PA Systems

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME-WHAT A PIECE OF JUNK!, October 2, 2010

I purchased one of these to power the (2) 8″ ceiling speakers
in the foyer of our church fellowship hall.
We currently have 3 Pyle PA mixer-amps (2 40-watt & 1 100-watt)
in use there now which we purchased about 4 or 5 years ago.
The quality of those amps is nothing to write home about,
but at least they do the job. Well, it appears that Pyle
quality has taken a nosedive in 5 years. If you look at the
write up, the PCM20A is listed as a “40 watt” amp. With “20″
in the model number which usually has some reference to the output
of the amp, that should have been a red flag. So I went to the Pyle
website. It was hard to even find this item. I finally found it
under “home audio and video”. You’d think it would be under “commercial amps”.
(who uses a 70 volt capable amp at home?) In fact, after receiving it,
I noticed it has a little “Pyle home” logo in the front left corner.
No manual was available, only some basic feature information.
No specifications were listed at all. I then called Pyle.
The tech support rep was of little help AND his heavy asian accept was hard to
understand.
After putting me on hold for 5 minutes, he returned and advised me he
had no additional information for the PCM20A or any of the related models.
(This is their equipment and they can tell me nothing about it?)
He was only able to tell me that the PCM20A was rated at 25 watts RMS and
the listed 40 watt rating was “peak power”. What the heck is “peak power”
and how is that a usable figure in the real world? The answer? It isn’t.
It’s just Pyle’s deceptive way of padding the spec to
make the amp seem better than it is. Even the older Pyle amps we’re currently using are rated deceptively. Our current “40-watt” amp is 40 watts @ 10% THD into a 4 ohm load. In reality, at the 1% THD mark pushing an 8 ohm speaker, you’re probably looking at 5-7 watts output. Our 100 watt Pyle amp is slightly better at 2% THD into an 8 ohm load.
The point is, most name brand PA gear has a more truthful spec. They list
rated power at .5% THD into an 8 ohm load.

Now lets get down to the actual hook up and trial.

First, the PCM20A has 2 mike inputs and one aux input and they are all
on the FRONT of the unit. For portable use, this might be acceptable, but
in a permanent application, the inputs should really be on the back. The
aux input really puzzled me as it was a 1/4 inch TS jack just like the
mike jacks. I would have preferred a set of summed RCA jacks. (this is only
a single channel amp) I connected a line level signal from a CD player to
the aux jack and hooked up to my 2 70 volt foyer speakers tapped at 7.5
watts. I was more than disappointed. The audio quality was flat and lacked
any depth whatsoever. Compared to our older Pyle 40-watt amp, it sounded
absolutely terrible! The volume control could not be set past 3 without
major distortion. I guess I should say one good thing about it. It DID have
a 3-pin NEMA style detachable power cord.

I’ve always been happy with Amazon and their customer service but they
may want to think twice about offering this junk.
Needless to say it’s going back and Pyle won’t be seeing
any more of my business. Don’t waste your time. Spend a little more
money and get something you’ll be happy with.

Works as advertised, February 21, 2011

We needed a new amplifier for our small grocery store, but were not concerned with a lot of bells and whistles. This little unit does everything we hoped it would, delivering clear, distinct announcements over six speakers. Plus, it will allow us to plug in music and recorded announcements in the future and all at a price that we could afford.