Pro-audio and commercial gear -vse- Domestic Products

[Brad V]

I am upgrading my current HT package - Yamaha MX-1 power amps, Yamaha RX-V2600 Receiver / Processor, 4 x Jamo 707's, 2 Jamo 507's and Aaron Sub to something a bit more substantial in SPL and quality....

Whilst keeping to a reasonable budget, but at the same time getting a lot more SPL and sound quality over what I currently have, I was looking into the idea of using pro-audio gear. Having researched some mainstream commercial power amps and liking the spec for price levels, has got me into the idea of setting up a HT system using pro-audio gear or commercial gear.

Unless there is something obvious I am missing - pro-audio or commercial gear is priced lower than domestic gear on similiar spec comparisons.

My thoughts are along the lines of sourcing some large 15ich monitors - Cerwin Vega, JBL or something else big on SPL, Yamaha commercial amps such as:

http://www.yamahaproaudio.com/products/power_amps/pc9501n/index.html

and achieving home theater signal separation in a DSP (or is it DTS?) only format with a digital mixing engine. It wouldn't bother me not having any synthesised theater and audio settings - as I would rather listen to a pure signal path in my HT.

The equipment would all rack up nice in a commercial 19inch equipment rack.

Has anyone got any thoughts on this?

Considered doing or have done something similiar?

Other pros are the robustness of the units over domestic products, but a possible issue might be that commercial gear may not sound right in a domestic environment because of a bunch of other sonic and specification reasons.

[David Meek]

Hi Brad, welcome to The Guide. :welcome:

There are other members here that use "pro" gear in their home set-ups and are quite happy with it. Sonically, it's like any other piece of equipment you might look at changing - if the performance specs are agreeable, does it sound right with my system? One concern I would have is noise from the "pro" gear caused by fans, but that can be overcome, say by building the equipment rack into a wall, closet or other room.

Another place to consider putting this thread is in our Mission Possible DIY forum as there are some seriously knowledgable folks there. If you don't get much action on this thread here, I'll move it over there for you.

[Burke Strickland]

Ditto what David said.

One excellent brand that straddles both worlds is Bryston. Rugged enough for demanding commercial use and refined enough for home theater and attentive music listening (as well as QUIET -- both spec-wise and no-fan cooling). They market successfully to both pro users and high end home users, and may be the only company in the business to offer (and honor) a 20 year warranty on their analog gear (five years for digital). However, "indestructibility" comes at a price- their components hold their value very well over time, so the "pre-owned" market for this gear is not the bargain bonanza it would be for other equipment with lesser build quality and more up-front mark-up.

Hope you find what you are looking for at a price you feel is reasonable.

Burke

[Brad V]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Still doing my research, so far it seems that there is a tendency for a pro-audio power amp to sound a bit gritty and lacking in warmth at lower volume levels.

But other than that issue - it seems like a great choice.

The Bryston amps look like a great choice..