Can pro amps possibly sound good? Crown, QSC, etc


I have been looking into pro amps for a to-be-built HT/music room. Recently I came across an old review in The Stereo Times: The Complete Audiophile Magazine, which reviewed 2 discontinued Crown amps, the K2 and the Studio Reference I. The K2 the reviewer thought "not distinguished or especially musically refined", but the Studio Ref he thought an EXCELLENT full-range amp. It does have some amazing specs:

Signal-to-Noise (A-weighted) below rated full bandwidth power: 120 dB.
Damping Factor: >20,000 from 10 Hz to 400Hz.
780WPC into 8 ohms, 1160WPC into 4 ohms.

The review is here.

From what I've found so far, there are possbile downsides to using pro gear in an otherwise consumer setup, but in my case I think these are non-issues:

-fan noise: not an issue for me since I will have an equipment closet. Won't have to do a "fan mod".

-ugly: again, not an issue for me with an equipment closet

-hum: I believe not an issue as long as I use balanced interconnects from the prepro. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

-expects pro-level input levels: I think not an issue if the amp has dip switches or gain controls?

And yet, over on a couple of AVS forum threads, I actually got asked to leave when I started suggesting pro amps. It seems as though some of the audiophiles there (and the same guys might be over here) don't even want to hear about a class of gear which imo just MIGHT sound good. It just isn't worth "polluting" an audiophile thread. Am I missing some other downside to pro amps, other than the above pints? Were these guys attitudes based on something substantive and audibly detectable, or just a form of audio bigotry?

I'm not saying all pro amps are going to be great (for instance I know the Behringer A500 is lousy), but might there be some good stuff too, like QSC DCA, or Crown Macro Reference (other suggestions would be welcome)?
syswei

I have had experience with Crown amps of both Class AB and Class I (modified Class D) variety.  The Crown pro amps are very nice, but they are built to be able to push a lot of watts and be very durable.  The CTS600, which was a Class AB amp, was very good, but it sounded somewhat dry.  The CTS200, which was Class I and an evolution of the original Crown K2 amp, sounded good and has good bass strength, but had tube-like overtones in the sonic signature.

In both cases, my Channel Island D200 Class D amps and Emotiva monoblocks were significant improvements in sound quality.

Pro amps have their place is live audio and abusive environments, but I don't think they will ever take the place of true audiophile amplifiers.

I use thousands of watts in a live show, 12 single ended tube amp watts per side for my hifi rig (well…not counting my subs).
Count me among those who use both pro and consumer amps. In my office 2 channel rig I have a cheap Crown whatever (A/B topology) driving a pair of LS50's, and couldn't be happier with the sound. In fact, to prove a point at my local hifi shop, I brought that amp in for a shootout between it and the new Anthem STR integrated, which is what, $4000 or so? We both concluded that there MIGHT be a difference, but certainly not one that reconciles the nearly 20x cost difference.

In my experience with home theater, the biggest difference between pro and consumer amps is that the latter are a bit trickier to integrate with a consumer setup. The gain staging is different, the connectors are all different, triggering is different, etc. I actually use both consumer and pro amps in my HT rig, with a Halo A31 powering the front three, and another cheap Crown whatever (I bought the two of them from some guy for $300 total) for the surrounds. I run everything XLR from my Anthem processor, but I still have to go around to my rack, which is in an adjacent room, to turn on the Crown. I've been considering getting a triggered outlet to plug it in to.
This is the only topic i could find googling. and still very interesting. So do not delete this topic.
Long time ago i was using for a QSC RMX 850 paired with ProAc bookshelf. and i was pleased and i though i had a very good setup because i had good audiophile speakers.. until one day i found a Cambridge Azur...After switching the amps i noticed the difference almost instantly. The sound was better with the Azur.. So the Azur replaced my bulky, heavy and ugly QSC RMX 850.

recently i sold my QSC RMX850 for $100 bucks in a good working condition. because i need cash badly... So before selling it, i had to do a quick test to make sure it was still working..but i tested it on a B&W floorstanding which i didn’t have when i had the QSC.. so it was the first time for the QSC to be paired with the B&W...

You know what! i think i regret it now. because the QSC really sounded great on my B&W floorstanding speakers.But it was too late... the QSC was sold i had the buyer coming..

The reason i did not keep it is because that QSC did not sound great with my Proac Bookshelf .. my Cambridge Azur 640 which i hate for having low quality china parts offers a noticeable better sound when paired with proac.But when the Cambridge is paired with the B&W floorstanding speakers which has bass/mid/tweet drivers.. the sound is just muffed.. clean vocal but muffed bass with the Cambridge Azur amp.
Definitely not as good as the QSC RMX850 paired with B&W.When i use the QSC RMX850 paired with B&W floorstanding speakers.. the sound quality just goes live.. something i couldn’t get with the Cambridge.
So my guess is that it all depends of the match we do Amp+Speakers
QSC with proac bookshelf (1000$ speakers) = okay sound but not audiophile. (proac bookself are audiophile bookshelf that has no real bass regardless of the amp)

QSC with B&W floorstanding std7nt ($800 speakers) = nice sounding!
Cambridge Azur 640 with Proac bookshelf = clean and audiophile grade (entry level audiophile) The sound is slightly better than with a QSC.

Cambridge Azur 640 with B&W floorstanding = It is nah...clean vocal but muffed bass..no life... near horrible unless you crank the volume up..
So are Pro amps better than Audiophile Amps ? my guess is that it is a Yes and No depends on your setup and your taste..
If you are looking for a particular sound quality you may find it in a Mcintosh or a Devialet or you could also find that type of sound in a pro amp.
I did not change the fan of the QSC as i don’t like messing with voltage.. did not want to burn my house.. But all i know is that pro amp like the QSC offer a pretty good sound and the difference is slim.. A Mcintosh amp is like $6000 and devialet start at $8000 and when paired with equal grade speakers , i find that they sound better than any pro gear i’ve tried.
but am i willing to spend 20k to get only twice the quality of a $1000 pro gear settup. Sure not unless i win lottery or something.
The second reason i choose not to keep pro gear is the ease of use.With pro gear you have to do everything manually.. change the volume, turn on/off by hand etc...With todays modern Audiophile amps, it is all done by remote and some now also offer iphone/smartphone control to access NAS or streaming services.. it is much more friendly...
But if you are looking for party setup with good quality sound and have a limited budget and not looking for modern functions.. Pro amp with floorstanding audiophile speakers is a good option to try..


Agree with dave_72

Bryston has made pro amps for years, with amps of varying power requirements. Their 4B and 7 series can drive any of the currently-available production HEA speakers.
I'm using a 4BSST2 to drive my Thiel 2.7 speakers. Never been happier. 
And their amps come with a 20 year warranty.