Why use plate amps at all when a proDSP amp is better value, more reliable, usually has a more powerful DSP and easier to repurpose for another project later?
At the time of purchase I intended to use them with my main project at the time, the 3D printed unity horn. Subsequently I have obtained two more loudspeaker kits that would work well with it; the Helix MTM and the Vortex 15 loudspeakers.
I’m in the stone ages when it comes to the learning curve of making computers and firmware part of my hifi (I can run WinISD and DATS, that’s about it). I can integrate an analog plate amp into the enclosure and know that any hypothetical end-user with an SPL meter can have a device that is functionally standalone. That said, I am not dogmatic about it and have never ruled DSP out; I see the obvious advantages but like I said, I’m just not there yet.
Meh. If you can use the software packages you mention, and normal PC programs, and learn how to design speakers, then learning a DSP is easy and they are so much more powerful and useful than analogue plate amps. Before I stopped doing repairs for others, I had a box of maybe 100 of them to cannibalise for spares, but never had a pro amp fail in my own PA, and few sent to me for repair that weren't the result of wanton stupidity. Or drugs or alcohol. Plate amps, by and large, are utter rubbish.
Your input is appreciated Brett. When I have the space to integrate a second (and hopefully third or fourth) subwoofer or midbass module I will cross that bridge. Which is what I meant by “I’m not there yet.” I’m just not going to advocate something I don’t have first-hand experience with and my analog plate amplifier subwoofer is still going strong. I don’t doubt your experience but I’m not dogmatic about these things regardless.
