The Professional (Pro) Amplifier Owner's Thread

[everettT]

On the RAMSA? I've never heard it, even standing directly in front of it.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

No, the behringer.

 

[PENG]

OTOH, you need a good back or someone's help to carry the Monolith 7 which weighs in excess of 90 lbs.

I like the specs of the Monolith amps but not the concept of a powerful 7 channel amp. My issues are:

- As you mentioned, the weight, not practical, could be hazardous, potentially, even for home use.
- Music and movie contents rarely call for the need to have that many channel to be driven to their rated output for any longer than a fraction of a second or couple of seconds. There are no shortages of THX Ultra certified AVRs anyway, that itself sort of back up my claim.
- Even if such contents exist, most 15 A outlets will become the bottleneck anyway.

It just doesn't make sense to the have the extra, unnecessary dead weight sitting to add heat. In my opinion, based on my experience, 3X300 W (much better if the AVR is strong) and 5X200W + a higher mid range AVR is a better choice for most home HT.

 

[slipperybidness]

I get it. Just an amp for the application, if you have a gear closet fan noise isn't a "known issue" . No, the XLS fans I've not ever noticed, even with my ears down near the amps, and I do use those in listening rooms (I've heard many noisier disc players). Fan mods void warranty, so sometimes just better to get an amp for your purposes, too. Just say the fan has noticeable noise. Many pro amps do.

Right! The original Xbox 360 model was like a freaking jet engine spinning up!

The Phat PS3 that I had could play SACD, but the drive was loud enough that I never really truly enjoyed the experience.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I listed these pros and cons on the Crown XLS 1502 amp.

Can you guys think of any other pros and cons on "affordable" pro amps like Crown, QSC, Yamaha vs Audiophile amps?

Pros
- Circuit Breakers and Reset Button, No Fuses to worry about replacing
- Cost effective (Dollar per Watts)
- Significantly less heat production
- Significantly less weight
- High power
- Input Sensitivity Options
- Lighting/Display Options
- Gain/Volume Knobs
- Clip Indicators
- Speakon and Standard Speaker Binding Posts
- Locking XLR and Standard RCA Inputs
- Professional grade, made to endure commercial use
- Sound as great as other audiophile amps

Cons
- Still lacks a standard 12V trigger (has weird 3-pin trigger I can’t figure)
- Still need to improve on aesthetics - don't know why it's so difficult when cheap amps like the Outlaw Mono-block and other Subwoofer amps look more like audiophile amps
- Could make the Rack-Mount optional so people could remove it to make it look more like audiophile amps
- Specs/Measurements (SNR, THD, X-Talk, Slew, Damping) aren't as good as audiophile amps
- Fans that might become defective

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Your "Pros" list wins hands down.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

- Cost effective (Dollar per Watts)
- Sound as great as other audiophile amps
- Significantly less weight

I really like these three.

 

[slipperybidness]

Cons:
*SMPS (requires more engineering and parts count to mitigate switching EFI noise)
*Advanced Output Filtering (Class D only)

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

AcuDefTechGuy,

For Class D amplification, did you consider this instead:
http://www.ati-amp.com/AT52XNC.php

 

[panteragstk]

I listed these pros and cons on the Crown XLS 1502 amp.

Can you guys think of any other pros and cons on "affordable" pro amps like Crown, QSC, Yamaha vs Audiophile amps?

Pros
- Circuit Breakers and Reset Button, No Fuses to worry about replacing
- Cost effective (Dollar per Watts)
- Significantly less heat production
- Significantly less weight
- High power
- Input Sensitivity Options
- Lighting/Display Options
- Gain/Volume Knobs
- Clip Indicators
- Speakon and Standard Speaker Binding Posts
- Locking XLR and Standard RCA Inputs
- Professional grade, made to endure commercial use
- Sound as great as other audiophile amps

Cons
- Still lacks a standard 12V trigger (has weird 3-pin trigger I can’t figure)
- Still need to improve on aesthetics - don't know why it's so difficult when cheap amps like the Outlaw Mono-block and other Subwoofer amps look more like audiophile amps
- Could make the Rack-Mount optional so people could remove it to make it look more like audiophile amps
- Specs/Measurements (SNR, THD, X-Talk, Slew, Damping) aren't as good as audiophile amps
- Fans that might become defective

Your cons list aren't "really" cons considering it's a pro amp and the 3-pin is standard for those (most don't use it).

Specs are for sure a consideration, but remember this crown amp is one of their lower end offerings. They go MUCH higher end in their lineup.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Your cons list aren't "really" cons considering it's a pro amp and the 3-pin is standard for those (most don't use it).

Specs are for sure a consideration, but remember this crown amp is one of their lower end offerings. They go MUCH higher end in their lineup.

That’s why I say “affordable” amps.

If I’m going to spend the same money as audiophile amps, then I might as well buy audiophile amps.

The 3-pin trigger is a small disadvantage for people looking for standard 12V trigger in audiophile amps.

 

[panteragstk]

That’s why I say “affordable” amps.

If I’m going to spend the same money as audiophile amps, then I might as well buy audiophile amps.

The 3-pin trigger is a small disadvantage for people looking for standard 12V trigger in audiophile amps.

In that case it'd be quite interesting to do a spec comparison at a particular price point.

 

[slipperybidness]

From what I've seen it seems to me that the higher end pro amps tend to have built in DSP too.

I can't even think of an audiophile amp with DSP???

 

[MrBoat]

From what I've seen it seems to me that the higher end pro amps tend to have built in DSP too.

I can't even think of an audiophile amp with DSP???

DSP with computer interface is what sold me on the Behringer inuke 3000dsp. The option to fine tune from the MLP on the fly is quite handy once you get used to having it there. I would miss it now, since I basically built this system around a PC.

Fan noise, I would not have thought about if those on the internet had not made such a big issue of it. I forget it soon enough once I quit seeing that complaint. For HT, I could see it perhaps being an issue. For continuous (avg 7hrs/day) music playback, none whatsoever.

When considering pro amps, I first ask myself what exactly it is designed for in it's professional application. If it's for music, which I believe most of them seem to be, then I can overlook things like fan noise.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

AcuDefTechGuy,

For Class D amplification, did you consider this instead:
http://www.ati-amp.com/AT52XNC.php

Not really. I love the aesthetics of my AT2005 and AT3005 with those front big metal handles.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

From what I've seen it seems to me that the higher end pro amps tend to have built in DSP too.

I can't even think of an audiophile amp with DSP???

If anything, I actually consider DSP as a disadvantage.

I think it’s another digital complexity that could cause malfunction. But I could overlook it for the cheap price.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have a Crest amp that's very loud, but it's not a "known Issue", it's simply a commercial amp not meant to be located in a listening room....

Oh, so you keep the amp in the equipment closet?

 

[lovinthehd]

Oh, so you keep the amp in the equipment closet?

Actually that one isn't used currently. It will not be in the area where I listen, though

 

[Verdinut]

I listed these pros and cons on the Crown XLS 1502 amp.

Can you guys think of any other pros and cons on "affordable" pro amps like Crown, QSC, Yamaha vs Audiophile amps?

Pros
- Circuit Breakers and Reset Button, No Fuses to worry about replacing
- Cost effective (Dollar per Watts)
- Significantly less heat production
- Significantly less weight
- High power
- Input Sensitivity Options
- Lighting/Display Options
- Gain/Volume Knobs
- Clip Indicators
- Speakon and Standard Speaker Binding Posts
- Locking XLR and Standard RCA Inputs
- Professional grade, made to endure commercial use
- Sound as great as other audiophile amps

Cons
- Still lacks a standard 12V trigger (has weird 3-pin trigger I can’t figure)
- Still need to improve on aesthetics - don't know why it's so difficult when cheap amps like the Outlaw Mono-block and other Subwoofer amps look more like audiophile amps
- Could make the Rack-Mount optional so people could remove it to make it look more like audiophile amps
- Specs/Measurements (SNR, THD, X-Talk, Slew, Damping) aren't as good as audiophile amps
- Fans that might become defective

Another con against the Crown XLS 1502 is its ugly looks. It definitely looks better in a closet!

 

[lovinthehd]

Another con against the Crown XLS 1502 is its ugly looks. It definitely looks better in a closet!

Better looking than the 1500!

 

[everettT]

Another con against the Crown XLS 1502 is its ugly looks. It definitely looks better in a closet!

I think they look great in a Middle Atlantic rack.

Note not mine and not xls but the point is the same