rf7II rc64II and rs62 II just arrived!!

[TheFactor]

We use pro amps in our testing and most of our listening, even in one of our HT rooms.

As for tubes, take time to look up what they do. They are odd harmonic generators and belong in stage gear not home audio.

But that is just my point of view. PWK put the tubes to rest as soon as a good pro SS amp came to market. For the last 10 years or so that I was around him, I never found a tube amp in his house. Wait; there was one he used to hold the shop door open in the summer.

ouch! that is some endorsement for tubes. i thought i was going to someday get some for these speakers but now i'm not sure.

Maybe what Trey is saying is you have to acquire a taste for them like a fine wine [] I know my 7's love my XPA-3 "non tube amp" : ) i've heard tube amps before and its for sure a different flaver of sound but it grew on me but dont think i'd want a full time one just one for another setup as a conversational peice and a different flaver of sound plus they look cool lol .

[jjennings2510]

Maybe what Trey is saying is you have to acquire a taste for them like a fine wine I know my 7's love my XPA-3 "non tube amp" : ) i've heard tube amps before and its for sure a different flaver of sound but it grew on me but dont think i'd want a full time one just one for another setup as a conversational peice and a different flaver of sound plus they look cool lol .

I gotcha. Well I wanted a tube so that I can enjoy the finer things in life, lol. But for my main home theater I'll probably stick to regular monoblock or professional amps. I know nothing about pro amps so I'll have to research them (i tell ya, you guys throw me a different curve everyday. But I appreciate it. Even though the main setup is really starting to get complicated, lol) but I wanted to experience that tube sound so I figured the mancave might be the best place. Or the bedroom. The cave is mainly used for movies (i'd say 90% movies, 5% gaming, 5% music) and the bedroom is the opposite. 90% music......so I just wanna hear the "detail" that everyone talks about with tubes. I listen to a lot of jazz after work to relax and clear my mind. So i figured that would be the best combo.....but yes tubes do look cool but the ones I'm looking at the Butler tubes they don't have that orange glow to them because they're not passing high voltages through the tubes.....but the retro look is definitely a conversation starter. And actually having to wait on it to warm up is another conversation starter. lol. We need a tube store around here so I can hear one before I waste $3000 on one and end up hating it [:@] But I'm done blabbing. Imma just stick with what I have until after the holidays.

[TheFactor]

Tube amps are cool though and would love to have one some day : )

[CECAA850]

I know nothing about pro amps so I'll have to research them (i tell ya, you guys throw me a different curve everyday.

They're just like anything else. There's good ones and not so good ones. The good ones are VERY good however.

[jjennings2510]

Holy crap so you have to rack mount them? How much power are those pushing? I'm not going to have a dedicated equipment room but I have been looking at the AVRak systems so maybe I will be able to use pro. And I understand the good ones and not so good ones but is there a certain brand? Because I thought price was pretty much the only factor in how good an amp was until Emotiva proved me wrong. So are pro amps the same? A certain company that does it well for cheap? Or am I going to take a big jump in price? Will pro amps require a 20A circuit?

[CECAA850]

Those amps in the pic are 300wpc from 20 to 20k, but I'm only using 7 out of the 8 channels. The QSC's pictured replaced a rack of Crowns that I had previously. They are the sweetest most dynamic amps that you could ask for. I don't know what the average consumption is on those amps but I ran a dedicated 20 circuit just for that rack of equipment to be on the safe side. A 15 amp circuit may have worked fine, I don't know. They're all plugged into a Furman power conditioner (more overkill) which has a TON of reserve capacitance if there's any line sag during transients. I did however put my 2400 watt sub amp on another circuit. I never have any issues with lights dimming, or any other power related issues. I've yet to find a pro amp that when pushed to 10 tenths wasn't a little harsh that was cheap. They all sound great till they're pushed hard then they're true colors come out. Many consumer rated amps exhibit the same behavior. I've run Crown and QSC on my mains and really like the QSC's. You can listen to them at rock concert levels where you can't talk to the person next to you and there's no harshness or ear fatigue. The best price/performance pro amps are the Behringers, but they're best suited for subwoofer duty, not mains. One thing you have to consider also is that pro amps have fans and they're normally noisey. For about $10.00 per amp you can swap the fans out with dead quiet ones so that wasn't an issue for me.

[jjennings2510]

Thanks for the heads up. I know other people in this forum had mentioned pro amps to me as well and that def seems like the way to go. I've been reading and on the AVS forum everyone seems to like QSC and Crown amps. Boy are those amps cheap! I can get 3 QSC 500wpc amps for $1500.....thats HALF of what I was going to pay for 3 Emotiva 500wpc monoblock amps. And everyone saids that pro amps give WAY better dynamics. True the pro amps don't have glossy fronts etc but they actually don't look half bad to me. Don't know if they'll meet the WAF tho, lol. But yeah a lot of people agree with you. They like the QSC better but a lot of people like the Crowns better. I guess I'll just pick one. The QSC is cheaper for the same amount of power as the Crown but idk. The AVS did warn of possible issues you may have including ground loop hum but I see they mentioned Hum elimators that work pretty well but before I get one of those I'll hook everything up to see if there's an issue. Did you have to use one? But on AVS they consider pro amps the industries best kept secret and I see why now. They smaller and cheaper and seem to have better dynamic range than the consumer amps. And as far as fan noise I doubt that'll be an issue for me. Thanks again for the heads up guys!

[CECAA850]

Like I said, there's good sounding AND not so good sounding pro amps. Do your homework. I'm on my second set, but now, I'd put my amp(s) against any other amps at any price for SQ.

[jjennings2510]

Like I said, there's good sounding AND not so good sounding pro amps. Do your homework. I'm on my second set, but now, I'd put my amp(s) against any other amps at any price for SQ.

I will! But right now I'm leaning towards the Crown XTI 4000 amps. You have an opinion on that amp? I'm also thinking of getting a Crown XTI 1000 amp for the bedroom just to see how good it sounds....but they have been getting good reviews. But imma still do some more homework though.

[CECAA850]

I've heard that you can't turn the DSP off on those amps (XTI series) and it creates a little noise when used for critical listening. I've owned the XLS series and they're OK untill you really push them. Save yourself some money and find a QSC used PLX series or new PLX2 series amp. Upgrading or changing amps can get pricey. Here's my original stack if you think I'm just blowing smoke.

[jjennings2510]

Yeah I had heard that too. Some people said you could turn off the DSP and some said you couldn't so I checked the manual online and you can turn it off. But believe it or not the PLX2 series amps I had looked at those too. It was between the Crown XTI series, the QSC GX series, and the QSC PLX2 series. The GX was the cheapest but the XTI and PLX2 both got rave reviews. But I see you've already been down that road with Crown, lol. So I may go ahead and get a QSC amp....or I may get them both. Get the lowest power offerings for each series and hook them up to my 61s once I replace my receiver and see which one I like best. The good thing is those amps are sold at Guitar Center and we have one here so that means no shipping and they're supposed to have a showroom setup so its possible that I may be able to hear them. Unfortunately if I buy them from Guitar Center that means paying full retail.....whereas online those amps are way cheaper. But those amps are pretty small so it looks like I may be able to stash them in the mancave to try them out. Well not small....but slim I meant to say. I was going to wait until after the holidays but its hard. I'm finding great prices on receivers right now too [:S] so we'll see what happens. I'll probably check out Guitar Center after work tomorrow to see if they have these units setup.

[CECAA850]

The PLX and PLX2 amps do not have DSP. On the XTI amps, you can turn the DSP off, but what I've read, the signal still goes through that circuitry even though the amp is not altering it. Your idea to try out a couple of amps is a good one. Don't let the size, weight and lack of depth fool you on the PLX2's, they really bring it. The guitar centers (and the like) around here will match online pricing to make a sale. You still have to pay tax, but it may lower the price for you. It doesn't hurt to ask.

[CECAA850]

I almost forgot, I've got a GX also. They're really pretty nice amps for the money. Sonically, I'd put them between the XLS's and PLX2's. This one's in my garage system with a big Behringer underneath.

[psg]

You really are the pro amp goto guy!

[cybernco]

This has become a very interesting amp discussion. But, let me ask you about your RC-64 center speaker. At three times the cost, how does the sound compare to the RC-62?