hypertone
Keepin' it Analog
Yes.
The most "dangerous" thing about using a pro amp at home is breaking a toe if you drop it while moving it. :yes:
Dangers of using a Pro Audio amp at home
- Thread starter RevAmish
- Start date
Yes.
The most "dangerous" thing about using a pro amp at home is breaking a toe if you drop it while moving it. :yes:
whoaru99
Epic Member
Yeah...was going to say, no innovations? Take a look at Powersoft K-series. Lot's 'o stuff and power in 1RU boxes.
I like the line from their website. "A switch, a couple of potentiometers?! Not anymore. That's yesterday's news"
RebelKat
Resident Tiger
A toe? My ross amps with thier dual power transformers would break your whole FOOT. They're freaking boat anchors! Got one on my home system and Gig with another driving my bass rig! LOL!:thmbsp::thmbsp:
And yes, they sound beautiful and musical for home, and shake the ground when I'm out with the band!
kconnor
Well-Known Member
I think for the majority of audio enthusiasts who are on a budget, a carefully selected pro-amp is another option than can yield more for your money. I think most will agree that the majority of audiophiles summarily dismiss them as sonically inferior. If it sounded like I meant to imply that all pro amps are better than the equivalent piece of home audio gear it came out the wrong way. The first pro amp I decided to try was the Crown D-75. I remember when I first got it I told a guy I work with about it, (an audiophile and tube aficionado) and the first word out of his mouth was “junk”. That said without even hearing my system. The low distortion, immaculate transfer function and high damping factor peaked my curiosity. At the time my daily driver was a 60 w/ pc class a tube amp. I bought the D-75 for about $125. The Crown was just as pure in the treble and better in the bass than the tube amp. Maybe it just suits my taste, which after all is what I think it all comes down to anyway. Subsequently I bought another for about the same price and run them bridged, one for each channel driving Klipsch Forte speakers. The volume they can reach cleanly with these amps is ungodly. Over the years I’ve owned a myriad of home audio amps like a monster 70lb 205 w/pc Philips power amp, a full out Curcio modded Dynaco ST-70 and many others in between. After all the years I’ve been around, I am lucky to be able to afford almost any amp I wish to. Therefore, I don’t think that at this point in my life I have to brainwash myself into believing that pro amps are just as good out of necessity. Its just that with age comes wisdom and I can see through the B.S a just little better now.
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I've joined the pro amp club! I always wanted to hear one powering my MMG's- I had considered renting one. Then a local music center had an old BGW 500D for a small price. I cleaned it up, replaced the filter caps, & removed the rough sounding fan. The depth & power of the bass & midrange is amazing! I'm going to refurb it with new electrolytics, install an IEC and RCA input jacks, and do some creative ducting to get the cooling fan into the storage room behind my system. I was using a DIY SKA 150D amp that sounds great , but the lust for more juice was too much!
BMWCCA
Addicted Member
I bought my first Crown D150 new back in the early '70s. At that time it was sold to me as an amp for home use by a TOTL Hi-Fi store that was also a dealer for McIntosh, JBL, and other fine brands. I even had it tested at several McIntosh clinics back then and it passed with flying colors. It never disappointed me used in a home system, it's still in daily operation, and I now own seven other Crown D and PS-series amps, all used in the home systems of my family——and neighbors, when their consumer amps fail.
For those of you mixing the wires with LoZ (balanced - XLR usually) on one end and 1/4" or RCA on the other (MOST 1/4" are unbal, tho you can wire them bal if your equip can take it), there's a neat little gadget on the market by a company called ebtech/Morley that comes in a 19" rackmount configuration called a "Line Level -> Shifter."
The LLS-8 has 8 1/4" bal or unbal pairs, one side is -10db (consumer/prosumer line level) and the other side is +4db (pro). You just put this little sucker in the middle of your wire run (passive, does not require power), and it will convert your -10db in to +4db out OR you can go the other way and go +4db in to -10db out, if (for example) you're using a hi powered but consumer hi-fi amp.
If you're using a pro level amp, this will boost the signal, and remove a LOT of the noise caused by trying to "boost" low level by just turning the volume up.
If you have problems with line noise (60 cycle hum, for example) ebtech makes a "4x4" model which does the Line level shifting on 4 pairs (channels), and ground lift/hum eliminator on the other four pair.
It's a great little item to have in your rig. You can finally and easily get your input signals from your RTR, cassette deck or sound card up to pro level for your Crown, etc.
I'm a pro musician for a living, and I have a Crown 402 in my office rack, running into a couple of Samson Expeditions, and the sound is amazing! I also have another rack in my studio with a QSC 2500 for running my three way speakers (18"/9"/4" ferro fluid), and in my road rack I use a QSC 3602
Power:
775 watts stereo at 8 ohms
1250 watts stereo at 4 ohms
1800 watts stereo at 2 ohms
2600 watts bridged to mono at 8 ohms
3600 watts bridged to mono at 4 ohms
.. and it weighs a back breaking 21#. They also have an 1802 model (half the power) that weighs less then 20#..
My "receiver" that I use to drive 7.1 using a Klipsch 12" 600W powered sub is a Sony STR-DA7100ES, which puts out an "alleged" 170W x 6 ch. I have one of those in my studio and in my home theatre living room, where I use:
Front: two Cerwin Vega D7
Center: JBL LC2 (4way)
Side and Rear Surr (mounted in position, but flush in ceiling) Jamo 10.5K4 (200w, 4way, 10")
Sub: JBL MP418SP, which is an 18" pro sub w/built in Crown amp
For wiring the "in ceiling" Jamo's, I found a DEAL online, CL2/CL3 12 ga in-wall rated at Parts Express for $129/1M' spool (damn thing is heavy!).
Oops, wandered ot, sorry.
Rick
The LLS-8 has 8 1/4" bal or unbal pairs, one side is -10db (consumer/prosumer line level) and the other side is +4db (pro). You just put this little sucker in the middle of your wire run (passive, does not require power), and it will convert your -10db in to +4db out OR you can go the other way and go +4db in to -10db out, if (for example) you're using a hi powered but consumer hi-fi amp.
If you're using a pro level amp, this will boost the signal, and remove a LOT of the noise caused by trying to "boost" low level by just turning the volume up.
If you have problems with line noise (60 cycle hum, for example) ebtech makes a "4x4" model which does the Line level shifting on 4 pairs (channels), and ground lift/hum eliminator on the other four pair.
It's a great little item to have in your rig. You can finally and easily get your input signals from your RTR, cassette deck or sound card up to pro level for your Crown, etc.
I'm a pro musician for a living, and I have a Crown 402 in my office rack, running into a couple of Samson Expeditions, and the sound is amazing! I also have another rack in my studio with a QSC 2500 for running my three way speakers (18"/9"/4" ferro fluid), and in my road rack I use a QSC 3602
Power:
775 watts stereo at 8 ohms
1250 watts stereo at 4 ohms
1800 watts stereo at 2 ohms
2600 watts bridged to mono at 8 ohms
3600 watts bridged to mono at 4 ohms
.. and it weighs a back breaking 21#. They also have an 1802 model (half the power) that weighs less then 20#..
My "receiver" that I use to drive 7.1 using a Klipsch 12" 600W powered sub is a Sony STR-DA7100ES, which puts out an "alleged" 170W x 6 ch. I have one of those in my studio and in my home theatre living room, where I use:
Front: two Cerwin Vega D7
Center: JBL LC2 (4way)
Side and Rear Surr (mounted in position, but flush in ceiling) Jamo 10.5K4 (200w, 4way, 10")
Sub: JBL MP418SP, which is an 18" pro sub w/built in Crown amp
For wiring the "in ceiling" Jamo's, I found a DEAL online, CL2/CL3 12 ga in-wall rated at Parts Express for $129/1M' spool (damn thing is heavy!).
Oops, wandered ot, sorry.
Rick
whoaru99
Epic Member
I have found the level matching boxes are seldom necessary to drive a pro amp with consumer preamp.
If one really looks at it, the input sensitivity of "consumer" amps and pro amps are very similar, tyically both are ~1.5V, give or take a bit, to drive full output.
IMO, the -10dBV and +4dBu more applies to fixed output level devices like comparing a consumer tape deck to a pro audio tape deck.
If one really looks at it, the input sensitivity of "consumer" amps and pro amps are very similar, tyically both are ~1.5V, give or take a bit, to drive full output.
IMO, the -10dBV and +4dBu more applies to fixed output level devices like comparing a consumer tape deck to a pro audio tape deck.
