New Amp specs

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T

Thomas

DJ Extraordinaire
Apr 14, 2009
900
76
53
Hamilton, IL
www.pulse-audio.com
I was planning on buying 2 crown xti4000 amps this year. The specs and output both look great. But as I have been looking around I have found several amps that have the same or better specs. Including Peavy, Crest Audio, and QSC. I know QSC is the most popular, but also the most expensive for the same class. The Peavy was the cheapest.

I was curious about what everyone else was using.

Not their dream amp, but what they actually use.
 
I have an EV Q1212 in my rack right now, And I should be adding another 2 within the year. All EV amps are designed to give you 30% more head room. So where other Manufactures say you get 1200 watts. That is usually peak. EV's on the other hand give you 1200 watts, but if you need it, it will put out 1560 watts for short amounts of time.

Now I am sorta Biased in my opinion, because EV is the only Amp, I have owned and sorta tested. But I did quite a bit of research before I bit the bullet.
 
For the record, Peavey has been building Crest amps for years. :)

Used to be, Crown was the #1 choice in pro sound amps. There isn't a lot of Crown in many Crown amps these days.

Here lately, the pro sound market has been infiltrated by Radio Shack salesmen. Used to be in pro sound, you got RMS power dissipation specs and response curves. That was all you needed. Still is, in my opinion.

I haven't seen a response curve in a long time. Haven't seen true RMS specs lately neither. The specs are getting muddied with terms like Peak and Program. The idea is to inflate the specs and move merchandise.

Ben of NLFX can give you a solid, professional opinion on most pro sound amp specs. Steve (Thunder) knows his amps, too. I'd take their advice over that of any salesman. :)
 
I'm a QSC user. The best warranty in the business, And the service to back it up. 6 years of warranty speaks volumes to me.
 
I have 2 Crowns that I bought 14 years ago, great amps. But so much has went on with Crown since then that I would have to compare everybody if I was about to buy new. That is really sad since I bought my first Crown amp back in 1967 and has been the only Audio Amps I have bought, other then the EV amps that came in 4 of their speakers I own, they are rock solid too.
 
BGW Amplifiers

I have a combination of Amps. Some no longer being manufactured but still in use. Unisync, Peavey & BGW.
To tell you the truth, if I had to buy an amp today I will be seriously looking at one of these. My BGW and everyone who I know that still has one is still using them. I bought mine in 1978 (32 years ago), it is still in use and have never failed me or been to the shop for repair. Here are the new generation.
BGW Amps: http://www.bgw.com/amplifiers/

I forgot to add MADE IN THE USA. http://www.bgw.com/about/
 
QSC's down here with a little side of Yamaha, Musicson and Behringer.
 
Fred Wright said:
For the record, Peavey has been building Crest amps for years. :)

Used to be, Crown was the #1 choice in pro sound amps. There isn't a lot of Crown in many Crown amps these days.

Here lately, the pro sound market has been infiltrated by Radio Shack salesmen. Used to be in pro sound, you got RMS power dissipation specs and response curves. That was all you needed. Still is, in my opinion.

I haven't seen a response curve in a long time. Haven't seen true RMS specs lately neither. The specs are getting muddied with terms like Peak and Program. The idea is to inflate the specs and move merchandise.

Ben of NLFX can give you a solid, professional opinion on most pro sound amp specs. Steve (Thunder) knows his amps, too. I'd take their advice over that of any salesman. :)
Click to expand...

What do you think of this list of specs?
http://www.bgw.com/amplifiers/X/X5600.asp
 
ahoustondj said:
What do you think of this list of specs?
http://www.bgw.com/amplifiers/X/X5600.asp
Click to expand...
Very nice. That's what I'm talkin' about. :)

Detailed specs like these are needed for planning and building a good sound system. Amps should be properly matched to the speaker systems they'll be driving. The more info you have the better your system will be matched.
 
Fred Wright said:
For the record, Peavey has been building Crest amps for years. :)

Used to be, Crown was the #1 choice in pro sound amps. There isn't a lot of Crown in many Crown amps these days.

Here lately, the pro sound market has been infiltrated by Radio Shack salesmen. Used to be in pro sound, you got RMS power dissipation specs and response curves. That was all you needed. Still is, in my opinion.

I haven't seen a response curve in a long time. Haven't seen true RMS specs lately neither. The specs are getting muddied with terms like Peak and Program. The idea is to inflate the specs and move merchandise.

Ben of NLFX can give you a solid, professional opinion on most pro sound amp specs. Steve (Thunder) knows his amps, too. I'd take their advice over that of any salesman. :)
Click to expand...

Since I have used neither the Crown XTI nor the "new" Peavey IPR light amp, I really can't offer up an opinion on either one (but i am purchasing a couple of the IPRs in the near future and will give a full honest review of them). I am a big fan of the Peavey GPS and CS amp series though, but they ain't light by todays standards!
 
Well.. it's like this... there is seldom a free lunch. USUALLY you get what you pay for. Specs are hard to decipher because they don't tell the whole story. The XTI amps are good amps, but there are definitely better. They are a value if you want the onboard DSP and can live with slightly anemic output as compared to the QSC or EV.

Ben
 
NLFX Pro said:
Well.. it's like this... there is seldom a free lunch. USUALLY you get what you pay for. Specs are hard to decipher because they don't tell the whole story. The XTI amps are good amps, but there are definitely better. They are a value if you want the onboard DSP and can live with slightly anemic output as compared to the QSC or EV.

Ben
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing as well on the "anemic output" I saw it with the QSC PLX amp versus the QSC MX amps and I saw it with the Peavey old CS800 series amps versus the CS800S models! Anytime you drop big caps and iron core transformers out of the system you also drop a large amount of ump as well! It doesn't make any difference who makes the amp, there is a trade off in power when you drop weight, that doesn't mean that a manu can't get a spec that will touch a certain level but the difference comes in the ability to sustain those levels!
 
Thunder said:
I was thinking the same thing as well on the "anemic output" I saw it with the QSC PLX amp versus the QSC MX amps and I saw it with the Peavey old CS800 series amps versus the CS800S models! Anytime you drop big caps and iron core transformers out of the system you also drop a large amount of ump as well! It doesn't make any difference who makes the amp, there is a trade off in power when you drop weight, that doesn't mean that a manu can't get a spec that will touch a certain level but the difference comes in the ability to sustain those levels!
Click to expand...

Yep, especially when you try to do it inexpensively. There are some very good Class H and D amps with SMPS, but nowhere near the price of the XTI.

Ben
 
so basically a xti is a good amp for its price once you have adequate power pushing whatever equipment you have.i have a xti 4000 and have not had any problems with it so far in 3 1/2 years.for the same application i would not use a xti 1000 to drive the same equipment.
 
Fred Wright said:
Very nice. That's what I'm talkin' about. :)

Detailed specs like these are needed for planning and building a good sound system. Amps should be properly matched to the speaker systems they'll be driving. The more info you have the better your system will be matched.
Click to expand...

Does that mean to say you like the BGW? Would you buy one of their products? Have you taken a look at their subs and the prices? :sqbiggrin:
 
Thanks everyone for all the info. That's a lot to digest. I am not necessarily looking for light amps. There's a reason my amp rack has 6" industrial casters on it and my trailer will have a ramp back. And for stairs, Did I meantion I have a rodee?

I want something that's definately going to last. That's my worry with the B-word gear. It's disposable, I just don't want it crashing in the middle of a gig. And if I can only get one amp this year the other next that would be fine too.

There's a lot of stuff I want to buy, so I would rather not waste money on something I will have to replace. That takes away from the expansion budget.
 
So in your opinion what would you recomend for a bare bones power amp. Something that will push some power. Stable at 2 ohms. And doesn't need a dedicated circuit just to run the one amp. Most venues I play at I am lucky to get one dedicated circuit. Most of my lights are LED so the current draw for them is minimal, but I want to be able to run 2 amps.
 
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