high current, excellent build quality

not made anymore

The Great American Sound Co.' Son of Ampzilla was a very popular amplifier because it was reasonbly priced and had very high current, and rise time with very low distortion. It was capable of driving very difficult loads like the Quad electrostatics. The Son offers a taste of what made the Ampzilla IIa a fantastic amplifier. The last company that Jim Bongiorno, the founder-designer of G.A.S., was involved with..Sumo Corp., can supply anyone with a parts identifying list as well as upgrades. The ultimate fixers out there may well be "Gasworks".

Meters tend to get get "sticky" and break. No power switch.

When I first moved to California in 1976, I went to a going out of business auction in Chatsworth for Great American Sound. I did not know much about the company at the time, but fell in love with the equipment. I also could not afford anything that day. Later I bought every bit of GAS equipment I could find. I now have an Ampzilla II [in need of restoration],a Grandson, and 2 Son of Ampzillas. One of the Sons is totally stock and to my knowledge has been working well for over 25 years. The other I just had rebuilt by the orginal designer James Bongiorno. James replaces all the capacitors, resistors, transistors and add a servo board along with all new connectors and lots of wiring, then burns it in. Best $300.00 I have ever spent. The modified amp is awesome. You can reach James at sstinc@earthlink.net

Similar Products Used:

GAS Ampzilla II, GAS Grandson, NAD C350

This was a great amplifier, 80 watts per channel. The company , which was in Chatsworth, CA is long since defunct. I threw one of these away last year when a local shop told me it couldn't be repaired because they couldn't get parts!


Only later did I discover that there is a company that specializes in the repair and reconditioning of these old great amps. The web page for anyone who might need to know is: http://www.gasaudio.com/index.html

I have not done business with them, nor am I affiliated with them.

Great sound! Will run 2 - 16 ohm loads all day. Quality hand made in USA.

none

I've owned my "Son" amp for many years. Better/cleaner sound than its big brother: Ampzilla. Clean and honest 80w per channel. I've been using this amp with a GAS Thaedra II preamp. A great pair! Both work great.
(If anyone here is interested, I'm going to sell both, along with my perfect-working Nikko Gamma 5 FM Tuner. So let me know if you're interested.) pete333@hotmail.com

Similar Products Used:

many

great sound, reliability

thump on shutdown, VU meters stopped working

Son of ampzilla ran fine for approx. 22 years,until one
side started intermittantly crackling&popping.
Contemplating sending to James Bongiorno for repair.
(www.wardsweb.org/james_bongiorno.html)
For around $400.00 he offers an upgrade&refurb.

Similar Products Used:

hafler,adcom,bryston

Great sound, Lets my speakers really sing.

Thump on powerup.

I used to only use a Reciever with the amp built in, a cheap turntable and my cd player and other such equipment.

A good friend came by to listen to some music and basically said "Your system sucks" (but not in so many words) He sold me a Son of ampzilla, a Technics SL-1700MK2 turntable and a dynaco pre-amp for 200 dollars. Needless to say, when i connected everything and put on a record of the William Tell Overture,I almost cried. I have moderatley inexpensive speakers and i THOUGHT they sounded good with my reciever, BUT now I have seen the light :)

Similar Products Used:

N/A