Well, last week I decided that my Planet Audio Vector D just wasn't big enough to power my Stroker, and I went out and bought something a bit bigger.

I decided to pick up an American Bass VFL150.1, and was wondering if anyone out there knows what one of these amplifiers actually does at 1 ohm (14.4V)? Seeing that it's a cheater amp, I have next to no idea on where to set the gains to get the most out of the amp, and keep from clipping my Stroker. Even worse, I just spent the entire morning driving around Calgary in vain trying to find an o-scope to set the gains properly (I may have to drive to Edmonton to get this thing set correctly), which really sucks (especially seeing that there's a comp tomorrow afternoon).

I read the post by Dom Iraggi who "re-rated" the 150.1 from it's original 150wrms x 1 at 4ohms to 522.6 watts at 4 ohms, 1562.8 watts at 1 ohm (14.4V) to put the amp within 30% of it's "actual" power ouput, making them legal for competition (this 30% leeway may actually put it close to 2100wrms at 14.4V).
http://www.carsound.com/cgi-bin/UBB_CGI/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=004680;p=0

Elsewhere I've read "bench tests" of 2100wrms @ 1 ohm (12V), 2300wrms @ 1 ohm (13.3V), 2500wrms @ 1ohm (14.4V), 2800wrms @ 1 ohm (14.4V) and 3300wrms at 16V. Some guys have even claimed 3000wrms @1 ohm at 14.4V, and I've read one guy's blog who stated that he burped over 5000wrms at 0.125 ohms, 17V.

Obviously, I have the most confidence in Dom's figures (although I've been getting the vibe that many people think he's still underrating them), but there seems to be alot of variation. Does anyone out there know what the 150.1 will ACTUALLY do at 12/14.4V into a 1 ohm load?

I basically copied this question from a post I made on realmofexcursion.com that didn't get any hits. If anyone knows, or has personally benched one of these amps, please let me know.





The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Somewhere between 2500 and 3000 watts at 1ohm. That is, IF you have the electrical system to power it.


Mike Roth

The electrical *shouldn't* be a problem when everything is said and done. I picked up a 250amp alt (which I hope is enough) from my best friend (for free, well, for a case of beer...his PPI 2350 died on him and he's given up on SPL), and I will have another yellowtop by next weekend. It's my daily driver, so jumping to a 16V system isn't an option quite yet. It would be nice to give it 17V - I've heard it does amazing things at 17V and 1 ohm (or less...).



The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Is this a new stroker...or old one?





RE Audio

Is that a "real" 250 amp alt, or is it just something that was rewound? Big difference. Either way, you're going to want to have more then one yellowtop. Will it work, yes, would I recommend it, no.

Just my $.02 in the little experience I've had with them.


Mike Roth

It's an old-school 18d2 stroker. I went to the only shop in Calgary that sells Cerwin Vega this afternoon, just to see one of the new Stroker Pros (because I'm thinking of trying one), but it was one of those "if you buy it, we'll order it in for you" type deals, which I'm not interested in at all. Maybe there'll be one or two at the comp tomorrow that I can hear for myself.

And yes, it's a real 250 amp, not a rewound one. My best friend had it custom built after his 220amp "rewound" stock alt overheated, seized, and went through the hood of his 97 Cavalier. There was no way I was going to go with a rewind after seeing that damage. It wasn't long after that that his PPI amp died on him, so the alt has just been sitting around for the past couple of years. I already have one yellowtop, and I'm putting a second in the trunk. I'm just not entirely sure that the 250amp alt with 2 yellowtops are going to be enough. The 150.1s are supposedly super-efficient, but I'm just not entirely convinced if they put out over 2500wrms.



The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Is there anything you would recommend to further boost my electrical to handle this monster? I just don't think I have room to put more than one yellowtop in the trunk, but I may be able to get the alt rebuilt to 300amps (it was originally built by a shop here in Calgary).

Any advice would be very much appreciated, because I've never played with this much power before.



The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Hide some in the spare tire area. Honestly, I think you'll be fine with just 2 yellowtops.

if you dont have much room look into the eagle pincer battery it looks big but you can find a place for it since its long and skinny.

it the alternator does put out 250 amps (vary hard to tell/test) with 2 batterys it will work but the volt's will drop alot at idle or with the car off (dbdrag). if that happens your fry the amp.

sweetnloud wrote:
if the alternator does put out 250 amps (vary hard to tell/test) with 2 batterys it will work but the volt's will drop alot at idle or with the car off (dbdrag). if that happens your fry the amp.

This is what worries me.

I'm going to hold off from competing until I get everything figured out. The last thing I want to do is jump the gun and end up blowing my 150.1 and/or my Stroker (expensive, and nearly impossible to find these days). I'm going to a local comp this afternoon and will ask around to see what people have done to solidify their electrical. Seeing that I work fulltime on weekdays (8-5), I probably won't be able to hit the alt shop until next weekend. The shop has been around forever, and alot of the SPL guys here run their alternators, so *hopefully* they can answer my questions and help me out.

I'll post what I find out, once I find out.



The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

If you do like batteries, you can probably fit 3 or 4 of them in the spare tire area.