Power Acoustik LT480/2

Bang for the buck with Style!

This amp is an economical and fine bang for the buck. It is pretty much a visually-appealing, PWM circuitry version of what a typical $90 amp from about 8 years ago would be. The potentiometers are recessed slot screwdriver-driven type with a protective clear plastic cover which prevents them from getting dirty (and thus impossible to adjust because of lost continuity) like the external controls on other low-priced amps do. The subsonic filter is defeatable by setting the HP/LP switch to "full" (use head unit or external x-over). This amp doesn’t seem to put out much below about 30hz with any speaker (may not matter much for all you 70hz tuning frequency bandpass "boomers" out there, since you usually cant efficiently get down this low anyway :). You can drive two high quality 6x9s with decent dynamic headroom, or 1 or 2 subs with a sensitivity >= 88.5db in a vented enclosure to really get the loud, dynamic sound of a more expensive hi-power system. BTW, handle the device by its black sides and do not get fingerprints on the silver heatsink (which has a Fresnel lense-like cutout overlay on it) and it will shine (literally) more like a piece of jewelry than something designed to drive speakers. The speaker outputs housing is illuminated by blue LEDs (not the recessed calibration section on the top).

Could Be Better

I just received this amp. This is my fourth Power Acoustic amplifier. I am normally a big fan of their products however this particular amp needs some serious help. The size of the amplifier is very small compared to many other four to five hundred watt amplifiers in the market. The adjusting knobs are on the top under a "protective" cover. This is a hassle to get off if you like to consistently tinker with your system settings like I do. The power and speaker terminals are very nice. When it comes to the sound this amplifier produces, there is work to be done. The amp has decent power and a high rms. However this amp just does not drive subs to their potential and produces a lot of "hiss" or static sound through even your subs. I switched out my 300 P.A. gothic series to this amp and have switched it back. I have been rearranging amps now trying to find where to put this one. I am disappointed in the performance of this amp and have decided that it is not worthy of either of my cars and is destined for use in my boat. There are better amps, even from power acoustic, for not much more money so I would look at other options.

Not A good first impression

I bought this from a online vender. It was a infinity 12 inch subwoofer.I bought this amplifier because it had more power and the price looked good. I hooked it up and it did not light up like it was suppose to.Then i thought i will try to set up to see if i would like to get another.First impressions i thought it had alot of distrtion. It was hard to tune with the subsonic crossover.It might of been better if i had more experience.

compact, powerful, great buy

I used this sub to power two low-grade RF subs. The amp is very compact, which is a plus. The subs sounded bad, but I do not discredit the amp because of that. I have worked with many Power Acoustik amps and they all sound great and perform well, especially for the price.