QSC GX5 700W 2-channel Power Amplifier Reviews

I have one of these and it's the only piece of equipment that's still going since I started djing 18 years ago. So many things have happened to it and it still does its job when I do need to use it.

All the connections needed for an easy install, and these amps are sturdy and sound ground!

Purchased this amp to power a full range PA system used for karaoke and ceremonies and it sounds great and has plenty of power to push my 15" 2 way cabinets flawlessly. Ryan made the transaction smooth and quick to assure it go to me in time for a weekend gig I needed it for. I already have 2 QSC PLX3602 Amplifiers driving my main DJ system so it was only fitting to add another QSC since I have been so happy with the quality of their products. Can't
go wrong with QSC or Sweetwater!

This gear is working nicely for us. Thank you so very much.

I have run two of these for almost a decade and they are the best part of my set up. Clean, powerful, and extremely reliable. I definitely recommend this product.

This amp is simple and well built. Two knobs on front for volume and a overload meter. The left is Low , for bass and the right is the High. Ive only used the low as my jensen loud speakers would blow out from this thing. HOWEVER I do use this for my 2 X 12 bandpass subwoofer box. Woah does it move the air. Its so wonderful to finally have a powerful enough amp to push both speakers and have the box sound so clean to fill in the 20-60hrz my 10" Temblor does not handle as perfectly as the bandpass box. Very well constructed, feels like it could fall down the stairs and not skip a beat. Get this amp if you need this kind of power!

i must say i have got alot of things from sweetwater and i can say they have nevr rushed me and alwayshelped me to best they can to find what i need or was looking or even make it better than what i was looking for in the same price rang .the power amp i just got was what i nedded to make my speakers sound even better than i have ever herd them do so. so would not think twice to call the any time day or nite to get help or to buy ,you cant go wroung. thank sweetwater for be'ing there when i need you to be there.

D E Davis

This has been the single most reliable piece of gear I"ve ever owned. Sounds great, I power a bass rig with it. Used outdoors in heat, in the home for practice, clubs, church, etc. It has never failed or under delivered. I wish it had xlr through jacks, but hey, the price would have also went up. But at this price it gets 5 star rating. I get tempted all the time to update my bass rig with the new 3-4 pound amps coming out, but my mind changes when I play what I got.

I was going to buy my amp locally because I usually feel more secure dealing locally. The folks where I was going to buy it put me on hold for 15 minutes and couldn't answer the questions I had sufficiently. I called Sweetwater and was immediately connected with Marshall. He answered all my questions and secured my confidence in dealing with him and Sweetwater.
I've only had my amp one week, hooked it up the first day and have been using it every day. I am very happy with the looks, performance, sound and volume it pushes.
I'll definitely buy all my music equipment from Sweetwater in the future.

QSC products have never let me down, strong , consistent clean power. Same goes for Sweetwater and the help and knowledge they bring to the table when looking for great ptoducts, always thanks!

Throughout the past 30years I have probably been through a few dozen power amps made by pretty much everyone from cheapos that blew or had some sort of defect (one of them blew when we hit the first chorus of the first song on a gig) to those equaling monthly Car payments vin that never gave a hint of ever giving up while running constantly at their limits.
I got the GX5('s) for monitors and have actually switched them to be primary mains. There is something about the way the GX5 (and GX3) delivers dynamic power without effort that makes bands sound punchier and cleaner during busy and high-power-need passages.
This is a mid-priced mid-range amp that is definitely punching above its weight class, and delivering!!!
Everyone should buy or rent or borrow one for a wtf moment of Why does it sound so much better and louder? and its alot less watts..... Hhmmmmmmm

I originally purchased one of these 5 years ago and it was great! Played a LOT of gigs with it and never had a problem. Got out of the music scene for awhile, now back in . I just purchased a new one and I am very pleased with it. The workmanship is incredible. So simple to operate. Thanks to my sales engineer, Justin at Sweetwater! Great service by him, as always. Buy one, or two!! You WON"T be sorry.

I bought this amplifier as a 4th set up occasional use amplifier. I run QSC PL series and Crown XTI 2's in my primary amp cases. I took this amp out for a spin during a small school function, I knew it would spend most of the afternoon at full throttle and figured it was gonna have issues it would be here. Well I have to say I'm more than satisfied. I ran it wide open at 4 ohms per channel (700 watts) into 4 JBL boxes and it thumped the place... I was particularly impressed with the low end, as it wasn't cloudy or muffled, it was tight and ran as well as any $1500 QSC I own. Frankly, I don't know why I bought the PL series amps as this one not only runs as cool as a cucumber but was a quarter of the price... Odd ? My PL amps run warm are heavier deeper and in my opinion don't run as well or as efficient as this one... I need to go back to the drawing board and draw these in and save some $. Anyway, even though it doesn't bridge mono it is just as configurable, it has a 100hz crossover that allows you to split the channels to high (above 100hz) and low (below 100hz). So you can run to 8ohm midrange / high cabinets in daisy chain netting a (4ohm load) on one channel for 700 watts (350 per cabinet) and a single 4 ohm sub cabinet on channel 2 for 700 watts... Very convenient and basically eliminating the need to bridge mono anyway. You get a single amplifier that will do the job of a 2 and this isn't even the most powerful model... The GX5's big brother does even more power, the GX7... You will not be disappointed... I promise you, I was blown away with its performance !

So far so good Sweetwater!! Ive had a set of high output speakers for the past 6 years in my house that can each handle 400 watts RMS @ 4 Ohms. For the longest time i have searched for a raw power amplifier that i could tie into my home theater system VIA RCA Level Inputs and have had no luck. Many home theater power amps can only handle 200 watts or lower at the most to power a multi room house system. I first upgraded to a high end home theater reciever which sounds great but does not get that raw punchy full range sound to these monster speakers. This amp did the trick even though its a rack mount for a DJ setup i made a perfect spot for it in my home and i am blown away from the output of this unit. I know know the true power these speakers can handle, this amp 1/4 turned up shakes my house and thats what i am looking for. You can tell the great quality of this amp just by picking it up the 30lbs that it is. Thank you Sweetwater for all your help and the shipping was in a timely mannar packaged perfectly.

great power amp.. I hooked this amp up with speakers and monitors and the sound was great and clear. if you need a power amp, I recommend u get this amp!!

Great amp very clean sound. I Bought mine at Sweetwater Sound and got excellent customer service

This amp is priced right with a lot of features you do not normally get in this price range. I just purchased and used at a weekend gig and it preformed flawlessly. I received many comments on how clear the sound was. I used this amp coupled to a sonic maximizer and the sound was so clear. I would recommend this amp to others.

Easy to set up...works GREAT...absolutely love it!!

This is one of the QSC amps that I own. I am completely satisfied with this amp and it's quality, features, and pristine sound! I have used this both in stereo mode and also in the crossover mode and it performs exceptionally well under both conditions. Drives subs without any problems and runs cool for hours and hours all while maintaining that great sound that I love from QSC amps. I have used many different brand amps over the years (running live sound) and I much prefer QSC over Crown ANYDAY! I feel QSC's are more dynamic and have better sound quality and they hold up longer (proven to me many times). They are used by many sound companies for that very reason. This is truly a great amp for live sound as well as DJing. QSC has done it, again!

Great amp, does what I bought it for and provides all the power I need for my bass in church.

I purchased this amp for a portable PA system our worship team uses on occasion. This has more than enough power to run our system and was easy to hook up!

I have loved this amp since the day I got it. I had to replace an older crown amp that was a little more powerful then this one. I have had no issues with this one and it actually ended up being the exact amount of power I needed where my old one was slightly too much. Love QSC amps. I use almost all QSC for my power needs.

You typically buy a power amplifier because you need good clean sound reproduction and more power to enable you to play at much larger venues. In my case, I needed a sound system that would adequately support my guitar, my bass, my keyboard synthesizer and could also handle vocals and double as studio monitor for my home recording studio. In essence, I was looking for a powerful pristine sound reproduction system. I started out by selecting twin JBL JRX115 speaker cabinets and after reading over the amplifier requirements to drive those speakers, and researching the specifications of several power amplifiers and selected the QSC GX5 as the perfect match up for those speakers. I could not be happier with the clean, quiet, high quality sound reproduction I am receiving from this system and I now have adequate power to play almost anywhere I choose. The amazing thing for me was that I fully expected to pay a whole lot more for a system that would adequately support all those instruments and microphones and also sounds as good as this system does. There was enough money left over in my budget that I was also able to add a 16-channel mixer on the front end and now I can plug the entire band into this sound system and balance the sound perfectly and even record live off the mixer as we play. In the final analysis, the QSC GX5 is a workhorse that gives my band and my home recording studio the powerful, clean, quiet, quality of sound reproduction I was looking for. I couldn't be happier with this amp.

After a long search for the right amps for my cover rock band I settled on these and I am extremely happy with my choice I baught two GX5. This amp has just what you need and nothing you dont! I have two of these one to power both my Peavey pv118 subs and one to powere my tops which are 15s, very clean power, crystal clear and no clipping, toss anything at these amps you want and they handle it! The ratings are very accurate, 500 watts per chanell at 8ohms is just that more than enough to power my bands 4 speakers, from small venues to outsider we have plenty of power. There built like tanks and can withstand heat etc..we played 4 hours on a 90 plus degree day with the amps cranked and nopt a hicup! In my opinion you will not find better "working mans" amp than this one, its worth every penny and then some! I also own a GX3 To power our monitors, its an amazing set up, I expect to be using these amps for years to come, awesome job QSC !

Sweetwater really went the extra mile for me on this amp. There were some issues (including a missing delivery from Fed Ex), but they got the whole thing straightened out and fast. The GX5 is in the slot driving two Yamaha Club V speakers and they sound great. Sweetwater is my first choice from here on.

Very detailed and punchy!

The GX5 is an answered prayer. Accepting both 1/4" and Speakon cables, and weighing just 28 lbs., it is a well-thought-out amp. The power is clean and totally dependable, and we are able to push subwoofers and monitors with ease. The design is clean and appealing, and looks great in the rack, kind of like my girlfriend! Need solid power with an awesome warranty for low bucks? GX5!

This is an awesome amp with plenty of power for the money. It has made a huge difference in my bass rig. I would recomend this product.

Needed a 2nd P.A. setup so I purchased the GX5 and after only 5 gigs with it so far, all I can say is YES!!! This amp really compliments my Mackie C300z's and it's all clean. Highly recommend it!

Works as expected. Easy to reach inserts.

Firstly, kudos to great people at Sweetwater! My rep Kody Kraus continues to provide impeccable service and consultation with the latest gear too! Now, about this amp.
I've been a long time QSC user since their launch into the professional market with their line of products. Have A/B'd them with other major brands during many events and shows I've had to work. The only reason for my 4.0 rating is solely on the fan noise. I've purchased 2 so far strictly on value and confidence of their quality. When I received the 1st unit the fan was the first impression right at power up. I added a 2nd unit about 4 months later thinking I'd eventually replace the 1st unit's fan but it too had the same issue. These amps surely deliver great sound performance but keep them away from the stage because you will notice the fans at work. If there's a way to replace these fans with something quieter, then I'll certainly do that. Still love QSC though.

I bought a GX 5 when they first came out. It has been used to power my bass rig. I drive this amp with a BBE BMax-T preamp and for the last 7 years of conbsstant use it has never let me down. If you want a no frills and stone reliable power amp and you don't need bridge mono operation these GX series amps can't be beat. Puts out 500 watts in to both of my vertically stacked 2 X 10 cabs and delivers all of the clean headroom I need.

The only negative are the fans are a little noisy but this is a PA amp after all and considering the price point it's a negligible gripe. Also, the description days "light weight" so not sure if Hans & Franz wrote that description but its not light by any stretch of the imagination. It's a very compact 28 lbs (mine is actually 24 lbs so the description may be shipping weight) which makes it seem heavier to me.

Anyway, the amp is reliable, built solid and is a great value considering this is a QSC engineered product with an excellent warranty and great product support.

I have been a fan of QSC for at least 12 years. So it was a given that when our church needed a replacement amplifier I was delighted to discover that QSC had a very affordable replacement amp. The new (for me) size; light weight; coupled with varied input and output interfaces blew me away. It was easy to install and sounds great!

Good amp.. Sounds really great and has all the in's and outs to fulfill about any combination of speaker hook-up. Only negative I find is that it is very loud compared to my Yamaha P 5000S' I have been using.