Description
This compact home amplifier is perfect for powering any stereo system. Complete with USB/SD memory readers, CD, Microphone, AUX inputs – this simple to use and durable amp has, a slick blue LED display, L/R RCA inputs, and 4 push type speaker terminals. Using sophisticated circuitry and premium components for uncompromising musicality – this product is famous for delivering powerful and accurate sound. Use the 3.5mm AUX input jack to connect additional audio devices including iPods/MP3 players. This small but powerful amp delivers clear and crisp audio for all of your audio needs. Durable and affordable, this amp is made to last.
chomskysfavefive –
A solid amp for a decent PC audio set-up
Just put it somewhere nice, plug the speakers into the back ports, plug into PC through the 3.5mm input, turn it on and you’re good to go.I like the knob, doesn’t feel “premium” but it doesn’t feel cheap either. The manual is VERY basic.What would have sent this product into GREAT territory would be a 3-knob equalizer instead of the digital presets.
David Krueger –
Good [Budget] Audio Amp
While I did have to return/replace the first unit due to faulty LCD segments and properly secure the fuse on the second one, it is a useful device with good features for the price.While I have not tried/tested the RCA or SD inputs, I have a test environment that includes a phone connection (Bluetooth), USB Thumb Drive, Music Player (Aux), and FM radio.It would be nice if I could disable the “audible cues” for entering BT mode. It was nice to have the “Strong FM Signal” preset search but would like to “erase” unwanted presets. I am not 100% sure I like the automatic source switching to USB when you plug in a drive.The only part that irritates me is the blue Hi-brite LED Power On light…blinding!
Nevada Geezer –
A good product, but…
Works just like it should, is compact, sounds good and has plenty of power for my needs.However, due to the following issues, I have given it a 3 instead of a 4 star rating…1. The manual fails to explain anything about the “Function Blue LED Display Window” and, besides that, it’s actually red or amber. Through trial and error, I was able to determine what the display’s numbers were telling me: for example, when playing a thumb drive containing MP3’s, the display will show “USB” on the left, MP3 on the right and in the middle will be counting up in minutes and seconds as it is playing – unless you press the PREV or NEXT button where it briefly displays the number of the song. It would be really nice if the display was a larger alphanumeric display so that it could actually display the name of the song.2. The infrared remote control is not very good. Overall it seems to be built quite cheaply. The battery compartment is very tight so installing or removing the battery (2025) is a chore. Also the amp’s IR receiver is in a tiny window at the left end of the “Function Blue LED Display Window” and is extremely directional. To have the amp respond to the remote, you have to be almost exactly in front of the amp. If you are skewed to the left or right slightly, it will not respond. However, if you do stay directly in line with the front of the amp, it has a pretty good range.3. The blue LED output level lights are cute but after looking at them for 5 minutes, they have become quite annoying and intrusive. They are extremely bright. They are now covered with black Gaffer’s tape.4. If you turn off the amp using either the front panel power switch or the remote, the amp will forget where it left off when playing a MP3 thumb drive. That can be pretty annoying.5. Their 120W/channel peak power is completely unrealistic. That is done under extreme testing conditions. Besides, the main power fuse is 1.5 amp fast acting or 180 watts which is a lot less than the claimed 120Wx2 spec. The output power in the manual (page 5 and 6) states 20Wx2 at 1%THD, which is likely correct.Also the fuse value is not specified in the manual or marked on the rear of the amplifier – had to remove it and read the value off the fuse. In my opinion, this is a safety non-compliance.Last, I saw a lot of reviews complaining about excessive heat. So far, I have not experienced that.Last comment: Pyle’s customer service system needs a lot of work. Very difficult to get through to them. Every type of contact method they have is defective. This started out when I decided I should get a spare remote since I have a pretty low confidence in this one’s durability, especially after the battery drawer latch broke off.Contacting the manufacturer requires infinite patience.Their web page “contact us” doesn’t work – tried it 4 times using different mixes of browsers and computers – just get a “try again” message. Called the 718-535-1800 number, waded through the phone trees (2-1-3-2 in order to get to ordering parts), ended up on hold for 20 minutes listening to elevator music, then the music stopped for a bit, then was disconnected. Called back, ended up on hold for 10 minutes listening to the elevator music, then the music stopped for a while, got some noise, then silence. Waited a few minutes to see if someone would pick up. Nothing. Tried a third time: on hold for 10 minutes again, music stopped, and surprise! Someone picked up! The person on the line was very nice and helpful and they honor their products and warranty. However it was difficult to hear what the representative was saying due to all the background noise. Ended up that their customer service people are in the same room as the shop!
Herwin Burt –
Prompt early delivery.
It’s a great little amp, I use in in my workshop with my tuner for obvious reasons.
David A. –
Functional, but poorly made and virtually undocumented
The good:I bought one of these and it worked great – initially. I replaced an old Bluetooth module for my balcony speakers. The unit paired seamlessly with my phone. First time I selected FM it seemed to automatically program all teh p[resets, and it easily picked up my local FM stations without an antenna – more on that in a minute. The audio quality was decent, not outstanding, but probably worth the USD $40 for the combined Bluetooth, FM, and amp functions.The badAs noted, the sound quality isn’t great. However the speaker output connections are horrible. Both positive connections broke while repositioning the unit its shelf. The spring-loaded clamps popped out. It is important to note they didn’t break, they just popped out. I was was able to reseat them, but the slightest movement of the unit would cause them to pop out again. So I returned this unit and ordered ar replacement. The new unit won’t program for FM, and there is no documentation on how to trigger programming manually. The FM ‘antenna’ provided doesn’t fit the plug, nor does any normal FM antenna connector (I do a lot of stereo work and had several on hand). I’ve posted questions and I;ll update if I get answers.ConclusionPyle products seem to be a mixed bag in terms of quality. I have had multiple Pyle amps. I had a phono pre-amp that worked fine until I retired it (about 5-6 years). I had a small amp for my patio that failed after about 16 months. However the larger, more capable Pyle amp with which I replaced it has been going strong for three years now.I really like the combined functions of this unit, and it does what I need it to do at a price point I can accept. However if the replacement turns out to be as fragile and can’t execute it’s basic functions consistently I’m going to keep looking – and the review will drop accordingly.
Zackery painter –
Not bad, not good
It’s a decent product. Sometimes it doesn’t work properly and I have to power cycle,and the LEDs under the knob have failed after a couple of years (I suspect probably a loose wire or damaged LEDs). I found out how to get it to work with my FireTV remote and found a decent universal remote code.EDIT: I suspect my issues with this product were actually due to my cable breaking internally and have nothing to do with the product. I moved my review to 4 stars because it works pretty well for the price of the product and I use it daily.
Pericombobulation53 –
Excellent so far!
Great value for a small room. We have an older Pyle mini-amp downstairs which powers a pair of speakers in our kitchen. It has worked flawlessly for over 3 years, so I figured I’d give this little guy a shot. My daughter wanted a better sounding system for her bedroom, so I built her a pair of speakers using MarkAudio CHR-70A drivers. Paired with this amp, I think it is almost impossible to find a better sounding system for such a modest amount of money. As for the amp itself, she has had no problems with it. It has plenty of power for a bedroom system, even using the aforementioned drivers, which have a relatively low 85.4 db sensitivity. More sensitive drivers could go louder with the same amp. The sound is nice and clean, with no audible distortion until you really crank the volume up high, which she doesn’t do anyway. Played at normal listening levels, the sound is great.Love the fact that it takes a USB thumb drive. For those who may not be familiar with this feature, you simply copy MP3 or WMA files to a thumb drive, then plug the drive into this amp and it will decode and play them. Super convenient and it sounds great. We have not had any problems with any files not playing. It has worked great so far.A note about the remote – it’s a cheesy generic model, but it works. I don’t think Pyle makes the remote – they probably buy it from some el cheapo Chinese manufacturer. Regardless, it works OK for basic functionality. You can punch in, for example, 14, and it will go to the 14th song on the USB stick, which is kinda nice. It works for volume too, but the volume knob on the amp itself is not motorized. So what this means is that the knob on the amp is sort of a MAXIMUM. The remote can reduce the volume below what the knob is set at, but it cannot increase it. Fair enough. She just sets the knob permanently at about the 12 o’clock position and then adjusts down with the remote.The aux input works great with her iPod. So basically, this is the perfect little amp for a kid’s bedroom, or for an office, den, or any other smaller room. Sounds great, loud enough for most people’s tastes, and has been reliable so far. I did have some concerns about long term reliability, but noticed that Amazon is offering 3 years extended warranty for four bucks or something like that. Pocket change for 3 years peace of mind. If it breaks, we’ll just send it back under the extended warranty.
Richard L. Baty –
A good no frills MP3 amplifier with display, remote and built in power supply but with limited features.
This amplifier requires modification to incorporate tone controls with the MP3 player. If you need tone controls (I do), and do not want to modify the amplifier it is best to investigate something else. If you need a better digital volume control or working digital equalization the Kentiger HY-502 is a good choice and does not have the digital volume control problems of the PCAU15A or the Digital Equalization problems of saturation and distortion. The Pyle PCAU15A is an amplifier packaged with a MP3 player. The amplifier is a single IC (TDA2009A) Class A stereo amplifier which is not input to output with a RMS output power into 8 Ohms of about 2.4 watts (38 watts peak to peak into 4 ohms). The Pyle PCAU15A has a Capacitor coupled output (goes with class A) and therefore has no output voltage offset. This amplifier is free of the typical distortion found in BTL (crossover distortion, asymmetric waveform) and Class T amplifiers (digital distortion). There is too much power supply noise to use the amplifier as a headphone amplifier. The MP3 player is excellent. The amplifier does not have tone controls and requires modification to incorporate a tone control feature for the MP3 player. The Pyle PCAU15A has an integral power supply and is in a metal case (2.05”x4.22”x5.64”), with black front and rear panels and is supplied with rubber feet. The chassis consists of the cover, the front panel and the combined bottom and rear panel. The front panel has AUX in jack, volume control, a LED on lamp, a power switch, USB and SD in, input Mode switch, MP3 Display, and three MP3 playback buttons. The two MP3 PWBs are mounted to the front panel. The Volume control PWB is also mounted on the front panel. The rear panel has spring loaded bare wire connections for the speaker wires, a power cord, an input voltage line selector, fuse, and cable with two RCA input connectors. The bottom portion has the amplifier PWB mounted to it as well as the input AC transformer. I converted the amplifier to incorporate a detachable power cord, and a separate MP3 player output and Amplifier input (for a signal processor to adjust the overly sensitive volume control- also so that I could use the MP3 player separately), and ¼” phone jack Line in.The internal circuitry of the PCAU15A is on four PWBs (Volume and input, MP3 display, MP3 Player, Amplifier). The amplifier IC heat sink is secured to the case with two sheet metal screws. The volume, control is secured to the front panel with a hex nut.The PCAU15A amplifier frequency response is down 0.9 dB at 17 Hz and basically flat from 61 Hz to 4kHz, down 0.1dB at 10 kHz and down 0.9 dB at 20kHz (good response). The phase response is 35 degrees at 17 Hz, decreasing to 3 degrees at 1 k Hz, and increasing to 10 degrees at 10kHz, and 17 degrees at 20 kH. This is good phase response.The PCAU15A MP3 player is not inverting. The frequency response of the MP3 player is within 0.1 dB from 17 Hz to 1 kHz (excellent). The response is down 1.9dB at 10 kHz and 3 dB at 12.5 Khz. With a sweep frequency signal the MP3 player has response to 20kHz (excellent). The 1kHz square wave response is close to textbook, with some reduction in the rise-time. This is good frequency and phase response. The MP3 player has a remote and the player does not remember previous settings when turned off. The MP3 has both USB and SD input with a display of the track and time elapsed. There is no MP3 scan feature. The equalization settings are useless due to low frequency distortion and digital saturation even with a recording level of –6dB. The digital volume control does not have uniform steps and lowers the volume on many steps when you expect it to increase.I purchased this player as a learning process to use the MP3 player for background music and incorporated the processor loop for tone control and to use the MP3 player with other amplifiers. It is fine as a no frills MP3 amplifier. There are many other MP3 amplifiers with better features. The Kentiger HY-501 (BTL amp) has properly implemented digital equalization and digital volume control and has memory.The design of this amplifier is excellent for the hobbyist since it is easily modified.
Clint Lickner –
Solid little amp
I bought this amp to power two Dayton speakers (B652-AIR) that I use for TV audio.And it works great. I turned the volume all the way up when there was no audio input and there was no feedback or buzz; nice and quiet just like high dollar amps.The amp does have a built in MP3 player that will play files right off of an SD card or a flash drive. I tested that and it worked.The knobs have a solid feel to them not cheesy at all.With the treble and bass control you can adjust TV sound (what I bought the thing for) to accomadate poor source e.g. dialogue vs. music.I own audiophile grade equipment for music and I would not hesitate to buy this amp as a starter home stereo amp for kids or a garage stereo etc. I am very pleased with the sound. Of course it’s not a Krell stereo amp but it delivers clarity and power.Another reason I bought this amp was that it has an headphone jack that cuts out the speakers when phones are plugged in. So you can watch TV without disturbing, say, an husband who wants to read.There is an audio input on the front if you want to play from a source like a phone or MP3 player or an old tape recorder for that matter.Other reviewers have said the remote control is junky and flimsy. And yes it is. But I think the remote control codes are readily available and you can buy a heftier substitute remote for the amp. I will append this review if I succeed at doing that.My two criticisms of the amp: 1) although really spiffy and cool the blue LEDs are distractingly BRIGHT, and 2) there is no balance control for volume.It has a solid, hefty build to it and it delivers. I would readily buy this again.
rainfalllockwaffles –
Nice punch in a small package!
Granted I was a little skeptical about this little amp being able to meet my expectations; but I figured for $55 I’d give the 2x75w unit a shot. I was looking for an amp to power two outdoor speakers (Dual LU43PW) that we wanted to mount on our deck. I liked the fact that this was everything I needed (2-channel, AUX input, bass/treble controls, Component input) and nothing more. I actually installed this unit, then connected my Logitech Bluetooth Adapter to it via audio component cable to the back of the unit so that I wouldn’t have to keep coming to the Amp just to change songs. I paired the Bluetooth adapter to my phone, turned on the amp, selected a song to play… then I honestly crossed my fingers in hopes of HALF decent sound. What I got was amazing clarity, bass, and vloume at only 1/3 of the way up!Granted most of the credit probably needs to go to the speakers, but I was highly impressed by the sound output on the amp for such a reasonable price. Now if you are looking to wake up your neighborhood, this probably isn’t the unit for you. But if you simply want to listen to music in the comfort of your own deck/patio at a fairly loud volume level or simply want some subtle ambiance to a romantic dinner, then this little guy will fit the bill!The only negative thus far is the fact that the lights on the front of the unit are REALLY bright, so if you plan on setting this amp anywhere near a location with low-light, keep in mind that the room will LIGHT UP blue! Some, like myself, may think this is cool; while others may find it annoying, so it is worth noting.The USB port will only work with a memory stick up to 2 GB (confirmed this) and WILL NOT play any music from an iPod via USB (haven’t attempted an Android based phone where music is stored on a memory card though). There are plenty of options around this with other inputs however.