I recently had the pleasure of hosting a demo QSC PL380. This amp is basically QSC's answer to IT8K & FP6400. Although it seems like a long time coming, it looks like they have come up with a really attractive package. I did not have the time or the facilities to bench test it, so this is only a subjective review from a mostly Crown user.
The first thing I noticed about it is that all the ins, outs and controls are laid out and labeled in a very CLEAR and LOGICAL fashion, which is not something I can say for all amps. ALL controls on the rear panel have associated LED's to indicate the switch settings, with parallel and bridge mode even duplicated on the front panel. No more crawling in w/ the maglite and squinting into a dusty hole... +1 for functional design.
It's Class D and rated 2500wpc @ 4 and 4000wpc* @ 2 (1kHz, 1%thd) ...which is kinda weird, but if I've learned one thing here, its that numbers on paper are not the last word on performance. I had it for one day, and I had the perfect job for it - standing in for a *pair* of MA5K's on subwoofer duty at a sold-out show with 32 inputs of electronics, guitars and vox, and a lot of hysterical fans. We would find out what this amp can do.
I was a little nervous and on some level didn't really believe it would be up to the task (maybe it was that little star by the output rating). I was ready to jump back to the 5K's at the first sign of trouble.
The PL380 comes equipped with a NEMA L-5-30. In this case, the L5 jacked right in to the local RacPac (so the amp was getting its 30 amp hole - which it seems would be crucial for 2 ohm operation). Add to this the amps NL4/banana output option, and the swap out was a snap. I have heard talk that the goal is to have powercon but that it just hasn't happened yet...
Adjustable input sensitivity (26db, 32db and 1.2v) helped me to match it exactly to the amps that were already there, @ 26db. It also has XLR thrus for daisy chaining AND two euro-block connectors paralleled as well. The inputs are further paralleled to the 'HD15' 15-pin data connector which can then achieve amp control/monitoring as well as analog audio signal routing. Lot of options here.
Amp was run in stereo, 2 ohms/ch, and I left the clip limiters on just to see if we could make them work. I defeated the onboard hpf (it has 30hz and 50hz settings). The system dsp limiter was set @ +16 20:1, hpf was 34.1 24db/oct LW.
As soon the first signal passed it was obvious something was up. Even at low levels there was a certain distinct character to the bass. My very first impression was that it seemed to have a bit of an attitude... just slightly aggressive, like it couldn't wait to be turned up. Beyond that, I won't try with the slippery descriptors, but after 3 or 4 tracks at high levels, some Sade, Me'shell Ndegeocello and Kraftwerk, I had a big smile on my face and was remembering clearly all the particular descriptions of labsters raving about the sound of IT8K when it came out.
The show was fantastic. I told the tour guy early in the day that he could let it rip, he was very cool and said he didn't want to hurt anything. I assured him it would be ok and he did end up hitting it pretty hard, up to around 105c @ foh - 75'. As the show went on I kept checking on the amp to see how hard it was working... I just could not believe what I was hearing compared to what I was looking at. It just sat there, obediently flashing its lights, with a small, efficient fan pushing a small amount of warm air out the front. I never did see it clip or limit despite the heavy, bass-intensive program.
When one considers they are made in Costa Mesa, California & aren't owned by BLOB INC., the extensive control, monitoring and dsp *options*, a stellar customer support history, the Class H 340 and 325, 3+3 year warranty AND Bob Lee... Not to mention the fact that they street for around $1K less than FP6400 and $1700 less than IT8K... well it's just about enough to get a left-coast sound geek with a pile of old Macrotechs kind of excited.
In fact, the only thing I didn't like about it was the little blue power led on the front... Lets just say blue wouldn't have been my first choice...
The unit I had did have one minor cosmetic issue, a visibly rough edge on the badge on the front panel. In fact, the same defect is visible on the front of the 340 pictured in the PL3 glossy brochure, pretty good sense of humor down there in SoCal I guess. I would generally be unconcerned about this as a buyer, but as it is the flagship model, some customers MAY expect cosmetic perfection AND amazing value>performance.
In any case it was very minor and I'm sure its being addressed.
To sum,
You know that feeling you get when you are using or learning a piece of well thought out gear, suddenly it all makes sense, and you get the fleeting idea that the engineering staff responsible for creating it is somehow winking at you, right thought the piece of equipment?
Well anyway, it's a good feeling. Kudos to a bunch of folks who seem to have earned it.
-kk
edit: L530 note, sensitivity options 'helped', 'heavy', cosmetic clarification, sp
