Anyone using Mackie or Corwn amps?

[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!

[poneal]

Hi Grampi. I can understand you frustration with ebay. Every once in awhile you can get a good deal but they are few and far between. I happened across a single channel amp from outlaw audio called the M200 that puts out 200watts@8ohms and 300watts@4ohms. The reviews here and on other boards are all positive. The good news is that it only cost $299. I'm thinking of purchasing one to drive my passive sub that I built. Like you said you could pay over a $100 dollars for a 10 year old amp on ebay or just add a few hundred more and get a new one. If I purchase one, I will let you know how it performs. Here is a link for the amp:

http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/200.html#

Remember to let us know what you end up getting and how it works out.

[piece-it pete]

The Hafler ad appears to be for TWO bridged DH-200s'. No "official" bridged specs found but the seller mentions 345 watts each @ 8 ohms, and I found some web refs' saying 350.

That's a lot of watts for $300 ($.44 per 8 ohm watt). Also, if your subs are flat-topped you could set them on top with blutak. Not acceptable audiophile wise but we gotta do what we've gotta do :). And it would probably look very cool - they are IMHO nice looking units.

The seller has a lot of those JBLs' and starts the listing with a buy-it-now price of $200. If you e-mail him he might sell you one for that.

When I'm ready to buy I check for newly listed buy-it-now listings as often as possible (5-10 times a day!). Sometimes people ask too little for whatever reason. I also check Audiogon often, so I get the 1st crack at "good deals". But the frustration!!!

Pete