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Power Amps

T

towsonbassist

Oct 15, 2006
147
0
#1
So I've been playing with the thought of buying a power amp for my bass rack. I'm looking for just a power amp, maybe 2x500 watts? I know Crest Audio is supposedly very good, but what about Crown and QSC? Any experiences with these "PA Oriented" amp companies?

Thanks,
Kevin

PS: Price range 0-800 USD
 
#2
Any of those are good. The factors you would want to weigh are power, weight, and price, as any well-designed PA amp (which includes all three that you mentioned) should be transparent soundwise. I have a QSC PLX 1602 which weighs 21 lbs and does 2x500 watts into 4ohm loads, and up to 1600 watts bridged. It is well-built and reliable, as I would expect anything from these companies to be. These can be had for $350 if you buy used. For me, that was such a great combination of lightweight, powerful, and cheap, that it was an easy choice to make.
 
#5
towsonbassist said:
So I've been playing with the thought of buying a power amp for my bass rack. I'm looking for just a power amp, maybe 2x500 watts? I know Crest Audio is supposedly very good, but what about Crown and QSC? Any experiences with these "PA Oriented" amp companies?

Thanks,
Kevin

PS: Price range 0-800 USD
Click to expand...

I have the Crest CA6 and love it. I heard the CA9 is very good too. But the CA6 and the Alembic F2B sounds so good.
I would try and A/B them as i did. I will not say which ones I did but the CA6 sounded the best---- To me. But A/B them.
You are the one buying and playing it so really make comparisons.
 
#6
I've been looking at the same for a few weeks now. Currently have an old Crest FA800 that for the past 20 years has been about bulletproof and plenty of power and headroom. Also weighs quite a bit (40lbs +/-). But MUCH less than my older BGW750B which no longer gets carried around.

Looking at the new ones, QSC and Crest are high on my list, both with amps around 17 to 20 lbs., but curious about the Crown XTi series. Both intrigued and skeptical about the DSP section. Supposedly has a built in xover and subharmonic processor. Have never heard one though.

So... to answer your original post, I have had nothing but great experience with the Crest.
 
#7
I have pretty much standardized on Carvin power-amps. I use the DCM series. My favourite is the DCM1000. 500W/ch into 2Ω. It is pretty light, very clean, fairly inexpensive and really reliable. You have not filled out your profile so I have no idea where you live in this wide world but if you live in N America take a look at Carvin.com.

Paul
 
#8
BassmanPaul said:
I have pretty much standardized on Carvin power-amps. I use the DCM series. My favourite is the DCM1000. 500W/ch into 2Ω. It is pretty light, very clean, fairly inexpensive and really reliable. You have not filled out your profile so I have no idea where you live in this wide world but if you live in N America take a look at Carvin.com.

Paul
Click to expand...

+1 - The Carvin power amps are almost as good a deal as the Behringer power amps I previously mentioned. And the Carvin's are assembled here in the good ole US of A, which is important to some people.

By the way, just buy however much power you can afford. The power amp itself should not impart any tone or "flavor" to your sound, it should be transparent. That's why they are used for PA purposes - what goes in is what comes out. Get your flavor and spices from your preamp.
 
#9
The Carvins are as cheap as I'm ever willing to recommend new, and perform marvelously in a number of cover bands I've vacated*, where I actually got other band members to chip in on some of the PA gear. Quiet when idling, stout and clean - really just wiegh a little more than my own QSC PLX amps with no discernable difference at amplifying faithfully whatever humungous noise is being pumped in.


*some of them have been abused for as long as 8 years now by cluebies, with no sign of failure
 
#11
I've always had good results with the Crest CA series. Great tone, fast response, super reliable, but HEAVY. I had a CA 6 that weighed about 45 pounds and a CA 4 that weighed in at 40 pounds. I've also had good luck with Carvin DCM 1000.
QSC is excellent too. Great tone, lots of usable power, bulletproof, and fairly lightweight.
 
#13
Sorry I didn't find this sooner.

I've got 3 QSC power amps (RMX 1850HD, PLX 2402, PLX 3402) and have yet to have any trouble with them. Crown and Crest also have a reputation for making good solid amps. The Behringer EP series amps are obvious knockoffs of the QSC RMX series amps. I've not tried the Carvins myself, but my experience has been that you can buy equivalent QSC amps cheaper.
 

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