Whatcha think about "pro" amps from Crown, QSC, etc?

[Doodski]

I like the appearance of the Crown stuff.

 

[Chrispy]

They are ugly.

I think many consumer amps with supposedly better looking plates are actually worse in the long run....but if you're paying a significant part for a stupid looking plate, that's just idiotic.

 

[Rednaxela]

Nothing idiotic about wanting something decor friendly and being willing to pay for it.

 

[Rednaxela]

Maybe I misread your point?

 

[Rednaxela]

I must say QSC doesn’t look that bad actually.

 

[Doodski]

I must say QSC doesn’t look that bad actually.

It's nice. As long as the display is dimmable.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Sorry, just a cheap shot However I do associate your posts and activity primarily as being with ATI.....sorry if that's wrong.

It's not just ATI but Theta, BGW, Datasat and OEMs. Still I try not to specifically post about those companies. I'm just a civilian here.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I like the appearance of the Crown stuff.
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I've worked with companies that use probably thousands of Crown amplifiers and they rarely break.

 

[Doodski]

I've worked with companies that use probably thousands of Crown amplifiers and they rarely break.

That's pretty good stuff.

 

[Willem]

The now discontinued 2x350 watt Yamaha P3500s was measured here: https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum...mpli-yamaha-p3500s-mise-a-jour-t30056383.html It measured very well, and the fan never came on in domestic use. I bought the 2x250 watt P2500s for my son, and it has been impeccable.

 

[Sokel]

Ice power edge 1200as2+300a2 that can be used in Pro also as far as I know.
Zero problems,ample power,tested hard and with some "audiophile" speakers without succeeding to clip them.
The last think I ever worry in my rig.

 

[egellings]

They ain't there to look purdy; they're there to play fuh-baw!

 

[anotherhobby]

I have a Crown XLS1500 that I got off ebay in mint condition for only $250 shipped. It powers two passive subs I built for my office with up to ~500 watts to each 4 ohm sub, and I love it for what it does. Especially at used prices, for cheap reliable power, it's very hard to beat many of the pro amps for sub duty.

Outside of subs, I think it'll depend on the rest of your stuff. In my office system the subs are paired with Revel M105's used nearfiled (only 1m distance) that are powered by a dead silent Topping PA5. When I first got the Crown I swapped it in to see how it sounded on the Revels. I can definitely hear some hiss from the tweeter at idle, enough so that it would bug me in this setup, but I think in a more typical living room distance of maybe 10 feet, I probably wouldn't notice it at all.

 

[Lambda]

QSC/crown has some good quality amps with lots of power.
But they have also crapy "budget" products...

Powersoft has also some excellent amps.

But the question is do you need lots of power?

 

[tiramisu]

Pro amps tend to be designed for racks and closets and are designed for inaudible noise. If you are chasing specs or looking for pretty then pro gear probably won't fit your need but Pro Audio is far less interested in nonsense and magical thinking.

 

[Cbdb2]

The title of this thread should be "what do you think of PA amps?" Pro implies studios as well as PA and there different applications. When I think of pro amps I think of Brystons.

 

[Indy]

I guess pro amps defines both but nobody I know would use a Bryston amp to drive their subs or PA tops in any kind of situation.

 

[Prana Ferox]

I have a lead-sled Crown XLS602 as a bass guitar power amp and an XLS1500 I use to drive subs. Both were cheap as chips per watt. No complaints once the gain structure was worked out.

One nice thing about PA amps is Speakon output stock. I really wish this would catch on with home stuff but the cables-sound-better-with-crystals crowd would shriek bloody murder at sub-10$ connectors as hi-fi.

 

[Farenheit]

The now discontinued 2x350 watt Yamaha P3500s was measured here: https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum...mpli-yamaha-p3500s-mise-a-jour-t30056383.html It measured very well, and the fan never came on in domestic use. I bought the 2x250 watt P2500s for my son, and it has been impeccable.

I use a P3500 with JBL3100 (93 db sensitivity) and it's completely silent. I've never heard of fans either.

 

[rdenney]

I used a Crown XLi 800 (their smallest and cheapest) to drive a pair of JBL CBA-50’s at my church. I don’t hear hiss with my ear up to those (fairly efficient, at least at hiss frequencies) speakers, even when I’m alone in the church (when it is as quiet as a…church). I’ve never heard the fan run, but that amp loafs in that application. It’s an AB amp and it is heavy, but not particularly huge for its power rating.

Rick “suspecting few could distinguish it from his Buckeye NC-502MP in a blind test” Denney