Members dedmeet Posted September 30, 2013 Members Share Posted September 30, 2013 So, here is the situation. My church is currently getting by with an older Peavey RQ2326 mixer patched to the power amp inputs on a Mackie FR series powered mixer. One channel drives two unknown install cabs and one Peavey SP118 sub. The other channel drives three Yamaha S112V monitor cabs on stage. No EQ, no effects, no processing. The sanctuary is not large, max cap is about 120 ppl, with a typical Sunday crowd of 60-75. Music is contemporary praise at sensible volume. Mics are Sennheiser e835 x4 for vocals, one Beta 58a for vocals, and one Samson Co1 on the piano. Typically the PA is vocals and piano, with a dash of guitars and bass if needed (which is not often).Having done some recent upgrades on my gear, I plan on passing along some of my older gear to the church. Mainly, I am donating my Peavey 16FX mixer and one Samson Servo 550 amp. My plan is to put the mixer in biamp mode and drive the Samson 550 - one side for tops and the other for subs. The next step will be to either drive two monitor mixes off the old Mackie head or, better yet, get another power amp ro replace it. No, it will not get rock and roll loud, but should be a notable improvement over the existing setup.Obviously, it would be nice to get the powered mackie head out of the setup entirely. I have an old RMX 850 laying about that I would not miss too much, but I am concerned its fan would be intrusively loud in the small space. Can any of you suggest a power amp in a modest power range (200-350/ch into 4 ohms) which is notably quiet and can be had on a modest budget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted September 30, 2013 Members Share Posted September 30, 2013 I've never noticed an RMX850's fan being loud - YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted September 30, 2013 CMS Author Share Posted September 30, 2013 Agreed, the fans on the RMX's are pretty quiet, and don't have an obnoxious sound. In a room large enough for 100+ people I doubt anyone would notice them at all, even with the smallest number of people present. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike M Posted October 1, 2013 Members Share Posted October 1, 2013 The best amp by far in my book for your application: Crown K1 (or Crown K2 for more power). I have two K2's and one K1 that I purchased in the late 90's.....no fan...totally quiet. I consider them old (new) technology. There are a few units available on ebay for cheap.I use the above amps for my choral sound applications...totally quiet.... No problems at all. Totally bullet-proof. There are lighter units (with fans) out there but these have been some the best investments that I have made for my sound business.I have other amps in my inventory for louder applications but I use the K1/K2's for my choral applications... All of my portable church/choral clients have been satisfied. Mike M They would be perfect for an installed house-of-worship application IMO. Mike M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted October 1, 2013 Members Share Posted October 1, 2013 I'd have no problems putting the rmx amp in there. But I would use a rack crossover, if some was to reboot the mixer or mess with the fx then that would erase the crossover and the operator at the time may not know it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted October 2, 2013 CMS Author Share Posted October 2, 2013 Before spending money on another amp, would it be worthwhile to simply try the RMX850 in the room? Some background sound hopefully won't ruin the day, and a test will verify its viability at zero cost.I'm curious about how much background noise exists in the sanctuary. Is there an HVAC system in the space? Outside street noise? In my experience, a room with even "quiet" people (who are just sitting and listening, not talking) still make an amazing amount of sound when you pay close attention.Another factor is whether a constant low-level sound is noticed by people who aren't made aware of it otherwise, and whether it is objectionable.I just did a small test in my studio space (it's just a large room in the basement). There's a dehumdifier that runs as needed, and a large fan is drying out some old magazines. Shutting them off renders the room silent except for outside noises. The RMX2450 fan can be heard from anywhere in the room, maximum distance is about 20 feet. The PLX3402 can also be heard, but is fairly raspy and more objectionable than that of the RMX.For comparison, I brought my laptop down. It's got a tiny fan. When it comes on, I can hear it just as easily as the amp fans. I then turned on the Cerwin Vega active speakers. They have fans, and can be heard just as well, but the hiss from the sysytem is actually louder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted October 11, 2013 CMS Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 FWIW, I had a chance to do a quick and dirty meter of my RMX2450's, and PLX3402. Using the decibel 10 iPhone app (so others can compare fairly readily), it was 45dB in front at 3 feet. The room ambient noise was 37dB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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