plate amps vs rack amps (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Beck]

Since this is DIY sub relatede, I hope this is the right plate to be. Was wondering what the trade offs if any, when it comes to plate amps, vs rack or shelf style amps.
Looking to run subs only.
Thanks guys,...>>>--->

 

[Rick Guynn]

Generally, plate amps are cheaper and have other niceties such as built-in crossovers, phase controls, and auto-on circuits.

RG

 

[Kyle Richardson]

In addition to what Rick said:
In general, plate amps are lower wattage and have no fans while rack amps are higher wattage and most have fans. Again, this is in general and there are exceptions to that statement.

 

[Ryan Schnacke]

Also some professional rack amps require a higher input voltage than the norm for home audio equipment. Plate amps were designed for home audio so this is not an issue for them.

 

[Greg_R]

You need to cut a hole for the plate amp in your sub's enclosure (unless you build an external enclosure for it). This is one more seal that can leak...

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

In general, plate amps are lower wattage and have no fans while rack amps are higher wattage and most have fans.

Oh Oh Oh!!!!!
can I get a plate amp version of my Crown K2? I have really been looking for a 2500watt convection cooled plate amp

 

[jeff lam]

That's why I was looking for a way to get a plate amp in a rack mount chassis a while back. I just decided to go with a crown CE1000. Pro amps are more robust and beefy than plate amps but also have fans, lack features, and what everyone else said.

If you need a rack mount amp, NHT makes some good ones with nice features just like a plate amp but they are way more expensive than the PE 250W plate amp.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I prefer standalone amps over a plate amp as most standalone amps don't have a high pass filter or boost like most plate amps. Most standalone amps seems to have better/larger heatsinks, better/larger powersupplies, larger/more capacitors, and have a convienient distortion light as well. Most standalone amps have fuses for the channel while most plate amps from what I've seen only has it for the power supply. Most standalone amps can be ran temporarily into 2 ohm loads (because they have a fuse that'll pop, but this is assuming you're not bridging channels) but most plate amps seem to be limited to 4 ohm loads and tend to overheat. Cost wise for one sub plate is cheaper but for 2+ subs and easier future upgrades the standalone amp is much better for an overall setup.

The main advantage some plate amps have imho is the variable phase switch which allows for a greater freedom of sub placement. Most people use the x-over in their pre-amp/AVR and set the remaining speakers small so to me the x-over is pretty meaningless for most users due to this.