jhenders@wimsey.bc.ca (John Henders) (05/06/91)
In article <11683@uwm.edu> KLUDGE@AGCB1.LARC.NASA.GOV writes: > >Phase-Linear amps: > The Phase-Linear beasts were NOT good in their day. They were in fact >notoriously bad. The reason they sound bad in comparison with modern amplifiers >is primarily related to the fact that they sounded bad in comparison with >amplfiers twenty years ago. They were quite popular for PA applications >because they were fairly indestructable. They still aren't all that bad for >cheap PA work, and you can pick them up for a song. But don't use them for >anything that you want to sound good... Actually, Phase Linear amps have totally awful protection circuitry and are known in the pro industry to take drivers with them when they blow. Overall, a bad investment. At the time, they sold well as they offered the best bang for the buck, and when you buy 30 amps, that's a significant factor. A local sound company, Kelly DeYong, bought quite a few from Bob when he first started out. They are only now replacing the last of them, but had relegated them to monitors for the last 4 years. Phase Linear, in case some people didn't know, was Bob Carver's first amplifier company. A similar situation seems to be happeninwith the PM1.5 pro Carver amps, which initially looked like a good deal, but have had many problems, and are rapidly being replaced by the companies which had invested in them. Another amp to avoid is the QSC's, which are quite nicely priced, but clip well before their ratings, and sound marginal, except for low frequencies. The current fave in the pro industry seems to be Crest which are very high power, and don't sound to bad either. Crown, of course, is still well respected, and if you've got money to burn, the JBL/UREI's are wonderful. A friend recently installed the JBL's in a studio, and said the distinction in imaging made the Urei studio monitors sound considerbly better. John Henders Vancouver,B.C.