# Surfboard amps



## vwdave

Anybody else have an affinity toward the large old school amps?


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## hot9dog

I have always had a strong passion for surfboard amps. I think it comes from being a young 16 year old boy and drooling over and dreaming about the large overpriced amps in the ads of CAR AUDIO...... ahhhhh and dreaming.
The passion is so strong that I dream of having the largest surfboard amp of all time- so the answer to that was for me to build my own- a "Frankenstein" amp. Two boards under the same heatsink. So I started a project many years ago, but it never got finished. But it still lingers in the back of the shed and calls to me late in the evening when the shadows grow long. This posting made me want to bring this project out again ,so here it is.



Its a PPI DCX 800.5 and a PPI DCX 1000.1
I have a single silver anodized heat sink that came from a solar control panel that I salvaged. The heat sink is sitting at my desk at work. The idea was to wire both together and build a single case for the boards to be mounted to.
The surfboard amp passion is a sick fantasy..... lol


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## Victor_inox

Size matters, at least that`s what she says.


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## bigbubba

I still have this old thing hangin' around...


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## vwdave

Hot9dog...that's really cool. That's what phoenix gold did with a lot of their special edition amps (octane, reactor, frank amp'n stein, son of frank, ms1000, zx950...)

Yea I really love the huge amps. Just like hot9dog said, they take me back to when I was young and couldnt afford these crazy amps. I actually use my amps though. I have a plan to use some of these in my dream car when I get it someday.


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## Navy Chief

I totally agree. I run a PG outlaw and a pair of bandits, 52" total length.


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## Navy Chief

Here's another shot of them together.


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## hot9dog

I love the bandits that are flanking the outlaw!! heck yeah, I bet they draw a lot of current! The limited edition PG'S have always been my favorites..... the boards had so much attention to detail to them.


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## mikey7182

Navy Chief, that's one of the coolest and most unique amp racks I've ever seen! My grandpa gave me an old ammo case like that when I was a kid to store my keepsakes in. I still have it after 25 years, with an unopened box of limited edition Jurassic Crunch inside- some cereal they released when the original Jurassic Park came out. Probably not worth much but I kept it unopened for a few years and it just stuck. 

I've got a floor covered in some newer school surfboards- the AudioSystem X-ions. Like you guys, the style reminds me of being young and lusting after a Power 800.4, or a PPI Chrome series.


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## Navy Chief

Thanks, I am glad you like it. The amps don't pull that much current because except for the M100 in mono everything is running 8 ohm, however the 250 amp alternator helps too.

Here are some of my previous toys.


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## RYNOMOTO

There is a huge US AMPS surfboard for sale on eBay currently...

I really just love all the old school quality...

The surfboards were so rare compared to the everyday 2 and 4 channels


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## legend94

Victor_inox said:


> Size matters, at least that`s what she says.


Daily?


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## HiloDB1

What about large new school amps?

My old pair of Arc 4000SE amps.









My current Incriminator Audio IA80.1


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## Lycancatt

as someone who sees with there hands and appreciates good build quality..i love big ol amps! always wanted a set up of the linkable fosgates that spanned a whole truck bed, and did have a phoenix gold ms1000 for awhile with the paper still on the plexi!

Now you guys have me thinking about building my own surfboard amp since the interior of the van I'm doing up will have neoprene seat covers..might carry the theme over with some interesting logos off wetsuits..to bad its a dodge caravan and not a vw bus lol!


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## Sine Swept

I love seeing US Amps, some of the literature for these beasts cracks me up. "Keep adding subs in parallel until the amp goes into protect, then remove one speaker, there is your final load."


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## sierrarider

I bought a Zapco AG650.6. A 32" old school surfboard. Maybe I'll use it, LOL...


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## legend94

sierrarider said:


> I bought a Zapco AG650.6. A 32" old school surfboard. Maybe I'll use it, LOL...


Those are so awesome. More of a ski than surfboard


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## soccerguru607

I have an old skool Earthquake PA4300 that Shawnk is fixing the preamp board and updates/upgrades.


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## PPI_GUY

Here are a few surfboards I've owned thru the years. The only one I still have (and won't sell) is the black PPI Pro Mos 450.


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## smgreen20

I had one for a while, should've held on to it too. It was the big Earthquake PA-4300. I so miss that amp.


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## yogegoy

Some guy in ebay was selling just the heat sink of a US Amp, 7ft long.


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## Victor_inox

legend94 said:


> Daily?


 Hourly.


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## Victor_inox

yogegoy said:


> Some guy in ebay was selling just the heat sink of a US Amp, 7ft long.


 he is still selling it for thousand bucks..... yeah right
I just offered 250 for it.


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## yogegoy

Victor_inox said:


> he is still selling it for thousand bucks..... yeah right
> I just offered 250 for it.


Ha ha ha let's see what he thinks of your offer.
Probably the reason for the $1K is all that rags used for a gallon of metal polish and pure muscle.


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## edouble101

bigbubba said:


> I still have this old thing hangin' around...


I am jealous. I want that amp!


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## Victor_inox

yogegoy said:


> Ha ha ha let's see what he thinks of your offer.
> Probably the reason for the $1K is all that rags used for a gallon of metal polish and pure muscle.


 probably, but that extrusion doesn`t cost a penny more polished than raw it would be cut, sandblasted and anodized.


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## vwdave

I just added another to my collection...

The bottom one...PPI PCx2400. I know it's Korean made, but it's still a PPI class A/B surfboard amp. It looks huge next to the 2250 and 21400










It needs all new fets on the power supply. It looks like they are all removed. Anyone know what fets came on this? I can just try the same ones that are on the pc21400 but I'm not sure if they continued to use the same ones.


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## hot9dog

Dont let the fact that it was made in Korea sway you.... thats a STOUT amp!
There was a total 24 mosfets in that amp (12 per channel) , RFP70N06 mosfet is what you should be looking for.


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## vwdave

Awesome, thanks!

I'm going to completely rebuild the power supply with new caps, PWMs, FETs, resistors. It's good insurance on a powerful amp like this.

The heat sink is almost 100% perfect and the board looks almost brand new minus the missing FETs and a single burned resistor.


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## hot9dog

Massive board in there! Looks amazing with a plexi bottom. I should have never sold mine. Draws a stupid crazy amount of current when the load drops down.


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## vwdave

Were they available with plexi bottoms from the factory? It would be very easy to do based on what I saw inside.


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## sierrarider

legend94 said:


> Those are so awesome. More of a ski than surfboard


Are you implying I need another one? Hahaha


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## jbiddle1993

Those are sweet guys here's mt zap 750. Getting a zap 1000


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## bigdwiz

A few little red amps. US Amps VLX-25, VLX-200 and Orion 2100 HCCA


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## hot9dog

The usamps draw the attention of my eyes, but its the 2100 hcca that draws te attention of my heart.... the heart never lies.lol


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## vwdave

Thank bigdwiz, those are some awesome surfboards.

That VLX-200 looks to be two amps on one chassis. I love the way they did that back in the day.


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## MACS

bigdwiz said:


> A few little red amps. US Amps VLX-25, VLX-200 and Orion 2100 HCCA


Nothing screams "excess of the 1990's" like a US Amps surfboard. You need a small nuclear reactor to power it.


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## 63flip

Here's one from my collection.


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## 63flip

....some more Lanzar


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## ZombieHunter85

Hanging out on the wall above the shop table Profile California 1200 lol


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## Victor_inox

63flip said:


> ....some more Lanzar


Love it!


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## 63flip

^^Thought I'd include the pic with the E30 since it's longer than a lot of amps. ^^


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## reclermo

edouble101 said:


> I am jealous. I want that amp!


Agreed, this A1200 in black is a real beauty! Great find, I hope you hang onto it and never sell!


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## emsi_hama

I love this thread!!!! I mostly collected surfboard amps since about 3 years ago. 

I guess an amplifier needs to be least 2 feet in length to be called surfboard.


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## emsi_hama

some pics:




















































(The X1001 don't count as its only about 20" in length... haha)


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## JPOSEY

Someone needs to post a pic of the old Coustic amp from the early 90's. 

I wouldn't consider any amp a surfboard until it reaches 24 inches.


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## jimmyjames16

My gem..


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## vwdave

Damn some great surf boards in here.

I agree, 24"should be the minimum length for a surfboard.

Keep them coming.


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## TrickyRicky

JPOSEY said:


> Someone needs to post a pic of the old Coustic amp from the early 90's.
> 
> I wouldn't consider any amp a surfboard until it reaches 24 inches.


Yeah but with today's so called tiny thousand watt'ers are around 10" so anything above 12" can now be consider surfboards:laugh:.


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## xnte

Here you go!


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## yogegoy

Okay so I guess I'm in even though it's not a classic. 36.22"


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## 1996blackmax

I would say that classifies as one


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## gotgixers

VLX400, KAC 1023, and an OS NEON series Splash ..


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## gotgixers

Sherwood A100X4 and a Cadence FX500 both right at 24" I think


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## vwdave

Holy hell there are some great surfboards in here. Keep them coming.


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## hot9dog

omg... its a splash neon!!! makes me want to buy a lowered mazda B2000 with a snug top and drive around with my Oakley blades on. lol


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## gotgixers

hot9dog said:


> omg... its a splash neon!!! makes me want to buy a lowered mazda B2000 with a snug top and drive around with my Oakley blades on. lol


Yea....lol .... I've been playin with this stuff since around '83. So I have a bit of everything here and there, from late 80's to present day stuff, even some of the cheesy stuff ...LOL ...


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## Instaburn

vwdave said:


> Holy hell there are some great surfboards in here. Keep them coming.


Surf's up! !!

Current Rig:
Corsair 750D Case, 4790k @ 4.7ghz, 32gb GSkill 2400mhz RAM, EVGA Z87 Classified Mobo, Corsair H110 Dual 140mm w/ 4 Noctua's in Push/Pull, Quadfire AMD 7990 + Dual 7970 Sapphire 6gb VaporX's with Kraken G10's and Corsair H55's to chill things out With Noctua 120mm's in push and 150mm's in pull, Corsair AXi 1200w Platinum P/S, Mushkin 1tb SSD for OS and Games... 4tb Segate for the rest


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## knever3

gotgixers said:


> Yea....lol .... I've been playin with this stuff since around '83. So I have a bit of everything here and there, from late 80's to present day stuff, even some of the cheesy stuff ...LOL ...


So with that do you have any Soat or Bostwik amps in your collection?


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## gotgixers

knever3 said:


> So with that do you have any Soat or Bostwik amps in your collection?


Not now I don't. I did have one of them a while back. It was silver and had a squiggly neon line across the front, and had BOSTWIK written above the line where it flattened out. typical 90's style look .... I did have some JBC subs and amps too, but sold those a while back as well.

No Soat though ....

I really want to find a set of Funky Pups subs .... I just want to mount them up on the wall in my little stereo room ....lol


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## 1styearsi

yogegoy said:


> Some guy in ebay was selling just the heat sink of a US Amp, 7ft long.


this is what i was looking for US AMPS always had the longest surf boards..


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