OT Cheap Audio amps
 

I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA 50 - 100W

Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.

Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.

Ta

Zikki Malambo wrote:
I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA 50 - 100W

Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.

Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.


I have been very impressed with Cambridge Audio stuff. I think their are
(at least part) owned by Richer Sounds these days, who stock all of
their stuff.


--
Grunff

On 25 Nov 2004 07:01:19 -0800, (Zikki
Malambo) strung together this:

I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

I usually have a flick through the CPC catalogue then shop around for
something cheaper once I've got an idea.

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA 50 - 100W

Richer Sounds. http://www.richersounds.co.uk
--

SJW
A.C.S. Ltd
Please reply to group or use 'usenet' in email subject

In article ,
Zikki Malambo wrote:
I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA
50 - 100W

Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.

Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.

First, by PA, do you mean 100 volt line?

--
*Two many clicks spoil the browse *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Zikki Malambo wrote:
I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA
50 - 100W

Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.

Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.

First, by PA, do you mean 100 volt line?


Jumping in here Dave, I'm considering running a few field (Showjumping etc)
events next year and have a requirement for a portable (12 volt) PA system
with three or so weatherproof speakers, and a microphone on about 5 metres
of lead.
Have you any suggestions for a budget model?


--
John

Horse Sense is what makes horses not bet on people

Grunff wrote:
Zikki Malambo wrote:

I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA
50 - 100W

Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.

Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.



I have been very impressed with Cambridge Audio stuff. I think their are
(at least part) owned by Richer Sounds these days, who stock all of
their stuff.

I'd have to agree with that having just replaced a midi system with CA
amp & CD player and the cheap 100W "monitors" from Richer. Can't say
I've tried turning it up more than about 25% though!


--
Spamtrap in use
To email replace 127.0.0.1 with blueyonder dot co dot uk

"John" wrote
| Jumping in here Dave, I'm considering running a few field (Showjumping
| etc) events next year and have a requirement for a portable (12 volt)
| PA system with three or so weatherproof speakers, and a microphone on
| about 5 metres of lead.
| Have you any suggestions for a budget model?

12W
http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr2894.html

25W
http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr3799.html

50W
http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr3888.html

For more power you would probably need to use a larger mains amp and an
inverter. If you can get a truck with 24V electrics and a 24V inv it will
halve the DC current drain.

10" Low Z horn
http://www.cybermarket.co.uk/ishop/923/shopscr2927.html

skytronic.com, CPC or Rapid Electronics may be cheaper. Skytronic are good
for downloadable manuals and own adastra.

Useful things come on ebay. I saw a couple of nice Toa horns a few weeks
ago. There's a Toa amp, check with seller for 12V power, item no 3763631375.
There's a pair of "trumpet style" PA horns that look like they fell off a
railway station at 3764678033

You do not need a lot of watts for public address work; music systems have
high powers because bass drivers are inefficient. The Beatles played the
Albert Hall with 20W. A lot depends on whether you just need to cover
defined areas (spectators, competitor marshalling pens) or the entire arena.

Owain

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 15:06:38 +0000, Grunff wrote:

I have been very impressed with Cambridge Audio stuff.

Sounds OK, but it's mechanically unreliable (maybe not a problem for
amps) and there's no service operation. I would _never_ buy another
piece of Cambridge Audio kit.

--
Smert' spamionam

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 15:06:38 +0000, Grunff wrote:

I have been very impressed with Cambridge Audio stuff.


Sounds OK, but it's mechanically unreliable (maybe not a problem for
amps) and there's no service operation. I would _never_ buy another
piece of Cambridge Audio kit.


What did you have that broke? I've only ever bought their amps, and
really can't fault them.


--
Grunff

Huge wrote:

They're actually owned by Richer Sounds...

That's what I said! :-)


Dunno if this is good or bad.

Wasn't the story something like "Richer sounds bought up several small
UK audio companies, saving them from closure", or something to that effect?


--
Grunff

On Thu, 25 Nov 2004 22:03:22 -0000, Owain wrote:

A lot depends on whether you just need to cover defined areas
(spectators, competitor marshalling pens) or the entire arena.

And if you have to run longish speaker cables it may well be better to
do it at 100v line rather than ordinary LoZ stuff. Apart from losses
in the cable the amp might object to the much more reactive load.

--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 15:56:48 +0000, Grunff wrote:

What did you have that broke?

CD transports. I've seen a couple with the same faults, so you can't
even swap parts to get one of them going.

If they are owned by Richer Sounds, that was news to the clueless and
unhelpful oiks at the Clifton, Bristol branch of Richer Sounds.

Dave Liquorice wrote:

And if you have to run longish speaker cables it may well be better to
do it at 100v line rather than ordinary LoZ stuff. Apart from losses
in the cable the amp might object to the much more reactive load.

Not sure I follow that, Dave. The capacitance of a given length of
cable of a given construction doesn't, to a good approximation, depend
on its size. It depends more on the ratio of conductor diameter and
spacing. So if you compare, say, 0.75 mm^2 cable for 100 V line use
with, say, 4 mm^2 in a low-Z system the total shunt capacitance will be
about the same (for a given run length). However the shunt reactance of
the cable is going to have far more effect on the higher-impedance 100 V
line system, since the reactive current will be a much larger fraction
of the LS load current. If you're worried about the amplifier
'ringing' or bursting into oscillation then the low-Z system is the
safer bet.

In reality though, with a half-decent amplifier it's only the series
resistance of the speaker wiring that matters, and there of course the
100 V line system wins hands down if it's a long way from A to B.

--
Andy

Andy Dingley wrote:
On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 15:56:48 +0000, Grunff wrote:


What did you have that broke?


CD transports. I've seen a couple with the same faults, so you can't
even swap parts to get one of them going.

Blimey - you'd think given the number of manufacturers in the Far East
pumping out CD transports at ~50p a throw they'd have been able to
source reliable ones.



If they are owned by Richer Sounds, that was news to the clueless and
unhelpful oiks at the Clifton, Bristol branch of Richer Sounds.

Yeah, Richer Sounds are by no means perfect - they certainly employ
their fair share of "you must use these £300 interconnects sir" types,
but I do like quite lot of their stuff. Gale sspeakers are another one
of my favourite Richer items - hugely underrated, nice speakers.


--
Grunff

On Fri, 26 Nov 2004 20:18:37 +0000, Grunff wrote:

Gale sspeakers are another one
of my favourite Richer items - hugely underrated, nice speakers.

I've got a pair of those (I bought the whole lot from Richer Sounds in
2000). I still like the speakers, tiny though they are.

Why am I still using a NAD tuner and tape deck that's 20 years old,
yet the Cambridge Audio CD didn't last 3 years ? And the track
display backlight didn't even make it to 2.

"Andy Wade" wrote
| Dave Liquorice wrote:
| And if you have to run longish speaker cables it may well be
| better to do it at 100v line rather than ordinary LoZ stuff.
| Apart from losses in the cable the amp might object to the
| much more reactive load.
| ... If you're worried about the amplifier 'ringing' or
| bursting into oscillation then the low-Z system is the
| safer bet.

If there are seriously long speaker cables then lump loading would be
required to correct for the cable lengths.

| In reality though, with a half-decent amplifier it's only the
| series resistance of the speaker wiring that matters, and there
| of course the 100 V line system wins hands down if it's a long
| way from A to B.

As well as making it a lot easier to use multiple speakers without faffing
about with series/parallel oojits.

However the 12V power supply does suggest we are talking about Pony Club in
the paddock rather than International Horse Show at Olympia.

Owain

In article ,
Owain wrote:
As well as making it a lot easier to use multiple speakers without
faffing about with series/parallel oojits.

However the 12V power supply does suggest we are talking about Pony Club
in the paddock rather than International Horse Show at Olympia.


It's easy enough to make a 12 volt 100 volt line amp of near any power -
since it will have to have an output transformer. You simply need suitable
current output devices - and of course a meaty power source.

--
*Acupuncture is a jab well done.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Zikki Malambo wrote:

I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.

1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount

2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA 50 - 100W

Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.

Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.

Ta
Ebay. mate.
For hifi I stoick to Sony. Best of teh 'cooking' brands. Well
engineered, but without stupid gold plated eveerything.

On professinal fr9nt its bentoo long to know who makes what tehse tdays.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Zikki Malambo wrote:

I am looking for a couple of cheap audio amps.


1. Semi Pro PA amp 100W Stereo Rack mount


2. Dunno the presice spec, but presume stereo and domestic Hi Fi or PA
50 - 100W


Budget is up to £200 in the first instance, £100 (!) in the second.


Any suggestions as to makes/suppliers to go for/avoid.


First, by PA, do you mean 100 volt line?


why on earth should he?

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
First, by PA, do you mean 100 volt line?

why on earth should he?

Because it's the best way to do it for a portable rig. No problems with
long cable runs and the ability to adjust the levels of individual
speakers.

--
*We waste time, so you don't have to *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.