I'm like you, I love it when not just car audio decides to make there own design and style. In this case a UFO, something that I love. Could you imagine say a Star Trek ship where it comes in pieces you pick. For instance; different size power outage bass stage for the propulsion and different size saucer section for highs? You the customer decide and make your own ship. How cool and you put together. Creativity 10!!!!!!👍👍👍👍

[@RJSDZNS]

This is a pretty awesome amp! Hey are you guys going to be doing 12v talk again? I'm missing hearing your guys topics and banter! Don't get me wrong, Rob and Dean are awesome and I haven't missed a show but I'm missing me some 12v talk!!

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

Sweet Amp. Power Acoustik wasn't bad for the money back in the day. I had an 800 Watt Power Acoustik that was louder than my 1400W Sony Xplode amp. If you ever get a chance see if you can review a Hollywood Amp. I used to have a HVX 3000D. I had it pushing an L7 15. It slammed!

[@waynsmith9538]

I would be installing that one, it's too damn cool

[@famousmoon]

You should see the neon light in the dark

[@cliffordjasway6817]

Old school favorite bad ass love it

[@TheRealAaronWitchey]

We are always watching....

[@angelvip2474]

Great video bro

[@kars4me2]

Awesome thanks for sharing

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@davidkoslek9372]

Very cool video!! I'm no Power Acoustics guy. But I'm kinda impressed 🤷‍♂️

[@wal]

I was overly impressed with the SQ

[@yung-qn9nt]

Took me back to college with this one

[@wal]

Back to school

[@volvo09]

Nice! That is old school with a real neon tube! Before they faked it all with LED's.

[@HifiVega]

Dope intro! Dat sucka so ugly not even yo momma could love it lol. Probably the closest rated Power Acoustik amp there tho!

[@wal]

Thanks dawg! Yeah, PA almost got this one right

[@davidgreggs3903]

Love your videos. When you going to Dyno some of the new MTX

[@wal]

Never know

[@joshholden8561]

I remember when this amp came out at my local flea market

[@ta420nk5]

I had something similar to this .. wasn’t round.. but was the fire and ice editions.. one was red one was blue… had the blue one.. I seen these around back in the day

[@HifiRedneck]

To be honest I would build a box that looks like an engine block and slap this on top and make it look like it’s the air cleaner on a carburetor 😂 and use tuned ports as the headers! Would look sweet!

[@michaelzernie7092]

Thats a funky looking amp! Wonder what subs would match that area 51 'feel' lol

[@Winters506]

I thought it was an old school chrome air filter when I saw the thumbnail. 😂

[@wal]

A dozen or so people have said that. I guess I need to change it

[@Winters506]

@@wal I wouldn’t change it. I think it’s cool. It’s just what it looked like at first glance. : )

[@shawnsanderson3695]

Fun to see that cool looking amp.

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@MW-sw7so]

Remember the "Autosound and Security" magazine, it was cool

[@wal]

Yessir 👍

[@MW-sw7so]

@@wal I used to have all the car audio magazines from back in the day but I can't remember what I did with them do you know of a place where you can get those old magazines

[@MrRandyj72]

Of course it didn't hit rated power... You used the wrong power source. Bob Lazar told us those flying saucers are powered with Element 115! Really cool design. I never heard of that design back in the day.

[@wal]

😜👍

[@TechGorilla1987]

BigD, have you ever heard of a later 90's California Audio amp? I installed one of these bad boys on a friends boat in maybe 95-98. I wonder if it was actually good.

[@ericbachmann8037]

I remember those. Crutchfield actually sold them back then.

[@chrisjones6165]

I think they were pretty good back then

[@Ryanthesavagesmith]

Looks more like an air cleaner for an old carbureted car than a ufo 😆

[@ApEsXiT]

What are you going to buy next? Always keeping us on our toes, D.

[@pgmurray76]

The round, one-off heatsink would be the most expensive part of this amplifier - by FAR. However, this was typical of most Class AB amps of yesteryear. Really clean, nice looking amp fo sure. Love the PCBA and layout. Decent Korean componentry.

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@krismichalsky]

LOL! I thought at first from the thumbnail of the video that Derrick started doing car videos. I was like, what is he doing with an old school air cleaner for a carbureted car? Then I realized, no you big dummy!!! It's just an amplifier. 🙂

[@wal]

Maybe that explains why it’s not being viewed very much 🤦‍♂️

[@beerman9807]

I thought we had real evidence of Area 51 and then I click then 👀 and I was like You big dummy

[@joshholden8561]

That amp will only make power if u bridge it and run a 2 ohm load might have to put 2 20 amp or 2 25 amp fuses In it my buddy ran it like that for a good 3 years hooked to 2 12 kicker comps from same time

[@jamesbowes5890]

I have found one a friend had and it's not in great shape and haven't tested it yet myself but definitely a unique look

[@wal]

😬👍

[@LowTech1980.]

Reminds me of the power acoustik fire and ice amp. Great budget amp for the time.

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@shaunrobertson9203]

Holy crap I totally had one of them in an 88' Nissan Maxima Wagon on 2-12" Sony Explodes

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@Skarfar90]

Would love to see a Power Acoustik Sapphire amp tested one day. The were known for making decent power

[@jlee8262]

Big D there is a infinity reference amp on sonic electronix called 10001a. I purchased open box for less than 250. Really interested in seeing the dyno numbers of this amp. I think its a diamond in the rough. Hope you check it out. Its 1000 watts at 2ohm

[@joshholden8561]

I wanted that amp as a young 19 year old glad I went with Phoenix gold instead

[@vincentrusso4332]

Hey D can you start adding a poll to the dynos with three wattage range variations to guess from before we watch the dyno run? I botched this one but would like to see what the community thought.

[@wal]

What is the poll for exactly? I may be missing your point

[@303nitzubishi4]

@@wal I think he means create a poll stating "I just tested amp xyz" and give multiple choice options for watts per channel or total watts or something like that. Then post the video a day or two later. Then those of us who are Big D Stans can puff our chests when we guess right 😆

[@vincentrusso4332]

@@wal so the community can cross reference what other enthusiasts guessed how the amp would perform...beforehand, and hopefully people are honest about the polls. Just and idea Papi Neff, I'm already super grateful for the time and coinage you currently are investing. - Surry Virginia

[@vincentrusso4332]

@@303nitzubishi4 you down with that? I think it should be a staple. Clearly you knew exactly where I was coming from. Statistic interaction makes people feel more involved and I find especially with the older A/B stuff the numbers are all over the place so it would be nice to know where the majority of the community guessed.

[@wal]

@@303nitzubishi4 I dig the idea and will try it on the next amp dyno test vid

[@JailBiden]

Cool amp , power acoustic showed off a little . Like audio bann style 😎

[@wal]

Yeah 🤙

[@girthquake9655]

Oh lawd I remember this amp!!!

[@Random_4400]

wow what a beauty

[@STAY-GOLD-VINYL]

I like that Power Acoustik did other amps like this. PLASMA SPHERE??!! Have you had any success with TRUTHFUL Power Acoustik amps?

[@ogairbender808]

Well here is one if never heard of😎

[@mem10fan2]

I would love to see the old school Power Acoustik Apache on a dyno.

[@jasonmark4460]

The inside looks just like the fire and ice series..still have mine, it's blown but still sitting in the basement right now

[@karllarsson1844]

I just acquired one from a friend, I might need your input on pairing it with some 10s

[@1youngbilly]

Mr. Williston, I have this project. I would like you to take a look at in person. Where can I bring my 2in1

[@jasedavies9288]

I found a realy old fusion powerplant 15 looks like it's from the Lomu era. I hooked it to a kicker kx800.1 and it totally pumps. I'm guessing it's 20 years old

[@bissenbakker1975]

Nit this model but some years ago i funde a fire and ice 4 channel amp from them Nice amp too

[@mikefelty2625]

That A logo looks nearly identical to the Aero Precision logo. IYKYK.🤘

[@wal]

😮

[@tatialo37]

Cool amp!!!

[@wal]

Thanks brother 👌

[@BlenderRookie]

Looks like a chrome air filter breather for a carbureted car.

[@jose69mendez]

Dam I got a flashback I use to have this Amp 😅😳

[@wal]

👌😬👍

[@seancarraher]

First time I ever saw this it was at a Latino stereo shop in Forest Park Georgia with a one legged salesman. If anybody from that area remembers the name of that shop please comment. I’ll never forget him or the amp

[@rslasher2270]

Please do any raveland amp dyno. They are just so good their quality is awesome and you can get their entire power pack for 150usd new (subwoofer 2 satelites and 1000w amp)

[@bigstone5124]

Hi Big D, it's possible to make dyno of sia-3500d sundown? Thanks have a nice day