PCA2

Ordered on August 31, 2013 I like the treble and bass controls. The old 2000's boombox in my garage died. The kind that everyone had in their bedrooms. The big side speakers were still good and could be repurposed. This amp drives them no problem. The amp doesn't get hot even in my Florida garage that exceeds 105F ambient temperature during summer. 20 watts per speaker at full blast is still plenty loud for a garage. Didn't want to lug in an expensive home receiver to have it fry in the hot garage, this is absolutely perfect. It's small, doesn't get hot, and drives quality sound. A good little amp. Update: June 23, 2019 6 Years and still working. The potentiometers in the knobs are worn from years of use. There are small dead spaces in the volume adjustment. Pretty sure the amp is dying because the volume is getting lower as time rolls by. My setup: PC 3.5mm to RCA to the amp. Mostly used to listen to youtube videos and music from the garage PC. I have a 3.5mm splitter between the PC and the amp going to a Trond Rx/TX bluetooth module. I highly recommend them. With an RX/TX module I can do 2 things: 1. TX mode: Play audio from my PC to a bluetooth headset. 2. RX mode: play audio from my phone to the amp/speakers. I get the best of both worlds with that setup. No need to go looking for a bluetooth equipped amplifier when you can add an external bluetooth module with a splitter cable easily. The Trond line of RX/TX have excellent sound quality too. Want bluetooth with this amp? Easily done. When this amp eventually dies I'll definitely replace it with the same or more powerful model from Pyle. I've been very impressed with it's thermal performance. In a Florida garage during summer electronics lasting more than 1 summer without overheating is impressive enough. I have used this amp pretty much every single day for 6 years. To me, this amp is a champ.

I bought this amplifier for use with headphones on our new 60" Sharp TV, as I often watch late night programs and my hearing is now "less than perfect". I can reduce the TV speaker volume to zero, and use any volume preferred on the headphones, or both can be used at the same time, independently of one another. I have found this amplifier to be perfect for this purpose, with ample volume without distortion, and it has bass and treble controls. It is a very nice, compact unit that is reasonably priced, and connecting it to your TV is an easy project. Connection of the amplifier to the TV is via an inexpensive two conductor cable that is equipped with RCA (male) type connectors from the red & white "audio out" (female) outlets on the TV, to the matching "audio in" outlets on the amplifier. As all headphones are equipped with either a small 3.5 mm or standard size stereo phone jack; you will need a matching (female) stereo phone jack with short connectors, as the Amplifier is equipped with finger pressure release type "wire in" connectors. I ran the three conductor head phone extension cable from the amplifier, that was placed on the TV support cabinet, to the recliner chair that I normally use; under the carpet for a neater installation. In summary; I am delighted with this amplifier powered audio set up! A word of warning however, is that some of the large screen TVs now being sold will not allow an amplifier powered headphone system to be used! None of the presently being sold 60" & larger, LG Insignia, some of the Samsung TVs, and perhaps others, will not allow this type of audio connection! If you are considering the purchase of a new large screen TV, and the use of amplifier powered headphones with it; it would be wise to confirm that the TV you are interested in purchasing; will allow this type installation. Be forewarned that many TV sales personnel are not aware that some of the new large screen TVs will not allow this type installation to be used! Some of the new large screen TVs do have a built in headphone jack; however it is an "either/or" type connection where either the normal TV speakers can be used, or headphones, but not both simultaneously!

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.

A friend gave me an old pair of floor speakers off his old home theater system, so I decided to use them in my garage. To do this, I needed a little amp like this Pyle model so I could connect my iPod and play to the big speakers. All you need is the right cables. I bought one with an audio jack on one end and RCA plugs on the other, and this let me connect my iPod, then I used speaker wire to connect the two speakers. It gets plenty loud for a 2 car garage, and the bass and treble response are quite good. There are many applications for this sort of thing, from PA systems to makeshift stereos, and so on. It works great, is simple to setup, and definitely worth the price.

I bought one of these amps several years ago to use with my PC, and it has worked almost flawlessly in daily use since then. I say "almost flawlessly" because the power indicator LED stopped working about a year ago, but that's the only thing that's gone wrong. Recently I bought a new flatscreen, and like most flatscreens, its internal speakers are terrible. I already had an extra pair of small bookcase speakers, so I moved the old PCA2 to the TV and ordered a new one for my PC. I don't know where Pyle went wrong, but the new one produces a 60 Hz hum through the speakers when turned on, and it does this with or without anything connected to the input ports, and regardless of what AC circuit it's plugged into. I don't know enough to go chasing down the problem, so I contacted Amazon and they sent me another free of charge (as noted by others here, this amp is not returnable). Unfortunately, the second one also hums. Both amps play back whatever is sent to them, but the hum is always there. This is a shame, given the performance I've had with the one I bought years ago. I went to Pyle's website, but they don't take returns on items not purchased directly from them, and under "warranty" they advise contacting the manufacturer (let that sink in). I looked, but I can't find anything on their website about warranty coverage. In short, it seems that Pyle isn't willing to do anything about a defective Pyle product. This is the last time I'll buy anything with the Pyle name.

I read the amazon reviews for the Pyle Home PCA2 amplifier while searching for an amp to use with my new fifty-eight inch HD television. I have good quality Yamaha speakers that I formerly used with my, about to perish, stereo receiver for amplifying and processing the TV's audio in my average sized home living room. I was concerned about the Pyle amp due to reviews that spoke of overheating and premature burn outs of the PCA2. I purchased the amp and received it. I am not an electronic technician or expert, so don't do what I did unless you are sure you know what you are doing and it will be safe. Without plugging The Pyle am in -I removed four screws from the right and left sides (eight total screws), and was able to remove the black cowling. There are air vents on both the left and right sides. On the inside of the cowling there is a black fiber material covering those vents. That fiber might have been meant to prevent dust from getting inside of the unit. I felt that that fiber was not very porous, and quickly became clogged, restricting proper ventilation. I removed that fiber from both the right and left sides - probably voiding the warranty. Included with the amp are four, small, rubber pads/feet with a peel and stick adhesive feature. I put those rubber pads/feet on the left end of the amp, one on each corner. I operate the amp with it standing upright on it's left side. The air vents now allow air to travel underneath the amp, and rise via air convection currents through the amplifier, probably helping to keep it cool. Remember, the Pyle PCA2 is a 'home' amplifier - not an auditorium amplifier. I set and leave the volume setting on the Pyle PCA2 at about sixty-five percent the total possible volume of the amp. I adjust my volume/loudness needed for listen in my living room. I've found that I need to use less than half of the full volume of my TV's audio controls to power the Pyle amp. I can turn-up plenty of volume this way, and never cause the Pyle amp to overheat or burn up due too much wattage being put in from the TV, or too much wattage blasting out of the Pyle amp. I have checked the Pyle amp several times for over heating and the amp has never had any heat above room temperature. It obviously is not heading toward a burn out. Consider this: do not run too much wattage from the TV's audio control into the Pyle amplifier. And don't turn the Pyle volume above about seven and a half or eight, and never to eleven! I also turn off the amplifier and TV when they are not in use. Also remember to occasionally disconnect the amplifier, unplugging it first, and remove the cowling to inspect and clean the internal components of dust and debris that could cause over heating. I feel the PYLE PCA2 is a fine piece of equipment when used in most ordinary comfortable volume, not extreme, home or office purposes. It is not a 'the house is a 'rocking' piece of equipment. It is a good value for the price!

I purchased this amp to replace a mini stereo amp from the 1990s that had as basic an interface as is possible. I cannot remember the make but I remember its simplicity, it had an on/off push button, a huge volume potentiometer, and RCA input/speaker output. It was perfect for a setup where I had an audio source and wanted to push it out to monitor speakers, and if there was a need for an equalizer I could simply add it between the source and the amp. Otherwise I could omit the EQ and listen to some pretty solid audio depending on the source and on the quality of cables. The new Pyle PCA2 I bought is functionally the same thing with the addition of Bass and Treble pots that allow me to tune the output adequately. It works nicely with my cheapie Bose Model 21 bookshelf speakers. Pros: Physically small, great power for the size, have not yet blown my 15 year old bookshelf speakers. Cons: The output volume is in point of fact somewhat limited, which is partly a Pro because my speakers survived some very noisy low-fi audio feeds. But for very faint audio sources such as online classes or hobby broadcasters who can't properly work the microphone the maximum volume level may be insufficient. Another minor point, the volume pot has the same small knob as the bass/treble ones which means you have to remember three POT positions if the amp doesn't sit at eye level. Recommendation: Make sure 40W per channel is sufficient for your speakers. Use a couple feet of Gorilla Tape to secure the speaker out cables to the back of the amp so they don't disconnect at the slightest tug. Not so much a Pyle or PCA2 problem but a general audio problem.

I had some relatively inexpensive "monitor" speakers laying around. I needed some good sound in this one room, but didn't want to buy an all-in-one sound unit. And wanted to do something with the speakers finally. So I bought this. Perfect! And better yet, dirt cheap! At very low volumes though, there is considerable noise. I think it just has a high, constant noise floor. That is utterly unnoticeable at higher volumes. Common in any amp system, it's just that this is a little higher than in a high-end amp system. BFD. It does what it says it does, and works great. Just don't expect to listen to Mozart, sitting next to the speakers, at very quiet volumes. I'm sure that technically, this thing is vastly inferior to high-end amplifiers. But kind of like pitting a $10 bottle of wine against a $100 bottle, or Coke vs. Pepsi, most people including self-professed experts can't tell which is better or even which is which. I'd bet that at average listening volumes, driving quality speakers, almost no one would be able to tell this wasn't a Harman Kardon. I might be wrong, but I'd bet I'm right. As for the failure rates that seem to be indicated in many of the reviews, that is indeed concerning. But mine has run continuously for many weeks now, without failure.