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[Randy Frierson]

Well this has taken allot more preparation and since we really want to walk away with definitive answers we will do some preliminary testing between now and the 21 and after NYE set a date to finish up as some manufacturers feel as we do that some of the bigger amps will do better being run at 220V (208) than 110. Since we are looking for a absolute winner as best sub amp we want to make sure we have it right..Lang has done his homework and is prepared to get to the bottom of spec's and basically the truth..we will do the typical standards of measurement and as well come up with a new standard to help get to the bottom of the watts per channel vrs max spl at time (and not 33 micro seconds)..stay tuned   Randy

[Ivan Beaver]

Randy Frierson wrote on Thu, 17 December 2009 00:51

..Lang has done his homework and is prepared to get to the bottom of spec's and basically the truth..we will do the typical standards of measurement and as well come up with a new standard to help get to the bottom of the watts per channel vrs max spl at time (and not 33 micro seconds)..stay tuned   Randy

If you start to look at long time intervals and how much power the amps can produce (say for a couple of seconds or so-yes some deep synth lines last that long), the "wattage" rating of a ot of amps is going to look very different thant he spec sheets state.

Just like the power handling of loudspeakers-if you put a long time on them-they start to get a lot smaller.

Getting a "real world" test-and time constant is going to always be up for argument.

So what does "the winner" consist of?  Best sounding bass?  Most output power?  Best price per watt?  Best weight per watt?  Consumes less input power vs output power?

There are different opinions of "best" and "winners".  Different people have different needs.

What is the best car?  Speed- performance-load capacity-occupant capacity-reliability-style-cost-ground clearance?  Again different people have different needs.

Stating that you have found "the best" is going to be very hard.

And unless you have to "top performers" from a good number of manuyfacturers-all you can can is that you have found "the best" within the particular lot of amps you had on hand.  But how do they compare to others that were not present?

Good luck and have fun.

[Guy Johnson]

Good points, but I'm guessing that we will get results and reviews which we can interpret ourselves. Having consumers of amps testing them out is a good idea. I don't see how anyone can test all the amps out there, or even a small fraction... just the ones available and that are interesting.

I would like to know in no particular order...

~ How they sound; I like tight and punchy.
~ Efficiency
~ Power-consumption characteristics: I'd rather have an amp that draws the easiest load from mains supplies.
~ Weight and size.
~ Construction quality.
~ Power, steady-state & burst power/recovery.
~ Fan and PSU noise from the amps, for those very quiet acoustic concerts, especially if they're recorded.

Thanks to all you people involved in these tests. Have fun!

[Randy Frierson]

we will do what we can to provide answers..I should clarify, i'm looking for the best sub amp for my need. I don't care about current draw, but i do want a amp that stays together, sound's good and tight and will be the best at moving some air..

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Make sure you use music that is tight and punchy (i.e., the amp won't put it in if it isn't in the input signals).

[Pascal Pincosy]

Randy Frierson wrote on Thu, 17 December 2009 10:33

we will do what we can to provide answers..I should clarify, i'm looking for the best sub amp for my need. I don't care about current draw, but i do want a amp that stays together, sound's good and tight and will be the best at moving some air..

Knowing Langston, I'm sure we'll get a solid and thorough report

[Randy Frierson]

we were hoping that the best amps would take sloppy and make tight  The PL 380 is a great amp, can we expect to see a QSC PL 400 or bigger?

[Mike Pyle]

Randy Frierson wrote on Thu, 17 December 2009 21:35

we were hoping that the best amps would take sloppy and make tight  The PL 380 is a great amp, can we expect to see a QSC PL 400 or bigger?

My wish is for a PL360.

[Randy Frierson]

yea a 360 would be nice  1200 at 8
and a Pl 400  say about 2000 at 8

that would be all you need...

Randy

[dustin Bradley]

+1 on the larger pl amps!!

also, if you test the 220v, could you give results with 110v?  i'm sure there would be some difference in performance.

[ProSoundWeb Community]