power difference

[gabrielsevenn]

Hi all. I just purchased a Crown XLS 602 Power Amp. I wish I could say I'm completely satisfied (not that Crown is bad). But there are some things I was hoping someone could answer for me first.

I am powering a single Peavey PV215 rated at 4 ohms for the time being.

I already own a GemSound XP 350 Power Amp. This amp is supposed to be a cheapo--it only cost $100.

Well, with the power ratings of the GemSound (175W per channel @4ohms, 350W bridged mono @4ohms) I was worried that I would underpower the Peavey Speaker (rated at 700W program). You see, I already have other PA speakers, which are not worth mentioning, and I was using the GemSound to power those.

So, I went with the Crown XLS 602 for the Peavey (which I plan to get another Peavey speaker eventually). The Crown is rated at 600W per channel @4ohms and 1680W @4ohms bridged mono.

Having listened to the crown, I decided to just see if there was any difference between the GemSound and the Crown.

I have found no difference :(

Even with the Crown's almost three fold greater power output, there isn't any difference in volume or tone between the two amps. There are no variables to consider as all of the pre-amp settings are the same for both.

I tried to bridge the Crown, but there is no difference in volume between bridged mode and stereo mode. I can't help but think I'm not doing it right, but there isn't much to get wrong. I'm using banana plugs and hooking them into the two red posts and there isn't any bridge switch that I can find. And, I'm using 25ft 16 gauge cable--exactly what the manual specifies.

Thanks in advance:)

[DAS]

I am somewhat shocked you didn't hear an immediate improvement in sound quality. But...it's possible the Peavey speaker, or your source material is not such that the presumably better quality sound of the Crown is revealed, or at least not in a way in which your ability to listen is sensitive (no disrespect meant there at all).

It is hard to tell from your post what "difference" you expected to find. There is no inherent sonic advantage to having more power (though there are some practical sonic benefits) other than the ability to get louder. If the lower power amp has enough power to do the job required of it (handling all the transients, etc.) then simply adding an amp with more available watts is not necessarily going to make a difference.

In other words, changing the wattage rating (like you did when you went to bridge mode) may not instantly make things louder, but it should provide the available power for you to get it louder (without excessive distortion/clipping) if you need to. That said, you should keep in mind that doubling the amp power only gives you (at best) a 3 dB increase in volume (all other things being more or less equal) so it's not like going from 175 W to 600 W is going to be a HUGE difference in how loud something sounds.

There is much more to all of this, but I am out of time. I'm sure some others can chime in and fill in some more of the blanks. I hope this much helps.

[Ed Belknap]

The audible difference between any two power amplifiers -- and this means literally *any* two amps, one could be a Radio Shack 2 watt battery operated toy & the other can be a state-of-the-art $50k Halcro monoblock -- will be extremely minimal WHEN BOTH AMPS ARE RUNNING WITHIN THEIR NORMAL OPERATING TOLERANCES.

The thing that really separates the men from the boys is when you start to run the amps *outside* their normal tolerance. Run the amp near clipping, or into a particularly unstable load, or 24 hours straight in 110 degree ambient temperature, and suddenly the sonic differences can become quite obvious.

You probably were running both amps within their comfort zone, and so you shouldn't expect to hear any significant differences.

(Also note that the three-fold increase in power that the Crown has over the Gem Sound may contribute to cleaner transients due to extended headroom before clipping starts, but it will barely make a difference in terms of the actual volume the amps play at. All other things being equal, you need to double the amp's output power just to get a discernable increase in volume; in order to get twice as loud you'd have to increase the amplifier power TENFOLD.)

[gabrielsevenn]

Thank you both for your responses.

I think I had noticed more headroom out of the Crown even though it wasn't really any louder. Thing's built like a tank though.