In my studio area with the piles of bass and guitar amps and a synth, I use an ancient (relatively) Alesis RA 100 (no fans, just large heatsinks) amp powering a pair of Mackie 10" 2 way C200 P.A. speakers on stands, with a 500 watt HR120 (discontinued, bought it lightly used for about 150 bucks) 92 lb. sub (flat to 19hz). The Alesis has big level control knobs on the front, and I mix things (keyboards, drum machine, recording interface, with the sub through a monitor fader) through a small Mackie mixer. The Alesis is a bullet proof 100 watt workhorse that never fails. You can buy these things for almost nothing…even the later versions with balanced inputs. Note that the QSC I noticed at Magico was the same model as mine…a GX3 that retails for around 300 bucks or less.
Can pro amps possibly sound good? Crown, QSC, etc
I have been looking into pro amps for a to-be-built HT/music room. Recently I came across an old review in The Stereo Times: The Complete Audiophile Magazine, which reviewed 2 discontinued Crown amps, the K2 and the Studio Reference I. The K2 the reviewer thought "not distinguished or especially musically refined", but the Studio Ref he thought an EXCELLENT full-range amp. It does have some amazing specs:
Signal-to-Noise (A-weighted) below rated full bandwidth power: 120 dB.
Damping Factor: >20,000 from 10 Hz to 400Hz.
780WPC into 8 ohms, 1160WPC into 4 ohms.
The review is here.
From what I've found so far, there are possbile downsides to using pro gear in an otherwise consumer setup, but in my case I think these are non-issues:
-fan noise: not an issue for me since I will have an equipment closet. Won't have to do a "fan mod".
-ugly: again, not an issue for me with an equipment closet
-hum: I believe not an issue as long as I use balanced interconnects from the prepro. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
-expects pro-level input levels: I think not an issue if the amp has dip switches or gain controls?
And yet, over on a couple of AVS forum threads, I actually got asked to leave when I started suggesting pro amps. It seems as though some of the audiophiles there (and the same guys might be over here) don't even want to hear about a class of gear which imo just MIGHT sound good. It just isn't worth "polluting" an audiophile thread. Am I missing some other downside to pro amps, other than the above pints? Were these guys attitudes based on something substantive and audibly detectable, or just a form of audio bigotry?
I'm not saying all pro amps are going to be great (for instance I know the Behringer A500 is lousy), but might there be some good stuff too, like QSC DCA, or Crown Macro Reference (other suggestions would be welcome)?
Signal-to-Noise (A-weighted) below rated full bandwidth power: 120 dB.
Damping Factor: >20,000 from 10 Hz to 400Hz.
780WPC into 8 ohms, 1160WPC into 4 ohms.
The review is here.
From what I've found so far, there are possbile downsides to using pro gear in an otherwise consumer setup, but in my case I think these are non-issues:
-fan noise: not an issue for me since I will have an equipment closet. Won't have to do a "fan mod".
-ugly: again, not an issue for me with an equipment closet
-hum: I believe not an issue as long as I use balanced interconnects from the prepro. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
-expects pro-level input levels: I think not an issue if the amp has dip switches or gain controls?
And yet, over on a couple of AVS forum threads, I actually got asked to leave when I started suggesting pro amps. It seems as though some of the audiophiles there (and the same guys might be over here) don't even want to hear about a class of gear which imo just MIGHT sound good. It just isn't worth "polluting" an audiophile thread. Am I missing some other downside to pro amps, other than the above pints? Were these guys attitudes based on something substantive and audibly detectable, or just a form of audio bigotry?
I'm not saying all pro amps are going to be great (for instance I know the Behringer A500 is lousy), but might there be some good stuff too, like QSC DCA, or Crown Macro Reference (other suggestions would be welcome)?
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- 49 posts total
See here for a serious test of the 2x350 watt Yamaha P3500s: http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/amplificateurs-de-puissance-haute-fidelite/mesures-ampli-yamaha-p... I recently bought the 2x250 watt P2500s for my son, and it is as good as any high end amplifier, with more power than most, and far cheaper (I paid 300 euros, or about $350). These both have variable speed fans that will not ever come on at domestic levels. And, of course, they are built like a tank. |
I have had experience with Crown amps of both Class AB and Class I (modified Class D) variety. The Crown pro amps are very nice, but they are built to be able to push a lot of watts and be very durable. The CTS600, which was a Class AB amp, was very good, but it sounded somewhat dry. The CTS200, which was Class I and an evolution of the original Crown K2 amp, sounded good and has good bass strength, but had tube-like overtones in the sonic signature. In both cases, my Channel Island D200 Class D amps and Emotiva monoblocks were significant improvements in sound quality. Pro amps have their place is live audio and abusive environments, but I don't think they will ever take the place of true audiophile amplifiers. |
Count me among those who use both pro and consumer amps. In my office 2 channel rig I have a cheap Crown whatever (A/B topology) driving a pair of LS50's, and couldn't be happier with the sound. In fact, to prove a point at my local hifi shop, I brought that amp in for a shootout between it and the new Anthem STR integrated, which is what, $4000 or so? We both concluded that there MIGHT be a difference, but certainly not one that reconciles the nearly 20x cost difference. In my experience with home theater, the biggest difference between pro and consumer amps is that the latter are a bit trickier to integrate with a consumer setup. The gain staging is different, the connectors are all different, triggering is different, etc. I actually use both consumer and pro amps in my HT rig, with a Halo A31 powering the front three, and another cheap Crown whatever (I bought the two of them from some guy for $300 total) for the surrounds. I run everything XLR from my Anthem processor, but I still have to go around to my rack, which is in an adjacent room, to turn on the Crown. I've been considering getting a triggered outlet to plug it in to. |
- 49 posts total