Crown Or Qsc?

[SCATMANCRAIG]

LOOKING TO GET EITHER A CROWN XS 500 OR A QSC 2450? ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED.

[StrykeBack]

I've always heard that the qsc amps have always been very nice. When I upgraded the youthgroup that I helped out in's sound system I got them the cheaper line of them and they are quiet and very powerful...could feed tons of power out of it without ever getting it to distort...So their higher lines are even better...not sure on the new crowns.

[elsteve9]

Shoot...if you're going to buy something like that, then buy the qsc. But you'll be sorry.
I'd rather have no power amp than a cheap one.
Easy for me to say, I suppose.
But if you've got to get something in that price/quality range, I'd get the qsc.
Actually, I'd check out the new Peavey PV series of amps. They're about the same price, and work great, without breaking.
I worked at a store that sold all three brands for about 4 years, and those Peavey's were the first cheap amp that noone could tear up.
And they weigh much less than the old series.
See if you can find a use Crown K1, or K2 in your price range!
But if you're buying cheap, I wouldn't buy either the crown, or the QSC.
Both of their cheap stuff sucks eggs.


-Stephen

[WillyT]

Many years ago I had a Peavey CS400 and nary a problem. I was also using some 100 Watt PDMC amps that I built in development at the factory. We blew some of these on the bench but never at a gig.

Over the years I've blown many (3) speakers with Crowns. Never blew up a Crown tho. These were all op's Crowns and my speakers so I only hurt myself and my shows. One time tho I blew up my friends Altec speakers and a store's Acoustic (Crest) amp. But it was 110 outside and I think there was a hole in the shade for the amp rack.

I guess 5 speakers and 1 amp over 28 years isn't all that bad a record.:(

Actually I'm not counting any hi-fi stereo stuff.

My current setup has QSC's with JBL's and EV's and nary a prob.

Every time I've blown speakers its been setup as 4-1 overpowered. Sticking to 1-1 as I do with my own systems I've never had a problem. I also never run amps at their minimum rated Ohms. 4 Ohm rated amps are run at 8 Ohms. 2 Ohm rated amps are run at 4 Ohms.

[michaelhoddy]

The Crown Micro-Tech series and the QSC PLX series on up through the Crown CTs and Macro-Tech and QSC Powerlights have been pretty bulletproof for me.

I've lost a couple Crown CE series amps over the years in installs. I haven't lost any QSC RMX series amps (their cheap ones), but I've also never used them in high-power, high-stress applications. I usually stick them on monitors or delays where they're not pushing much power. I did manage to crap out a few of the discontinued QSC USA series amps, which is the line predecessor to the RMX.

I've never lost a Crown CTs, CT, or MT amp, or a higher end QSC amp. I've lost precisely one Macro-Tech in 10 years, and that was a fluke.

The CTs amps represent the best bang for the buck for features, quality, and reliability at the moment.

Cheaper amps, whether Crown, QSC, or anyone else, are generally less reliable, that's just the way it is. They're not built to the same standards, and when they are pushed, they will reveal the limits of their design. I've never used the Crown XS amps, and I probably wouldn't want to either.

If you're buying cheap amps from either company, I'd think you can expect about the same level of quality and reliability, which is to say decent in conservative applications, so-so when pushed.

You get what you pay for with power amps, not much more, not much less.