Tempest Questions

Here's what I've found out so far. Because the Tempest is a DVC driver with each coil being 8 ohms, I need an amp that'll push at least 250-300 watts into 8 ohms in stereo, or 500-600 watts into 4 ohms bridged mono. The only 2 I've found that will push this kind of power into these loads is the Mackie M1400i, and the Crown XLS 402. Both have very good specs with S/N ratios of >100, and DF >200. They're a bit pricey if purchased through retailers, but seem pretty reasonable on ebay. The M1400i seems really nice. It pushes 1400 watts into 4 ohms brideged, which would be nice if I ever wanted to run 2 Tempests with it.

I shopped for a new HT receiver last year and of those that I could confirm the DF on,(in my price range of $500-$600) the Yammi was the highest at 80. The others were down around 30-40. Mind you, it's not a common spec to put on the sheet, so there wasn't much info to go on for comparison. I had an old Carver "car" amp years ago and it had a DF of 100 and really did a good job with control. Most pro sound amps I found above the $250-$300 range were at least 100 as you've found yourself. Any would certainly be better than most of the plates offered today(for the money).IMO

If it were me, and if I remember correctly, the Mackie M800 would be a prime choice for my use on a sub. Another would be the Numark Dimension 3. Both were bridgable to somewhere around 600wts at 4ohm and both were in the $350-$450 range not to long ago. You may have to search and wait for a sale, but it does happen.

Here's some links I saved in my search's...

http://store.yahoo.com/efunctional/dimension-3.html

http://www.audiolines.com/ (goto audio menu, amplifiers)

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/.../search/c=4600

http://www.abemusic.com/samson/f1200.asp

Now, these were only the ones I saved due to either pricing, or info about the product. To find further info, you may have to search for the manuf. web sites as I don't have them myself to give. My only point here is to keep an open mind, do a little shopping before you make your decission, and BUY FOR THE FUTURE!!! There's times I regret not going with the prosound stuff to maybe gain performance(or maybe not) but the funds just weren't there at the time and I was on a schedule to get done before the wife left me for the mess I created!!! :D

Foot note...

Even if the rated power output is in excess of your needs, you can still turn the gain down on some amps or your source receiver/preamp and be safe.Ultimately, you will not use most of that power... most of the time unless you have the mains to back it up with.

So what's the deal with the poorly built plate amps? Doesn't anyone build any quality ones? That would be the way to go, if only someone made a decent one.

Sorry it took so long, doing acoustical tests on my soon to be new main 3-ways! A guy's gotta have priorities ya know!

The new amps from PE may be a good investment, I just don't know. Ask(e-mail) the guys at PE and see what they say about DF. Another web site that has more hi dollar plates is Adire.

http://www.adireaudio.com/diy_audio/...amplifiers.htm

The HS series look really nice... and expensive! The AVA 250 is probably the same as you and I have but alas, no DF spec on it. Maybe the guys at Adire know it. I never asked them.

Sorry man, of all the searching I did, I came to the conclusion the PE plate will have to do for now... until I get more motivated to do something about it.

Holy crap! The HS 500 is an impressive amp! 740 watts into 4 ohms with a dampening factor of >800 and a S/N ratio of 105. It has a built-in cooling fan as well. It pricey though at over $600. I guess if you want good, you gotta pay for it.

Ya, that's what I thought when I first saw it. Be aware, they measure the DF at specific frequencies just like wattage. Some will be at 1KHz(not very useful to us) some lower and almost no one gives that. Not trying to bring you down or anything, it just seems to me that >800 is awfully high and there may be a reason for it. I think if you got the money, it will probably do the job. Also, be sure to check the voltage/current requirements on what ever you buy, you don't want to re-wire the house to get enough power to it.

That brings up another point...

Have you checked the voltage at the wall to see how stable it is when you crank it vs. at idle?

No I haven't, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not stable at all. We live in military housing and we're always popping circuit breakers. Strangely enough, pushing the sub hard hasn't tripped any yet though. It's usually things like hair driers that make them pop.

Ya, but...

Do the lights dim? Is the sub amp on the same circuit as the receiver? Are the lights, refridgerator, furnace, ect. on the circuit? I learned along time ago what happens to bass when my cars charging system couldn't keep up. I don't mean long term either. If you don't have the power to supply the amp, it's just about as bad as clipping.(with excessive input signal) I would check it just to make sure before I spent any money.

Quote:

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Strangely enough, pushing the sub hard hasn't tripped any yet though.

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The amp in question is only 450wt@120v. I have 2ea for my sub(s) and still haven't blown a breaker BUT the lights on the same circuit dim when cranked. I will probably be better off with a dedicated circuit and the amp will probably play better as a result. In my case, getting a better amp wouldn't be any better due to a lack of power to drive it.

Cool!
One less thing to worry about!

I don't think there's anything else on the circuit with the amp. No lights dim when I crank it.