Customer Reviews

Pyle Home PCA2 80-Watt Stereo Mini Power Amplifier

5 star:		(62)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Pyle Home PCA2 Mini amplifier worked just as expected. I needed a small amplifier to hook-up my flat screen TV to some old stereo speakers (that still have great sound) and this did the trick turning this set-up into a great sounding home theater system. I am extremely satisfied with this purchase and the value of the product.

I had purchased a couple of Bose- book shelf speakers and was looking for an amp or a receiver to go with them. SO after some research I found this product on amazon and ordered it.I also got a Y-cable to plug my laptop output to the amp. The amp works as expected, sound quality is good from my speakers and for the price of the amp. If you are looking for good sound, easy installation and simple controls, then this is the right product.
Positive : Price, compact, light weight, works for the money

Negative : None as of yet.

The PCA2 did exactly what I asked of it: power some small speakers near my elderly mom's headboard as she couldn't hear the TV from her bed. The unit is well-made (heavier than I thought it would be for the price), and easy to use. The only reason that I gave it four stars instead of five is the misleading "40 watt" designation. Really, it's more like a good 5 watts per channel. That's certainly plenty for most uses, though.

I'd buy another and recommend it to a friend... s long as they know they're not getting 40 watts per channel!

The amp worked fine for 42 days and suddenly a few minutes a smoke and it was gone. Tried contacting company twice and no one replied. Online product registration failed each time with an http error code (after typing in all info). An email message to company regarding this went unanswered.

I needed this amp to power a subwoofer that came as part of a surround sound set, which had been formerly powered by the now defunct dvd-player/amp. It is small, easily portable, and easy to use. And it is ideal for my situation. I only turn it up to about 6/10 on volume, and I'm only using one channel. I imagine it would be loud enough for many applications.

I am returning this unit because it is not safety-certified by UL (Underwriters Laboratories)--or anybody else, for that matter. This could be an issue with your homeowner's or renter's insurance.

When the unit arrived I was surprised to see no certification logo of any kind (UL - USA, CSA - Canada, CE - Europe, etc.) on the unit or packaging. I sent e-mail to support@pyleaudio.com twice but got no answer. Eventually I found the time to call. The engineer I spoke with said that they don't get most of their products certified because it costs extra, and because it would require them to use parts which are safety-certified. Hmmm...

Take a look at your laptop, TV, refrigerator, cordless phone, answering machine, even your cell-phone charger. I suspect you'll find they're all certified. This means the manufacturer went through a process like this:

[apparently Amazon doesn't like external links, so see the "Product Submittal Process FAQ" page at ul.com]

I think it makes sense to have an independent engineering review of electrical appliances (non-profit, in the case of UL).

Please note: I don't work for UL or for any competitor of Pyle Audio. I'm just a consumer.

I bought this amplifier to power a couple of Sony speakers for my PC. The sound was not great, but OK. I listen to music while I am working at the PC at low volume. This amplifier worked for 14 months and now the left channel does not work. After finding that Pyle would not fix it after 1 year and it would cost $30 to send it to them and get it back, I will throw it in the trash. I did remove the cover and found that a capacitor had blown up and leaked all over. While inside I found very poor manufacturing techniques. I will not buy another Pyle product. What a PILE.

I would say that this is very good for a laptop or other mobile audio devices.
I bought this with a pair of bookshelf speakers (Sony SS-B1000 5 1/8-Inch Bookshelf Speakers) to amplify the audio output of my laptop.
I didn't expect that much due to low output power (40W on each channel)
and low cost. However, the sound was very clean and loud.

My daughter had an old turntable and had just bought a stack of vinyl records. She had no way to play them since most of her music comes from her computer with powered speakers. I had two good speakers from a broken stereo system and offered to give them to her. What was stilled needed was a powered amp with RCA jacks and wired slots for the speakers. The Pyle Home Amp was perfect for the job. She now has a stand-alone system that plays her vinyls loud and clear. Great value for the money.

I give this little jewel 5 stars for MY application. I'm not sure how it would perform at higher power levels. I am using it to amplify a signal from a 5.8 ghz TV/audio receiver, which receives audio from two channels of my home theater. I listen on the patio at quite low levels and play through some decent patio speakers. Works exactly as I planned it. Very good little amp for the money.