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Author Topic: Preferred brand of power amp  (Read 18554 times)

Luke Geis

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2016, 08:54:39 PM »

With the antiquity of your main speakers, the amp choice will be the least of your concern. The amps these days are all so good that the tiny differences between them are moot when you consider what they are powering. A speaker that is a turd pile will still be a turd pile even with the best amp in the world. The amp is one area that you can sort of skimp on to allow budget to purchase something that will have more of an outcome in the sound; the speakers.

You will never hear anyone ever blame the amp for a crappy sound. Perhaps for not having enough power, but that is a user error. I have used Powersoft amps ( not mine ) and while they were older models, they did perform well, but would also overheat with a little dust inhalation..... The power density was perhaps a little ahead of it's time? I can't say that they sounded any better than the QSC RMX2450 that was sitting right next to them.

I think more now it is a matter of what kind of client you are catering to? If you have high end clients that pay big money and want the best stuff, you get Lab Gruppen even if it's for silly background music fill. If your catering to the local bands and community festivals, you get QSC, Crown, Yamaha, Carvin, Peavey, Behringer, Crest and dare I say Pyle amps to get through and actually make a profit. With the exception of the Pyle option, you really can't go wrong with any of the mid tier amps that any of them offer. The Crown XTI series is probably the best value, but I still think the QSC PLX line is the better amp, it is also more expensive though and doesn't have DSP. I own the Crown XTI line for my monitor rig and subs.
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2016, 09:19:50 PM »

With the antiquity of your main speakers, the amp choice will be the least of your concern. The amps these days are all so good that the tiny differences between them are moot when you consider what they are powering. A speaker that is a turd pile will still be a turd pile even with the best amp in the world. The amp is one area that you can sort of skimp on to allow budget to purchase something that will have more of an outcome in the sound; the speakers.

You will never hear anyone ever blame the amp for a crappy sound. Perhaps for not having enough power, but that is a user error. I have used Powersoft amps ( not mine ) and while they were older models, they did perform well, but would also overheat with a little dust inhalation..... The power density was perhaps a little ahead of it's time? I can't say that they sounded any better than the QSC RMX2450 that was sitting right next to them.

I think more now it is a matter of what kind of client you are catering to? If you have high end clients that pay big money and want the best stuff, you get Lab Gruppen even if it's for silly background music fill. If your catering to the local bands and community festivals, you get QSC, Crown, Yamaha, Carvin, Peavey, Behringer, Crest and dare I say Pyle amps to get through and actually make a profit. With the exception of the Pyle option, you really can't go wrong with any of the mid tier amps that any of them offer. The Crown XTI series is probably the best value, but I still think the QSC PLX line is the better amp, it is also more expensive though and doesn't have DSP. I own the Crown XTI line for my monitor rig and subs.

Herein squatteth the Toad of Truth.  Not to get gear-snobby on your rig, Adam, it's just older and the speakers are the weakest link in your chain by contemporary standards.

I guess really what I was trying to get was what everyone else was using and why.  My rig is currently portable. It has 4 JBL SR4731X tops and 6 JBL SP128 subs.  I'm looking to biamp the tops.  The horns need 150 to 300 watts at 16 ohms.  Everything else will need at least 2000 watts at 4 ohms.  I'm trying to decide on feature sets, control, sound quality, noise floor, connection options, weight, and any other information that current users of these amps could mention and what they like and don't like about them.

I don't doubt that bi amping the 4731X will help and there's a good chance you can get tuning presets for XTi from JBL if you talk to the right folks there.

We've got about 30 pieces of Xti 4000 and XTi6002, combined.  We use them in our KF850 rigs as raw power, and use internal processing for bi-amped monitor rigs.  They've been versatile and the 002 series is a step up (yes, you can use them on subs).

From a business perspective putting new amps behind the 4731 to bi-amp them is kind of a lateral move that buys you a relatively small amount of time if you're in a competitive market.  In picking your new amps I think you should be looking ahead to your next speaker system - which may be powered speakers.

How do you use your rig, DJ?  Live bands?  Wedding receptions?
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Mac Kerr

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #12 on: January 13, 2016, 12:05:15 AM »

Haven't thought of them in years.  Did I take a nap and miss something again?

No, I just couldn't resist.

Mac
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Tim Padrick

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Jim McKeveny

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #14 on: January 13, 2016, 07:14:07 AM »

Cyberlogic.

From life's "Seemed like a good idea a the time" file.
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Adam Dumbacher

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #15 on: January 13, 2016, 12:52:40 PM »

I know my boxes are not the latest and greatest but in my opinion, they sound a lot better than the VRX boxes used by the other companies in town.  Right now, I don't have a complete amp system so I was trying to decide what I wanted to get as I invest in more amps.  I have considered the boxes I will purchase in the future and have made that a part of the decision when I choose what amps to buy.
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William Schnake

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #16 on: January 13, 2016, 04:36:58 PM »

Right now, I don't have a complete amp system so I was trying to decide what I wanted to get as I invest in more amps.  I have considered the boxes I will purchase in the future and have made that a part of the decision when I choose what amps to buy.
Adam, you are where we were with amp purchases two years ago.  We needed more for our KF850/SB1000 rig, but we wanted to be sure that whatever we bought would work for the new line-array system.  So I went through the process of making a clear decision on where we were going speaker wise and then backed into the amps.  That is how we decided on the MacroTech I series.  The way we are currently set-up, our racks will work for either of our main systems and all we have to do is change the processor patch.  We don't have to re-wire anything we just change the patch on the processor.

As I said earlier, we are a Crown shop and I love me some Crown amps.  And as other people have said they like amps other than Crown.  However, if you are think about not only how this purchase fits with your current system but also how it will be utilized down the road, you are definitely on the right track.  It is always better to purchase once not twice.

Good Luck with your decision.

Bill
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Doug Fowler

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #17 on: January 13, 2016, 05:28:21 PM »

Cyberlogic.

Yikes.....

Power one up watch see flames fly out the front vent.

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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #18 on: January 13, 2016, 05:53:24 PM »

I know my boxes are not the latest and greatest but in my opinion, they sound a lot better than the VRX boxes used by the other companies in town.  Right now, I don't have a complete amp system so I was trying to decide what I wanted to get as I invest in more amps.  I have considered the boxes I will purchase in the future and have made that a part of the decision when I choose what amps to buy.

I wasn't gear-snobbing you, Adam, I thought I pointed that out.  You're ready for an upgrade, but how much, how soon is determined by the competition and your clients sensitivity to "shiny! New!"

I don't doubt that your 4731s sound better than most VRX deployments and if your clients are happy enough with 4731 and the service you provide with them, the only reason to spend money on amplifiers is because you want to.  Hey, it's your rig and money; spend it however you think will best benefit your company.

Properly done your bi-amped tops will sound better and that improvement will help you hold onto the clients you have now but sooner or later someone with 2x your money and 0.5x your talent will come along and steal the clients that are attracted to Shiny!  New!! or to whom they will offer a discount as an attraction.  This is the wonderful moment in hindsight (always 20/20, you know) when you go "damn, I should have updated my rig 6 months ago!"  Been there, done that, Adam.  I'm not pointing fingers but pointing out how stuff seems to happen.

While your competitors are not making improvements is the time to make yours.  :)
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Mac Kerr

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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2016, 06:59:58 PM »

Yikes.....

Power one up watch see flames fly out the front vent.

Or just try to lift one.

Mac
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Re: Preferred brand of power amp
« Reply #19 on: January 13, 2016, 06:59:58 PM »


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