Hi Shadow;

I have one of those "battleship" amps, driving the 15-inch woofers in my
home stereo. It's a Phase-Linear 400. It's been running faithfully
since 1971, almost every day, and it sounds great. I've never been
crazy enough to turn it up more than half way. Usually listen at 1/4
power. Nice headwoom, 'tho.

By the way, caps will last a long time if they are; 1) not overheated;
and 2) not stored for long periods without occasional power on.

Regards,

Tyco_brahe

Arny Krueger wrote:
"Shadow" wrote in message


http://123dj.com/amps/qsc/rmx-850.html - 200w / channel @ 8ohm

QSC is good.


Agreed. I have a USA-400 and a USA-850.

The RMX series are AFAIK QSC's new series of Chinese-assembled amps with
agressive pricing.


I've never had a PA amp go into protect mode on me.


I suspect you have, but you just didn't notice it. "Pro" grade amps are
specifically designed to avoid audible shutdown any reasonable way they can.
20,000 people might be listening.


Personally, I have 4 15" Optimus PA speakers, and 2 250w stereo/350w
mono-bridged Optimus PA amps(not really using them). They have never
shut off once. I keep the amps at 100% volume and keep the mixer
gain at 0db for loud, -6db for quiet listening(which would still be
loud to most people). The QSC amps would most certainly not shut off
on you.


The QSC amps I have have been subjected to torture rituals, and I have made
them shut off many times. However, no harm was done, and the test conditions
were unrealistic.

I'm the sort of guy who has probably broken the tires loose on every car
I've driven and under a variety of conditions. I say know where the limits
are, and stay away from them whenever you can.

In comparison, I've simply fried at least one Pioneer receiver on the test
bench, accidentally to be sure. Again the test conditions were totally
unrealistic, but unlike the QSC amps, the Pioneer receiver needed repair. It
didn't get it, because it cost more to repair than replace.

Most "receiver shut down" anecdotes trace to shorted strands on speaker
cables, way too many speakers in parallel, badly ventilated cabinets,
rubbing voice coils, a receiver that was simply broken, etc. In normal
reasonably careful use, it shouldn't happen and usually doesn't happen.

Comparing the light cruiser-like construction of QSC amps to the sports-car
construction of price-conscious consumer receivers is not fair, given the
difference in price per watt. Also, notice I said "light cruiser" for QSC,
and not "Battleship". There are "Battleship"-like amps around, but they seem
to be going the way of dodo birds.