New Old Lead Sled Day thursday!

Bassmec · #1 08-22-2011, 04:44 AM

Well I am a little bit faffed off with switch mode power amps right at the moment as my lf amp in my active rig spat the
magic smoke the other day and then thermal'd out and wont come back on and that was running into 4 ohms stereo?. its not going to have to move much so I thought old school Crown MA3600 Lead Sled, then I thought don't be silly then I thought, all that reliability, massive low frequency authority
totally hi fi performance and never seeing the dreaded clip light ever again? If we are going to have solid state lets get it solid, thats for me!.

KsPiNeSh · #2 08-22-2011, 04:47 AM

While I love my Streamliner and SVT 7-Pro, my GBE 1200 lead sled will always hold a special place in my heart. Sled on!

murphy · #3 08-22-2011, 05:44 AM

yarp!

madmachinist · #4 08-22-2011, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Sled on!

i love 'em ( QSC 1700 , crown DC300A)

there's just no substitute for a few dozen TO-3 outputs !

it's fun to have an amp that weighs as much as a 4x10
cabinet (when you're not lugging it around,that is

)

BassmanPaul · #5 08-22-2011, 02:04 PM

I'm moving away from the heavy power amps. I just can't manage them any more. My DCM1000L from Carvin has delighted me.

SM power supplies are a mature technology. That said although they are near to 100% efficient nothing made by man is 100% reliable. What was the amp that failed you?

BassmanPaul · #6 08-22-2011, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madmachinist

i love 'em ( QSC 1700 , crown DC300A)

there's just no substitute for a few dozen TO-3 outputs !

it's fun to have an amp that weighs as much as a 4x10
cabinet (when you're not lugging it around,that is

)

While I've always liked tO3 transistors I've had no failures from my amps with plastic versions. I've also had to repair too many DC300 amps back in the day to even consider one in today's world.

Barisaxman · #7 08-22-2011, 02:11 PM

No substitute for old iron on low frequency appliations, PA subs. I've yet to hear a SM amp on PA subs that had as much authority as its heavyweight predecessor. SM is mature, and works, but I also know I'm not the only one that can hear the differnce in high power applications.

Bob Lee (QSC) · #8 08-22-2011, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barisaxman

No substitute for old iron on low frequency appliations, PA subs. I've yet to hear a SM amp on PA subs that had as much authority as its heavyweight predecessor. SM is mature, and works, but I also know I'm not the only one that can hear the differnce in high power applications.

You haven't heard one set up properly in a system?

Bassmec · #9 08-22-2011, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

I'm moving away from the heavy power amps. I just can't manage them any more. My DCM1000L from Carvin has delighted me.

SM power supplies are a mature technology. That said although they are near to 100% efficient nothing made by man is 100% reliable. What was the amp that failed you?

I know Quality SM amps are generally OK but hell I need another amp yesterday.
And nobody has a 3k RMS + SM amp of comparable quality
at anything like sensible money.
This is real quality in SM amps.

As to my SM amp manufacturer, There may be a slight advantage if I don't sneak on the manufacturer yet, as it involves endorsements and complications of that sort.
But I remember the old Crown Macro techs as utterly unbustable even in red hot Balearic's clubs with less than entirely conservative guest DJ's.
Let me hear your whistle posseee! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.
JBL 8 X 12" + 4 X 15" should hang on to it ok within reason
in the drum room mate!.

Alex1984 · #10 08-22-2011, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KsPiNeSh

While I love my Streamliner and SVT 7-Pro, my GBE 1200 lead sled will always hold a special place in my heart. Sled on!

WHOA! GBE 1200 is considered a lead sled? Really? I would imagine lead sleds being more like old Crests or the old CS-800.

Bassmec · #11 08-22-2011, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex1984

WHOA! GBE 1200 is considered a lead sled? Really? I would imagine lead sleds being more like old Crests or the old CS-800.

Funny you mention Crest, This is one of my other fave lead sleds:

BassmanPaul · #12 08-22-2011, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barisaxman

No substitute for old iron on low frequency appliations, PA subs. I've yet to hear a SM amp on PA subs that had as much authority as its heavyweight predecessor. SM is mature, and works, but I also know I'm not the only one that can hear the differnce in high power applications.

Meaning no disrespect. this would be a great subject for a double blind test. Many of us hear what we expect to hear and it would be interesting to put it to the test. Can anybody say ESP power cable?

Bassmec · #13 08-22-2011, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassmanPaul

Meaning no disrespect. this would be a great subject for a double blind test. Many of us hear what we expect to hear and it would be interesting to put it to the test. Can anybody say ESP power cable?

Does this double blind test run to a Carvin versus a similar rating ultimate of lead sled's Bryston, if so you just lost on fan noise alone.
And thats before you even play it any music.
The differences are small but definably there on decent monitor speakers in a good room.
Low weight is a huge advantage touring though.

Bob Lee (QSC) · #14 08-23-2011, 10:22 AM

A double-blind test would usually not include the amp's mechanical noise, but only what it puts through to the loudspeakers. The differences might be small and definitely there, but between good-quality amps they will be inaudible or nearly so even on decent monitors in a good room.

The better the quality of the amps being compared, the more alike they will sound. And these days there's really no excuse for producing power amps that aren't of high quality.