Rockford Fosgate Punch 45HD vs. Kicker 10" Solobaric S10c Subs

I've done several audio demonstrations with my old school amplifiers, but recently realized I haven't made a video of one showing off the P45HD! For this test, I hooked up a couple of old school Kicker Solobaric S10c subwoofers in parallel (4 ohms each sub, in parallel equals 2 ohms). I then bridged the P45HD using the orange for + and the brown for -. This gives an effective load on the P45HD as 2 ohms mono or 1 ohm stereo....isn't this a problem? Not at all my friends! Rockford didn't rate these amps to handle 1ohm loads, but anyone who knows these amps knows they were built to handle it without a sweat!

This particular demo shows off the ability of the P45HD to handle the "booty bass" tracks of the early 1990's. Most of the tracks are from Magic Mike and while this is not what I listen to now, it is what rocked my car back in high school.

Enough talk about the Punch 45HD, let's see it in action!




Here are also a few pics of the amp and it's beauty...

Rockford Fosgate Punch 45HD - Old School Cheater Amp!

The Rockford Fosgate Punch 45HD was one of the original "cheater amps". This amp was the king of the 0-50 watt competition class in the early 90's. Other notable contenders were the Orion 225HCCA and PPI ProMos 25 (which cost nearly 2x as much). The Punch 45HD originally retailed for $279 US and was rather difficult to find in stock. Many competitors used complex passive crossover networks and several speakers (10-12 or more) all powered by the Punch 45HD. By using the "tri-mode" operation, you could bridge the channels for subwoofers while retaining stereo operation for the mids and highs.

My Punch 45HD "birth sheet" stated 91 watts/ch into 2ohm loads. I can't remember if they stated 4ohm loads back then, but it should be around 50w/ch. My birth sheet is MIA (along with the original manual), but I'm sure I'll come across it someday.

Keep tuned in for a future test comparing the 1st Gen Punch 45, Punch 45HD and the "25 to Life" Punch 45....three awesome amps ranging from the late 1980's up to 2005.

 

Old School Hafler MSE88tn - Rockford-built SQ amp!

Here's another gem in my collection....a Hafler MSE88tn from the early 1990's. I'm the original owner and I'm sure I have the sales slip around somewhere, but the price on the box is $329.99. I also have the owner's manual and this amp is rated at 22w x 4 into 4 ohms or 76w x 2 into 4 ohms bridged. I don't have the birthsheet and don't know the actual power output of this beauty. Like all early 1990's Rockford-built amps, it has a molex plug for the speaker outs and spade connections for power and ground. I used the amp for a very short time back in the mid-1990's and almost left it in a car I was selling. Something told me to remove it, put it back in the box and hold onto it for future enjoyment....glad I made this decision!

See the picture below and I also have a short video overviewing the amp on Youtube:

Alpine CDA-7903 Pull-Out CD Tuner

A closer look of my Alpine 7903. I bought it from the original owner back in either 1990 or 1991. I'll never forget his 1980's Trans-Am that looked like a total rust bucket, but when the guy opened the door to show me the Alpine, the interior was immaculate! He had gold plated RF amps, dual 12" Kicker C-12 subs and 6.5 separates in the doors. I can't remember exactly why he was selling the Alpine, but I do remember haggling him down from $300 to $280. Remember folks, back then, this unit cost $500 new. I used this unit for about 7 or 8 years until the CD mechanism refused to eject my CD. I decided to put it up and maybe get it repaired one day. As you can see by the picture, it is still in GREAT condition!

This goes back to when the high-end head units lacked built-in power. The 7903 has dual RCA outputs for front + rear and a very simple design. These units were not flashy, but produced excellent sound quality. See an excellent example of this Japanese-built electronics art:

Old School Sony XM-C2000 6-channel Car Amplifier

Now on to some old school Sony....the XM series. This one in particular is the XM-C2000, which is a rare, 6 x 30 amp from Sony. I got this from a buddy of mine back in the mid-1990's. He had it powering a system in his Corolla GTS and I couldn't believe it when he told me they used a Sony amp until I got in his car to hear the system. WOW, Sony made amps that ROCKED? Yessiree, they did back in the early to mid-1990's. I can tell you the two rear 30 watt channels powering (2) 10" subs in a bandpass box nearly blew me away. Not only was it LOUD, but sounded VERY clean. He had 5.25 separates in the doors and 5.25 coaxes in the rear, each powered by their own 30x2 channels.

I used the amp in my Ford Ranger for a few years powering (2) 10" MTX Blue Thunder subs and 5x7 coaxes in the doors (yeah, I know, 5x7's, call me lazy). I took the XM-C2000 out about a year ago when I thought I was going to sell my truck....well, I still have the truck and I still have the amp (no 10" Blue Thunder's though, sold them). Maybe I'll put this amp back to use one day soon....if not, I won't be getting rid of it anytime soon.

Recent comment from CarAudio.com Forum on this item:

".... I REALLY BADLY want this amp!!! I collect o/s Sony. I have a few matching mid-late 80s amps, one from the 90s, and for home audio...a pair of 1976 SSU-1800s. All of those but the 90s amp are super rare, and all sound amazing."