Can pro amps possibly sound good? Crown, QSC, etc

Hi Houseofhits, I'm in the process of tri-amping my system with Crown XTi-2's and, odd as it might seem to many (even me), am finding them to be surprisingly good for my audiophile purposes! Of course, I've had to be careful about it. I most definitely could not use the speaker connectors and had to make a hard-wire bypass for them (not too terribly difficult). There just was simply no detail thru the stock connectors. I also already have in place the benefit of around 10 grand's worth of electronic noise reduction (Alan Maher Designs) which goes a long way for system performance in all sonic aspects - amps included. These amps are only fairly flat (don't measure as good as their bigger brothers), yet are proving to me to be excellent all-arounders. But, their main draw for me is that they have a suite of pro tools that include digital time delay, crossover slopes & freq, EQ and gain (replacing a Ton of passive parts, which helps the sound). Thanks to the analog XLR outs, multi-amping requires no additional expenditures, except for wiring...no active crossovers or anything. And if you have a digital source that can also act as a preamp, then you can drive the amps directly (although XLR only). But, I'm enough of a tweak to go ahead and bypass my passive crossovers and hear what my speakers can do, direct drive. This is how I think these amps should be used - not just based on how they perform alone, but on how they can be leveraged toward even better system sound. And besides, I can kiss the whole passive crossover upgrade chase goodbye and that's letting me leverage toward reduced system costs, as well. In my case, my stand speakers (Wavetouch Grand Tetons) are already pretty sensitive at 94dB, so a pair of XTi 1002's are all that's needed for them...after some looking around - $410 each on ebay...brand new! Haven't decided yet on which one for my subs.

I can only think of only 2 possible problems with sonics, and even they are rather slight. The first is timbre - this is not the highest-end 'you-just-want-to-crawl-inside-it, live-there-forever-and-never-leave-to-brave-the-world-again'-level of timbre, but nevertheless it is still very good...good enough for it not be an issue for me. But, I am using all that power conditioning and that may be helping with that part at least somewhat, if only indirectly (that stuff usually helps out more with things like soundstaging, harmonics, bandwidth, color, textures, etc, but not directly so much with timbre).

The other issue is subjective speed. I've owned some relatively inexpensive vintage Luxman gear that seemed slightly slower than these Crowns, but the Crowns seem to do fine on their own. But, for me, the removable horns on the Grand Tetons actually improve system speed, yes, even the sound produced upstream, so for me this no issue at all...and I'm not entirely convinced it otherwise would be for me, really, but I have the horns, so I prefer them.

The XTi-2's are so affordable that you can buy one new, play around with the connectors, if you like, and, if you didn't like it, you could sell it as used for not that much less...(Crazy Moe's usually has them (new) on sale on ebay for about the going rate is used). May even help you assess what a Macrotech might be like, if nothing else. But, I suspect you might find the sound as appealing as I do. Hope this helps.

Regards, John

I have several QSC amps and have a few Macrotech 2400 amps, I often see people list things regarding technical aspects of amplifiers, and making statements of this has such a better response time etc, and basically state that the QSC amps are lighter than the Macrotech amps and can match them for sound quality! that is rubbish! I have been trying to find replacement amps for the Macrotech's for years, I have tried every QSC, Dynacord, etc and have been very dissapointed by all!! the difference is amazing! the quality of the sound from a Macrotech cannot be matched by any QSC amp! however the compromise is the weight! but the QSC is nowhere near the quality sound of a Macrotech!!

bryston pro amps....very similar to the consumer amps! matter of fact, pretty much the same, haha. and you get a better price via a pro audio dealer then a high end one!

Yes, I am one of those who has gone through the journey of finding satisfying sound quality and currently use commercial amplifiers. I started with ordinary Sony speakers and then moved to Jamo, then Quad ESL,  and then to Tannoy 12 inch, then Tannoy 15 inch, and currently on Function One. I am very keen to try the new direct AES/EBU input Genelec. That is on the speaker side. I also started off with Sony amplifier, then to Marantz, then to Quad, and compared some vintage valve amplifiers and then Chinese valve amps, then Musical Fidelity, Sudden, and tried commercial amplifiers like Crown, Nexo, QSC, Powersoft, MC2, Full Fat Audio, Lab G., etc. I found that commercial amplifiers can be retrofitted with slower fans to reduce fan noise in quieter home setups. Most commercial amplifiers do not heat up much at all during domestic use. Especially class D designs. I particularly like the sound of MC2 amplifiers in mid and high. FFA is fantastic for bass. Powersoft is an allrounder and convenient with onboard sound card, as you can then use digital AES signal further reducing noise. Lab Gruppen sounds very involving and has a great sound too. The overall sound is slightly different in QSC and Crown with a slightly bright feel. I know that there are many others that I have not tried in detail. Similarly, I find the sound cards like Lynx, Apogee, UA, XTA, etc, all give far better results than upgrading the CD player etc. There is a lot of b*** s*** being pedalled around in the consumer audio sector. There is some, but at least 85% less b s in the commercial audio sector. That, to me is the biggest benefit of moving to the commercial audio gear for home entertainment.  I do not find the commercial solution more expensive than a Naim "Hi Fi" set up, for example. My current set up is computer >AES cable to > XTA 446 > MC2 e45 and e25 > F88 speakers + 15"subs. I recently went to a cinema and found the cinema sound system so appalling that I had to come out. I have visited several hi fi shops and found the sound they sell for a lot of money to be a joke. Some of the very biggest names in home audio sound silly compared to a a stereo pair of commercial Beyma speakers driven by a  Lab Gruppen or a MC2. Period!!

QSC amps and other pro power amps can sound great, although I only use 'em for pro audio gigs (don't like amp fans running in quiet listening or recording rooms). Certainly "bang for the buck" applies with this stuff (I use a "little" QSC amp here and there that's only 375 watts or something per side and will blast along at 4 ohms all day), and I'm not going to drag my groovy living room stereo tube amp around in a road case (although I've never hesitated to drag tube guitar amps around for several decades, so there's that). Note I was recently reading an audio magazine and saw a pic from the Magico factory with a QSC power amp sitting there…wonder what they were using it for?…hmmm…If you need a ballsy home theater amp or anything less delicate than audiophile amps, you can run pro amps at a fraction of the cost of precious "high end" gear…you lose some audio geek cred but so what?