Ashly NE8250 Review (Pro 8-channel Amp)

[Doodski]

As much as I enjoy Amir’s reviews, and learning about various pieces of kit and people’s opinions in forums such ASR, I really miss the buzz and anticipation I would experience walking into a well stocked hifi store.

I was burned out after 9 years selling home audio gear but I miss it somedays now. In those days it was so busy and a sale was a real sale event with customers lined up 100m outside the door at 6am. Some days I had so much sales business going on and customers lined up waiting for me that I should have had a heart attack and barely found the time to get to the washroom for a break. I miss repairing mechatronics too. Heck I miss assembling the electronic over hydraulic systems for drilling rigs. I miss all of it some days...lol.

 

[respice finem]

You seem to simply be unaware of the professional market of custom installers.

You are right - now I see where the misunderstanding lies. The "pro market" I know are small studios and individual musicians, not "larger scale".
One is never too old to learn...

 

[Rottmannash]

Please allow me to take a different approach that may offer some clarification.

The "market" that amplifier exists in is system based. By that I mean the audio pieces, video pieces, switching and routing, admin and monitoring etc are all integrated together. Qsys is probably the most common in the US QSYS

Amplifiers are only one part of the whole. In use an amplifier like the one tested here is expected to work flawlessly for years (that includes dealing with an occasional blown speaker on one of the channels, wonky power, on and on and on) and be perceptibly noise and distortion free. Its operation will be monitored and administrated at a central place.

SINAD of a distributed sound amplifier is of no consideration to a system installer. That doesnt mean amplifiers can sound bad (they are expected to be competent) and I'm confident in use the amplifier tested here would sound just fine. In a proper installation it will be hiss-free, hum-free, perciptably "clean" sounding and simply do its job year after year in a rack somewhere. Ashley is an upper-middle brand with a long pedigree in installed sound.

AND, yes the previous post that stated system commissioning often begins with the speakers first was correct.

STIPA measurements, that is something important to system installers. SINAD of a modern high quality amplifier? No...

STIPA

Pat

The above post is one of the reasons I frequent ASR so often-I learn interesting things about various aspects of the audio industry I knew nothing about prior. I've always wondered, when sitting in a restaurant, where the music was coming from. I also, at times was impressed by the SQ of some of the systems. Now I kinda know.

 

[SmackDaddies]

It is a PA amp.
They are Phoenix connectors and are common there in pro land and they are deff preferred by some.


Well to be fair, I bet it measures better then quite a few tube amps will and is 8 channels with way more power than typical tube rigs.
I think in a home theater these would be fine. Not what I would buy now but if it was already installed then I'd leave it there.
I have used Crown amps and they sound as good as anything else I have tried, esp if you want power and a warranty for a fairly cheap price.
In any case this is an 8 channel, single chassis PA amp, it is totally fine for that.
But yah ultimately I agree, better wait for the test result before commiting pro amps to audiophile use.

Picture it in a church, school gym, budget dance school, bar, meeting space/convention center.. ECT.

For 8 channel its actually pretty cheap

 

[psemeraro]

It’s not a distributed sound amplifier tough. It’s made to drive 8 ohms or such. I agrre with all you say tough.

By "distributed" I dont mean 70 volt, I mean the amplifier might live in a different building than the speakers its driving and it might be monitored and managed by a team in a different state. Audio signal and management/control all move over cat 5.

8 channels of middling wattage, competent power would be used for anything from balcony speakers or ceiling speakers or hotel pool background music, airports, the surround channels in a movie theater, etc, etc.

I have 8 channels of "distributed" sound in my restaurant that supplements the main L/R PA. Each "zone" is eq'd and time delayed to match the main PA. That is one of the use cases of lower powered multi-channel amps.

Currently I'm using QSC for the "distributed" audio but am testing a Crown CT8150 as a possible replacement to save rack space and reduce heat.
CT8150

Pat

 

[AndreaT]

No it is the same as others. It is typical to see less output at 20 Hz.

Thank you. However, not to be picky, I meant to say 20 KHz @ - 1.5 dB. It seems it was named differently in the graph as a - 0.15 dB@ 20 KHz, Furthermore the drop in frequency response starts at about 5 KHz, a frequency I can still hear perfectly….

 

[Ro808]

I have 8 channels of "distributed" sound in my restaurant that supplements the main L/R PA. Each "zone" is eq'd and time delayed to match the main PA. That is one of the use cases of lower powered multi-channel amps.

Currently I'm using QSC for the "distributed" audio but am testing a Crown CT8150 as a possible replacement to save rack space and reduce heat.
CT8150

Pat

Amir has put the 'home cinema brother' of the CT8150, the Lexicon DD-8, to the test.

Last year I scored a CT8150 that spent its first life in a funeral home, for €150.
Despite the disappointing THD+N at higher frequencies, at least as measured with the DD-8, I am positively surprised by the overall performance of the CT8150 compared to a number of class AB and D amplifiers (older Hypex).

The Crown is used in an active setup providing an easy load: one channel per driver and impedance that never drops below 5 ohms.
The amp is almost dead silent, even with 110 dB compression drivers and - subjectively - I like the CT8150 better than the Hypex based amplifier, especially in the mid/high range. Perhaps a case of euphonic distortion

 

[Schollaudio]

It's a shame this amp tested so badly. I'd love to see an Ashley FTX 2001 series 2 or 3 tested but it weights too much to ship. They are a whole different amp being very well designed and built. They sound very good.

 

[forty5cal1911]

I've got an Ashly Pema Protea 8125 I thought would be great for it's DSP capabilities. Was going to use it for an active 3 way floor standing setup with 4 channels bridged to the midwoofers. This thing will take FIR filters in CSV and FIR format and has all the expected EQ, Phase and TA capabilities.

Should I expect it to be any better than the NE models? Upon further investigation the Pema models seem to be the same amplifier circuitry and SMPs as the NE models with the addition of the DSP boards and more input options.

I’m super disappointed as I thought I scored a couple of gems.

 

[Schollaudio]

It would interesting to see the olde FTX2001 series measured.

 

[Johnplayerson]

Older was always the better world vs the new SMPS and class d designed stuff. Ashly MFA 8000 and of course the Ashly CX 1200 etc. Solid professional amplifiers, with good sound. I just picked up the NE 1600, cheap. I am going to resell it, but I just may give her a quick go on sub duty. Same power as the crown xls 2502 into 8 and 4 ohms. It will be interesting to see if it is worth it at 1/4 the cost of an 2502. Personally I stick to big iron and have no use for this stuff, the only reason I bought it was to make a couple hundred on resale. Also not much to lose, and I am sure I can sell it for what I paid for it in a heart beat.

I find it amusing to hear excuses for this stuff, such as it was made to be ON, and Last forever.... Like really?. Should that not be the goal for most equipment, or is my logic that the world uses planned obsoleteness too much the truth?. About the last thing any SMPS amplifier is good for, is constant power on. What is the goal of high fidelity equipment? to give high fidelity for a few years at the cost of , NOT BEING BUILT TO LAST. ?.

As far as making excuses for amplifiers not to be exactly hi fidelity, one needs to do more reading from Randy Slone, about high power high fidelity amplifiers. There really was not much extra cost to do things right, and he would show people how to build High quality amplifiers with low distortion and high Sn, for next to nothing. About the only thing high cost is executive salaries, and large company buildings.