QSC,Samson Mackie (1 Viewer)

[James Slade]

I am building an Adire alignment sonotube, I don't want to use a plate amp. I am trying to pick the best two channel amp for the job. The QSC RMX 850 seems good as well as the Samson s700. But I hate fan noise, could anyone comment of the noise of these amps or offer other suggestions in this quality and price range that are quite.

Thanks

 

[jeff lam]

I asked Tom V why he chose to sell the samson over the other brands like QSC and such. He said it was only because the fan was quiet. It has no other advantages other than that and it's pretty affordable. The only thing that holds me back from the samson is it's not bridgable to 4 ohms so if I ever get a blueprint or Brahma sub I will only be able to use 1 channel. I would rather have an amp that can bridge to 4 ohms but I may have to live with the samson until the day comes when I decide to need >1Kwatt.

BTW, I also need an amp for my tempest sonotube I will be building and don't want a plate amp either. I wish someone made a rack mount amp with sub features such as x-over, rumble filter, EQ, phase controls, etc...

I feel that is 1 area that car audio beats HT in. All the options for Amps, EQ's, x-overs, etc...

 

[Brandon B]

Of the 3 you list, I would say QSC makes sthe highest quality amp (I think the others good, I just think QSC's are better). If you really want to go without a fan, try and find a used Crown K1 on eBay. I've seen them for $600 or so.

QSC's and Crowns tend to be more able to handle lower impedance loads too, usually down to 2 ohm.

Also, on HarmonicDiscord.com there's a QSC forum where John from QSC can answer your questions. (Although the site seems to be down today.)

BB

 

[TerryC]

Mackie works great for me. I used a resistor and Panaflow fan to make it almost totally quiet too.

I think this is all personal opinionc same as asking why buy Rotel over Adcom over ATi over Parasound over B&K and so on.

When it comes down to it in the end they all(Mackie, Crown, QSC...) amplify well and do the job they are supposed to do.

BTW I don't know of any pro amps that offer 2ohm bridged stability thats within this price range.

 

[Jeremy_Wolf]

I use a crown CE2000 in my linkwitz transform design. The only complaint I have with the amp is that the fan can get a little loud. It is not enough to bug me though, because I am usually not able to hear it over the movie I am watching. If you look around on the net you can find the CE1000 for about $420. That is a pretty good price for a 1+KW amp.

 

[PeteG]

I would like to throw in crest audio amps the
quality is on par with QSC
but the fan isn't as quiet as the samson.
I use the crest bridged to 4ohms to drive a blueprint. I wish samson was bridgable too, because of the quiet fan.
The crown K1 price was a little out of my reach.
Crest audio

 

[James Slade]

I never though about bridging the amp, I plan on using one channel per voice coil, but I may not use an Adire driver in my next sub. This makes things more difficult, I was almost sure I was going to order a Samson, now I am afarid I will just want to sell it in a year.

Thanks for the heads up!

What about swapping fans?

 

[Jayson klimek]

I just put my sisters boyfreinds qsc amp up against my acurus a200 amps and it rocked. I heard no more noise in the qsc than i did in the a200s. my opinion is that qsc makes a great amp for almost any use, in home theater, stage or studio, front speakers rear speakers or subs. The fan is relativly quiet. For the price you cant go wrong. I want a rack full of them, and i would trade my a200s for them everyday of the week and twice on sunday.

 

[John A. Gordon]

Hello James,
Thanks for considering QSC for powering your sub(s). You will find many HTF people are using QSC amps with very positive results. Good luck with the search.
Jayson,
If I may say so, we do make great amps. I use three of our DCA series in my HT and music system. And, you are more than welcome to put a full rack of QSC equipment in your HT system .