Bavarian Soundwerks
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: a/d/s/ ph15 6 channel? clean?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Eagle's Nest
    Posts
    16,045
    My Cars
    bf.c e34 contour

    a/d/s/ ph15 6 channel? clean?

    Thanks everyone for your assistance, or just for reading all this post.
    just to summarize.

    trying to build up a real NICE quality smooth system, that will really let me enjoy my DVD-A and DTS video collection, while being stealthy in initial appearance, and still have good imaging and tonality when playing both stereo and Surround formats. Just want to know what you think of the a/d/s/ ph15 as a 6 channel and as a 3 channel interms of sq and musicality. Good amp? very good amp? Decent amp?

    These were WAY out of my friends' and mine's price ranges when these were new or even "newish", so I have no first hand (or even secondhand) experience with them.

    I'm considering this ph15 (6x50 rms @4ohms) as the core of my upcoming 5.1 system in the wagon (probably eclipse 8533 head since it is the only DVD-A head i really like), to run the main 5 channels (or possibly just the front 3). It should tuckaway nicely dimension wise in the soon to be FORMER jack bin behindthe rear seat alongside whatever other amp (s) I choose.

    I've read a few posts online while searching the web saying how much the owners like it, but you never know. Any experienced guys out there with any thoughts on it?

    Also if I choose to eventually use the a/d/s/ ph15 as a 3 channel, do you know the model designation on the 4x50w variant of the ph15?


    Any suggestions on other "old school" amps to consider and look for to use as a good circa 300w RMS sub channel that are LESS than 10 inches wide (no powerplates, class d's, JL, etc) besides the PPI a300.2 or a ZED audio q175.2 I am looking at now?
    I can always dial it back some, but too few watts to begin with will ruin your day when it comes time to watch the ring pulse with evil in LOTR, or some other sub heavy very low bass track.

    thanks for reading my hopefully well structured ramblings and opinion seeking.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Bombingham, AL
    Posts
    2,761
    My Cars
    AudioSnob
    The a/d/s amps of that vintage were very nice sounding amps ...and are one of the few that I love from that era. I have not had any experience with that model, but my experiences with other models was great. My favorite amp from that era was the Nakamchi PA300 ...but it is only 75wpc.

    not much help

    YMMV

    >^..^<
    If money is the root of all evil ...why do churches beg for it?


    there / they're / their ...then / than ...two / too / to ...bass / base ...bare / bear ...brake / break ...you're / your ...do / due / dew ...patients / patience ...wait / weight ...affect / effect ...know / no ...sell / sale / sail / cell ...whole / hole ...reign / rain ...moot / mute ...its / it's ...pore / pour / poor ...buy / bye / by / bi ...lose / loose ...here / hear ...bore / boar / boor ...waist / waste ...were / we're ...and / an ...mourning / morning ...shelve / shelf ...well / we'll / will ...one / won / Juan ...who's / whose ...through / threw ...for / fore / 4 / four ...bored / board ...steel / steal / still ...scene / seen ....road / rode ...sight / site / cite ...mat / matte ...ascent / ascend ...tear / tare ...throw / throw ...vice / vise ...meat / meet / mete ...learn the difference


    An armed man is a citizen ...an unarmed man is a subject.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2005
    Location
    PDX
    Posts
    3,141
    My Cars
    E91 xiT CA Navi BT
    I liked the a/d/s amps too. They had decent headroom for the time. The 4 channel was the PQ10, which was the most popular amp they made. They made it before they started with the 6-channel, too, so you should be able to find some.

    One thing to note - since bigger amps are so common now, speakers are often less efficient. The low profile of the a/d/s/ amps was achieved in part by using smaller power supply toroids. Just remember that really inefficent speaks will probably be underpowered by a single channel of a PH15.

    Another problem is, amps were not big on protection in those days, and plenty of them have failed in the intervening years. Also, the 6-channel DIN system they introduced never caught on, so the DIN to RCA on the 6-channel is a PITA.

    For narrow amps, audison has some, and there's the Zapco Studio Series. The Zapco you want would be the Z150 (150x2). You might also use the Z100MVX but you don't need the xover and I recall the knobs being broken sometimes. You might go to Zapco dot com and go to the forum's For Sale section, see what's available, and then go to the Products section and scroll to the bottom of the page for their old stuff, take a look at what's for sale and see what you think.

    I haven't done the research you have - what DVD-A players are out there?

    I'm currently working on a system in an Audi with the OEM Nav HU running the Pioneer XVD-P6 DIN DVD changer through a Soundgate Pioneer IP bus adapter and a video adapter on the nav screen (this is NOT for showing videos, and I have to figure out how to prevent that - I just need the Pioneer GUI on the Nav screen!).

    I am then going from the Pioneer drive to a Zapco DA II external DAC and then back into the Audi HU (I will use the Audi HU's preamp, but get past their MASH 1-Bit DAC).

    I will probably be doing this in stages as it's my car, and I don't have a ton of time to spend on it - the Pioneer is listed as having dual 24-bit DACs and it's made in Japan so I expect it to be fairly robust - but after I read your post, I went and looked it up, and sure as shootin', id doesn't support DVD-A.

    It's not a deal breaker for me - I want optical out from a CD changer, so the DVD stuff is gravy for me - but now I'm curious. I didn't know about the Eclipse, the only one I knew about was the F#1 Alpine.
    VP Electricity

    2007 E91 328xi T Premium Nav BT CA - PnP custom audio system by musicar northwest

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    The Eagle's Nest
    Posts
    16,045
    My Cars
    bf.c e34 contour
    As I recall
    Older DVD-A heads:
    eclipse 8533 (8v)
    Avh-p7500 (5v)
    x
    x
    I know there were at LEAST 2 more past heads that did DVD-A. Panasonic (model# unknown) was one and the other i dont remember.



    "current DVD-A heads"
    pioneer AVH-P7600DVD (5V)
    eclipse AV3424 (2.7v)
    (yes it is a 'base model' with 2.7v preouts but it is still DVD-A)

    Alpine F1 Status DVI-9990

    There may be one more that I am not remembering.


    thansk you to everyone who provided feedback, as always el.dude, you are a gentleman and a scholar. thanks for the tips.
    Last edited by attack eagle; 08-07-2006 at 08:31 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    San Jose, California
    Posts
    28
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E39 528i 4Dr
    ADS PH15 is a Class A/B amplifier, and although it is very clean sounding amplifier for mid's and high's, it lacks head room to make it a hard hitting sub woofer amplifier. Although two of the channels could probably drive two ADS 8 inch or 10 woofers well at lower volumes. ADS 320i's were also very clean sounding separates, unfortunately they were bought out, and the only car audio speakers I have heard that sound as good, are Dynaudio.

    Bavarian Auto Sound has there own speaker line, and a great website. I just never heard how there speakers sound in person.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Houston, TX.
    Posts
    21,298
    My Cars
    15 X5, 02 330i, 09 MiniS
    You just bumped a 6 year old post, for a user that is banned.

    Why?
    Tenured Automotive Service Professional - Avid BMW Enthusiast

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    San Jose, California
    Posts
    28
    My Cars
    1998 BMW E39 528i 4Dr
    My apologies. I am new to the forum, and did not that the user is banned that posted the ADS amplifier question, there is a new post on some one replacing his speakers in his 540, and I used this post as a partial reference.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    El Paso Del Norte, TX, US
    Posts
    438
    My Cars
    ‘15 F31d Msport
    Besides, I am still around under a new username.
    If I were to give my Touring a first name, I'd probably name it "Alan".
    Mostly because I like puns.
    Mutual Admiration Society #5

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •