Can't find many 2-Ch amps, google taking the day off?

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The ATI AT1802 will most likely produce 200WPC x 2, even though it is conservatively rated for 180WPC.

But if you don't mind the aesthetic, I think those Crown amps are just fine too.

 

[Verdinut]

AcuDefTechGuy suggested the Crown amps, but I think the QSC amps are better than Crown Amps.

Have a look at their specs which are amazing. They deserve a place in a good high fidelity studio. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine who performs as a musician with live audio systems, has tried several brands of Pro Power amps but the only brand of amp which he coudn't kill is the QSC!

 

[Verdinut]

what I saw in the originators post was a budget of $1k. Maybe I just don't shop in the right places, but I don't see any high powered McIntosh's or tubers under $1k that are in working condition.

lovinthehd
I am interested in this two channel amp discussion. The link to the Crown amps is intriguing because it would seem those amps cater to a working DJ and not a home audio setup. Having read enough posts about "clean power is clean power is clean power", I am interested to know if that applies here too.

I have a list of 2 channel amps I am watching because someday I hope to upgrade my amplification. Would a 2 channel Crown be at home in a simple 2 channel setup? I really caught the Emotiva bug and have that at the top of my small but growing wish list. The list put together by the creator of this thread seems like a pretty excellent set of choices. I could accept a Christmas gift of any of them. In 2017, the gift is probably the only way I will see a new amplifier. But, its still early.

 

[Verdinut]

Greetings!
First, I wish to thank you for mentioning that you found my post on the best materials for building speaker enclosures informative.
As for power amps, I would suggest if it's not too late, that you have a serious look at the QSC brand of power amps, which have better specs than Crown amps. They are definitely good enough to make part of a serious hi-fi studio. Moreover, they are built like tanks. Have a look at the RMX series. One of my friends who performs as a part-time musician with live sound systems, used several brands of amps but the only amps that he couldn't kill were the QSC's.
As for myself, I intend to purchase three QSC RMX850a Power Amps for bi-amping my 3 front channels in my cinema system. I will use the Marantz SR5010 mostly as a preamp-processor.

 

[lovinthehd]

AcuDefTechGuy suggested the Crown amps, but I think the QSC amps are better than Crown Amps and cheaper too.
Have a look at their specs which are amazing. They deserve a place in a good high fidelity studio. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine who performs as a musician with live audio systems, has tried several brands of Pro Power amps but the only brand of amp which he coudn't kill is the QSC!

FWIW I suggested the Crown in post # 2 of this thread. Others have mentioned them as well, they're fairly popular. I have four XLS 1500s, they're just nice little versatile amps.

I did consider QSC originally as well, but at the time for an equivalently featured unit I remember them costing more and the fan noise may have been a consideration, I don't remember. I was just looking at the GX3, price wise it compares to the 1002 currently but isn't the same feature set, power wise compares to the 1502 (not as much dsp I think on the GX series, though, but that's mainly crossover oriented on the XLS in any case). If as quiet a fan as the XLS I'd certainly give one a shot.

One nice thing about these pro amps that are meant to travel, they sould last even longer when you just leave 'em on a shelf....

 

[Verdinut]

I intend to purchase three QSC RMX850a power amps for bi-amping my 3 front main channels.
I know that these amps have a variable speed cooling fan. I just hope that, since I won't be driving such amps very hard, at the slow speed, I will not practically notice them. I know that someone once replaced the fan on one such apparatus with a more quiet one. If I had to proceed the same way, I think I would wait until the warranty expiry date to do so. It is also a question of the listening distance from the amps, as you know.

My apartment room is only dimentioned at 12.5 by 18 feet and the maximum SPL I listen music at is about 85 dB.

It's fun to be able to exchange opinions and passions.
Cheers,

 

[lovinthehd]

I intend to purchase three QSC RMX850a power amps for bi-amping my 3 front main channels.
I know that these amps have a variable speed cooling fan. I just hope that, since I won't be driving such amps very hard, at the slow speed, I will not practically notice them. I know that someone once replaced the fan on one such apparatus with a more quiet one. If I had to proceed the same way, I think I would wait until the warranty expiry date to do so. It is also a question of the listening distance from the amps, as you know.

My apartment room is only dimentioned at 12.5 by 18 feet and the maximum SPL I listen music at is about 85 dB.

It's fun to be able to exchange opinions and passions.
Cheers,

What speakers do you have?

 

[Verdinut]

What speakers do you have?

For the front speakers, I have replaced the Altec A7 components (416-8A Woofers & 511B Horns) with 3-Way systems each consisting of: 2 Peerless 830991 (5¼ inch mid-range), 1 Airborne RT-4001 Air Motion Ribbon tweeter and 1 Dayton RSS390HF-4 subwoofer. Those transducers operate in 7.5 cf ducted reflex cabinets tuned at 16 Hz. With that configuration, according to BassBox calculations, I should obtain an F3 at 20 Hz. This is very interesting because I love to listen to classical pipe organ music. As you probably know already, a 32 foot pipe has a fundamental resonance of 16 Hz. Unfortunately, there are not many discs with such low frequency content.
I designed the passive xover for the division of mid-high frequencies, using a 3rd order Butterworth filter on the tweeter and a 2nd order Linkwitz-Riley on the mid-frequency speakers.
At present, I am bi-amping the front left and right channels with four of the power amps on a Marantz SR5010. This receiver does not have separate main power amp inputs as my previous NAD T763 had. Since I have to use a separate power amp if I want to bi-amp the center channel speakers, I am temporarily using a Sony 3200F power amp, but I intend to purchase 3 QSC RMX850a amps to bi-amp the three front channels. I figure that this arrangement will put less strain on the Marantz receiver. Also of note is the fact that the above mentioned speakers have a 4 ohm impedance and I don't like the idea of reducing amplifier damping factors by using series inductors on the subs. I believe that I will possibly have a more opened sound with the separate stereo amps and betwwen 5 and 6 dB more headroom on each speaker cabinet and maybe less distortion.
I have answered your question. Now, what speakers do you have?

 

[lovinthehd]

I have many speakers I was curious what you had when you said you were going to bi-amp...I'm a bit confused as the A7s don't seem to have anything to do with the drivers you mention with passive crossovers or did you somehow repurpose the cabinet with new drivers? Curious why you went with passive instead of active crossovers?

 

[Verdinut]

I sold all the Altec components which I had and used them with N801 passive crossovers if I remember well, but I am still using the same cabinets which I had to modify for the installation of the new transducers.
First, I built a box to enclose the tweeter and the mid-range drivers to fit into the hole which was used for the horn, and built the passive crossover to split the mid-range and the high frequencies.
I removed the horns at first and I had to go with active bi-amplification of the 3 channels with the new high frequency drivers since the Altec woofers were more efficient.

 

[Verdinut]

FWIW I suggested the Crown in post # 2 of this thread. Others have mentioned them as well, they're fairly popular. I have four XLS 1500s, they're just nice little versatile amps.

I did consider QSC originally as well, but at the time for an equivalently featured unit I remember them costing more and the fan noise may have been a consideration, I don't remember. I was just looking at the GX3, price wise it compares to the 1002 currently but isn't the same feature set, power wise compares to the 1502 (not as much dsp I think on the GX series, though, but that's mainly crossover oriented on the XLS in any case). If as quiet a fan as the XLS I'd certainly give one a shot.

One nice thing about these pro amps that are meant to travel, they sould last even longer when you just leave 'em on a shelf....

Hi,
I've just compared the prices between the Crown amps and the QSC's. You are right in saying that for relatively comparable power ratings and features, a QSC amp costs more but in the case of a two rack space unit, it is a Class AB amp and, of course it needs a more powerful power transformer and supply than the Class D Crown unit. In addition, it is built like a tank and will outlast a Crown amp. For around 30-35% more, you get what you pay for.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hi,
I've just compared the prices between the Crown amps and the QSC's. You are right in saying that for relatively comparable power ratings and features, a QSC amp costs more but it is a Class AB amp and, of course it needs a more powerful power transformer and supply. In addition, it is built like a tank and will outlast a Crown amp. For around 30-35% more, you get what you pay for.

A friend of mine knows one of the guys who started QSC, next time I need an amp he's undoubtedly getting a call . The XLS and GX series aren't the best either company makes, either. I like the idea of class d for the lighter weight and higher efficiency, too.

 

[Verdinut]

FWIW I suggested the Crown in post # 2 of this thread. Others have mentioned them as well, they're fairly popular. I have four XLS 1500s, they're just nice little versatile amps.

I did consider QSC originally as well, but at the time for an equivalently featured unit I remember them costing more and the fan noise may have been a consideration, I don't remember. I was just looking at the GX3, price wise it compares to the 1002 currently but isn't the same feature set, power wise compares to the 1502 (not as much dsp I think on the GX series, though, but that's mainly crossover oriented on the XLS in any case). If as quiet a fan as the XLS I'd certainly give one a shot.

One nice thing about these pro amps that are meant to travel, they sould last even longer when you just leave 'em on a shelf....

The QSC amp I was referring to is of the two rack space RMX series (AB Class) but they also produce some Class B and Class H power amps.

 

[lovinthehd]

I sold all the Altec components which I had and used N801 passive crossovers if I remember well, but I am still using the same cabinets which I had to modify for the installation of the new transducers.
First, I built a box to enclose the tweeter and the mid-range drivers to fit into the hole which was used for the horn, and built the passive crossover to split the mid-range and the high frequencies.
I removed the horns at first and I had to go with active bi-amplification of the 3 channels with the new high frequency drivers since the Altec woofers were more efficient.

It sounds like passive bi-amplification since you have passive crossovers....so if you did do active bi-amping what did you use for active crossovers?

 

[Verdinut]

It sounds like passive bi-amplification since you have passive crossovers....so if you did do active bi-amping what did you use for active crossovers?

I have been using the DBX 223XS Crossovers which work pretty well and are reasonably priced. As a matter of fact, an active crossover circuit is very simple but definitely more precise than any sophisticated passive crossover.
At present, I am using the Marantz SR5010 inboard active crossovers for the left and right front cabinets. I use one channel of a DBX 223XS with the Sony 3200F for the center channel for the time being. I will resume utilization of the other DBX xover for the left and right channels when I get the QSC amps.
Cheers!

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks. Pretty unusual setup you have there....

 

[vsound5150]

I just bought a Crown XLS1502 from Amazon. $335 shipped. Can't beat that. 300 watts @ 8 ohms

Did you get your Crown yet? I also purchased one and set it up last night. I ran into a snag that is not mentioned in the manual. I was trying to plug-in my speakers which have banana plugs but the amp has tiny plugs blocking the ports. I found a YouTube video where a guy uses a course screw (drywall) to remove those plugs.

At first I was trying to unscrew the red and black speaker terminals trying to figure it out, btw those don't come off. Worst, I tried plugging the banana plugs where the speaker wires go, it fits but it goes in vertically and the banana plugs rub against the amp case and it really didn't seem right, then I found the helpful video.

I changed the default Input Sensitivity setting from Normal (1.4V) to High (0.775V) to help boost the weak signal from my turntable. All is good just waiting for the weekend so I can crank it up and break it in hoping the neighbors won't complain maybe I'll play some church music for them.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes, many amps come with those plugs due to similarity to certain european electrical plugs (they don't want you plugging things in nilly willy ). I use a seal pick tool set to remove 'em. However, I don't usually use bananas on the Crowns but rather speakon connectors.

 

[vsound5150]

Yes, many amps come with those plugs due to similarity to certain european electrical plugs (they don't want you plugging things in nilly willy ). I use a seal pick tool set to remove 'em. However, I don't usually use bananas on the Crowns but rather speakon connectors.

I did see it mentioned in the manual about the European models. It actually puzzled me, my first thought was what the hell is a European model doing in my hands, I'm in North America if you want to put something different put a Japanese model.

I have to remember the pick tool next time. I have several of those I use to remove o-ring seals when working on my cars.

 

[lovinthehd]

Things aren't always made for North America alone....it's a global marketplace for these guys.