Pro Amps

[ChrisC]

I am looking for a new 2 channel amp, and was wondering what your thoughts were on pro amps vs audiophile amps. There is an interesting thread over at AVS but its tough to get through at around 137 pages.
Is anyone here using a Crown or anything similar?

[curtis]

I have heard pro amps(don't remember the brand or model) in a HT, and with Ascends. The seem to work fine, but the fans were an issue. My friend had the amps inside a closed cabinets, also lined it with sound dampening foam, and took the back of the cabinet off for ventilation.

[ChrisC]

Thanks Curtis. I am trying to justify the cost difference of a NAD or Rotel amp to one of the pro amps. I did read the the fans on the pro amps can be loud, but they also seem to offer great power.

[GirgleMirt]

Yeah I'm using a pro amp to power my 340 SE. QSC 1450. Sounds great. Its 280 watts is definitely overkill, but hey it was only 350$cdn, the same thing in NAD/Rotel would have cost easily what... 3 times?

As mentioned, fans are an issue, I've disconnected mine and it runs fine but after say ~2-3 hours the HS starts to get hot. I'm going to install a switch for the fan, even if the fan I replaced the original fan with is not so loud, no fan noise is even better.

[buddhadas]

I have used a JBL UREI 6230 pro amp recently with the 340's and it works flawlessly. I picked it up on ebay last year for 150 bucks delivered, it is 75 wpc stereo or 300wpc bridged mono. I have recently upgraded to a more powerful McIntosh amp.

Jim

[bri1270]

I use 5 pro amps in my Ht(one for center, one for LR, one for surrounds, one for rear surrounds and one for my sub). I love them. I'm also fortunate enough to have a space behind my HT that I can put them so the fans are a non issue. There are some mods you can make to the amps to reduce fan noise. One is to add a resistor which slows the fan speed, another is to replace the fans entirely, and a third is to disconnect them all together. Theories on slowing and disconnecting are that since these amps were built to take a continuous beating on a nightly basis, HT duty would seem somewhat mundane in comparison, so the heat build up would be minimal. Just for the record, I don't think disconnecting them is the best solution. Having said that, I have disconnected them as an experiment, and they've never been remotely warm, even in the heat of summer; and they're not in an air conditioned location. I reconnected them because I'm the paranoid type.

[ChrisC]

I am interested in the pro amps because of the good reviews I have read on them, especially for the price. There seems to be a split of people who like them as much or better than home theater amps, and those who think they are lesser quality than home theater amps.

[chas]

I think I read somewhere that the latest version of the Crown amps have variable speed fans that run at lower speeds for less noise when the amps are running light loads.

[michaelddd]

Two channels? Check
Fan noise? Nope. NO FAN :)
Power? Yup. Oodles. 2 x 160 Watts into 8 ohms, 2 x 230 Watts into 4 Ohms, 500 Watts into 8 Ohms in bridged mono operation

http://www.behringer.com//A500/A500_big.jpg

The biggest review/thread for this amp is on the Audioholics forum...Google and it pops up in the first few hits. The amp compares very favorably to some pretty pricey competition.

It's biggest drawback is that it cannot do bridged mono @ 4 ohms, which is what a lot of folks use power amps for...powering a sub or a big tower speaker. It is rated to do stereo @ 4 ohms, so there's pretty much no home speaker you couldn't power with it. Some people also cut on it's looks...but IMO, if you want the look of a $4K Crown amp, then BUY a $4K Crown amp.

I am using mine in sort of a non-traditional way. It powers the bookshelves for my PC audio setup. :) It has no turn on/off thump. It's totally silent b/c it has no fan. It doesn't hiss when you mute the inputs. It doesn't get hot...in fact, in my 80-degree room, running my 8-ohm bookshelves at a comfortable listening level the heatsinks are barely warmer than room temp. When I turn the AC on, the heatsinks are ice cold.

Manufacturer link (http://www.behringer.com/A500/index.cfm?lang=eng)

This is the only pro amp I've used in a home setting, but I've read that QSC also makes some nice, fanless amps that won't break the bank.

Hope this helps.

*edit*
Wow...I screwed up the view in the thread. Sorry about that...the pic is that big on their site. I like pics. :o