Greetings, BIGDOGBRODAVE here to jog some memories... Anybody remember the company ANALOG DIGITAL SYSTEMS?.... A/D/S/... a/d/s/... The ORIGINAL aDs... Heres an amplifier that from what I understand represents that statement in history: "ADS introduces the DC-DC power system to the autosound industry". This "introduction" I understand was in the form of investment bankers and financiers of them times that to that point had bankrolled autosound visionaries such as Earl Muntz. The "industry" as it was at the time (1970) was bustling and dynamic and growing exponentially. Earl MADMAN Muntz is said to have sold 40 MILLION 4 & 8 Track players as well as 10 times that in TAPE CARTRIDGE sales in his time in the autosound industry. When 1969 arrived a Doctor, Godehard Guenther, Electrical Engineer and German export, became the first person to design a DC-DC power source for an automobile amplifier system that could generate upwards of 150 watts of power. Unheard of power levels of them times, The DC-DC switching power system would become the stand alone power scheme for all high power autosound amplifiers to come.
There's a reason the A/D/S/ corporation is known in history TODAY as the company that first "introduced the DC-DC power system to the autosound industry".
Something about ZAPCO being the "first" available high power amplifier system... then LINEAR POWER chimed in with Schmugg Electronics and their one off "constructs" that date back to 1973, So then it was LINEAR POWER for a while and ZAPCO changed their description to read the first "small frame" automotive amplifier. THE FIRST...
Well it was about then that Jim FOSGATE chimed in as the "incorporated one"... My BUSINESS has been building high power amplifiers for cars since 1973 and not out of a garage piecemeal or "one off". A TRUE manufacturer of electronics of them times, FOSGATE at that point appeared to overrule them other companies in regards to corporate and product availability THUS... FOSGATE became the "inventor" of the high power car audio amplifier system...... THEN Dr Guenther chimed in. He worked at N.A.S.A. during the later years of REFINEMENT of the SMPS and it appears he was in fact retained for just that task as he was recruted by none other than Wernher Von Braun, the German Rocket Scientist at N.A.S.A. of the times. In 1966 Dr Guenther and Dr Von Braun struck up a relationship which culminated with Dr Guenther moving to America in 1968 to begin a 3 year stint as a Electronics Engineer. As history goes, the SMPS was refined for use in satellites of the time as well as a space station project, SKYLAB. Linear power generation systems of the times were in serious need of updating when research began in earnest about 1960. By 1970 the SMPS became a reality. Soon Dr Guenther would leave N.A.S.A. to pursue "retail opportunities".
It is about this time (1970) that Dr Guenther, with a working model of his power source, began shopping around for investors in his new power system, a power system that could generate enough power from a single 12 volt battery to generate over 150 watts of amplifier power in theory. I BELIEVE at this point Dr. Guenther stumbled into the autosound history books. For as long as i can remember, ADS introduced the DC-DC switching power source to the autosound "industry".... this is what I remember in HISTORY and I am not the only person out there who remembers this as I have searched and searched and have read many articles and internet posts.
"From the Company that Invented Audiophile Autosound... A/D/S/"..... an ADVERTISEMENT slogan of ADS, seen in magazines of them times. I wondered about this statement.
So I looked into it... It appears Mr Fosgate would not have been able to make his claim without the use of Dr. Guenthers research and refinement and introduction to the autosound industry as a whole.
In July 1975 the ADS 2001 TRUE AUDIOPHILE Amplifier & Speaker system made its DEBUT in AUDIO magazine, THE audiophile magazine of them times... a whole TWO YEARS LATER... on it's last legs, at the end of it's production run. the FOSGATE POWERPUNCH PR-7000 made it's debut in Audio Magazine... A whole TWO YEARS LATER. Thus the story goes in regards to MY FOGGY memory... ZAPCO was "First".... later that was contested by the "corporate" status... and later still it was ALL contested by a N.A.S.A. scientist that as it turned out was instrumental in the development, refinement and fruition of the DC-DC switch mode power system. THE INVENTORS, of AUDIOPHILE AUTOSOUND... A/D/S/.... Heres some images of the A/D/S/ 2001 amplifier system. 160 watts of power RMS. 60 watts per channel WOOFER and 20 watts per channel TWEETER, internal crossovers. Bass compression circuitry, dual level RCA inputs, Bi Amp design, separate POWER SOURCE with optional 120/240 volt operation for HOME use... ALL introduced to the autosound world by A/D/S/... and Doctor Godehard Guenther. The man deserves his props in HISTORY..... so I write.
My FOGGY take.... BDBD/2022
There's a reason the A/D/S/ corporation is known in history TODAY as the company that first "introduced the DC-DC power system to the autosound industry".
Something about ZAPCO being the "first" available high power amplifier system... then LINEAR POWER chimed in with Schmugg Electronics and their one off "constructs" that date back to 1973, So then it was LINEAR POWER for a while and ZAPCO changed their description to read the first "small frame" automotive amplifier. THE FIRST...
Well it was about then that Jim FOSGATE chimed in as the "incorporated one"... My BUSINESS has been building high power amplifiers for cars since 1973 and not out of a garage piecemeal or "one off". A TRUE manufacturer of electronics of them times, FOSGATE at that point appeared to overrule them other companies in regards to corporate and product availability THUS... FOSGATE became the "inventor" of the high power car audio amplifier system...... THEN Dr Guenther chimed in. He worked at N.A.S.A. during the later years of REFINEMENT of the SMPS and it appears he was in fact retained for just that task as he was recruted by none other than Wernher Von Braun, the German Rocket Scientist at N.A.S.A. of the times. In 1966 Dr Guenther and Dr Von Braun struck up a relationship which culminated with Dr Guenther moving to America in 1968 to begin a 3 year stint as a Electronics Engineer. As history goes, the SMPS was refined for use in satellites of the time as well as a space station project, SKYLAB. Linear power generation systems of the times were in serious need of updating when research began in earnest about 1960. By 1970 the SMPS became a reality. Soon Dr Guenther would leave N.A.S.A. to pursue "retail opportunities".
It is about this time (1970) that Dr Guenther, with a working model of his power source, began shopping around for investors in his new power system, a power system that could generate enough power from a single 12 volt battery to generate over 150 watts of amplifier power in theory. I BELIEVE at this point Dr. Guenther stumbled into the autosound history books. For as long as i can remember, ADS introduced the DC-DC switching power source to the autosound "industry".... this is what I remember in HISTORY and I am not the only person out there who remembers this as I have searched and searched and have read many articles and internet posts.
"From the Company that Invented Audiophile Autosound... A/D/S/"..... an ADVERTISEMENT slogan of ADS, seen in magazines of them times. I wondered about this statement.
So I looked into it... It appears Mr Fosgate would not have been able to make his claim without the use of Dr. Guenthers research and refinement and introduction to the autosound industry as a whole.
In July 1975 the ADS 2001 TRUE AUDIOPHILE Amplifier & Speaker system made its DEBUT in AUDIO magazine, THE audiophile magazine of them times... a whole TWO YEARS LATER... on it's last legs, at the end of it's production run. the FOSGATE POWERPUNCH PR-7000 made it's debut in Audio Magazine... A whole TWO YEARS LATER. Thus the story goes in regards to MY FOGGY memory... ZAPCO was "First".... later that was contested by the "corporate" status... and later still it was ALL contested by a N.A.S.A. scientist that as it turned out was instrumental in the development, refinement and fruition of the DC-DC switch mode power system. THE INVENTORS, of AUDIOPHILE AUTOSOUND... A/D/S/.... Heres some images of the A/D/S/ 2001 amplifier system. 160 watts of power RMS. 60 watts per channel WOOFER and 20 watts per channel TWEETER, internal crossovers. Bass compression circuitry, dual level RCA inputs, Bi Amp design, separate POWER SOURCE with optional 120/240 volt operation for HOME use... ALL introduced to the autosound world by A/D/S/... and Doctor Godehard Guenther. The man deserves his props in HISTORY..... so I write.
My FOGGY take.... BDBD/2022
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The date codes on some of the parts in this amp appear to be as late as 1978.
1978 was the last iteration of the 2001 amplifier and also ushered in the POWERPLATE series of amplifiers. According to AUDIO magazine in 1975 there was PROTOTYPES of the 2001 available aka BETA testing... AUDIO magazine was the recipient of one of them prototypes as mentioned in the AUDIO article. At that point in time the NEWER version of the 2001 with T0-3 transistors and many other stability improvements was in production at the time of testing, and there was some regret as to that situation on ADS's part from what I recall.... From what I recall the 2001 was in some sort of production or another at or about 1972... Some say that Analog Digital Systems derived its name from said power source.... Never met the Doctor myself.... FOGGY HISTORY.... yep.... BDBD/2022... Oh yeah PERRY..... I NOW own 3 working examples of the 2001 amplifier now thanks in large part to your Repairing Amplifier site.... yay.... I have so much stuff.... needs fixing. THANKS again! BDBD/2022
Hmmmmmm Ya got me wondering now if that T0-3 transistor version is the earlier BETA version and the one in the pictures here is the "latest version" aka 1978 construct.... as mentioned in AUDIO mag. I think I will take pics of that T0-3 model for yas to gaze at for date codes and such as I am..... UNAWARE..... FOGGY HISTORY here..... Looking to JOG some memories out there... While theres still memories to JOG that is.... BDBD.2022
It was just a note. I have no memory (reason I've taken so many notes) so history was never a real interest for me.
Yes... History... I have a Bachelors Degree in History... 2015. I should try harder to CITE everything.... yep... As AUTOSOUND went for me I was an installer for several decades starting around 1978 or so till 2008 when I officially closed shop. I worked for Muntz Electronics for a time as well as every shop on Oahu... Car dealership... Military Bases.... uggggg I even worked for NEVERLOST/HERTZ for a spell installing GPS systems in rental cars... I installed EVERYTHING and have no favorite brand or affection for any given manufacturer for that matter.
That being said, theres "The History of Autosound" video out there by HiFiVega that completely overlooks A/D/S/ as well as Linear Power.... I personally believe the EARLIEST "High Power" amplifiers made for automobile use in the USA were made by them at Linear Power... or Schmugg Electronics as they were known as at or about 1970... earlier. So the stories go they were producing "one off' amplifiers for friends and relatives much like Mr Zeff was, only they were utilizing Linear Power Source layouts to do the work of generating 120 watts of power in their Model 120 amplifier design. DC-DC switching came along later.... Dr Guenther... that guy.
What do I know.... I only installed like thousands of amplifiers and such products. I heard stories... magazine articles etc of them times and such. The whole "history" of autosound thats out there needs reexamination... Yeah....
So I write. Somebody with knowledge of the history, please clarify any and all my FOGGY HISTORY.... Or perhaps add to it...
BDBD/2022
oh yeah...... ONE CALL INSTALL.... Honolulu Hawaii.... 1984 I began spreading my wings and by 1988 I left the SHOP scene and became a sole proprietor.... for the next 20 years.... Installed EVERYTHING............ everything.... ONE CALL INSTALL..... That was me. BDBD/2022
Minor point: Braun Aria > aDs > ADS > a/d/s/ > a/d/s/t/, then no more. IIRC name held by DEI now.
Aside, I have one of the 2001 protos, a production 2001, and a 2002 system. Proto system used handbuilt sheet aluminum cabs. Production ones used the same cabs as the L200 passive speakers; an extrusion with plastic front & rear panels. The 2002 used a slightly different wall internal profile and an internal divider as well as aluminum back panel.
Audiomobile rarely mentioned now but they pioneered active crossovers at the component level in car audio late 70s. They used both bi & tri amplification in their systems as well as offered a full line of active crossovers & amplifiers. ADS however did not release anything beyond 2001/2002 until ~'83 when the AX2 active crossovers came out (as well as new amps, P40 / P80 / P120) with crossover chips optimized for their components & subs.
There was a lot going on then and Zapco was absolutely in the middle of it along with Fosgate, Linear, Monolithic, Alphasonic, even Proton. Proton (Taiwan) most interesting as they also built amps for some of the US players. Most of these companies started out with an engineer founder.
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Honestly, I've never heard any of that before. From memory but recall the tone of their ads being a foregone conclusion that they were the best. They didn't make claims about being first, best, most powerful, etc. Further, car audio was a footnote until the ADS name change, All the early years revolved first around importing Braun speakers and developing distribution. Then importing Braun drivers installed into US made cabs and increasing distribution. Finally, establishing domestic production of drivers that were basically improved upon versions of Braun and expanding distribution even more. It's why there was only one car product (2001) during the first ~5 years the company existed. It wasn't until their market began to grow (and the car audio market began to take off) that they added products (P100, 300i, CS400, AX1/PX1). ADS located in MA but the hotbed for car audio was CA and why so many companies started there.
Hi Thanks for chiming in... From what I have read, Dr Guenther came to the USA in 1968 and shortly after he began transshipping BRAUN speakers from Europe. It appears he arrived to conduct work at NASA at this time. It APPEARS his first foray into transshipping speakers from Europe gave him insight into the TARIFF situation on shipping European goods of them times to America. I understand this activity was conducted in Alabama. Once the Dr started shipping speakers for sale on a more regular basis, at some point it became known that PARTS shipped from Europe to America were NOT covered under the TARIFF laws of them times thus the parts of a speaker system could be imported from Europe DUTY FREE. Cabinets could be constructed using US sourced wood products and US based labor.
There you have it. In 1970 the Dr began plans to open a COMPANY. A/D/S/ was formed sometime in 1972, featuring European quality drivers and crossovers packaged inside American made enclosures. I believe that was the BUSINESS PLAN the Dr submitted to financiers of them times. He obviously garnered considerable financial investment prior to opening A/D/S/ in 1972. A/D/S/ went on to build some of the finest speaker systems pf the times as well as amplifier systems for automobiles, starting with the A/D/S/2001. In 1978 the POWERPLATE series of amplifiers were launched.... by 1981 "POWER" was removed from the FOSGATE product lines as they decided to go with PUNCH instead of POWERPUNCH. Theres a story there.
Hi Thanks for chiming in... I own a set of A/D/S/ 2001 Biamplified speakers. I also own a set of A/D/S/ 200 Stereo speakers. The 2001 speaker enclosure is a single piece extruded aluminum case... I think these are some of the most rare of the speaker systems ever made by A/D/S/. These are designed with BOLTS that protrude out the ANGLED end. They are in essence designed to aim towards the driver at an angle facing forward. These also have BRACKETS to afford side mounting etc. These have NO crossover inside them as the AMP had the crossover inside. These are not Rectangular in shape, angles on the upper as well as the lower mounting areas.
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Hi, have some pics of ADS 200 please?
Do you know the home speaker model in your photo under the 2001?
A nice thread, thank you.
Yeah thats right..... AUDIOMOBILE had Electronic Crossovers LONG before COUSTIC came along..... hmmmmmm
Some of the first real high power amps for car audio were made by Hifonics and they came out in the early 80's. They where putting out as much as 200watts per channel. A/D/S was one of my early favorites but I could never afford them but they had some very nice amps for both home and car audio. In the late 70's you had some companies like Panasonic, Jenson, Craco, AudioVox, Pioneer, Ronco to name a few. These are the ones I can remember anyways. I remember around 1985 I bought a Monolithic PA5000 that could put out 900 watts at 2 ohms.
AUDIOMOBILE had the SA-2000 amplifer, 200 watts in 1978ish... FOSGATE PR 2100... 200 watts from them in 1979... ADS Powerplate amps came out in late 78. Ending the ADS 2001 run. The ADS 2001 was a BI AMP, 120 watts bass and 40 watts highs. ADS introduced the switching power system to the industry. ADS gets that credit. Dr Gerhard Guenther worked on the switching power system at NASA in the 60's. He was the man who created the very first switching power sources. LINEAR POWER.... another 70's brand...
HISTORY.
Hi, you own a 2001 proto?... is that the speaker system or the amplifier system or both. Proto sounds cool in regards to dates etc. I am curious as to how old the first amp ADS ever made was and the part numbers can reveal that. Cool. BDBD/2022
Back in the early 90's I think it was, I was doing a tenant improvement on a commercial building for the new tenants. The building was a restaurant prior and had patio dining. There where a couple small speakers hanging on the outside wall that had to go so I took them down and kept them. They where slated for the dumpster. They where a couple of A/D/S 2 way speakers. They where rather smallish in size. I think they had 4" woofer and a soft dome tweeter and where incased in an extruded aluminum box that was about 4" by 6" or maybe 8" or there about. Seeing that these speakers where not actually made to be used outside the weather had taken it's toll on the paper woofers and they where completely shot, but surprisingly the treated fabric soft dome tweeters where still perfectly fine. So I harvested the tweeters from the enclosures and tossed the rest in the trash. Those tweeters ended up mounted in the front doors of my 96 Ford Explorer as part of a very large and elaborate sound system that I had installed. That's where they remained for many years and sounded great. I forget why I ended up taking them out but I did and currently they are packed away in one of the many unmarked boxes in my storage unit. I don't know which box they are in but I do know they still work and sound as good as the day I found them. The tweeters are mounted on a rectangular metal plate (baffle) and the tensile leads are glued right to that front baffle and are very delicate and can be easily damaged if they are not handled carefully. One thing that I remember about those tweeters is the coating that they used to treat the fabric dome with. It was some kind of bitumen substance and the fabric was tacky and would collect dust and there was no way to get them clean. But they sound great.
yeah... ADS world class tweeters... STILL today some of the best tweeters available.
Made a video of the ADS 2001 amplifiers I repaired and brought back to LIFE in 2023... Thase things CRANK... Underrated.....