Confused About Matching Power Amps to Speakers

D

dpreed1

New member
I've got a pair of Peavy PV215's from an auction a week ago and I'm having trouble matching a power amp with these. From what I've read they operate at 700watts @ 4ohms. I was thinking of buying a samson servo 600 operating at 300 watts per side at 4 ohms and 600 watts bridged mono at 8 ohms. Is this too underpowered? Also when an amp is in bridged mono, can only 1 speaker be connected (I've come across something called daisy chaining). Also, any suggestions for an amp if this one's not up to par?
Thanks
 
dpreed1 said:
...samson servo 600...Is this too underpowered?
Click to expand...

Yes, poor choice. Forget the Samson, it cannot keep up if you ever plan to make them work hard. (If you keep the volume way down, maybe, but risky.)

Instead, take a look at the QSC PLX2402. This amp is perfectly matched for those speakers. Or find any other amp that can deliver 700 watts @ 4 ohms, stereo.

dpreed1 said:
...Also when an amp is in bridged mono, can only 1 speaker be connected...
Click to expand...

No, you can run two 8 ohm speakers from a bridged amp but never two 4 ohm speakers. Those speakers are 4 ohms, (a heavier load than 8,) which means that the load would be too great to run both of them from one amp in bridged mode. Keep your amp in stereo mode and connect only one speaker per channel. It will work correctly that way.

Hope this helps.
RawDepth
 
I agree with RawDepth that the QSC PLX2402 would be a better choice if you want to really push the speakers but it depends on what you're doing with them. If you'll just use them in a rehearsal room then the Samson would be plenty but if you're gonna use them for a gigging PA then you need more juice.

Also .... it's extremely common for amps in bridged mode to be rated at no lower than 8 ohms. So in that case you could not use 2 8ohm speakers because that'd give you a 4 ohm load which is too low. And that's the case more often than not.
 
Thanks guys for the input. Guess I'll turn down that samson. The QSC would be a great amp, but it's getting a little too pricey for me at the moment. I've been looking at some of the alternative, less expensive amps around that range and have come across the Gem Sound EXA-3950 which is rated at 700watts @ 4ohms stereo. I know one gets what they pay for, but was wondering if anyone had an opinion about using one of these conservatively? I'm sure corners have been cut in assembling an amp rated this high and selling it cheaper, but if I used it at only 85 - 90% of it's capacity with the PV 215's might this be better (for the speakers) than getting a more expensive amp rated lower? I would hate to sell the speakers, but I suppose it may come down to this. Also...FYI. my band is planning on playing small / medium sized clubs.

Thanks
 
You may want to look into the FACE audio line of amps. They may still be out of your price range, but offer excellent quality, good reliability and excellent output at a fair price. We are actually in the process of changing out our Crown Macrotechs and Crest CA and Power pro's with them. So far the only real drawback I have found with them is their heavy weight. In use though they have been very reliable and sound great. I have never even felt one get warm yet.
 
dpreed1 said:
Thanks guys for the input. Guess I'll turn down that samson. The QSC would be a great amp, but it's getting a little too pricey for me at the moment. I've been looking at some of the alternative, less expensive amps around that range and have come across the Gem Sound EXA-3950 which is rated at 700watts @ 4ohms stereo. I know one gets what they pay for, but was wondering if anyone had an opinion about using one of these conservatively? I'm sure corners have been cut in assembling an amp rated this high and selling it cheaper, but if I used it at only 85 - 90% of it's capacity with the PV 215's might this be better (for the speakers) than getting a more expensive amp rated lower? I would hate to sell the speakers, but I suppose it may come down to this. Also...FYI. my band is planning on playing small / medium sized clubs.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Don't sell the speakers just cause you might not have as much power as they're rated for. I mean, what would you do? Buy speakers that'll only handle 300 watts? You'd just end up with a much lesser sound. There'll still only be 300 watts a side but smaller less effective speakers doing an even smaller sounding job with those watts. There is no rule that says you have to have as much power as the speakers can take. The big speakers will still sound better than smaller cheaper speakers would with that same 300 watts.
It is true that if you crank the smaller amp up past clipping attempting to get it louder than it'll go you could blow a horn but as long as you don't push the amp into clipping you should be fine.
You can get a Crown that puts out 600 a side into 4 ohms for $365 at MF ..... you can get a Behringer that puts out 700 a side for $300 .... I'm not sure of your budget but $300 or so'll get you the amount of power you want in a fairly cheap amp. Hell, you can get a Mackie that does 700 a side for $400.
I don't know how much that Gem is but it can't be that much cheaper.
The main thing with cheaper amps is to not do anything wrong with them. Don't turn them on without having the speakers connected .... don't let them over heat, either have plenty of ventilation room or better yet .... use a fan .... make sure you never have shorts in the cables/speakers etc.
So I wouldn't even consider selling the speakers .... you or the band ought to be able to come up with 3 or 4 hundred dollars .... hell, take a bit off the top from the gigs.
 
UHH... your peavey PV215 speakers are rated at 700 watt PROGRAM power... that translates into 350 watt rms power rating.... if you pour 700 clean watts per speaker to these... you will experience a melt down.
 
JCM900 said:
UHH... your peavey PV215 speakers are rated at 700 watt PROGRAM power... that translates into 350 watt rms power rating.... if you pour 700 clean watts per speaker to these... you will experience a melt down.
Click to expand...
Ah, foolish young grasshopper. You should probably do your homework before handing out professional advice.

Please read this about power amps. It was written by the manager of Technical Services at EAW Corporation. If you still disagree, I'll give you his email address along with other top dogs on the EAW Engineering staff.

(dpreed1, if you blow your speakers from using an underpowered amp, I can recone them for you then. ;) )

RawDepth
 
Unless the clubs are tiny to very small you will need all the power you can get. I would consider 1000W to be minimum for any clean and sorta loud system. If you guys are playing very loud rock and want to mic the drums you will need twice that.

With that in mind don't even consider selling the speakers to go for a smaller system. You will be pushing it as it is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top