5.25 or 3.5 head unit / integrated amp

Compassionate Homicide · December 2, 2018

I know from searching a few years back, that there were a couple (very few) car stereo type head units made for a 5.25 bay.

Anybody here old enough to remember these and who made them?

I found the current Scythe SDAR-2100-BK / Kama Bay AMP 2000, and while I dig the analog style VU meters, it's class D...which, meh.

Compassionate Homicide · December 3, 2018

Well, I didn't find many other options in my search. I did however find a couple of amps that should fit in a 3.5 slot though, which is a huge bonus!

Tang Band KIT0058 2 x 5 Watt Amplifier with Bluetooth

Tang Band KIT0059 2 x 10 Watt Amplifier with Bluetooth

Both are made by a good company, just under 4in x 1in and probably class-D. Only problem is they run off 15vdc, so I'd have to build a small step-up/boost circuit in order to run it off my PSU.

Found another, but it's also a DAC. It should be able to make fit a 3.5 bay, it's 1.14in high.

SMSL SA-98E TDA7498E Stereo Amplifier 2 x 160W

This would surely be class-d based on output, and input voltage (about 36vdc). Not sure if I'd feel comfortable wiring 3 12v PSU lines in series to power it though. Not to mention the higher output and heat generated. Granted, that 160w rating is peak, but it would still be a measurable amount of heat dissipated into the case. It's also twice as much.