Tempest Questions

[karl k]

Good luck with your request from PE...

I asked them about the damping factor and the slew rate and got nothing. They explained that it didn't matter and that was the end of my search for that info. For the money, my guess would be a DF of about 30 or 40 but we'll never know. The examples of amps I sited may be a little pricey but there are some others I couldn't think of their names of the top of my head. Some more moderately priced(in the $200-$300 range) are American DJ, Gemini, Pyle, and Samson. As you said, you mostly get what you pay for. As I was told by an old friend(remember Steve W) these amps are built for commercial use and will take quite alot of punishment ie. last a long time. Look for something in a DF of 100 or more and a SN ratio of 95db or better as well as mono(bridge) capability and you'll do alright. Search for Pro Sound and there's alot of retailers out there.

I agree about the convenience of plates as well as the bang for the buck, but don't believe you have to mount the "DJ amp" in the rack. Yopu can conceil it just about anywhere in the room and run your long cables as low level RCA for less cost. Besides, when you start talking about that 500wt or the 1000wt amp from PE, you're talking about the same or more money as with the others.

Just something to think about.

[grampi]

It's been my experience that amps with a DF of 200 or more sound the best. If the PE amps are only 30 or 40, that's horrible! I've heard amps that had a DF of between 100-200 that didn't sound good to me.

The Mackie 1400i looks pretty decent. There's a couple of them on ebay for a not too bad price. I'd have to run it in stereo as it makes way too much power for one Tempest in bridged mono (well in excess of 1000 watts). It puts out 250 X 2 in stereo into 8 ohms. I think its DF is over 300. I will also look at some of the others you mentioned and see what's out there.

[grampi]

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.

[karl k]

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!!!

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.

[grampi]

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.

[karl k]

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.

[grampi]

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.