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Best/cheap power amp 200Watts plus?

deepestend

deepestend

Commercial User
Feb 21, 2003
6,249
8,171
Brooklyn via Austin and NOLA
Disclosures
Website and Social Media at Sadowsky
#1
I have an old Samson Servo that has been pretty reliable the past few years but is starting to have some issues. Any suggestions on good, reliable cheap power amps? Anything to look for on Craigslist or locally. I have this paired with a sansamp RBI and it does the trick. I had a more boutique phase a while back and threw up my hands when I saw this amp on sale for $60 on craigslist. Haven't looked back till now... probably ten years later.
 
#2
I used a Servo 300 for several years and was fairly happy with it but moved it on for a Behringer EPQ900 to gain a bit of headroom and lose some weight. The Behringer was OK but didn't sound much more powerful than the Servo, and had very noisy fans. I concluded that the Behringer power rating folklore was right and now have a Crown XLS1000 - no complaints.
 
#6
I just picked up a new Crown XLS 1000 for $168. Running it into a 210 and 115 (both 500 watt cabs at 8 ohms each) seems to have plenty of juice for anything I want to do. It rattles the whole building.
 
#7
Nice. A guy on Craigslist has a Crown X1000 for $100. That's probably the kind of thing that I need. I currently have a 1x18 and a 4x10 and just run each on a separate channel, 200 watts is plenty loud for our practice space, so anything bigger will be gravy.
 
#8
My rig originally used a Behringer EP1500 (bridged). My only complaint about that amp was the weight. It was rock solid and powerful and now it runs my studio monitors in the house. I replaced it with a Crown XLS 1000 Drivecore amp. The Crown was good but did not seem to hit as hard as the Behringer, but it only weighed 7 lbs, which was why I got it. Only complaint about the Crown was that if I was playing hard, my preamp (Peavey TB Raxx) could easily beat the Crown into submission and cause it to shut down. So I had to modify my playing style a little bit. not a huge deal.

Now I use a Bugera Veyron M which can easily keep up with the Crown, but now I don't have to carry the rest of the rack. :)

I do think the current MI level Crown amps are MUCH better than the previous ones like the CE series and the original XLS (pre drivecore) series.
 
#12
Maybe not 100% the best, amp but it was the right amp at the right time. Ended up getting a Samson Servo 550 (I was previously using the 200 watt version) for $100 that the guy actually delivered to my door. Slightly larger than I wanted and not shiny and new, but kind of a no brainer considering the delivery, price, familiarity, and 1/4 in/outs.
 

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