This seems to have gone off topic.... my respone to the original post.
Alexander B Larsson wrote on Tue, 05 February 2008 10:11 |
I am still searching for that "big amp" for the bass boxes, but the more I read, the more contradictory the information seems... I currently run a number of older "conventional PSU" Labgruppen amps, but having one bridged amp per driver is HEAVY! (Finding amps for listening tests is somewhat hard in Sweden, as many of the MI shops carry only entry level stuff, like Phonic, Alesis etc.)
Normally one can find some general trends in opininons/reviews of stuff, but amps seem different? Strange, since they should actually have the smallest impact on overall fidelity of the rig, from a distorsion point of view.
Some praise the QSC RMX 4050 and 5050 for subs, while some claim their upgrade from RMX to some "switched" Crown, Lab or similar made a world of difference. Listening test (shootout) says the differences are small, but that test only included few speakers, etc...
Considering our ear's limited sensitivity to detect distorsion in the bass range, what IS it that we hear?
A guy I talked to described the lightweight Lab amps as "punchy" in the bass, but are we talking about that amp adding something that was not originally there? Or are many other amps missing the "punch", whatever that would be?
Power is clearly important, but amps that run below their clipping point should not colour sound at all, at least not detectable...
/Alexander
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You have a NUMBER of CONVENTIONAL PS LABS??? And you are winging?? If they are too heavy SUCK IT UP
. You only have to lift them twice per gig is my take on it.
For my money, the reason labs and camco's get great raps is because they can do with switchmode what others can barely do with iron.
The reason that 'old' or heavy amps sound better for subs is because (very basically) there is more power in the reserve at any given time for the speaker to draw on for peaks etc. Sure all drivers draw on supplies extra for peaks, but subs REALLY draw for peaks so there needs to be more in the power reserve. (sorry if this was patronising, i didnt know if this is what you were asking.)
And yes sound differences are small. I have run rigs on all toroidal amps and rigs on all switchmode. It really doesnt matter until you get into the big games, but in my view anyone can buy gear, it is the small things that make the rig. Go to the gym more.