Commercial Power Amps

[Bill F777]

What commercial power amps have you used and liked or disliked. I'm talking about amps from manufacturers like Crown, QSC, Peavey, Crest, GLI, AB International, Yamaha etc.

I like the Peavey 4C, AB International 400 and the Yamaha P2250.

I dislike the Peavey CS 400.

[Altec19]

I use a Crown DC-300A Series II to drive a pair of M19's in the summer when it's a bit warm for tubes. No question, it's a rock 'n roll amp that will kick you in the stomach with just the least bit of provocation. The upper octaves are a bit edgy when you're familiar with tubes but I enjoy it for a few months out of the year.

[Old Guy]

GLI is absolute junk, aimed at the disco market.

I like Crown D150's. Some AB's are pretty good, don't remember the numbers though.

Some of the Hafler stuff is also good- I used to use them for horns.

The older Lab Gruppens- the real heavy ones- are quite good. The newer lightweight ones don't sound as good.

The big Altec 400/watt ch job was another good commercial amp-

[Todd W. White]

LOVE the sound of the Altec 1568's and 1569's - sound better than the Mac's of the same era in my ears...

[martyh45]

I have a pair of qsc 1400s that I occasionally use bridged with inefficient subs. They are ok for that duty but they don?t cut it running full range for me. Hafler was making transnova stuff in commercial versions and I liked the home version for a transistor amp so those might be good. I still own a pair of Altec 1568s and I like them enough that they will probably never be sold.

[Audio_by_Goodwill]

What's the thought here about the Peavey CS-800? I've read that it's modeled or copied from the BGW something or other, and built like a tank. I thought about getting one for home use.

[valhallax]

first amp i ever owned..still own, was the peavey cs-800. 2 channells.4 outputs, it has never failed me in 15 yrs, still as quiet as the day i bought it. i havent ran my a-5's or 210's with it, so i dont really know how to compare it. it has allways been in service with my altec 1217's and now, also with my altec 840's. it pushes 24 8 inch speakers very well, and with no noticable amp fatigue..even under long sessions. the subwoofer amp i run is a crest cc-4000, well suited for the purpose. the rest of the amps are altec 9444a's or b's, with one being a s/a version. only one of these has noticeable hum, probably just needs some calibration. yes, all ss amps, easy to run and virtually no maintenance

[Old Guy]

The fellow who did the RCA circuits that they furnished with their transistors went to work for Peavey. BGW used those circuits as their basis, so the amps are evolutions from a common circuit.

Protection is completely different, and there are other differences.

Frankly, that same circuit is used in dozens at least, possibly hundreds, of amps from the period.

Kustom used the same basic topology, albeit in a smaller version. So did the first Crest amps, but of course several early Crest employees were renegade BGW techs.

The internet rumor that they are the same amp really doesn't have a lot of backup, but it keeps getting posted.

All that said, IMHO Peavey's electronics, especially amps, were the best stuff they made.

These days, there are tons of decent sounding amps cheap- but they all are heavier. The 40 pound Behringer EP2500 for instance. Everybody wants stuff like the PLX which is half the weight or less. But close to triple the price.

[bowtie427ss]

The internet rumor that they are the same amp really doesn't have a lot of backup, but it keeps getting posted.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Indeed the closest substantive connection i'm aware of today comes from your knowledge banks OG. That being the common source for their sheet metal, aside from that i've never seen anything but parroting of the urban legend.

I will say tho, that the BGW amps built before the company was purchased by Amplifier Technologies are very well built and sonically on par with the better amps of their vintages.

I'd further add that in the case of Peavey, the generations of their amplifiers that followed the original CS400 and CS800 were NOT made in the USA.

Have you seen Brian Wachner's latest endeavors?

http://www.hps4000.com/pages/speak_index_.html

http://www.hps4000.com/pages/project440_.html

It seems much has been borrowed from klipsch.

Just my .02......................

[Old Guy]

Didn't Know old Brian G.W. was still breathing air. He must be getting up there- he is a bit my senior.

Very high ego guy-after all it was his initials on the product. But he was good at what he did.

The BGW was the industry standard for a while- it was much preferred over Crown.