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Powering two 15 inch open-baffle subs

13characters

13characters

New Member
Hi everyone,
I am seeking advice on a decent amp to power my two 15 inch open baffle Hawthorn Augie subwoofers. Ideally with a cross over so I can have stereo subs. Currently using a NAD integrated C 320BEE to drive them. Appreciate any input. Cheers
 
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Does the Crown have a built in EQ function? That would be nice to have. You could do a slight boost in the low end, to extend bass, to help with the natural bass roll off in an OB design.
 
What is the rms rating of the woofers? Behringer ep2500/4000 or ep1500/2000 are cheap used and proven performers. Does fan noise matter ?
 
dezmond76 said:
What is the rms rating of the woofers? Behringer ep2500/4000 or ep1500/2000 are cheap used and proven performers. Does fan noise matter ?
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  • 2.5" voice coil Power handling: 225 watts RMS. Impedance: 8 Ohms SPL: 88.7 dB 1w/1m
Looks like a nice robust unit the Behringers, but doesn't look like they have a crossover. I'm pretty keen to try stereo subs, otherwise I can keep using my NAD. :)
 
Any amp with low distortion and high damping factor will work. Having been a Mac and Crown owner and installed almost everything else I would choose Crown for Subs. We can argue as to which ones, but over all Crown has an affordable high bar. If you have money to burn there are other choices, Threshold, Accuphase, Bryson, Boulder, Krell, etc etc. But for most folks Crown works well with Low frequencies. Their reference series were some of the best at the time, but were not accepted by Hifi folks, so after Harmon made some changes Crown became the standard for entertainment PA systems. If you want driver protection similar to Mac patented Power Guard you want QSC amplifiers. Just choose an amp with 3 db more power than the RMS rating of the speaker long term. The QSC amps are quiet with low distortion and filters you can choose to protect your speakers. QSC makes so many models today you'll have to wade thru the multiple choices. Not all the amps have the Power Guard feature.
 
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13characters said:
  • 2.5" voice coil Power handling: 225 watts RMS. Impedance: 8 Ohms SPL: 88.7 dB 1w/1m
Looks like a nice robust unit the Behringers, but doesn't look like they have a crossover. I'm pretty keen to try stereo subs, otherwise I can keep using my NAD. :)
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Keep in mind that there is nothing stopping you from using a crossover that is separate from the amp and as such there is no reason the amp has to have a crossover.
 
z-adamson said:
Keep in mind that there is nothing stopping you from using a crossover that is separate from the amp and as such there is no reason the amp has to have a crossover.
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Yes I've looked at that, but I also need an amp for my kitchen speakers, if I get a Crown XLS for the subs I can use the NAD amp in the kitchen, won't need to buy another amp as well. Cheers
 
13characters said:
Yes I've looked at that, but I also need an amp for my kitchen speakers, if I get a Crown XLS for the subs I can use the NAD amp in the kitchen, won't need to buy another amp as well. Cheers
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What I am saying is that you don't need to get that Crown amp due to it's crossover. You can get a qcs, behringer or whatever amp that does NOT have a crossover then get a separate crossover AND put the NAD amp in the kitchen.
 
z-adamson said:
What I am saying is that you don't need to get that Crown amp due to it's crossover. You can get a qcs, behringer or whatever amp that does NOT have a crossover then get a separate crossover AND put the NAD amp in the kitchen.
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Sorry, I forgot to mention that it's a budget thing, I figured for $550 I can get the Crown XLS but to get a separate crossover and power amp either be lower quality for the same amount, or go over my budget.
 
The Augies are 89db so your 50 watt NAD should have no problem driving them and visceral impact is not an issue with OB's. Rather than buying another amp which may not improve the SQ regardless of price I'd buy an active crossover. Doubt you'd have to save up for the $75 Behringer CX2310.
 
That, and the crossovers that comes in those amps, built in......suck.

Get a crossover. They don't cost much, it will come in handy as your system evolves down the road.

If you really can't afford an active crossover, then you have bigger problems than how to deploy this system.
 
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z-adamson said:
That, and the crossovers that comes in those amps, built in......suck.

Get a crossover. They don't cost much, it will come in handy as your system evolves down the road.

If you really can't afford an active crossover, then you have bigger problems than how to deploy this system.
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If the inbuilt crossovers are crap it might be worth reconsidering. The behringer CX2310 is $169 here, and the cheapest ok power amp is $550, but I could just get a second hand amp for a couple hundred to run the kitchen speakers. Cheers
 
Separate crossover does sound very appealing - more flexibility now and in the future, and plus something like a new Yamaha A-S301 for around $500 would be great in the kitchen. Think that's to road I'll go down. Thanks for eveybody's thoughts.
 
The Behringer CX2310 pictured here provides and controls the crossover for my Eminence Alpha 15a woofers in open baffles. The Augies are modified Alpha 15a's. I power the Alphas with a TPA3116 class D amp. I use a Ashly XR-1001 in another system providing the crossover for four Alpha woofers. For use as a bass only active crossover there is little if any difference between the two.

P1010026.jpg
 
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