Anyone using a PA amp in their home system?

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#42
#43
I have a pair of 1960's Webster TP12-1 PA amplifiers (6V6 PP).
I converted them into pair of mono blocks last year.
They still need some additional work, as one has a greater volume level than the other?
It is not a big deal to just adjust one volume control up or down.
But being a blatant 'perfectionist', the volume difference bothers me.

Steve
 
#47
I had a pair of Crown CE4000 for the subs but sold them when I was in danger of losing the house.
Now I have a stack of older fan-cooled professional amps, with SMPS and FET outputs (surprising for their age). They have balanced inputs and plenty of power. And they sound GREAT IMHO.

I used to have a pair of Peavey DECA 1200 amps, which were class D. They sounded pretty good for bass and mids (which was where I used them).
 
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#48
I have, in the past. Generally speaking they worked well but just not quite as good as a home HiFi amp fidelity-wise. Certainly if you need the power they can be an economical choice; I wouldn't say any of them sounded "bad". It's just that I found that the differing priorities in Pro Sound and HiFi revealed themselves in the sound.

I wouldn't use home gear for Sound Reinforcement either; in fact I would say it's probably worse to go the other way. Although I did see Ravi Shankar live (in a concert hall, though) playing his sitar through an array of Quad ESLs (the original ones). Have to admit it sounded amazing, but that was many years ago.

If you're too young to know Ravi, you might know his daughter ... some girl by the name of Norah Jones.

Some amps can do double duty but then again those examples are not that economical.
 
#50
Just got another Crown Comtech 400 installed in my living room and it drives a pair of JBL HLS 810's and a Paradigm sub very well. I tried the Comtech 400 on 2 different sets of speakers and the speakers are definitely the main limiting factor.

While amplifiers are important in the production of sound, the part with the room for the most improvement is the speaker setup.
 
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#52
I'm very late to the party, but wanted to mention, in case anybody ever reads this thread again, that, at present, my favourite full-range amp for my Tannoy System 215 DMT II speakers is the MC2 Audio S1400 (775/1400/1650 Wpc @ 8/4/2 ohms). The S1400 and its little brother, the S800, MC2 makes specifically for monitoring and mastering applications, not for sound reinforcement. They're the only two current MC2 models that use linear power supplies—all the sound reinforcement models now use switching power supplies.

But, apart from any technical details, I prefer the S1400 (around $3500) to the Bryston 7B SST2 monoblocks ($10K/pr.), the Perreaux Model 750 monoblocks ($15K/pr.), the McCormack DNA-500 ($6K?), and the MC2 MC750, among others.

So far, I can only hear the fans when I'm changing a record or CD, never from the listening position, unlike the MC750, which has louder fans.

The S1400 somehow manages just the right balance of gut-wrenching power, especially in the lower frequencies, with clarity and delicacy. It's also curious that while the amp uses a humungous 4 kVA transformer, it's also got the smallest amount of power supply capacitance (16,500 uF/ch) I've encountered in any amplifier. Weird, yes, but I'm letting my ears rule on this one.
 
#53
I am using a QSC1400 with a pair of Yamaha 4115's that have been modified to three-way with all new drivers. Compression horns in mid and high frequency. Working on a tube pre-amp to get my Garrard turntable back in the picture. Sounds good to me.
 
#55
45 year old industrial 100 watt RCA SA-1000 tube monoblock amps with one pair of KT90 series 1 tubes in pentode mode replacing the original 6550s. They power Acoustat 1+1 electrostatic speakers with ease. More musical combination than I originally expected.
 
#56
QSC USA850 on my Behringer B2031P monitors. Big old class-AB with a heavy transformer and lots of output transistors. Fed straight from a laptop.
Got myself an EP1500 with a silent fan that I'll use for subs when space allows - I miss <40Hz.

Chris
 
#57
I use a heavy old Crest pro amp down the cave. It's the 7001, I think. Rated 550 WPC, tho it seems to do about 650-700 WPC just fine. I have it dialed back to 120 WPC, so as to not fry any more drivers. 😱
 
#59
I have about 13 or 14 Soundcraftsmen PR1800 or 900X2 (same thing after acquisition by MTX). These were designed as a DJ amp. Switching power supply but a conventional MOSFET audio section. Balanced & unbalanced ins. Stereo or bridged outputs. That's about 25,200 watts. Note these are NOT their earlier class H power supplies. The "switching" mode supply is not high-frequency, it's "phase control regulation" of the input 60hz.

I have extremely inefficient speakers, what can I say... 16 12" drivers as isobaric subs, and 2 18" JBLs in very large sealed boxes. 12' Newform ribbons (3 stacked tall narrow planar dynamics for each channel). 12 scan-speak 6.5" drivers in sealed boxes.

I usually used to tri-amp in the living room, using 5 amplifiers for subs, 3 for the Scan-speak mids, and 3 for the Newform. That leaves me with plenty of spares LOL. The problem is power. In my old house I ran 220v. to a breaker box in the kitchen and ran the speaker wires to there. In my earlier house I had the amps in the garage, with wires running thru the wall. Now I'm renting and don't have anything at all set up until I buy another house LOL!
 
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