New Digital Pro Amp Released by Earthquake

[jimmyp58]

Earthquake has just released their new digital pro-amp, the PA-600. Here is a brief blurb on it:

"Earthquake engineers are currently in the process of bringing more innovative amplifiers to the table than ever before. In 2005 Earthquake will present one of the most compact and powerful rack mountable digital amps ever. This amp will have an EQ, room correction and an amazing 1200-watt peak performance plus many more features that are sure to steal the breath right out of your lungs."

It is a 2-channel amp that can be bridged for mono duty. List price is $799.

If this amp is anything like Earthquake's other amps, it WILL be breathtaking!

Jim

P.S. I have one on the way to demo. Will report findings.

[Patt]

Hello Jimmy......good to hear,

Check it out with full range speakers and let us know your findings. It has been suggested a Pro amp with a tube Pre could be a pretty nice setup for full range speakers.

...................................very curious.

[jimmyp58]

Will do....

[David Meek]

That price is pretty impressive if the specs hold up. For comparison, Yamaha's new digital amp, the MX-D1 has an MSRP of US$4999! This'll be interesting Jimmy. :T

[jimmyp58]

I am planning on testing it out with some Acoustic Energy (AElite) towers and some Dynaudios (Contour S 5.4's).

[jimmyp58]

I received the unit yesterday and fired it up for about an hour. I only demo'd it with the Acoustic Energy AElite 3 towers. Wow. Unbelievable clarity and power. It produces the same dynamic response as I get with the Grande 5 beast. Great separation and it really gives the woofs a workout. Solid build quality. I also own a Crown K2 and QSC PLX-3402 and it's build quality is on par with the Crown and clearly bests the QSC.

I'll report more as I put it through it's paces today with the AElite's and later today with the Dynadudios.

I sell all the Crown amps and this is certainly on par, and perhaps a better value, than the comparably matched amps of theirs.

Jim

[ekkoville]

Jimmy, what is your overall opinion on the sound pro amps give compared to non pro. Seems like they have great power for very good cost, case in point some of the Crowns I have seen. Is there a "sound" they have that makes them less desirable for home use, or are they just unnoticed?

[Patt]

I wish you had a pair of "horns"... :B (Klipsch) to try it on.

[jimmyp58]

Great question. Back some months ago I had the much acclaimed Carver Pro ZR-1600. I absolutely fell in love with this amp and it performed as well as my Crown K2 (I sold it when I started Next Level as I became a QSC & Crown dealer instead --- long story). Anyway, I had it powering one of my VMPS Larger subs. Beautiful response. I had inadvertently blew a channel on my Bryston 14B SST so while it was at Bryston being repaired, I used the ZR 1600 to power my fronts --- VMPS RM40's --- these guys need lots of power. These speakers are very detailed too and the Bryston amp provided a great fit for them (I now have a Krell FBP instead). What I heard was nothing short of spectacular. Maybe a skosh thinner on the bass side (2-channel listening) but once I added the sub, couldn't tell the difference at all. Crisp, clean, and detailed sounds emanated from those critical speakers. I was floored. HT was superb too. Prior to that I was in the same camp as many --- pro amps won't perform well for home use (less subwoofer duties).

I have become convinced that a solid pro amp (not just any pro amp mind you) performs remarkably well to their non-pro counterparts for home use. Great value too. I don't think they create a sort of sonic fingerprint that differs from their non-pro counterparts, at least not for the ones I tested (BTW, I swapped the ZR-1600 with the K2 and got the same results). The biggest difference, again with these critical speakers, is the bass response. With regards to the AElite 3's I tested, they are usually powered by an ARCAM AVR-300 receiver of about the same power rating. Mind you, that receiver is one heck of a unit and it produces some amazing sounds but the PA-600 pushed the AElite's a tad more in comparison. Perhaps some lower rated pro amps create an undesirable sound for home use and these are what gives the pro line a bad rap.

I'll continue to test and report my findings.

Jim

[Patt]

Cool.... 8)

The fellow that rebuilt my 4.2 crossovers said a tube Pre could do wonders for a Pro amp and he personally preferred the QSC to the Carver.
For someone on a budget with a lot of power in mind the Pro amps seem like a possibility.
With a couple 10" woofers on the Klipsch RF7 maybe a Pro amp would have a solid grip on the bass.


Concerning getting the signal to a Pro amp, is there a special adapter that takes place of the RCA jack cables?......Is it a pain to use such adapter?

I have seen on the roads before the big black 18 wheeler "Crown" semi trucks making their delivery. Very nice looking graphics on those trucks.

[jimmyp58]

The PA-600 takes regular RCA's, XLR's, & phono jacks --- you'd be good to go.

Jim

[Snap]

I also own a Crown K2 and QSC PLX-3402 and it's build quality is on par with the Crown and clearly bests the QSC.

I sell all the Crown amps and this is certainly on par, and perhaps a better value, than the comparably matched amps of theirs.

Jim

Hear Hear. :agree:

But if money is a problem the QSC is not a bad choice.

[Snap]

Jimmy,
Have you had a chance to look at the Crown K1? Have not heard it yet, but I was thinking about putting it into a church any thoughts?

Thanks in advanced bro.

[jimmyp58]

Hey SNAP!:

Yep, I looked at the K1 too but for the few extra $$$, I think the K2 is a better value. Obviously, build-wise and sonics are the same it's just that the cost difference was so small that it just made sense getting the K2. Bottom-line, the K1 will do an awesome job in your application SNAP.

Don't get me wrong, the QSC is a powerful amp and does a fine job but when I opened it up and compared it to the Crown's innerds, no comparison. Plus if you are going to use a pro amp for HT use and the amp is in the same room as your screen/TV & speakers, you definitely have to do some serious mods as that OEM fan is crazily noisy. I won't sell a QSC to someone if their equipment is in the same room as their monitor/speakers --- not unless they are full well-aware and willing to either have me send it out for modding or they do it themselves. That is what is great about the 'K' series from Crown --- no fan. Sure, the amp gets hot (it's designed to) but all you need to do is open up the box and sit back & enjoy.

The PA-600 has a fan but it is dead-quiet.

I listened a bit more yesterday with the PA-600 and some full-range speakers. I tried it out on my Dynaudio Audience 62's (I use these in my dining room). Granted, I normally use these speakers for background mood listening over dinner so they never get cranked. Previously I had been using a couple of channels from my CineNova Grande 5 to power these speakers. All I can say is that I achieve very near the same results. The PA-600 seemed to add a tad more bass than the Grande 5 (not that the Grande 5 ever lacks in lush, powerful, deep bass response) but it wasn't horrible or overbearing.

Today I will put it through it's paces with the Acoustic Energy's again and my Dynaudio Contour S 5.4's and report back.

I'll take a pic too and post.

Later fellas....

Jim

P.S. For those of you that don't know, our own Jon Marsh was a part of the design team for the Crown amp.

[Snap]

Thanks Jim!

Dude once again learned something new! All the QSC stuff that I have done has been in amp racks inside some other room, or in the attic etc. The Crown stuff I actually put in the Amp Rack below the Sound Board.

DUMB LUCK I promise! :rofl: I DID NOT plan that but you are exactly right... the QSC's are LOUD!

hahahaha :rofl:

Still laughing at myself...if this one customer would not have insisted on the Crown, that job could have backfired on me!

3 QSC amps would have been LOUD under the sound board!

Thanks for the Post Jim! :T

[jimmyp58]

You are certainly welcome SNAP!!!

[Snap]

I think I might have to try that amp out too. I was thinking about going with the Nova 3. But I might just use the PA-600 now that you tested it out. The Nova 7.1 amps are shipping now to! :T Or is that June? Oh well they should be out soon!

Hey Jimmy, why don't you audition the Earthquake Thor Speakers? :B I want to know if they are worth the BIG price tag!

[jimmyp58]

Yep, I wanted to keep a lid on the Grande 7 for a little bit longer as I have seen this date come and go a number of times over the past few months. But yes, I heard the other day they should be shipping by the end of June. I also heard the price tag will not be much more than the Grande 5.

You are a funny dude SNAP. Heck yeah, I'll test out the Thor's if you pay for them.... :T

They certainly look like some knock-off B&W's...

Jim

[Snap]

hahaha No way man. Rep tried to get me to get them! I laughed and told him I was still in the military and could NOT affourd them! hahaha. They do look like a knock off of the 800D from B&W.

Didn't mean to spill the beans about the 7.1 Amp.

Glad to see that I can make people laugh. People are always laughing either with or at me,.....but still laughing!

Got to go run sound for second service! Chilling at church in between services!

[Snap]

Jimmy, I have an idea. You buy one and I will buy one. You keep them for the even quarters, then ship them to me and I will use them durring the odd quarters. So we can have them for a half a year each! DEAL????

[jimmyp58]

hhmmm, now that is an interesting idea SNAP!

[Snap]

Here is a rack that I did with both Crown and QSC. This amp rack is located in one of the projection rooms. (Back lit projection screens)

But this would have been bad to place in under the sound board!

Sorry for the pix quaility. I compressed it to much. But there are 4 QSC amps, and 1 Crown Amp. And Furman Power Sequencers.

[jimmyp58]

Now that's a lot of juice there!!!

[Snap]

Jimmy, The amp rack is behind this! :T There are 2 of them. One on each side.

[jimmyp58]

Holy smokes!!! That is absolutely gorgeous.

[Snap]

Thanks Man they do the job well. Pain in the tail to install the screens!

[jimmyp58]

Here's a quick pic....

[Snap]

Jimmy.

You compaired it to the K2 and the QSC. So that would tell me that there might be some pro-application that some one could use this amp for? It does have rack mounts as well from the pix.

Question to you is...you heard it....would it be worth putting it into a pro system? (would need to be a small system, but still...)

[jimmyp58]

Could be PRO or HT, depending on the application. No problem with a small PRO system at all....lots of power for certain (I think the ratings are very conservative). Certainly cannot keep up with a QSC or K2 but in the right setting, no problem whatsoever. Perhaps a small church, a small office, etc. I am going to hook it up to one of my VMPS Larger subs in place of one of the aforementioned amps to see how it does and I'll report back.

[Snap]

sweet thanks man for the intell. :T

Thinking about the in-ceiling office speaker system. 8 speakers in all. 2 way 5.25 speakers. May be 6.5 but more than likely 5.25 looking at 4ohm load per chan. with impedence matching volume controls.

[jimmyp58]

Anytime and it's good to know this amp can go down to 2 ohms.

Jim

[Patt]

Jimmy,

Do you think maybe a good tube Preamp could smooth out or change the sound in any way to that Pro Amp? I just thought if you were swapping gear around sometime this could be worth a try.

I heard somewhere that Pro Amps can sound a little thin in the bass dept. sometimes and wondered if it could be changed somehow. :huh:

For a Pro Amp that PA-600 is pretty sleek, does it come with a non-rack mounted face?