Studio/Performance Amps for High-End Systems?


As a practicing (hobbyist) keyboard player and audiophile, I am familiar with why one would not use a guitar amplifier for a keyboard, for example. But, I notice that some of the finest brands of high-power power amplifiers for recording studios or live performances (QSC, Crest, Crown and more) cost hundred or thousands of dollars less than high-end "audiophile" power amplifiers of similar or fewer watts/channel. The specs of these musicians' amps, designed to play 20-20K full-range sound through very low impedances (often as low as 1 ohm) seem to equal those of, say, a McCormack, Classe, Krell amp.
Is there something I'm missing here? If one needs 500 wpc or more, why buy a McCormack DNA-500 for $7K when you can get a QSC with 800 wpc into 8 ohms, capable of driving a 1 ohm load, for $2500?
toxrtp

Showing 1 response by davemitchell

Pro amps like the ones the OP mentioned are designed for power and reliability at the expense of sound quality. They are not "accurate" so much as they are crude, due to the use of lots of negative feedback or digital supplies and output stages. They often have connectivity, controls and features that complicate them compared to amplifiers designed for purity of sound.

In recent years, more and more of the Pro amps run efficient classes of operation such as class D or, when conventional, are biased more toward class B for cooler running and efficiency rather than good sound. In contrast, the most desirable and good sounding audiophile amplifiers run in Class A or are biased toward class A and attempt to minimize or eliminate the use of global negative feedback. Some innovative class D amps have even begun to appear in the audiophile world, but they have not had wide acceptance thus far.

Parts quality in Pro amps tends to be poor when compared with audiophile amplifiers. Pro amps often use generic and inexpensive parts everywhere including critical signal locations. Many audiophile amplifiers have better quality parts in their power supplies than pro models use in the signal path.