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Power amplifier recomendations. between 800 and 1600 watts


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I am looking to buy my first power amplifier. Looking to spend $200- $450. What are the better brands? I need 4 ohm amplifier rated between 800 and 3200 watts. My FOH speakers are Carvin 1588 4 ohms rated at 800 watts continueous power/ The cabs can be used as a drum monitor. Do I buy used or new? Do I need 4 channel or two channel.amplifier? Should I buy a separate amplifier for each speaker? What are some of the qualities you look at in amplifiers besides power. Any features I need to know about that would be important to have.

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One channel per speaker is generally the best route. 2 speakers, 2 channel amp. 4 speakers 4 channel amp. Of course there are paralel options depending on the brand/model of speaker. I do not suggest running 2 ohm loads or bridge, seems you get more problems than you get in gain, others on here will probably explain a little more details.

 

Peavey, QSC, yamaha, Crown, all make good amplifiers. I'd stick with Class D cause they are light. As far as used amps, I have purchased 4 total in my life, 2 went bad or needed repair. Considering these are connected to your lifeline (speakers) I would want something I can trust, which would be new amplifiers.

 

Also your amplifier should reflect the processing you require, obviously if your using a xover/eq/driverack/whatever, you probably don't need an amp with a bunch of DSP on it. If you want to use the amps DSP then you need a amp with DSP. In order for others to make a good suggestion what processing are you using?

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nchangin hit a lot of the important points. Your budget is going to limit your choices. If you do need a 4 channel amp my first thought was the QSC PLD series. But that is double what you want to spend.

I know they don't get a lot of love but the Behringer iNuke4 would be in your price range. Not my first choice but they work. I installed one a year ago in a venue were it is left on 24/7 and so far no issues.

If you don't need a 4 channel amp then there are many more options.

 

 

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Buy old cheap stuff. The cheaper the better. Go find you some PV CS800's if you can. It's a perfect 800 watts too. They are the best dollar to performance ratio on the planet! Rock on brother.

 

A PV CS800 is 400 watts at 4 ohms. The newer ones can be Bridged at 1200 watts at 4 ohms but that would be a little too much if pushed.

I'd look for a used PV series pv2600. 900 watts at 4 ohms with a 40hz low cut filter. Pretty good all around working man's amp. I have one I drag out from time to time and it works great. As an example. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peavey-PV2600-Pv-Series-Power-Amplifier-/311858783422?hash=item489c3b64be:g:L0gAAOSw42dZA6dd

 

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How about a Crown's XLi 3500 power amplifier https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XLI3500 2-channel Power Amplifier, 1350W Continuous/ch at 4 ohms, with Flexible I/O, Selectable input voltage, Forced air cooling How about Crown e XTi 4002 is packed with Peak Plus Limiters that give you full control over threshold, attack, and release.https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XTi4002 [h=1][/h]

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I decided I am going with this Crown XTI202 amplifier. It is 800 watts /chan at 4 ohms.https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XTi2002/reviews. It was either that or save money by buying The Behringer Nuke Nu4-6000 https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NU4-6000. The Behringer would over power the speakers and could blow them up.https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/NU6000DSP. I think the Crown would sound better than Behringer. The PeavyPV series I considered don't know how old it that model is .http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peavey-PV2600-Pv-Series-Power-Amplifier-/311858783422?hash=item489c3b64be:g:L0gAAOSw42dZA6dd&afsrc=1&rmvSB=true Most old amps the first thing would go wrong is the fan although amps last twenty years buying used can be risky.

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