2. amps-preamps
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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)?
syswei
elevick
2,636 posts
 
Ok, I went home to prove to myself that I wasn't full of it. My PSE is worth about $375, QSC worth about $300.
I did a side by side test. It was like night and day. My dog could tell the difference...Needless to say, the QSC is for sale. Besides raw power, a cooling fan and being a bulletproof sub amp, it sucks for stereo listening or theater.
And, I did the side by side using a Denon multi room receiver and Paradigm in-walls. Imagine how it would do with my AR pre and Sota table?
jagdynamics
28 posts
 
I was at a outdoor party a couple of weekends ago and the DJ had some pro audio gear and I was really impressed on the quality of sound, lots of detail, and at a low volume. I was curious so I decided to look and see what he was using in his setup. The amp what an older version Tascam, a cheap cd player and was using a crate equalizer. I started looking for pro audio gear on the net and there are two pro amps I am considering, QSC RMX and Face Audio. Face Audio is a Class H amp with zero distortion. I might be consiering the face audio, still doing more research. David
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I have three CarverPro ZR1600 amps and five Channel Island D200 amps, and each set of amps has been used in a multichannel system using Maggie MG1.6 speakers. The ZR1600 is juat as good as the D200 (which is a well regarded "audiophile" amp) and delivers more power at half the cost. Gain is easily changed to suit need with a jumper plug, and fan noise is not a problem because the amps are in the cellar. My ZR1600 cost slightly more than $2400 for three. Current price is a bit more. What a deal!
ait
480 posts
 
Maybe it's the really nice front end stuff I have feeding it (Zero One Mercury CD/HD and Supratek Chenin tube preamp), but the Crown sounds fine to me for casual listening. YMMV
syswei OP
14 posts
 
Thanks for all the input, guys. From some of the not-so-glowing commentary about the lower end of the pro gear spectrum, I guess I'll be avoiding the low end, at least for the fronts, and probably the sides and rears as well. So the real question becomes whether higher-end pro amps (since QSC, Crown, Crest, etc. have lines at different price points) might sound comparable to respected audiophile gear. Some background: I am currently thinking of Revel Ultima2 Studio2 and Voice2 for my fronts. These are 6 ohm nominal and rated to 500W continuous but I want to have at least 750-1000W into 6 ohms on hand for short-term peaks. Something like the Bryston 7B-SST or 14B-SST establishes the low end of what I want to have as far as power (600W/8ohm - 900W/4ohm) and at $3000 street per channel may be beyond the very top end of what I might spring for pricewise....I'd rather keep it to $1000-2000/ch. Hence my interest in pro amps.

Elevick - do you know which Crest product line it was that you liked?

Seasoned - It is a reasonable theory, that the need for reliability and (usually) low weight will restrict the choices avaible to a pro amp designer, which could have audible consequences. I guess me feeling is that first, I wouldn't mind having something that, in a home environment, may last me a lifetime. Second, I have a theory that might counteract yours: I think that the audiophile amp designer's budget has bigger pieces allocated to making the exterior look pretty, and to marketing dollars; additionally, the audiophile amp company probably enjoys lesser economies of scale, and so may not be able to get as good pricing on parts as the big pro amp companies. So I'm wondering if, by spending enough money on parts (which should be possible for the higher end pro product lines), the pro amp designer can design a product that is reliable and light, but without significant impact on sound quality. Just conjecture on my part.
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