Members chord123 Posted March 8, 2017 Members Share Posted March 8, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted March 8, 2017 Members Share Posted March 8, 2017 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Don Davis Posted March 8, 2017 Members Share Posted March 8, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chord123 Posted April 26, 2017 Author Members Share Posted April 26, 2017 Not using any processing. i have a Allen Heath GLS 24 channel mixer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chord123 Posted April 28, 2017 Author Members Share Posted April 28, 2017 I need 4 ohm amplifier rated between 800 and 1600 watts. My FOH speakers are Carvin 1588 4 ohms rated at 800 watts continueous power. Do I buy used or new? Any recomendations and models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nchangin Posted April 28, 2017 Members Share Posted April 28, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dookietwo Posted April 30, 2017 Members Share Posted April 30, 2017 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chord123 Posted April 30, 2017 Author Members Share Posted April 30, 2017 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] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 1, 2017 Members Share Posted May 1, 2017 I wouldn't recommend ANYMORE than 800 watts/chan at 4 ohms continuous for those speakers, not if you expect them to live very long anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chord123 Posted May 1, 2017 Author Members Share Posted May 1, 2017 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 Whatever you end up buying, make sure it has limiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted May 7, 2017 Members Share Posted May 7, 2017 ... and a warranty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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