Opinions on Crown Power Base amps?

[aarond]

I've been shopping around for a sub amp for the home system. Good quality power into a single 4 ohm channel is more or less what I'm after. I've always liked Crown's reputation but I'm in no way limiting myself to a single brand. I've come across the "Power Base" series of amps by doing some searching through different places that carry used amps.

Anybody have any opinions about this line? I'm completely open to other suggestions as well but I thought this might be a good starting point.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Aaron

[unknownuser]

> I've been shopping around for a sub amp for
> the home system. Good quality power into a
> single 4 ohm channel is more or less what
> I'm after. I've always liked Crown's
> reputation but I'm in no way limiting myself
> to a single brand. I've come across the
> "Power Base" series of amps by
> doing some searching through different
> places that carry used amps.
If you really want one, I could come up with several basket cases.

The Crown PB1 is not a very good amp. I would have called it a POS, but then somebody would howl.

If you want to drive a single 4 ohm sub as a load, find something else.

Don't try and bridge anything into 4 ohms either.

One channel driven on a Behringer EP2500 will do about 800W at 4 ohms, and they only go for about $299 delivered to your door.



(Originally posted by: djk)

[Paul O]

Old tech now.. you can do much better. How much power do you want/need?

[aarond]

How much power do I NEED? Well, 10 watts usually seems to play way louder than one would think it should. On the otherhand, 1kW sounds like a lot of fun . I have (2) 8 ohm 18" subs rated to handle 500 watts/ea. I think something to more or less match that combo would be what I "need". I'm currently looking at the Behringer Europower amps that I think djk was referring to. I'm open to any suggestions as always.

Thanks to you both,
Aaron

> Old tech now.. you can do much better. How
> much power do you want/need?

[unknownuser]

The EP2500 is 500W/8R X2, sounds like what you want.


(Originally posted by: djk)

[aricaudio]

> The EP2500 is 500W/8R X2, sounds like what
> you want.

I'm surprised to see you rec'ing this amp, though I have'nt used one yet. Is it really a reliable, well-built amp? Or is it stable until it blows up?

Would the extra $100 be worth it to buy a QSC RMX series amp?

Aric

[Paul O]

> I'm surprised to see you rec'ing this amp,
> though I have'nt used one yet. Is it really
> a reliable, well-built amp? Or is it stable
> until it blows up?

I won't comment on how well built it is, but it does have all the same protection circuitry as the QSC so it won't blow up. Users over on the Pro forums have had these in daily use for years now with no reported problems.

> Would the extra $100 be worth it to buy a
> QSC RMX series amp?

Absolutely!!! You get the 6yr warranty instead of 1yr, and the amp can actually deliver the power it is rated for.

[unknownuser]

The QSC 2450 is $300 more than the EP2500, not $100.

I wouldn't use either at 2 ohms. They're both made in China(as are the cheap Crown amps), not much of a choice there.

If you look inside, the QSC does have a bit larger transformer. If you're going to run at 8 ohms this won't make any difference.

I don't really care for QSC, not enough to pay twice as much.


(Originally posted by: djk)

[aricaudio]

> The QSC 2450 is $300 more than the EP2500,
> not $100.

Sorry, I guess I was thinking the RMX 1450 would be the competition for the Behringer.

> I wouldn't use either at 2 ohms. They're
> both made in China(as are the cheap Crown
> amps), not much of a choice there.

Point Taken.

> If you look inside, the QSC does have a bit
> larger transformer. If you're going to run
> at 8 ohms this won't make any difference.

Really? Is there no potential for higher power output, or at least more reliable output?

> I don't really care for QSC, not enough to
> pay twice as much.

Is this regarding the RMX series only, or QSC amps in general? I've had much luck with the 5 older QSC's that I have.

Aric

[Paul O]

> Sorry, I guess I was thinking the RMX 1450 would be the competition for the Behringer.

Actually the behringer is close to the 2450 in output at 8 and 4ohms stereo.... it's bridged mono where the smaller power supply starts to hurt it... It just can't deliver the published specs and trips the protection circuits earlier than the QSC would.

The newer QSCs seem to be pretty solid, but I'm not a fan of the USA models. These seem good for sub duty when used in stereo mode, but can't drive difficult loads and don't sound very good on fullrange speakers... compared to a PLX for example. These were entry level boxes anyway so the performance is not really surprising. You get what you pay for and all that.

[aricaudio]

> Actually the behringer is close to the 2450
> in output at 8 and 4ohms stereo.... it's
> bridged mono where the smaller power supply
> starts to hurt it... It just can't deliver
> the published specs and trips the protection
> circuits earlier than the QSC would.

That's kind of what I figured

> The newer QSCs seem to be pretty solid, but
> I'm not a fan of the USA models. These seem
> good for sub duty when used in stereo mode,
> but can't drive difficult loads and don't
> sound very good on fullrange speakers...
> compared to a PLX for example. These were
> entry level boxes anyway so the performance
> is not really surprising. You get what you
> pay for and all that.

Yeah, I've never tried those models. I have an mx1500a, HAD an mx1500(with dual p.s.), I currently run a pair of Series I, model 1400's, one bridged and one in stereo and I also had a Model 1700 running large full-range mains. All of these models have given me nothing but clean solid reliability.

Aric

[Paul O]

Yeah the old MX stuff was great!!! We used the 1500's back in College for frat parties driving big old JBL scoops, Klipsch LaScala's, and other horn loaded boxes of various make and model. Strong clean sound for hours on end.