I have tried out the QSC PLX3602, and the XTi series amps, but my Adcom 555II blows them both away?? The Adcom is a power house that I now use on my gigs. I bridge them both and the do a ez 650watts@ 8ohms and 900watts @4ohms they have played awesome each time never getting hot stayed very cool and never once shut off, and the SQ is so clean!! So why should I stick to QSC or Crown that cost three times as much??
http://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/adcom/gfa-555-ii.htm
*6 years warranty
*Active cooling (instead of passive cooling & a desk top fan)
*proven reliability for the given application
*built for professional use rather then home use
*Speakon connectors
*rack mountable without modifications
*Did you take note of how many point of potential fuse failure that amp has? (think dark room mid gig)
*The QSC is 2 ohm stable
*The QSC put out 9db (keeping in mind that 10db is double the perceived loudness) more output at both 4 ohms & 8 ohms per channel in stereo mode
*The QSC put out 12db (keeping in mind that 10db is double the perceived loudness) more output at both 4 ohms & 8 ohms bridge mono mode (& can run bridge mono all night long no issues or modifications required)
*The QSC weighs in 14 pounds less (& that's per amp, since you have two then one PLX is 28 pounds less)
*The professional amps have signal lights as opposed to only clip & thermal failure lights
*The professional amps have gains to more precisely tune the amp
*The professional amps offer more protection to both itself as well as its load
*The professional amps offer built in tuning options that the ADCOM does not
& the list goes on...
Also your listed specs in your post for the amp are a little off from the link you gave (not enough to make any difference though)
Rated Power Output
200 watts per channel into 8 Ω from 20 - 20,000 Hz at less than 0.04% THD, both channels driven.
325 watts per channel into 4 Ω from 20 - 20,000 Hz at less than 0.04% THD, both channels driven (requires fan option to do this for any length of time).
600 watts into 8 Ω from 20 - 20,000 Hz at less than 0.04% THD, bridged mono (requires fan option to do this for any length of time).
850 watts into 4 Ω from 20 - 20,000 Hz at less than 0.09% THD, bridged mono (requires fan option to do this for any length of time).
Last edited by Incognito; 07-30-2012 at 12:16 PM.
If I had to play only for people who liked the music because they heard it on the radio, it wouldn't make me happy. -- David Guetta
they have an internal fan, Fuses are five, I use banana to speakon connection. reliability has not shown any sign of unreliability, I pumped a Gig Saturday night where it was very warm inside , people was fanning themselves, 4pm - 12am not a problem, the power is there the reliability is there, has to be its a 20 year old amp what amp is more reliability then that? and most of all sounds awesome. I did take a extra QSC just in case but all summer long never had too use it once. It just blows my mind! the amp is a beast! and the designer of this amp is a master mind lol I paired them up with a QSC KW181, Man!!! talking about awesome sound ppl came up to me all night talking about the sound of the music, ppl walking by with thumbs up. I will play these adcoms for as long as I can at $300 a pop, $600 will get me two more, they are built solid and meant to last. If you do a sound test you will see what I mean. I mean they are perfect for 200 ppl depends on the power you need, for tops 400watts is very loud, for subs you need much more power to bring the lows out. I just thought it was interesting what a punch these amps can pack,.
The specs that I gave are the real life spec's bridge, adcom is very conservative. Not that I would use it to its max, don't need to, regardless of what the pro amps offer, I have read countless failures, physics you can not change if a amp plays all night and does not fail then there is nothing to be gained but gimics and buying points as far as gains on an amp, it is more problems to go wrong as most do not understand the gains and end up clipping an amp, my mixer supplies enough control for the amps input without having another one to me is over kill. built in tuning? the purpose of an amp is to magnify the signal that it is receiving as precise as possible with the less possible distortion as possible and that is all, no more no less.
Ken Rockwell's audio opinions are even more worthless than his camera equipment reviews - you should hear the professional photographers laughing at him behind his back.
I'm not sure what you mean by "sound test", but I challenge you to pick out the Adcom vs the QSC in a proper, scientific, statistically analyzed double blind test using your DJ loudspeakers. You won't be able to.
Using consumer grade equipment is kind of like playing Russian Roulette. Sure, it might work part of the time, but you can't beat the odds all the time. Just like Christopher Walken finds out in The Deer Hunter, it'll fail at the worst possible time, too.
The used prices seem to average out about $350. Since you need two of these to run stereo, you're right at the price of a used PLX3102 anyway (The 3102 has a more comparable power rating than the 3602).
Why would you take a chance with equipment untested in a professional environment when you can buy a trusted manufacturer at a comparable used price?
Last edited by jayhwk; 07-30-2012 at 11:48 AM.
Thats the thing I have been using them all summer long doing this test, Dont get me wrong I like QSC but I am in awe with these amps so far I have done ten gigs with them, and i have done the blind test, not only with me but with a few friends that own shops, I have been into SQ for over 25yrs and have won many SQ competitions. I do understand the Russian Roulette thought, but all amps fail at some point, but these just has not yet. Im not telling anyone to go out and buy Adcoms nor would I even suggest it to anyone djing, just sharing what I have found to be true in a true life test is what I am disgusting. Oh and regarding Ken Rockwell, you cant find a negative review on the GFA 555II its a good amp.........
Last edited by Dj Freeze; 07-30-2012 at 11:45 AM.
According to the link you posted it says it has no fans, & it makes sense since the heatsinks are on the outside of the amp instead of inside of the amp. One gig doesn't make an amp reliable & there are plenty of unreliable amps (for professional use) that are perfectly fine for home use. The QSC KW181 is an active sub so I would be interested in how you managed to make that setup work.Originally Posted by Dj Freeze
If I had to play only for people who liked the music because they heard it on the radio, it wouldn't make me happy. -- David Guetta
You'r listed specs are only 50 watts off from the actual spec so in real world that's nothing & will make zero difference. The rest of your post honestly only makes it obvious you haven't been into pro level for long but it's fine since hopefully a better understanding will come in time for you.
If I had to play only for people who liked the music because they heard it on the radio, it wouldn't make me happy. -- David Guetta
I have had QSC amps (EX series) in 24/7 bridge mono mode running for 6 to 8 hour gigs full tilt (a few db shy of clipping) no less then twice a week (average 4 times a week) for nearly two decades without one failure, now that's reliability. I have installed ADCOM amps before but it was for a presentation system in an meeting room as part of their AV system, it's a fine amp for what it is but it is in no way in the same class as QSC PLX amps. Keep it in your living room or bedroom & you'll be fine but if you require real power in the professional environment this just isn't the amp for the job. Something like a QSC GX5 or GX7, Peavey IPR3000 or the like would even be better options.
If I had to play only for people who liked the music because they heard it on the radio, it wouldn't make me happy. -- David Guetta
Both amps have fans kits that was offered, Who said one gig lol I said all summer long lol its clear that you do not under stand pro audio, Please tell me why you can not run passive tops and active subs???? My system consist of two Denon Sc3900's Rane MP26 mixer, and Yorkville 801 sub, JBL VRX918SP sub, and tried out my friends QSC Sub on Saturday.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks