Audiosource Amp Three

[MStrickland1988]

I bought one back in 2009, and I kind of accidentally bought another off of Ebay last night. It was $99 buy it now or best offer. So I sent an offer of $80 and it was accepted. $115 for a good budget amp that can be bridged and used for subwoofer duty. Some of you may know that the amp one was bench tested and performed really well, it met its specifications.

Do any of you own the older/original Audiosource amps? I've been happy with my Amp Three since I bought it and had it driving my Klipsch RF-5s and now Klipsch KLF-20s. Not exactly speakers that require a ton of power at 99db/w and 100db/w, respectively. I think they're good budget amps if you can find the original ones, I know now that they're made by Phoenix Gold and I think the Amp one/two/three models might have also been. Here's some pics I took tonight. Everything seems pretty good quality except for possibly the board, but I've seen many that look similar from the era.

 

[MStrickland1988]

 

[MStrickland1988]

Aaaand I just bought another one this morning. Paid $100 for this one and $35 shipping. It's weird that two of these would come up at the same time and sell for so cheaply. I'm nervous about them being shipped, I doubt either has the original packaging. After having both my Klipsch RF-5 and Klipsch RC-3 broken in shipping, I all too aware of how violently they toss stuff around.

So yeah, I'm really happy with mine and if you ever come across one they're worth checking out.

This one I bought is comically beat up, I hope I'll be able to sand it down and respray it:

AudioSource Model Amp Three Amp 3 150 w Stereo Mono Power Amplifier | eBay

 

[Adam]

Aaaand I just bought another one this morning.

Accidentally, again?

Congrats on the new gear. I hope that it all shows up in great shape.

 

[MStrickland1988]

Accidentally, again?

Congrats on the new gear. I hope that it all shows up in great shape.

Almost accidentally, lol. It was an auction and it had no bids, so I waited until there was a few seconds left and won. I usually only check for Buy It Now, but figured I would give this one a shot. I didn't really expect to win.

AudioSource Amp Three 2 Channel Amplifier | eBay

 

[j_garcia]

I have two Amp 300s and I have no issues with them. I picked one up new for like $199 and then found the second for $100 used but basically in new condition with all the original packaging and he threw in a pair of cheap speakers too. I've had them for years and they are solid amps. Using one for the surrounds right now It is a little bit smaller than the Emotiva...

 

[MStrickland1988]

Nice. I've heard mixed reviews about the laters Audisources but that's good to see they're pretty good amps. What Emotiva is that? I have Klipsch and some users have reported the Emotiva being noisy. I'd still like to get one though but if anything I'd probably just get the UMC-1 to use with my existing amps.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I have an Amp3 running my zone 3. Purchased it as a refurb years ago and it has been flawless.

 

[j_garcia]

Nice. I've heard mixed reviews about the laters Audisources but that's good to see they're pretty good amps. What Emotiva is that? I have Klipsch and some users have reported the Emotiva being noisy. I'd still like to get one though but if anything I'd probably just get the UMC-1 to use with my existing amps.

That's an XPA-3. Noisy? Read the Audioholics reviews of the Emotiva amps and you will find that is far from the truth unless something was wrong. They are easily higher quality than the Audiosource amps, but also much more expensive. They were still good at the Amp300 generation, but they did seem to have some quality issues at that point, but both of mine have been fine for quite some time. I also have a used Amp100 I got off of CL for $50 and it's been fine too.

 

[Steve81]

That's an XPA-3. Noisy?

It's worth noting that in my case (also a Klipsch owner with RF-5s), Nick K. over at Emotiva did recommend against the "big boy" XPAs

Hello Stephen,

Thank you for your email. With the speakers that you are using, the XPA-2 is not the correct choice because it is a high gain, high current swing amplifier that will not be best to pair with a hyper efficient speaker such as Klipsch. The XPA-200 would be a much better choice as it is capable with a larger secondary capacitance to supply the necessary current to your speakers as they need it. The XPA-200 is an incredibly robust design and we have used it to drive much more difficult to drive speakers that the Klipsch Reference series speakers. If you have any further questions please let us know. Thank you for your kind consideration

 

[MStrickland1988]

I said with Klipsch, and you also have the later Audiosources when they started to go downhill drastically.

 

[j_garcia]

It's worth noting that in my case (also a Klipsch owner with RF-5s), Nick K. over at Emotiva did recommend against the "big boy" XPAs

Interesting, and I guess makes sense. Also does seem like a heavy duty amp really wouldn't be necessary in most cases with Klipsch either.

A buddy of mine's uncle was a head engineer over at Audiosource for years, so I am well aware of when things changed there when they started to have problems aka; Phoenix Gold. This guy gave me a copy of Jazz at the Pawnshop that was made from the master tapes because either someone there or Audiosource as a company for some reason had them.

I also owned a One/A at one point but sold it to a friend. That one was showing its age too though since I had picked it up used, but it was a great little amp. I picked up the Amp100 for some deck speakers, but we took the deck out due to termites so it is now the garage amp.

 

[MStrickland1988]

Interesting, and I guess makes sense. Also does seem like a heavy duty amp really wouldn't be necessary in most cases with Klipsch either.

A buddy of mine's uncle was a head engineer over at Audiosource for years, so I am well aware of when things changed there when they started to have problems aka; Phoenix Gold. This guy gave me a copy of Jazz at the Pawnshop that was made from the master tapes because either someone there or Audiosource as a company for some reason had them.

I also owned a One/A at one point but sold it to a friend. That one was showing its age too though since I had picked it up used, but it was a great little amp. I picked up the Amp100 for some deck speakers, but we took the deck out due to termites so it is now the garage amp.

That's awesome you knew someone who worked at Audiosource. I have a few questions I've been looking to have answered so maybe you can help me out. During the time they produced the Amp One/Two/Three, where they produced by PhoenixGold or produced by Audiosource themselves? I wish I could find the history, but there's virtually no information I've been able to find. The current Audisources appear to still be made by PhoenixGold or possibly even Pyle (does PG own Pyle?) and the quality looks questionable at best.

 

[MStrickland1988]

Interesting, and I guess makes sense. Also does seem like a heavy duty amp really wouldn't be necessary in most cases with Klipsch either.

On a side note, I was powering my KLF-20s with my Behringer EP2500 and the sound was great. The 2500 outputs 450wpc at 8ohm and there was no noise. I just connected my Amp Three to it again and there's no discernible difference in sound (there never should be between a properly designed amp), and the 150WPC is really more than enough anyway. I really like the Emotivas but I guess they just use a different design. I'm still considering getting a UMC-1 if I can find one for a good price.

 

[j_garcia]

That's awesome you knew someone who worked at Audiosource. I have a few questions I've been looking to have answered so maybe you can help me out. During the time they produced the Amp One/Two/Three, where they produced by PhoenixGold or produced by Audiosource themselves? I wish I could find the history, but there's virtually no information I've been able to find. The current Audisources appear to still be made by PhoenixGold or possibly even Pyle (does PG own Pyle?) and the quality looks questionable at best.

No, I don't think Pyle is owned by PG, but they are part of some other big company that owns a bunch of other brands AFAIK, like Lanzar, Legacy, etc... all about the same quality level. Pyle may actually be the parent company. Unforunately, I don't know if the One/Two/Three era was affected by the PG purchase. I would presume they were still producing them in the previous factories and with the same design until they switched over to the new designs. My buddy said his uncle retired when they got bought and a bunch of their other engineers also either were let go or left at the time. I haven't talked to that friend in a few years though. We bought and sold a LOT of gear to each other. If I recall correctly, I actually got that One/A from him because it was a pre-production prototype version his uncle gave him. It had a slightly different enclosure and meters.

On a side note, I was powering my KLF-20s with my Behringer EP2500 and the sound was great. The 2500 outputs 450wpc at 8ohm and there was no noise. I just connected my Amp Three to it again and there's no discernible difference in sound (there never should be between a properly designed amp), and the 150WPC is really more than enough anyway. I really like the Emotivas but I guess they just use a different design. I'm still considering getting a UMC-1 if I can find one for a good price.

I am not sure what the difference is, but it would seem that Emotiva thinks they are not a good pairing and based on that email, I would say it is a function of the type of design yes. I ran my 4 Ohm high sensitivity A/V-2 surrounds on the 300 for 3 or 4 years and it never even got warm. Currently running my 8 Ohm lower sensitivity A/V-1s with it and no issues.

 

[Steve81]

I am not sure what the difference is, but it would seem that Emotiva thinks they are not a good pairing and based on that email, I would say it is a function of the type of design yes.

My assumption is the 32dB gain of the XPA-2/3/5 versus the 29dB gain of the XPA-200 and newer UPA line is the difference; IOW, it's not that the amps themselves are noisy, but they will amplify noise further up the chain more which is going to be problematic at lower power levels where a high sensitivity loudspeaker will spend most of its time.