# old Orion amps any good?



## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

From what I can find online, older Orion amps are well built. 

Someone locally has a 225-HCCA for sale. I've found the dimensions for this thing, which is cool. 

He also has a 2150GX for sale. I cant find dimensions for this thing, or specs really.

Can anyone help? I think it's a 2x150w @ 4ohm amp, is that correct?
... but what is it's size?

TY all.


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## jbreddawg (Dec 28, 2009)

Yes, they are good. The HCCA is a high current amp and if you want it to have any power you will have to run it at 1 ohm. 
The 2150 is a great amp, I ran one along time ago. Keep in mind if you want to bridge the GX series you will need a bridging module but to run stereo just wire normally. 
Both excellent amps !!

Check ampguts for specs and measurements on both.


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## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

Ive found 2150gx on ampguts, but dont see dimensions there ?

is the 2150 a 4 channel amp then?


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

Nope, the 2150 is a HUGE 2x150 watt amplifier. Generally the naming designation gives it away... 2 (as in 2 channels) and 150 (as in 150 watts per channel) is how the older models were named.

Also, all the 1st gen models need a bridging module. If the amplifier has a mono button, you don't need the module.

EDIT: According to the owner's manual, the 2150SX is 17" x 8.5" x 2.25"


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

A 2150GX is 17" long. The other dimensions are the same as the 225HCCA.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

Also, the GX series didn't take to kindly to being exposed to low voltage.


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## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

nice amps I guess, i'm gonna pass. Not right for me.

Here's the ad, if anyone is interested. Buncha stuff:

usedvictoria.com ad


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

That Sony crossover he has listed is worth $150 minimum by it self. 

The 250GX is in very nice shape, so is the 225 that's pictured. He has two 225's.

You could make a couple bucks pretty easy.


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## yong_ly07 (Jan 12, 2009)

they are good stuff, bulletproof, just be sure to have an external fuse and dump the ohms way down


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

Lol 17" 300 watt amp


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## yong_ly07 (Jan 12, 2009)

hcca 225 max output does
[email protected] 
[email protected]

(give or take more power if higher voltage)


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

Angrywhopper said:


> Lol 17" 300 watt amp


What's wrong with that? I have a 17" 400 watt amplifier.


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Angrywhopper said:


> Lol 17" 300 watt amp


An Adcom 4702 would blow your mind then.


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## yong_ly07 (Jan 12, 2009)

my uncle once told me he had 1 hcca225 power 4 12's back in the day and everyone with 1000 watt amps didn't know why he was louder lolz


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

I wish I had pics of my friends OG Suzuki Samurai had 8 225 running 4x15's and 6x12's, plus the doors with 2x8's, 2x6.5's, 2x3" dome mids and 2x tweets... early 90's.. lol..


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## KrackerG (Jan 18, 2011)

those orion hcca amps were made for competition vehicles. they were meant for people that wanted to stay under a certain watt class, and still have a bangin' system! i remember seeing/hearing a system all ran by a single hcca 50w amp

very very nice amps tho, i would buy it!


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## Angrywhopper (Jan 20, 2010)

ChrisB said:


> What's wrong with that? I have a 17" 400 watt amplifier.


Nothing, I actually prefer the look and size of 'big amps'.



imjustjason said:


> An Adcom 4702 would blow your mind then.


Pics or specs plz


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## SQ_Bronco (Jul 31, 2005)

Angrywhopper said:


> Lol 17" 300 watt amp


And the HCCA275 was a 25" 150W amp (2x75W)  Of course, it did 1200W+ all day long when bridged and run at 1 ohm.

Likewise, the 2150 mentioned above would have been a nice [email protected] ohms, but you do need a bridging module for that series, IIRC. The HCCA225 in those pics definitely needed one.

FWIW, a broken XEC-1000 sold on ebay for $140 last week.


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## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

Hrm, interesting numbers. 

What are the amps worth ?


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## imjustjason (Jun 26, 2006)

Angrywhopper said:


> imjustjason said:
> 
> 
> > Angrywhopper said:
> ...


70x2... the amp is two pieces. The bigger piece is 24.25" long and the smaller piece is 15.5".


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## Hardwrkr (Jan 18, 2008)

CSEmoses said:


> Hrm, interesting numbers.
> 
> What are the amps worth ?


About $120 for each amp is what you could expect. The need for a bridging module brings the value down on the first gen Orion amps. You might find a buyer that'll pay a bit more (and many that say they would pay more but they'd never actually come up with the money) but in most cases it's going to be around this mark and the buyers are going to be a smaller niche for these ones.

These do look to be in great shape for their age. Those first gen 225's would get so hot that they were usually pink instead of red after a while.


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## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

hrm, considering there are two of the red ones, i might go pick this lot up.


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## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

Hey again folks, almost forgot. In the ad, the gentleman states that the amps lack backing,a s he ran fans directly into them to keep them cool. Was this common for these amps? I do understand that they get relatively hot. Would this make re-sale of them a lot more difficult, to those that would be interested in the old school goodness?


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## 350RX7 (Feb 4, 2011)

Hello everyone. That add you are talking about from usedvictoria is my stuff. You are correct that the amp needs the bridging modular, but I never used it. The local stereo place I deal with installed everything for me. With that being said, since I did not use a modular, the amp has never really been pushed. Either has the red series amps, and yes, these were used all the time in competitions. I'm not sure how they wired up the whole system, but I ran 12 speakers total in my 1st gen. RX7. Yes, it has a V8 in it. Anyways, it sounded very nice. I had 2 - 6" MB Quartz in the doors, 2 - 2" MB Quartz tweets and 2 - 4" OZ mids down on the floor. In the rear, I had 2 - 10" Alpine Type R subs, 2 - 2" MB Quartz tweets and 2 - 4" Oz mids. The car had a very nice all around sound to it. My deck is the Alpine CDA 9813. I have the XEC 1000 Crossover, I have a ground block, and 2 fuse blocks. We took off the backs and had fans blowing directly into the amps to keep them cool. I never had any issue with over heating, but that is also due to the fact that I never really pushed the amps. I recently just put in a roll bar, so I had to take out the system, and now that it is out, I thought it would be a good time to upgrade.


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## CSEmoses (Dec 15, 2010)

hey, good to know info!

... what kinda car got a rollbar?


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## SQ_Bronco (Jul 31, 2005)

- You can easily replace the backing on the amps with plain aluminum flashing or galvanized tin from home depot. You could probably do the lot for $15.

Also, you don't need a bridging module if you use them with old school PPI crossovers- the ones with the minidin connection. They are pretty cheap nowadays.

Here's the manual for these amps, btw.


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## 350RX7 (Feb 4, 2011)

Hi Bronco. I didn't think about that for the backings. I will pass that on to whoever buys them. It has been awhile since I payed any attention to stereo stuff. I just let my local stereo place look after me. LOL. As for crossovers, I was using MB Quartz. I will have to look ,but they still may be in my kickpanel of the car. I do recall though taking them out and they are in a bag somewhere in storage. However it was wired, they did a pretty sweet job. The amp rack was able to be raised using those gas shocks for rear windows, so I could raise the rack if I needed to get at the wiring, etc... The amps were seated on a custom amp rack with a mirrored bottom and I also had small red neon tubes to highlight the amps.


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## 350RX7 (Feb 4, 2011)

exactly. Between the 3 amps, it showed 400 watts total, but the way they wired it, I was running more than that. I won't get into it, as I am not that knowledgable about this kind of stuff, but I think they had it wired for 600watts or something around there.


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## sniper5431 (Dec 8, 2009)

I have a 20inch long amplifier that rated at 10 watts


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

Hardwrkr said:


> About $120 for each amp is what you could expect. The need for a bridging module brings the value down on the first gen Orion amps. You might find a buyer that'll pay a bit more (and many that say they would pay more but they'd never actually come up with the money) but in most cases it's going to be around this mark and the buyers are going to be a smaller niche for these ones.
> 
> These do look to be in great shape for their age. Those first gen 225's would get so hot that they were usually pink instead of red after a while.




Back in the day, I saw alot of caps fail on the HCCA models. They ran really hot, from the loads but on them. If you load this thing down, 1 to 2 ohm's it will need some good ventilation

They were great cheater amps because of their skewed power ratings


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