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Soundstream M-3 Tri mono amp

Oblivion321

Oblivion321

Active Member
I went away for the weekend to see a concert with the wife. We decided to hang out for an extra day and check out stuff around town.I happened across this thing for cheap at a flea market. From the nothing much I've found on the net, It seems like it may be a minor score at least. Pretty hefty. appears to be 3 separate amps mounted together with a common faceplate but otherwise independent. 3 separate power cords and power switches. There's a huge torroidal in each one that can be seen through the vents on top. Anyone have any experience with one of these? I'll try to post some pics tonight or tomorrow.
 
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I used Soundstream amps in my car back in the day, and in my opinion they sounded about as good as it gets. They were made in the USA. I've heard that they dabbled in home audio/theater for a spell, but I've never experienced one. Their car stuff was higher end and the prices were too. I'd assume what you found was once rather expensive. I doubt there's much of a market out there for it, but it might rate favorably against some of the stuff that is. What did you pay for it?
 
I paid 20 bucks for it with no power cords. I have one that i used to hook up each one to the DBT. All is good there. Dc offset is Left 1.6, Center 6.1, and left -.7, so I'm hoping I can dig up a couple of cords and hook up some speaks tomorrow. It has the Lucasfilm THX badge on the front plate. Found on the net that its rated 120@8, 230@ 4, and 260@ 3.2 ohms per monoblock. Not really much else floating about, but I'd like to find the manuals for this. Thinking I might be able to build a nice Sub system out of it. I wish my "smartphone" wasn't acting dumb right now. I'd post a couple pics.
 
Oblivion321 said:
I paid 20 bucks for it with no power cords. I have one that i used to hook up each one to the DBT. All is good there. Dc offset is Left 1.6, Center 6.1, and left -.7, so I'm hoping I can dig up a couple of cords and hook up some speaks tomorrow. It has the Lucasfilm THX badge on the front plate. Found on the net that its rated 120@8, 230@ 4, and 260@ 3.2 ohms per monoblock. Not really much else floating about, but I'd like to find the manuals for this. Thinking I might be able to build a nice Sub system out of it. I wish my "smartphone" wasn't acting dumb right now. I'd post a couple pics.
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I did a search and found some pictures. They're cool looking. For $20, you might as well have got it for free, right? I mean, who's going to miss $20? I also found an old reference to an auction back in 2004 that claimed they retailed for $1400 at one time. Found another site where one had sold used for $370, and another for $425, both in the early 2000's. Not bad considering no one probably ever heard of it. They have those XLR connectors on them. I'm unaware of anything junky that has those. My bet is it sounds really good.
 
Well, I'm hoping to hook it up and give an impression when I get enough power cords to actually power it up. I'll get some pics and nudes up tomorrow.
 
Oblivion321 said:
Well, I'm hoping to hook it up and give an impression when I get enough power cords to actually power it up. I'll get some pics and nudes up tomorrow.
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I'm curious what those nudes will reveal. Looking forward to seeing them.
 
I got a second to pop the hood and take a couple of crappy phone pics. I have a feeling this is going to sound pretty decent. I really hope to find more information and a service manual for it. Anyone with anything, please let me know.sound1.jpg sound2.jpg sound3.jpg sound4.jpg sound5.jpg sound6.jpg sound7.jpg sound8.jpg
 
Oblivion321 said:
I got a second to pop the hood and take a couple of crappy phone pics. I have a feeling this is going to sound pretty decent. I really hope to find more information and a service manual for it. Anyone with anything, please let me know.View attachment 722518 View attachment 722519 View attachment 722520 View attachment 722521 View attachment 722522 View attachment 722523 View attachment 722524 View attachment 722525
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I have a feeling you're right. I stumbled upon something interesting. Each block looks like a Parasound HCA-1201a. Don't know if the components are an exact match, but it sure looks like the same amp.

This site has the user manual, but not the service manual. http://parasound.com/vintage/hca1201a.php

There was another site where someone was looking for a service manual and got an email address to a guy at parasound who apparently got him the service manual. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/168345-parasound-hca-1201a-schematic-needed.html

Hope this info helps you.
 
It appears as if it consists of the (once) ubiquitous mono power amps from the late '90's to early 2000's, Marantz, Parasound, among many others. It looks to be a quality piece.
 
Thanks for the links DKMI. Yup. This thing is the same amp as the Parasound. Apparently they bought it from Soundstream when they hit the mud face first. I got a minute to hook 2 of them up in the garage for a bit, and WOW. Tons of power. My tester 301's got stomped and sounded great for a change.I cant wait to hook them up to something better. So far I am really impressed. I always try really hard to blow up those speaks, but can't do it. When they sound impressive, I know I'm onto something.
 
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