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Yes indeed! It’s a fine sounding 100 WPC amplifier head with 1/4” input jacks plus RCA line level inputs and Bluetooth……for $33 brand new with a 1 year warranty and a US organization you can actually reach.
Hmm - congratulations are in order. I managed to delete the entire text of this post while moving the above photo to the top!
Long story short, I just wrote the latest article in my series on audiophilestyle.com called "The Value Proposition in Audio". It's a survey of the latest class D amplifier chips and an in-depth review of two inexpensive audiophile amplifiers. While researching this work, I bought a few devices to try out so I could offer more than the usual cursory impressions - and as soon as I saw this one, I realized that it would probably be a great little amp head for jazz guitar when paired with a Toob.
The Pyle PDA219BU6 is marketed as a receiver because it has an FM tuner in it, along with Bluetooth and analog inputs that will take a stereo pedal like my Zoom (yes, I tried it and it sounds great). It also has a pair of 1/4" input jacks for the preamp on board, so you can use it for karaoke! It's well made and comes in an all metal case that's tough enough to gig with if you're not too careless. It sounds great and works fine so far. The output terminals are the usual push-ins on this kind of amplifier, but they're big enough to take 14 gauge wire (which most cheap ones are not). I made up a 14 gauge zip cord speaker wire for it with a 1/4" plug on one end, but I plan to drill the back panel above the terminal strip for a pair of 1/4" jacks to make it gig-friendly.
The fittings and controls are almost all secured to the metal chassis / case rather than being supported only by their soldered joints on the board. The pots feel good when turned and switching among inputs and modes is done by real push-push switches. The only bubble switches are on the very thin and flimsy remote that works fine but probably has little tolerance for abuse.
Here are two tracks I made with it through the Toob 10S with my Eastman 810CE7, mic'ed with my TASCAM DR40 about an inch in front of the Toob's grille aimed at the outer area of the cone. I wanted to see how well the individual notes present in full, tight chords and whether it sustains the natural decay of the guitar without compressing the dynamics. I also listen hard for accuracy on the subtleties of picking style and location, along with the attack on FS and plectrum. To my ears, it does very very well and is a fine jazz amp through my Toobs. I truly love the tone and quality of the sound.
Here's a quick take on Secret Love:
and here's a fast run through part of Gentle Rain
This is also a decent little stereo receiver that's ideal for a second system and would be good enough for me if I could only have a tiny or inexpensive stereo rig. I found better stuff for another $100, like the Douk ST-01 that's the same output power but sounds much better. (probably because it has a tube front end!). In fact, the Douk is not that far off from my reference amps and is currently in our living room system. As a stereo amp in a home audio system, the Pyle sounds a bit 2 dimensional compared to really good stuff. The bass is a bit lean and the overall presentation lacks the immediacy of a really fine amplifier. It's a little veiled, but it's neither shrill nor fatiguing. The Douk loses most of the veiling and makes really tight, deep bass that comes through my big Focal towers very well. And the Douk (like many in this category) has a dedicated line level subwoofer output.
How does it compare to the Superblock US, you ask? The SB is much more versatile, with gain and volume controls plus reverb, sims etc. And the SB is built much much better. Of course, it costs as much as 9 Pyles. Although the Pyle only has simple bass & treble pots, they really work and provide a decent variety of tones. It has one basic sound, and that’s a very fine and flat jazz tone that’s pretty accurate to the guitar being used. My laminated 16” and my carved 17” both sound like themselves through it, which is just like they sound through my Blu and my DVM EG250 / RE 10 cab with EQ flat. The tone pots on the Pyle give you decent variation but don’t change the basic character.
But as a guitar amp, the little Pyle is a real winner in my book - it sounds great, plays loud, and feels like it will hold up. Look at this stuff closely because it's eye opening! I'll use the Pyle on a few gigs and report back on how well it holds up and how good it sounds. I'll let the band speak to this, since both my mates and the audience were not shy about their praise for the Toob or the Henriksen. By George, I think I've got something here!Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 09-16-2022 at 05:44 PM.
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09-16-2022 02:00 PM
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And you can play along with the radio!
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I seem to recall being explained on here that it's not a good idea at all to plug an e-guitar into a hifi amp - not for hifi speakers but IIRC also not for the amp itself.
Did your original text clarify how you connect the guitar? The output level would probably be too low for the mic inputs (and I suppose there's a couple of volts on those to power standard desktop microphones)?
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Wait so what's going on here? You're plugging your guitar into the mic inputs on that reciever which is serving as a guitar amp for that speaker?
And only the reciever cost $33?
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You got that right! I couldn't see any reason not to try it, and I couldn't resist trying. I've been building, modifying and using serious audio equipment since I was a kid.
Originally Posted by Toat
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The main problem with using home audio equipment for instrument amplification is not the amp but the speakers. They're not robust enough to handle live level sound reinforcement. The amplifier has no idea what's in the program signals it passes. As long as the input is within rated sensitivity limits, there's adequate cooling for the heat-generating components, and the power supply is up to the demands you put on it for volume, any amplifier with a 20-20kHz bandpass will amplifiy any signal it gets within its operating parameters. Originally Posted by RJVB
CLass D amps are very efficient (>90%) and generate much less heat than class A or A/B amps. So only 5 to 10 watts of every 100 generated for output is lost to heat before it reaches the speaker cable. There's a generous heat sink in this one to keep the power chip cool. I don't see any potential for overheating it by using it as a guitar amp. We'll find out if I'm right when I use it on a gig - but it's cool as a cucumber when I push it at home.
This amp has a preamp stage to take the signal from a mic or instrument. The rated input sensitivity for full output at 0.1% THD is 200 mv, which is about the middle of the range of passive guitar pickup outputs. Plugged directly into the 1/4" mic inputs, my humbuckers drive it to very loud levels through the Toob 10S with no audible distortion with the volume pot at about 2 o'clock. There's more left, but I didn't want to be evicted from our apartment
Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 09-17-2022 at 07:23 AM.
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That's absolutely true. The weakest link in using home audio for instrument amplification are the speakers.
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And there’s no input on most hifi amplifiers with the right sensitivity and no EQ applied. Phono preamp stages are sensitive enough (if not too sensitive), but they all have hard wired RIAA phono playback EQ that’s not adjustable and rarely defeatable. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
I’ve never seen a high quality integrated amp or even a receiver that had an unequalized 1/4” input for a mic / instrument level preamp stage. In 1960 when I was a young teenager, my first electric guitar (after the LG-1 in which I had a sound hole DeArmond) was a used stereo 345. I used my father’s late 1940s Stromberg Carlson hifi as the second channel with an adapter I made from a 1/4” jack and an RCA plug. There was an auxiliary input for wire recorders (Google it - my dad had a Webster Chicago). This was a huge, solid console with a 12” field coil speaker tough enough to use in a theater (which they did).
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I couldn't find this model on the French A'zon. It could make a nice replacement for my venerable NAD 3x25 PE which needs look after ... but that one has only 25watts (but sustained, not just RMC) which is more than enough and I don't even know how much more the speakers in that rig can handle. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Word missing? Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Nope, I know what those are, may even have seen oneThere was an auxiliary input for wire recorders (Google it - my dad had a Webster Chicago).
I seem to recall scifi stories in which they appeared?
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No word is missing. An input stage usable for mics and guitars has to have the right input impedance, gain, and sensitivity for the sources used. And it has to have a flat frequency response. Phono inputs for moving magnet cartridges may work electrically despite the impedance mismatch, but all US market records and many from around the world have the RIAA playback EQ curve built in. There’s a DIN standard used on some records from Europe. Originally Posted by RJVB
Word missing? Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
The EQ is necessary because all commercial records are recorded with a recording EQ curve applied. This lets the engineer get the best sound quality and playability into the wiggly grooves in vinyl, and it ensures playability through any phono preamp circuit because they all use the same EQ. Here’s a link to Audacity’s table of recording EQ “standards” over the years and around the globe, and here’s a good explanation of how it’s done today.
There’s also a set of EQ curves for magnetic tape recording and playback. Inputs marked “tape head” have at least one playback EQ curve built in, usually NAB. But there are multiple tape EQ “standards” (talk about an oxymoron!). Some high end consumer playback equipment (and all pro stuff) has switchable tape EQ for playback directly from a transport. The preamps built into consumer tape recorders and players generally have the NAB curves built in, so that the line out jacks can drive an unequalized line level input.
Both tape and vinyl EQ curves differ for each transport speed because the electromechanical properties of the processes vary with the speed at which the medium (tape or record) moves past the sensor (tape head or phono stylus). Most consumer equipment uses the same common standard RIAA for 33 and 45 RPM records, but playing 78s that sound right requires a different curve (and a different stylus).
So as I said, I don’t know of any generally available consumer audio amplifier (stand-alone or in a receiver) that has an input that’s both electrically usable with a guitar (or microphone) and has no fixed EQ in the input stage. You can use a phono input designed for high output cartridges (moving magnet and a few clearly identified high output moving coil units), but the RIAA EQ curve will be applied and the guitar will sound terrible.
On the other hand, the “karaoke” feature in these new little devices adds an unequalized input that’s usable for guitar (or any other instrument) as well as mic. The frequency response is flat and it has impedance, sensitivity and gain that will work with most pickups. These were originally designed for international markets in countries where karaoke is much more popular than it is in the US - we’ll probably never see 1/4” inputs we can use on much audio equipment designed for and aimed at the US or even the broader western market.Last edited by nevershouldhavesoldit; 09-17-2022 at 09:24 AM.
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Ah, right, I/that should have read Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
"And there’s no input on most hifi amplifiers that has the right sensitivity and no EQ applied.
maybe then I wouldn't have stopped at "And there’s no input on most hifi amplifiers"
The times I tested my guitar output via my hifi was going through an ART Tube preamp and then into an iMic (since replaced by a Behringer UMC204HD which could also replace the ART).
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The OP's post raises several questions. How on Earth can - and want - anybody design, produce and sell an electronic device at such a low price? What kind of volumes are needed? Are we guitar and bass amp users being screwed up? What's the real coast of an IcePower amp module or anything Class D that could be the kernel of everything needed for musical instrument amplification? What would be the destiny of $$$$ tube amps, if such an universal power amp were available for $50?
Against less and less costly electronics, speakers stand out as a true anachronism. Nobody's been able to replace their magnets, coils and membranes with anything digital. In consumer electronics, you can offset a cheap speaker's shortcomings with DSP. In our realm, speakers aren't even expected to be linear and neutral. The OP's experiments just enhance the speaker's role.
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What they've always been since solid-state amps became equally good: "toys" for, erm, afficionados. Originally Posted by Gitterbug
I'm guessing that it is probably a lot easier to model the transfer function of tubes when they're working in their audiophile range. I haven't been looking at developments in the hifi world for over 10 years, maybe nowadays you can indeed find "cheap" amps with DSP onboard to give the sound of one of those $$$$ tube amps?
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wow , $33 for a decent amp
(I thought i’d done well on price with my
Bam 200)
can’t find those pyle amps in the uk
found this tho
https://www.amazon.co.uk/300Watts-Bl...-1-spons&psc=1p
over twice the price at £70
but hey it’s got karaoke echo !!!
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Pyle has been a US company since 1960, and they started manufacturing in Asia years ago. I don’t know if they sell anywhere else in the world and if they use other brand names. But these are all so similar that it probably doesn’t matter which one you choose. The display, USB, SD card slot, and mode / input buttons are very similar to the ones on my Pyle, and I suspect the chips in all of these are either identical or very close. Originally Posted by pingu
There are a few others on that UK site that look good. This one for $49 has the same 300 watt chip as the one you found. And the illustration on the vendor’s page suggests that these are intended for use by guitarists:
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Class D power amp chips start at about 30 cents US for a bare low power low quality IC. The best ones from ICE start at $65 for an entire 200W amplifier module in quantities of 10+ from Parts Express. Between the two are several decent pieces from Infineon, STM, GaN, TI etc. Originally Posted by Gitterbug
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Or rather, what would be the destiny of $$$$ solid state amps, where there is direct competition.. Originally Posted by Gitterbug
All these price ranges, Bam, Dv Mark, Quilter, Henriksen, etc. Or brands like Behringer, Bugera (the Thomann family in Europe). There will always be a market for expensive stuff, but as far as musicians are concerned, a lot of it is about getting tools for the job. So cheap stuff has a place. I have lots of pro friends that happily use cheap stuff on gigs (and expensive also..), as long as it is logically reliable (which nowadays gear is).
Same with pedals. Gone are the golden days of boutique. It's hard to sell a 300$ pedal where there are lots of 40$ cheap versions, and lots of 80$ good versions that do the job.
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