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Crest Audio CA9 Now I understand.

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Red Planet

Red Planet

Inactive
May 29, 2005
6,487
2,152
Atlanta
Disclosures
I'm cranky in my old age.
#1
OK as some of you may have seen I Picked up a CA9 recently. After sorting out some issues with my oldest of oldest CA9 I got a chance to hook it up today and play for a while.

After getting it and it not working I had all but given up on this business of how good the CA9 is but I was wrong.

I want to thank Bob Lee for helping me undestand what may have been happening. I ended up taking it to my local Tech and getting it fixed even though I could have sent it back to Crest though I'd probably have to pay shipping which would have made the cost about the same.

Anywhoo I get her home and hooked her up and words can not describe what this Amp will do.


Oh my God.

I understand there is some Gain Matching concepts involved but Oh my God.

The CA9 is an absolute Fire Breathing Beastly Dragon.

I can not turn my SWR Marcus Miller Preamp Master Output Level up above 9 oclock for fear of absolutely blowing the speakers into the next room.

My other big Poweramp is going back into my PA.
 
#5
OK lets see if I can answer the questions.

My rig consits of the SWR Marcus Miller M2 Preamp, a Poweramp, and the new SWR Goliath IV 4x10.

Originally I went with a lightweight solution for a Poweramp. I was using the Yamaha P5000S Poweramp. It weighs 26 pounds, has a lot of nice features, and puts out 2600 watts bridged into 4 ohms. The problem with the lightweight amp is when pushed in the low end the amp overdrives and hard clips.

So after I struggled with this problem for a while I pulled my QSC RMX 2450 out of my PA and tried it. The QSC gave me really good results but my PA was missing an Amp so I new I had to come up with something.

After seeing some of the love for the CA9's I thought I would give it a try. I purchased a very old original CA9 from a fellow TBer. A new CA9 is quite exspensive so I opted for a used one, though when I got it, it wasnt working right. I then took it to my local Tech and got it fixed. Not sure what all they did but man does it pump now.

So now to the CA9. I know the CA9 has a different Input Sensitivitty than the QSC and that is certainly part of the equation but maybe not all of it. I really do not understand why but the CA9 is twice the amp compared to the 2450 (in my Bass Rig). The 2450 puts out 2400 watts into 4 oms bridged while the CA9 only puts out 2000 watts at 4 ohms bridged.

Like I say the CA9 is an absolute Bone Crushing Monster. I know Bob Lee has said in a number of threads in the past that two different well built Poweramps shouldnt sound different but the Crest sounds very different from the QSC. This is not a subtle esoteric difference either, it is easily noticed. The Crest has something like an upper Mid Sparkle that the QSC does not have with my Bass, Preamp, and Bass Cab. I'm not downing the QSC at all, it is a wonderful Amp with a boatload of amasing fetures. The Crest does not have much in the feature department.

Now I'll be able to put the QSC back in my PA where it performs flawlessly. When I first got the Crest it worked but when pushed would go into Protect Mode. At that point I really did not understand what all the fuss was about. I felt I may have made a mistake but after Logical Audio reapired it my mind was changed.

At this time I have the Crest in a 4 space rack with my SWR Preamp though now that poses a new problem. The Crest is deeper and the back of my rack will not fit so I may end up having to get another rack.

As far as the weight goes the Crest is only a few Pounds heavier than the QSC so that is not a huge deal. The Crest is definately heavy though. A CA9 is definately not the choice for a Lightweight Rig.

At this time I am very very pleased with how powerful the Crest sounds. There arent a lot of features but it will certainly get the job done. Also as a side note the Crest puts out more Power than the QSC in Stereo 4 ohms or 8 ohms also. There is not as much of a Power drop with an increase in ohms as with the QSC. That will be a plus for me when I decide to add one more Goliath IV 4 ohm 4x10 Cab. The Crest only goes from 2000 watts Bridged into 4 ohms to 900 watts per side (1800 total) at 4 ohms per side Stereo, while the QSC drops to 750 per side at 4 ohms Stereo.

As for the lack of Speakons on the Crest I picked up a set of heavy duty copper Spades at Oreily's Auto Parts and soldered to one end of my Speakon Speaker cable. So I now have one end with these heavy spades and the other end has a Speakon going into my Cab. It's not as nice as having two Speakons but it will get the job done and should be easy enough to hook up at gigs.

Maybe the low end power difference I am hearing is a combination of several things. The Crest takes less signal to be the same volume as the QSC (it gets louder sooner), does not have any High Pass Filters, and has slightly less watttage than the QSC. I'm thinking the Crest is letting more low low frequencies through but has slightly less power so it dosnt push my Cab too hard but just comes out extremely Powerful and Authoratative. If I turn the High Pass off on the QSC it then becomes too much for my Cab but the Crest is not over powering my cab but seems way more powerful (if that makes any sense at all).

To sum it up, I think the guys that swear by the CA9's do so because of a few minor differences in the way the Crest is set up. Not because the Amp itself on a whole is superior. It just seems because of the Input Sensitivitty, wattage, and non filtering to adapt better for some folks as a Bass Amp. Now this is for some folks but not all. My Yamaha would probably work well for a number of Players out there, if they were not pushing the kind of Massive Low End Volume I am and it has way more features than the Crest as well as a few more than the QSC. It all really depends on the Player and the circumstances.

For me the CA9 is the end of the line. I just got to get used to carrying it.

Hope this answers all the questions about this Amp.
 
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#7
I bought a CA9 recommend to me by Jim Bergantino. It was as you describe ... bone crushing. I tried bridging it once but that is just over the top and not needed. I only used one channel for my bass, plenty. It was the most powerful bass notes I've ever produced hands down. Only thing that has ever come really close is the DB750's power section at least for note weight feel etc. Anyway... the CA9 is a beast and was just too much for me to schlep to gigs. If I was touring and had roadies I would have kept it.
 
#8
svtb15 said:
i have never tried a CA9.. but i have used a CA6 which is every bit as nice.. The only amps that even come close to the punch and fullness is the older Crown Macro-Techs or PSA2 amps. Those two are by far the final word in gargantuan bass guitar reproduction. IMO
Click to expand...

+1 There was an AG659 driving one side of a CA6 into a Bag End 410 at Low Down Sound for many, many months. It was always fun to plug into that... BIG tone, and so heavy as to be IMO silly:cool:
 
#10
I love my CA6 and consider it to be the best bass amp I have ever had. The weight is an issue, but even though it is in a 4-space rack with 2 pre-amps, I take it to most gigs when I am not playing upright, because I love the sound.

I'm glad you found a CA9 that is working out for you. Great amps, IMHO.
 
#11
Thanx. It is a beast.

Made me a special speaker cable just for the CA9, check it out. Needed something that would be quick but sturdy.


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I just got through Playing for about 3 hours. Man this rig sounds good. Certainly not for everyone but just right for me. :bassist:
 
#14
Red Planet, I was using a QSC PLX2402 to power my Bergantino cabs. I was having lots of clipping problems and was underwhelmed with my overall volume. The Crest CA9 was one of the amps Jim Bergantino recommended to me when I told him about the problems I was experiencing. I had the same exact reaction as you did when I hooked my cabs up to the new CA9; OMG!!:bassist:

I've been using a CA9 for many years now and it's been bulletproof. Yes, it's a little heavy. Yes, my rack weighs as much as my 2 Aguilar GS112 cabs combined, but I'm 100% o.k. with it. I figure if lifting 75 lbs actually becomes work, I should hang it up altogeher and dig myself a hole :D!

Congrats on your new CA9. They do rule!
 
#15
Arthur U. Poon said:
Red Planet, I was using a QSC PLX2402 to power my Bergantino cabs. I was having lots of clipping problems and was underwhelmed with my overall volume. The Crest CA9 was one of the amps Jim Bergantino recommended to me when I told him about the problems I was experiencing. I had the same exact reaction as you did when I hooked my cabs up to the new CA9; OMG!!:bassist:

I've been using a CA9 for many years now and it's been bulletproof. Yes, it's a little heavy. Yes, my rack weighs as much as my 2 Aguilar GS112 cabs combined, but I'm 100% o.k. with it. I figure if lifting 75 lbs actually becomes work, I should hang it up altogeher and dig myself a hole :D!

Congrats on your new CA9. They do rule!
Click to expand...


Thanx for the comments. I have not tried the Lightweight QSC Amps so I don't have a yardstick for that though I'm done with Lightweight after the Yamaha.

The CA9 is unrelenting.:hyper:
 
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