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Rackmount Power Amps

bassballs27

bassballs27

Supporting Member
Aug 12, 2002
4,177
8,585
Ontario, Canada
#1
Hey guys,

I figured I'd poll the audience with a more open approach, who here is still using rack mount power amps?

I've been thinking about retiring my QSC PLX2402 and going with a new power amp.
Not sure what brand or topology just yet. I really do like this Class H QSC.

At the moment, I'm working with 4 ohm cabs only, so I would like to work with a power amp that can handle 4 ohms per side and have a decent amount of power, say 1000Watts or more. I like good clean headroom on a power amp and as always they have a volume knob to turn them down (as does the preamp of your choice that you're driving it with too!)

I haven't really been liking the Class D stuff lately, but it might be worth trying a Class D Pro Level Power Amp. Any one using these?

I've also heard that the quality of certain brands of power amps have diminished over the years. Lots of people have been telling me to hold onto my PLX 2402.

Anyway, any feedback on some decent rack mount power amps (whether recent or recently discontinued) will be appreciated.
 
#2
why would you retire the 2402? USA-made, reasonably light, bulletproof, plenty of input sensitivity for bass preamps, with a handy selectable 30Hz filter on the back, and 700w per side at 4Ω. i have a hard time thinkng of a better bass power amp on the reasonably cheap.

if you just want more power than that, wrangle yourself the next step up, the PLX3002, all the same except 900w per side at 4Ω. i'm loving mine, but i could probably have done just fine with the 2402, it never gets anywhere near the clip lights.
 
#3
Agreed. I find it hard to believe there is anything BETTER out there, in that category and price range. Cheaper? Sure. Lighter? Maybe. More powerful? Yeah, get a bigger QSC PLX!
I have a bunch of QSC amps and find them great for everything I have used them for bass; PA, monitors, studio monitors, DJ and even Home Theatre (for subs/LFE).

Edit: By the way, what cabs do you use? A double 3015LF cabinet per side? 2x1000 W or more into bass rig sure needs a fair amount of speakers if you want to safely crank that amplification into "LOUD"...
 
#4
walterw said:
why would you retire the 2402? USA-made, reasonably light, bulletproof, plenty of input sensitivity for bass preamps, with a handy selectable 30Hz filter on the back, and 700w per side at 4Ω. i have a hard time thinkng of a better bass power amp on the reasonably cheap.

if you just want more power than that, wrangle yourself the next step up, the PLX3002, all the same except 900w per side at 4Ω. i'm loving mine, but i could probably have done just fine with the 2402, it never gets anywhere near the clip lights.
Click to expand...

Well, sometimes new stuff comes out that just a little better. I've had the 2402 for 15 years now, bought it new. I think they came out in the late 90's.
I completely missed the second generation PLX2's…….and haven't heard much about their PL series.

I already do own a PLX 3002 that I picked up used a couple years ago now that I use for a PA setup.

I had a talk with Bob Lee from QSC earlier this year and the gain structure is basically the same on all of the PLX line.
So, I'm sure you guys know the deal with getting more power……you basically have to double your output power to make it noticeable.

Right now, the 2402 runs at 700W at side at 4 ohms. So, to make a noticeable difference…….I guess 1400W is what I'm looking for.

And to answer AlexanderB at the same time, I'm using an Aguilar DB810 and an Aguilar DB412. Both are rated at 1200W RMS.

I also have a pair of Bergantino HD410's which are 800W each.

-Chris
 
#5
bassballs27 said:
And to answer AlexanderB at the same time, I'm using an Aguilar DB810 and an Aguilar DB412. Both are rated at 1200W RMS.

I also have a pair of Bergantino HD410's which are 800W each.
Click to expand...
sounds like you have the exact right amp then!

i assume you aren't running the two big boxes at the same time, so that amp bridged into either one would be way more than enough power.

with the two bergs, one into each side is still 700w into each cab, 1400 watts into 8 tens of berg should be enough for any gig.
 
#7
here's an idea; what part of the PA are you using the 3002 on? if it's subs, maybe the the thing to do is upgrade that to something modern and ridiculous like a crown itech, something that'll have all the digital filtering and such, and steal the 3002 for bass guitar duty.
 
#9
Frankly, the PLX series amps are just about impossible to improve on without spending substantially more money. Even then, the improvement might be a little weight savings, but not the audio quality and certainly not the reliability.

I have a couple dozen PLX-3402's (and a few 1202's for highs) in my touring PA's (yeah, it's a pretty substantial PA ;) ) and in maybe 15 years I have never had a single failure. That's a lot of gigs and a lot of hours of operation. The other thing that I really like is they are straight forward, simple and never need an OS or firmware update, no IP addresses, no ethernet, no IT crap of any sort. Looking to the problems that the newer products are having today, I would have to say it's kind of refreshing to be kicked back reading a book while the other guys are constantly trying to sort out IT problems!
 
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#10
walterw said:
sounds like you have the exact right amp then!

i assume you aren't running the two big boxes at the same time, so that amp bridged into either one would be way more than enough power.

with the two bergs, one into each side is still 700w into each cab, 1400 watts into 8 tens of berg should be enough for any gig.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, it is quite good. Actually, I run both of the DB's in Stereo and the Bergantino's too.
I've even hooked up all 4 cabs at once two. That's a real treat.
I don't use my amp bridged because it can't do 2 ohms. I'd prefer to run the 2400W into the two cabs to be honest, but Ohm's Law won't let me!


walterw said:
here's an idea; what part of the PA are you using the 3002 on? if it's subs, maybe the the thing to do is upgrade that to something modern and ridiculous like a crown itech, something that'll have all the digital filtering and such, and steal the 3002 for bass guitar duty.
Click to expand...

That's not a bad idea, but the difference between the 2402 and 3002 isn't a whole lot more. Now, moving up to the 3602 is a fair bit more.

Frankly though, I am not after any DSP at all. I'm just looking for clean power. :)
 
#13
agedhorse said:
Frankly, the PLX series amps are just about impossible to improve on without spending substantially more money. Even then, the improvement might be a little weight savings, but not the audio quality and certainly not the reliability.

I have a couple dozen PLX-3402's (and a few 1202's for highs) in my touring PA's (yeah, it's a pretty substantial PA ;) ) and in maybe 15 years I have never had a single failure. That's a lot of gigs and a lot of hours of operation. The other thing that I really like is they are straight forward, simple and never need an OS or firmware update, no IP addresses, no ethernet, no IT crap of any sort. Looking to the problems that the newer products are having today, I would have to say it's kind of refreshing to be kicked back reading a book while the other guys are constantly trying to sort out IT problems!
Click to expand...


Ah, Agedhorse, great to hear from you! I know you know your stuff quite well. :)
Maybe I just need to find a PLX 3402 or PLX2 3602 and be done with it.
We'll see what happens.
 
#16
I just bought a Peavey IPR 2000 a few weeks ago and a BBE BMax and it sounds great through my 2 2x10 SWRs.
very light compared to my Ampeg and just as loud , or louder, check one out.
 

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#19
bassballs27 said:
Hey guys,

I figured I'd poll the audience with a more open approach, who here is still using rack mount power amps?

I've been thinking about retiring my QSC PLX2402 and going with a new power amp.
Not sure what brand or topology just yet. I really do like this Class H QSC.

At the moment, I'm working with 4 ohm cabs only, so I would like to work with a power amp that can handle 4 ohms per side and have a decent amount of power, say 1000Watts or more. I like good clean headroom on a power amp and as always they have a volume knob to turn them down (as does the preamp of your choice that you're driving it with too!)

I haven't really been liking the Class D stuff lately, but it might be worth trying a Class D Pro Level Power Amp. Any one using these?

I've also heard that the quality of certain brands of power amps have diminished over the years. Lots of people have been telling me to hold onto my PLX 2402.

Anyway, any feedback on some decent rack mount power amps (whether recent or recently discontinued) will be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Here's my rack
image.jpg
I love this setup and would go out and buy the same stuff if something went down. The entire rackbag weighs about 20lbs it's much more shallow than my old racks as well so it fits in the car easily. Everything in the rack is only like 4-5 inches deep so I no longer needed a big deep heavy rack. And it's inexpensive Id guess around $800 to buy the rack and everything in it new. Between this and my pedalboard and modded Ampeg cab Im pretty happy with my tone. I wouldn't exclude class d amps in your search. Id have gotten one sooner if I knew I could have so much horsepower with such little weight and such little noise.
 
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