Power amp

[hammer]

I'm  looking to upgrade my rig and just purchased a FX-1 to use with my Distilllate.  Next step is a power amp to replace my old Sunn Coliseum head. I typically use a 4 x 10 speaker cab but want sufficient power to be able to add a 1 x 15 in the future if the need arises.  Ive been looking at Crown and Qsc amps and wonder what those using them think.

[sonicus]

Currently I like My Crest  amps for Bass rigs with my Alembic preamps and SF-2.  I have an FA-901   and VS-900.  If you can find a Crest CA-9 that would be swell!  AWESOME SOUNDING ! My other power amps are the Yamaha  P-2200 ,( 4 of them!) they are great old amps that are also convection cooled but they take up 4 rack spaces  per amp . They are long discontinued from the 1970's .
 
A Crown K2 (discontinued) is nice because of the convection cooling and HIGH damping factor. These are not that old.

[sonicus]

 
 
Check out the link above . This has been a recurring topic here.
 
 
     Sonic Regards!

[bigredbass]

Yamaha P-series power amps from the late 70' / early 80's are wonderfully neutral sounding amps, I still kick myself for selling one of the big ones that had VU meters.  I shudder to think how many bands went down the road with those and Peavey CS800's, the Ford pickup truck of power amps.
 
J o e y

[hammer]

Thanks for the input.  Heading over to Minneapolis Today to  check out four FA-901s that are being sold for a Very reasonable price.  Does any one know much about the amps? All I've be able to find is that they push 225 into 8 ohms and 300 into 4 ohms.  Given the price, I'm tempted to get more than one if they check out.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I've said it before and I'll probably say it again; Not only are Yamahas the most neutral amp I've come across, they're the only ones that never broke on me mid-gig.  If you want color, the others all have some - try them & find the shade you like.  If you want to hear exactly what comes out your pre-amp - or if you want to start every night knowing you'll end it using the same amp - get a Yamaha.  I have more limited experience with the new ones, but they seem just as good, and they're all 2 rack spaces.
 
Peter (who has no connection to Yamaha other than the warm, relaxed feeling a rackfull of them gives a soundman)

[edwin]

These are all great amps. However, you might want to take into consideration the weight factor. The Crest CA9 is indeed a great bass power amp, but it weighs more than 60 lbs. I went from one of those to a Crown XTi4000 (maybe overkill, but I don't want to run out of headroom) and it made life a lot better. It doesn't seem to lack in tone compared to the Crest and weighs 18.5lbs.  
 
I always have been tempted by the Yamaha amps. I played through a couple in the 90s and was pretty blown away. They can be had pretty cheap these days. Not as much power as the modern amps, but great sound.
 
My favorite tone comes from my McIntosh 2105. However, it's not practical to lug around and only puts out about 135 watts per channel.

[sonicus]

Hammer , I have a Crest FA-901 . I took it along with my Alembic F-2B , SF-2,& DS5-R  to the Northern California Alembic Gathering.
The FA-901 is a decent amp. In order for you to get full output with a non-balanced input you must tie the  ground  and inverted signal screw terminals together  or you will get a  6dB gain loss, you can tie  
pin 2 to pin 1 inside the XLR connector as well. This input is pin 3 hot.

[edwin]

Wow, pin 3 hot! I am surprised by this a little. I had thought Crest was a pin 2 company from way back.

[sonicus]

Edwin , YES , it's crazy PIN3 HOT, PIN2 HOT. PIN3 HOT.PIN2 HOT.
BACK AND FORTH !!!!!!!!!  POLARITY CHECK PLEASE !!!!!!
    Thanks to the AES for pushing making a standard PIN 2 Hot in 1990 ? But the FA-901  is from the early 1990's . I just looked it up in the pdf user manual  and yes PIN 3 HOT,I wired it accordingly and it seemed right as well .

[jacko]

Brian. I've been using a QSC PLX2402 for several years and it's never once let me down. It's a bit lighter than the equivalent crown power amp. You don't say what impedance your cab is. My cabs are 4ohms so I get 700watts per channel from the qsc - more than enough for just about any gig I'll ever play. It's a very neutral sounding amp - i currently run a fender pre but have also used eden and ampeg pre amps and you can easily tell the difference between them - no power amp colouration there.
 
Graeme

[hammer]

Thanks for info Graeme.  The Crest amps I checked out over the weekend were beaten to a pulp so they are a no go. It looks like its going to come down to a QSC or a Yamaha as Peter suggested. They appear to provide a lot of power for the money and everyone seems to have positive thngs to say about them. Since I've never played through a QSC I'm heading out tonight to play through a RMX1850 that a friend has through a 4 x 10 (4 ohm) set-up similar to mine. I'm a bit bummed that I missed a used 2502 that recently went for $400 on Ebay but will keep looking.

[pierreyves]

I have QSC and Yamaha P500S, I prefer the Yamaha because no noise of ventilator and best connectic. ;o)
http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/products/power_amps/p7000s/index.html
I use yamaha from a lot of years without any trouble.

[jbabies]

Ive got a Crown XTi 4000 as well, and its rocking. It's really clean sounding, powerful, light and has a massive amount of control options available though the internal DSP. It's also the only amp I have ever used that can do 4 set of balls to the wall rock and at the end of the night be cool to the touch. My pre amp gets hotter...Highly recommended...

[5sicks]

Behringer epx 3000 handles 2ohm loads all day/night with 900 w/ch @4ohms for $399. Clean, clear, uncolored and more power than I'll ever need driving 2 x15 Ciare 800 w in a Geoffrey cab. I never get my preamp past 2. Oh yeah, the amp weighs 22 lbs.