Crown CE 1000 vs. QSC RMX 1450 (1 Viewer)

[Greg P]

What do you think of each of these amps?(both can be had for the same price)

I know they are both highly rated, the only thing I had a question about is fan noise?

1. I heard the crown only has a variable fan, and that if might be quieter?

2. I could get a used MX1500a with a variable fan for the same price, would this be a better deal?

 

[BrendanL]

My brother has the CE-1000 and I have the CE-2000. They are very powerful. The fan kicks on rarely, and the variable speed is nice in keeping it from going at full tilt. However, they are quite susceptible to bad wiring, I had to use ground lifting plugs to get rid of most of the ground loop. OTOH, the wiring I'm plugged into is in a house from 1929. Check out the woodwind and brasswind for a super low price on them and free shipping.

 

[Bob Christensen]

I have heard from pro-sound friends that the Crown CE series are not stable when running bridged mode. This is second-hand, and the only experience that I have is running the CE1000 stereo into 8ohm load at less than half throttle, so that is not a very trying test (but it did work OK).
In the pro-sound crowd, the QSC line is highly regarded, and the price differences are really not that great (especially by HT standards). Try http://www.zzounds.com/ click on "Live Sound" under "Categories", and then click "Power Amps" subcategory for some screaming deals on both QSC and Crown products.

 

[Bob Christensen]

Note the free shipping on orders over $200.

 

[Steve Peterson]

I've got a QSC RMX850, and its going back. Why? Fan noise. The fan is on all the time and is quite noticable. That is really too bad, as it was a good price ($299) and did exactly what I wanted it to. It will be replaced with the Crown CE-1000.

Steve "Its unfortunate that the fan is so whinny. Its a decent amp." Peterson

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Aside from the noise, Steve, what were your impressions of the amp? I held one in Guitar Center yesterday, and it had impressive heft for such an inexpensive amp (silly, I know, but I'm easily impressed). How did you hook it up, and did you have any level problems?

 

[Greg P]

Have any of you guys heard the Qsc MX series?

Are these quieter than the RMX series?

They are supposed to have a 2-speed variable fan. I can get a MX-1500a(1500 watts bridged) used on ebay for around $350. I think this series is supposed to be a more efficient amp.

Thanks,

Greg

 

[Steve Peterson]

Aside from the noise, Steve, what were your impressions of the amp?

I bought the amp as a replacement for the current amp I have on my shiva sonosub. I recently moved and the current amp (old Crown ps-200) was really underpowered for the new room and would clip, so I need something with more "oomph". Here are some of my thoughts on the QSC:

* Build quality - Typical for pro-amp. I am the director of sound & lights at my church and we use Crown, Crest Audio, and Yamaha amps. The RMX is similar to the entry level models offered by those other manafacturers. One thing I did note was that the QSC amp did come with the rear rack mounting brackets, something that some amp manafacturers don't supply. (Additional cost option.). This QSC had barrier strip and 1/4" TRS inputs and barrier strip, banana clip and speakon connectors. (For Vince - QSC set up the speakon correctly - Channel 1 carries both signals for easy bi-amping.)

* Sound quality - While I did not hook it up to my mains, it did create good clean sounding bass. In some ways I think it was a little cleaner than the Crown, but the Crown amp is over 20 years old and only 100 wpc vs the 200wpc of the QSC.

* How I hooked it up - I tried both 8 ohm stereo and 4 ohm mono (bridged) setup with the amp. For the 8 ohm stereo, I used the 1/4" TRS with a Y splitter as an unbalanced connection from the receiver (Yamaha 795a). Set the volume high on the amp, low on the receiver and SPL to dial it in. Bottomed the sub on the THX trailer on the TPM disk. I then tried the amp as the 4 ohm bridged - set the dip switches, remove the channel 2 input, re-SPL and retest (with the volume a little lower) didn't bottom on the THX, but is was very loud. It did seem that at 4 ohm the fan ran a little fast so was a little noisier during bass heavy things. I went back to 8 ohm stereo.

* Fan noise - I have a Flexy rack so everything is open to the world. (Side note - my new house has a "media niche" with tile floors. Basiclly a 7 foot wide 2 foot deep indent into the wall.) When I first put the amp in the rack the fan was LOUD. I was able to get it to register at 55 to 60 DB on the SPL meter. I dug out some of that eggcrate foam you get when they ship hard drives and surrounded the back of the amp and set the amp on top on an area rug. That quieted it down substancially. Unfortunately I could still hear the "whirr" from the fan in quiet passages in movies. Too much for me.

If you could put the amp in an enclosed space, or another room, it could work for you. In my situation, it wont work for me.

Also, the RMX series has a low cut filter, so if you use this amp with a sub, make sure it is turned off. The one I got came with the filter on.

Steve "And that's the whole poop." Peterson

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Thank you, Steve. I'm guessing the 8-ohm stereo connection was one channel to each voice coil?

 

[Pete Mazz]

Supposedly you can order at least some of the QSC amps with a quieter fan. Not sure if it's offered on the RMX line, tho.

I think, for subwoofer duty, at least, you could put a resistor in line with the fan to slow it down and not have problems. It's on my "to do" list for my Carver.

Pete

 

[Steve Peterson]

Thank you, Steve. I'm guessing the 8-ohm stereo connection was one channel to each voice coil?

*DINGDINGDING*
That's correct.
Steve "Tell the man what he's won!" Peterson

 

[TedO]

Steve,

Know that you've had the Crown for awhile do you thik it's better than the QSC?

Is there anything to the claim of the Crowns having bad wiring and not being stable in bridged mode?

Is there a reason you didn't consider a Crest LT1000?

I am looking to buy a 1kw+ amp for my sub and I think it's down to those three, QSC, Crown and Crest.

TedO