Dangers of using a Pro Audio amp at home

[RevAmish]

Could anyone explain to me the dangers of using a pro audio amp with a home setup? Someone said that voltage could be an issue? Can anyone clarify this for me?

 

[Jon_Logan]

Yes, the danger is, you might find it better than home HiFi gear..


...there is a standard interface level issue, as the pro market observes standard for line levels where hifi does not. There shold be no issue though.

 

[RevAmish]

I'm currently using an older Crown amp which I guess is technically "pro audio" equipment without any issues. I have a line on a more high powered amp and didn't know if this would be a problem. Thanks for your input.

 

[slow_jazz]

There is no danger.....

 

[SWL3600]

.......been using Crown amps in the home for four years now with no issues.

 

[kconnor]

Do it you won’t regret it. You’ll get more of what you’re paying your money for. I recently went from a 60 watt per channel class A tube amp to a couple of bridged Crown D-75 amplifiers. One for each channel. Sounds just as good and the low bass is better. Audio has been a hobby of mine since 1973 and I’ve been through a lot of gear and a lot of fads. Once I get over the snobbery that’s rampant in audiophile-ville I found being pragmatic is more sensible, more fun and a lot cheaper.

 

[similost]

Only one danger I could think of... You have about 6 or 10 of the amps stacked up to drive your system and you draw too much current and pop a breaker.. I have 3 pro amps plugged into one outlet with no problems.

 

[EddyFranner]

I had a Yamaha P-2201 with no problems.

 

[ehoove]

Fan noise.
Regards,
Jim

 

[RevAmish]

My crown was running roughly 250wpc with my 4oh Magnepan smga's, they'd open up nicely at any level. I now have a pair of 6oh MGII's and they don't do that until you reach pretty high volumes. The pro amp I was looking at would be around 400wpc. Thought it would help.

I was going to disconnect the fans...

 

[similost]

oh.. the 3 amps I run at once on the same outlet are rated for a total of about 2550 watts I'm not running them any where near that though...

 

[cpmschd]

Thanks for starting the thread. I have been considering this myself as it seems you get quite a bit more for your money on the utility side of the market. Yes, fan noise would be an issue. My hunch has always been that it was basically a high-end wristwatch versus the electric clock on your dresser. Roughly $0.50 to $0.75 per watt (total for both channels). To use with home hi-fi gear, you'd have to look for an amp that has conventional connectors for I/O and speakers... rather than those oversized modular plugs (whatever they call them).

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Crown-XLS-402D-Power-Amplifier-103635538-i1145681.gc

 

[similost]

You can easily make cables with XLR on one end, and RCA on the other... If they have Speakeron connectors for the speaker, you can easily make those up too for your speaker wires..

In my system I mix XLR, RCA, 1/4" with no problems... They also make adapters that aren't very expensive..

 

[SWL3600]

Same here. At one time, for about six months or so I had six Crown amps at 500 watts each running. Had them running off a 30 amp source but never a problem.

 

[d-ray657]

I wish everyone would quit talking about this until I get mine. Don't want too much competition in the marketplace.

Regards,

D-Ray

 

[Freezer7Pro]

The only "danger" I can think of is low sound quality; some of the cheaper PA amplifiers run in pure class B and have some significant IMD numbers compared to any hi-fi amplifier.

 

[similost]

Even the worst of some of the pro amps sound a lot better than some of the middle of the road home consumer grade amps..

 

[cdfac]

Even the worst of some of the pro amps sound a lot better than some of the middle of the road home consumer grade amps..

not saying you're wrong, but i'd like an example (along with the speakers used in the comparison, if you've A/B-ed yourself) to keep in my mind. i'm also curious what "worst of some" and "middle of the road" means to you.

 

[similost]

Well, I've got my Crown D150 which I don't consider to be a whole lot of an amp as far as a pro amp, and it blows away my Audiosource Amp2 and my Sansui QR6500 sound wise.. on any of the speakers I have...

 

[blackfly]

Do it you won’t regret it. You’ll get more of what you’re paying your money for. I recently went from a 60 watt per channel class A tube amp to a couple of bridged Crown D-75 amplifiers. One for each channel. Sounds just as good and the low bass is better. Audio has been a hobby of mine since 1973 and I’ve been through a lot of gear and a lot of fads. Once I get over the snobbery that’s rampant in audiophile-ville I found being pragmatic is more sensible, more fun and a lot cheaper.

I can agree with the cheaper part but to assume that pro amps are better than "snobby" home audio gear (high end) is only you trying to convince yourself it is not better. I have A/B'ed lots of gear over the years and you get what you pay for, no matter what your intrest may be. Cheap amps, cheap wine, cheap cars.... it all shows through eventually.

I will be the first to admit most high end gear is overpriced but there is NO WAY you can compare pro amps to high end home audio amps. The high end gear is far better made (in fit and finish for sure, as esthetics do not matter much for pro gear that is packed into a van after the gig) and attention to low level detail is far more involved. Even amongst high end gear there are differences in detail, low end weight and compatibility with speakers. True, pro amps are cheaper, but to think that snobbery is the only reason for high end gear is to forget one thing: nothing evolves in pro audio gear. New technologies are not exploited, circuit designs or topologies. Pro gear is built simple, strong and to last, with sonics afterward. Listening environments are different and any distortion in the pro gear is easily overlooked by crowd noise, adult beverages...

True an amps' job is to enlarge the signal but the snobbery you alude to exists far less often than you might think. Lamm Audio, MBL perhaps. Bryston, Krell, Mark Levinson, McIntosh..... not so much.