Power hungry, not rich

[cjgeraci]

I concur. All of my previous comments regarding positive experiences with QSC amps were related to the PLX series, not its brethen one rung down on the ladder. And some think the superior switching mechanism of the PLX series puts it heads and shoulders above the other QSC amps. The QSC RMX are probably decent amps in their own right, but we are talking horns here - not just your average sub.

Also, keep in mind that I purchased my two PLXs "preowned" for all of about $700, plus shipping. If you do not mind a couple of rack marks here and there, you can get these units for a much lower price than a new one. Both QSC PLX 1202s and 1602s pop up on ebay for decent prices, and they are known to be durable. Of course a new QSC for about $500-600 is also not a bad deal, either.....

Carl.

[IB Slammin]

"For a bit more money, the QSC PLX series amplifiers are made in america, and built more robustly. Bottom line is you basically get what you pay for. "

Amen brother Hurd.

Listen to this guy, he's smart! [8-|]

Michael

I will ease into this for fear of ridicule considering other posts about Crown Amps.[] In an attempt to be diplomat,.....and considering the Crown the following.........

In my early power hungry SS days, (I am older than dirt) it was Crown vs Mac in home audio. Crown guys claimed that Mac was dark and colored = distortion. Mac guys claimed that Crown was gutless"cold and harsh". Both thoughts were true IMHO.

I now run the "poor mans Mac". Two Luxman M117's in BTL. Nice warm tube sound with enough power to.....well, to extend a k33 completely out of the groove.

With a nice little tube front........[ip]

Bang for the buck. If you look, maybe $1000-1500 for two.

Terry

[hillbilly]

Thanks Michael,

I read alot about the amps. I saw the pictures. It seems to me like the difference may be between which amp can produce the longest continual output due to the size of the power supply. The QSC supply is twice as big, just guess-timating from the pics. They're both rated 20 to 20 so either somebody's exaggerating or not telling all the details. However, I also read that both amps are built in China. Any thoughts? Do you think reliablility is really that much of an issue for home use? I'm not powering lots of huge subs at once from them, just two towers and not for hours and hours at a time. Most of the reviews dealt with running them for live audio shows which obviously requires very high power for extended lengths of time which is outside of my movie watching and music listening habits. I am looking for good hedroom for 250w speakers and it seems that a 450w rating should be plenty. My point here is not to argue. I'm a novice in this arena, I freely admit. I am simply trying to weigh the cost per watt and actual reliability of these units for my particular application. I would want two maybe run two EP2500's for a dual voice coil sub and two Epic CF-3's. I, like any lover of sound, would like the absolute best quality product but like most of us I cannot justify added expense just for the sake of it.

[Jay L]

don't limit yourself to just qsc or crown pro amps. there is also, crest audio, hafler, mackie, peavey, samson, and more i can't think of. the fan is a non issue imo, you can throw a resistor on it or replace the fan with a quieter one. i am running a crown xls 402 with a resistor to slow down the fan. i run it bridged on a pro subwoofer for many hours at a time. it never even gets close to warm.

[michael hurd]

Hillbilly, I cannot potentially see any reliability problems whatsoever in home use, especially at 8 ohm stereo. At 2 ohm stereo ( or 4 ohm in bridge mode ) the amplifier will work harder and produce more heat.

If price is the determining factor, I could see buying the Behringer EP amps. Is there a pro-audio rental place near you? If there is, you may be able to rent one for a weekend and try it out, provided you have an adapter or make a cable for the input.

For a couple of bucks, you could try out a few brands this way, and also see if the fan is an issue. Some people put a resistor to drop the voltage, like Jay, so that the fan speed is lower. You could also find a quieter fan with the same dimentions and do a swap.

The drop in fan speed is a non-issue for home use, but I would not attempt that for pro / DJ use at all.

[DrWho]

don't limit yourself to just qsc or crown pro

amps. there is also, crest audio, hafler, mackie, peavey, samson,

and more i can't think of. the fan is a non issue imo, you can

throw a resistor on it or replace the fan with a quieter

one. i am running a crown xls 402 with a resistor to slow down

the fan. i run it bridged on a pro subwoofer for many hours at a

time. it never even gets close to warm.

Hey Jay, what value resistor are you using and how do you have it

wired, just in series with each fan? I've got a 402 powering my subs at

home and would love to drop the output a few dB.

I would also throw carver into the list of amps to try and wanted to

point out mackie as another favorite. Does peavey actually make

anything remotely good sounding? I've had only very awful results with

them (with both new and old equipment too).