well, i went with QSC due to couple of reports of either failures or the amps not liking 4ohm bridged.
The QSC PLX3402 unfortunately are loud.
Else they work amazingly well even on 4ohm bridge - no issues whatsoever. They can move these peerless drivers nicely - and also stop them amazingly well.
I'll try to mod them and see if i can live with the modded variant.
dang. not sure if i should've went with the yamaha's after all. The performance of the PLX's is great tho. I hope the fan-mod does the trick.
if you need quiet and powerful then there is speaker power but they are expensive:
SpeakerPower - Home
SpeakerPower - Home
huh, the PLX3402 modded are whisper-quiet, absolutely non-issue.
i blew the PSU on one and it's being fixed, but the other one (modded) now drives both woofers in the mean time.
I won't dare running 10Hz sine into it and pushing it, but at respectable 95dB SPL it keeps running quiet while driving both woofers.
I've had nothing but good experiences with EP2500s/EP1500s and lots of bad luck with QSC - that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Been using deadweight Behringers for twenty years without a single failure. There are far better and far worse amps around - it largely comes down to budget (and possibly a soundproof enclosure...). I've also tried an NU3000 and it certainly did the same job, but without the heat and weight! I don't have much long-term experience with them though...
well I did blow a PSU on one... cost me 100€ to fix. Now they're both modded with silent fans and they work flawlessly. You can't hear them at decent SPLs. At 100dB + they start to spin, but it's not problematic at those levels because you can't hear **** anyway.
Exactly that - running these as a trial with some 15" OBs that run up to 5K as bare drivers: Channel A is a bit hissy, but Channel B is full of oscillation screeching. Same with you? Is it a general design fault? I'm running these in Dual mode - will see if the problems persists in Stereo and other modes.
2 years experience with the amp employed as work horse for my 4 x 21":
I installed Noctua NF-A8 FLX fans in my NX6000.
(Use black and red cable, disregard the yellow one).
No fan noise, (medium speed setting) but you need to inspect for dust collection due to airflow thru the amp.
No amp hiss experienced either.
https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A8-FLX-Premium-Quiet/dp/B00NEMG9K6
I installed Noctua NF-A8 FLX fans in my NX6000.
(Use black and red cable, disregard the yellow one).
No fan noise, (medium speed setting) but you need to inspect for dust collection due to airflow thru the amp.
No amp hiss experienced either.
https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A8-FLX-Premium-Quiet/dp/B00NEMG9K6
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Look the T-AMP E-1500.
I have the little brother E-800, the fan is little bite noisy but the amplifier is very well build.
the t.amp E-1500 – Thomann Switzerland
I have the little brother E-800, the fan is little bite noisy but the amplifier is very well build.
the t.amp E-1500 – Thomann Switzerland
I've used Behringer NU/NX amps (with DSP) for a while as cheap and portable PA and I have no complaints. No hiss, no whine (even in the HF) and no failures. And who could possibly hear the fans with thousands of watts coming through the subs? Port noise is likely to be louder... But I do run 2X of the 3000 instead of one 6000 unit on dual subs, for system redundancy and the idea that the PSU in each amp will not be stressed (not sure if that's actually borne out by testing though.)
And yes, of course you can do better for more $$$. But good enough is still good enough.
And yes, of course you can do better for more $$$. But good enough is still good enough.
As long as the NX series amps are not driving low impedance loads at low frequencies, they are a great "bang for the buck" option for a power amp.
I own both the NX3000 and NX6000 (both without the DSP, which has worse S/N). I bought them as refurbed units from MusicTribe (Behringer's Ebay presence). I replaced the fans with "quiet" 12V computer fans that can provide enough static pressure to actually work while being quiet. Now the amps are innocuous even when there is no sound playing. But I do not need, nor expect them to, give me kiloWatts of power.
The amps are small and lightweight. For DIY, there is alot to like! But I would not use either one to do any serious subwoofer install unless you have an 8 Ohm load. The PS in these amps just do not have enough capacitance to keep the rails up at LF. Just look at what happens for anything but "burst" testing: the amp power is significantly lower. It will shut down if you ask it to reproduce continuous sine waves at 4 Ohms and high power, however, you can get away with a couple hundred Watts per channel continuous, if that is enough for you. For example, see this link:
Behringer NX3000D Pro DSP Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
And especially take notice of the 20Hz "max power" shown in this plot (in orange):
The way that Behringer can claim thousands of Watts is to take the "peak Watts" (not RMS) that can be delivered for a very brief instant (e.g. 1msec). Peak Watts are about two times the RMS Watts, and then you have to derate the rating for longer periods of time. For example, 1msec is the period for a 1kHz tone. The period of one 100 Hz since wave is 10 times longer, so the PS must support the current flow 10 times longer. But the PS has low charge storage, and when it can't continue to deliver enough current the rail voltage falls, and this causes the power output capability to drop accordingly.
You can find a "dyno test" (power test) of the NU6000 (almost identical predecessor to the NX6000) in this you tube video:
6000 watts for $350? Behringer iNuke NU6000 Pro Sound Amplifier - YouTube
Skip ahead to the 1:55 mark for the start of the testing. It can do 1200W into 8R, stereo. That's how I would use it for sub duty.
I own both the NX3000 and NX6000 (both without the DSP, which has worse S/N). I bought them as refurbed units from MusicTribe (Behringer's Ebay presence). I replaced the fans with "quiet" 12V computer fans that can provide enough static pressure to actually work while being quiet. Now the amps are innocuous even when there is no sound playing. But I do not need, nor expect them to, give me kiloWatts of power.
The amps are small and lightweight. For DIY, there is alot to like! But I would not use either one to do any serious subwoofer install unless you have an 8 Ohm load. The PS in these amps just do not have enough capacitance to keep the rails up at LF. Just look at what happens for anything but "burst" testing: the amp power is significantly lower. It will shut down if you ask it to reproduce continuous sine waves at 4 Ohms and high power, however, you can get away with a couple hundred Watts per channel continuous, if that is enough for you. For example, see this link:
Behringer NX3000D Pro DSP Amplifier Review | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum
And especially take notice of the 20Hz "max power" shown in this plot (in orange):
The way that Behringer can claim thousands of Watts is to take the "peak Watts" (not RMS) that can be delivered for a very brief instant (e.g. 1msec). Peak Watts are about two times the RMS Watts, and then you have to derate the rating for longer periods of time. For example, 1msec is the period for a 1kHz tone. The period of one 100 Hz since wave is 10 times longer, so the PS must support the current flow 10 times longer. But the PS has low charge storage, and when it can't continue to deliver enough current the rail voltage falls, and this causes the power output capability to drop accordingly.
You can find a "dyno test" (power test) of the NU6000 (almost identical predecessor to the NX6000) in this you tube video:
6000 watts for $350? Behringer iNuke NU6000 Pro Sound Amplifier - YouTube
Skip ahead to the 1:55 mark for the start of the testing. It can do 1200W into 8R, stereo. That's how I would use it for sub duty.
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Jist a bit of input on the plx3402 purchase, I brought three plx2402 after having had a 3402 on loan, these amplifiers sound amazing on full range or top duty, I have wery limited experience on bass duty but the little I had sounded right and clean.
I would comfortably rate the PlX2402 as one of the best amplifiers I have heard in 30+ years as a audio enthusiast, simply stunning, I also used them for hifi and to be sure they carried the same wonderful insanely clean and precise sound in to that field as well.
The only rival I have heard is the labgruppen lab1600, I now have two of these for the same reason, soundquality.
I would comfortably rate the PlX2402 as one of the best amplifiers I have heard in 30+ years as a audio enthusiast, simply stunning, I also used them for hifi and to be sure they carried the same wonderful insanely clean and precise sound in to that field as well.
The only rival I have heard is the labgruppen lab1600, I now have two of these for the same reason, soundquality.
Yes, just like many recording studio consoles. I wouldn't consider that a put-down. The 5532 is one of the BEST op amps for low distortion and transparency in the audio band, if it is implemented correctly.
Thanks wg_ski, I agree that the hifi/audiophile community in general tends to act a bit odd at times when it comes to technology, but then again, I assume that the plx series are just like any other high volume product meaning that there are well balanced and thought trough compromises made in the development, it is by no means an expensive top of the line range, but I stand by my impressions.
I believe the SRA (studio reference amplifier) line QSC put out around the same time are heavily based on the plx series, for the amplifier parts it might even be completely carry over, but I'm not sure, still I would mind getting hold of a bunch of them
I believe the SRA (studio reference amplifier) line QSC put out around the same time are heavily based on the plx series, for the amplifier parts it might even be completely carry over, but I'm not sure, still I would mind getting hold of a bunch of them
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If you are operating the NX3000 bridged into a 4R load, then each channel is seeing 2R. The lower the impedance the more current is required for a given power level (you trade off voltage for current when using lower impedance loads). Because of the somewhat anemic power supply current capabilities in the NX series, at low frequencies this might not be able to provide more than a few hundred Watts of continuous power, but it's probably at least 500W if I had to make a guess. For brief transients and at higher frequencies (above 100Hz) there will be more available power. Keep in mind that you really only notice when power output it doubled or more in terms of how "loud" the sub will play, so 500W and 700W are not all that different. But it's not going to be kW of continuous power no matter what.
If you can find measurements (e.g. dyno/power measurements) of the NX3000 done at 2R in stereo you also know the power into 4R bridged, but I don't know of any publicly available measurements done at 2R, continuous or burst, and at 20Hz.
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