Anyone using Mackie or Corwn amps?

[jbangelfish]

The manual states that in 4 0hm it has 340wpc but bridged mono, the figure stays at 650w whether 8 ohm or 4 ohm. I don't know why. All I can say is, it's a very strong amp.
I checked a catalog for PA equipment and found the Mackie and Crown amps that you are talking about. I don't pay much attention to PA amps and they probably don't belong in home stereo systems. The reasons that so many used the DC300A for PA and professional use is that it was strong enough to do it and they have been available fairly cheap used for many years. The amp also uses 1/4 inch connections which lends itself to PA and you need adapting patch cords from normal RCA to 1/4 inch which were supplied with them when new. These new amps are designed for PA use, they will have much higher distortion than the old DC300A. Honestly, I would not buy any of them for home stereo. The old amps on ebay are still going for $250 or less and in spite of their age, are a good buy. I wouldn't be surprised if these are still going strong when the new ones have crapped out.
Bill

[grampi]

650W would be plenty as a sub amp, and you're right, none of these newer amps have nearly as good of specs as the DC300 has. I guess I'll just keep an eye out for them on ebay and bid accordingly. I think the only problem I may have with the DC300 is it has a fairly large faceplate and it may present quite a problem trying to find a place to put it. It certainly won't fit in with all my other equipment.

[poneal]

Could you keep us posted on which amp you choose and how it all works out please.

[jbangelfish]

They do take up some space and they are fairly heavy but don't let that bother you. A lot of good amps are big and heavy. This would be a great amp for a sub. There are a couple of series II DC300A's coming up on ebay and are just later models. Should have the same build quality but are dark grey or black and have a switch for bridging mono. They usually run a little higher in price than the silver or older models but I would not be afraid of any of them. By all means, let us know what you get and how you like it.
Bill

[grampi]

I'll keep you posted. Thanks.

[grampi]

How do you connect the line level outputs from your receiver to the inputs on the DC300? It doesn't accept RCA connectors?

[jbangelfish]

It uses 1/4 inch jacks like PA equipment. They come from the factory with IC's that are made this way with normal RCA's on one end and the 1/4 inch on the other. I would think someone has them but you could make your own.
Bill

[thepogue]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3072853264

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=39783

there are tons out there....just hunt'em down...and remember to look @ the spec's for a bridged application and BTW Carver made some Great amps and some junk in the mid 80's to eairly 90's.

[grampi]

That's a pretty impressive list of amps there. Does anyone know if the Phase Linear 400 is bridgeable into 4 ohms, and if so, what is its power rating is in this configuration? Thanks.

[grampi]

The Adcom GFA 555 looks like a decent sub amp as well. Anybody know what its 4 ohm bridged mono power rating is?

[piece-it pete]

Nice!

Although it's shy on dampening:

http://www.adcom.com/pdfs/gfa555_545_535manual.pdf

Pete

[grampi]

That's a powerful amp! Between these and the DC300A's, I should be able to get something tha'll work.

[grampi]

I've been watching the DC300's and Adcom 555's on ebay and people are driving the prices of these through the roof! The DC300's have selling for more than $200, and the Adcom's for over $300. It doen't look like I'll be getting one anytime soon, at least not until the demand for these amps goes down. I wonder why the demand is so high?

[grampi]

Is an Adcom GFA-1 any good? There's one on ebay with a current high bid of just $49.

[grampi]

Where's eveybody been lately?

[thepogue]

I think Adcoms "triple nickle" amps are a good value....I run two of them and look at them as one would a 1979 Impala w/305. A piece of history, a great value and workhorse....but not a classic by any means....I'm sure someday I'll look elsewere for amps but until then the ole 555's will do. Also to be honest, the market price on the Adcoms is pretty steady....always dipping in the Sept/Oct/Nov time frame and durning economic down times. The GFA-1 would be a steal @ $100-$150 if the unit worked well. It was Adcoms first bid in the middle to late '70's I believe.

[thepogue]

Nice!

Although it's shy on dampening:

http://www.adcom.com/pdfs/gfa555_545_535manual.pdf

Pete

Petie....I've head it 1000 times...what does it mean? Thanks Brudda! Pogue

[jbangelfish]

I've been watching the DC300's and Adcom 555's on ebay and people are driving the prices of these through the roof! The DC300's have selling for more than $200, and the Adcom's for over $300. It doen't look like I'll be getting one anytime soon, at least not until the demand for these amps goes down. I wonder why the demand is so high?

Maybe people are listening to us and buying them. Great old amps and at less than $300 are still cheap. Look what new equal amps cost, 2k or more and even the Adcoms and Crowns were not cheap when new. To get this kind of power (that's good, clean power) for $300 or less is truly a bargain. My DC300A was around $1200 in 1975. What would that be in today's market?
Bill

[jbangelfish]

Petie....I've head it 1000 times...what does it mean? Thanks Brudda! Pogue

I believe that the best way to describe it would be speed in relation to bass. A high damping factor maybe 600 or higher will make for tighter bass. Many amps and receivers will have a damping factor of 100 or less. I remember an amp by TNT (I think) which had a damping factor of 1200 and in it's review, the reviewer stated that they were able to discern tighter bass than what they normally were used to. 1,000 or higher is not so uncommon anymore, my Parasound amps have 1,000 DF. It has to do with the ability of an amp's power to push the speaker quickly and also to stop it quickly, making for the tight bass response. Skeptic or others could probably give you the real particulars on this but I hope I gave the basics of it.
Bill

[grampi]

I don't think Piece-it-pete meant the 555 has a low DF rating, just that this number isn't listed for the amp in the specs.

[piece-it pete]

http://www.nathanspage.com/wftd/

The Adcom manual says 130, which according to the referenced def. is good.

BTW, I had a chance to play with a Hafler DH-110 preamp this weekend. Of course it's not an amp but the quality was very good indeed - crisp & clear - and if this is typical Hafler build/sound then I'd at least put their amps on your possibles.

I've also got the rack space problem - where is all this stuff going?? I'm considering building my own tv stand with 3 open shelves wide enough for two components side-by-side, and putting the DVD on top of the TV. More things to resonate, less breathing room for speakers. Arrrgh!

If I used two amps for the subs I suppose I could wall mount them near the subs. But then - I'll need two amps. I need two jobs!!!

Pete

[jbangelfish]

http://www.nathanspage.com/wftd/

The Adcom manual says 130, which according to the referenced def. is good.

BTW, I had a chance to play with a Hafler DH-110 preamp this weekend. Of course it's not an amp but the quality was very good indeed - crisp & clear - and if this is typical Hafler build/sound then I'd at least put their amps on your possibles.

I've also got the rack space problem - where is all this stuff going?? I'm considering building my own tv stand with 3 open shelves wide enough for two components side-by-side, and putting the DVD on top of the TV. More things to resonate, less breathing room for speakers. Arrrgh!

If I used two amps for the subs I suppose I could wall mount them near the subs. But then - I'll need two amps. I need two jobs!!!

Pete

In the Crown DC300A manual, it states that the DF is greater than 200 from 0 hz to 1khz. Not all that high and this old amp has very good, even excellent bass. The Parasounds DF is rated at 1000 at 20hz. This makes these specs hard to compare. To try to put this in perspective, there is no way that you could say that the 1,000 DF sounds 5 times tighter than the Crown. The difference is actually quite subtle, but yes, it seems alittle tighter.
Hafler did make some very fine equipment but I don't see alot of it around anymore. It's hard to say if people just never parted with it or if it had reliability issues. Many Hafler amps were sold as kits and you'd want to be sure if it was built by the owner that they did it well. I nearly bought one of the kits myself but chickened out, thinking that I may never actually get it built. I believe Hafler was an engineer for Carver or Phase Linear and broke away and I believe Carver also came from PL.
Bill

[grampi]

There's something else you need to consider when looking at DF specs. At what load is it rated at. An amp rated at a DF of 200 at 8 ohms is only going to be good for 100 at 4 ohms. Every time you cut the load in half, you also cut the DF in half. BTW, I think I'm done looking for amps on ebay. The price of every decent amp on there gets driven through the roof. I'm convinced the days of getting good buys on ebay are long gone!

[piece-it pete]

Interesting note about dampening.

Poking about the web a bit, I found:

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...ran&1079326583

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...ran&1078539067

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...ran&1079984040 (this looks interesting!)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3700650254

I've been told by my musician friend to check out local pro shops, that they often have used equipment, and sometimes a bargain or two.

Sticking [pro amplifier used sale] in Google gave 50 gazzillion leads.

Good luck, Grampi - you'll need it :)!!

Pete

[grampi]

I checked out your links. One of the 555's was sold, the other one the guy wanted over $300 for, the Hafler probably wasn't powerful for my needs, and I guarantee the price of the JBL will be jacked up way over $200, maybe even $300 by the time it reaches the end of the bidding time because it's on pricegougebay. I'll check the other stuff you mentioned, but I think you're right, I'm going to need a lot of luck!