The world of power amplifiers can be an extremely confusing one for anyone who is in the market for their first unit. To assist in the process, this article will discuss the top ten power amplifiers currently available on the market.
10. Alesis RA300
The Alesis RA300 is a reference power amplifier, intended for studio use. It has a very quiet cooling system in order to keep excess noise from seeping into recordings. It boasts a signal to noise ratio of >105dB.
9. Peavey PV900
Representing a tremendous value for money, the Peavey PV900 brings stadium tour sound to musicians at a club circuit price. The PV900 is powerful, but it is also extremely rugged and able to withstand harsh road conditions and continue operating.
8. Yamaha P2500S
In an effort to make things easier for confused buyers, Yamaha designed the P2500S to be the perfect companion to its Club Series speakers. It includes special signal processing circuitry intended to maximize the performance of the matching speakers.
7. Crown D-45
The Crown D-45 is a very small amplifier, intended to drive smaller speakers such as near field monitors. It is ideal for studio use, where its light power consumption and heat output will be appreciated in long mixdown sessions.
6. Peavey PV1600
Bi-amping is an incredibly effective way of coaxing the best possible sound out of speakers, because it sends high and low frequency sounds across separate signal paths, eliminating distortion and crosstalk. The PV1600 is ready for by-amping right out of the box, and can be combined with the PV3800 to form a tri-amped system with a subwoofer.
5. Crown XLS 602
One of the workhorses of live sound, the Crown XLS 602 is built to last. With a rugged all steel chassis, there have been reports of the XLS602 being dropped on pavement and surviving. It has also been praised by DJs.
4. QSC ISA 300 Ti
Because of its unusual way of handling a workload, the QSC ISA 300 Ti is one of the rare power amplifiers that can power both a main audio system, and a small distributed system simultaneously.
3. Yamaha P7000S
The Yamaha P7000S builds on the capabilities of the P2500S by adding high pass filters which can be manually set by the owner, allowing a customized tone that capitalizes on the strengths and weaknesses of whatever speakers are connected.
2. Crown XLS 5000
The Crown XLS 5000 is among the best power amplifiers in the industry, where cost for performance is concerned. It is able to produce up to 1100 watts per channel, sufficient power for most live settings, and like the XLS 602, is constructed from all steel.
1. Peavey CS4080
Musicians have been known to use the same Peavey Power Amplifier for over 20 years, and with good reason. The Peavey CS4080 produces up to 2040 watts per channel, delivering some of the cleanest, loudest sound available. It also has an impressive array of protective circuits allowing it to tolerate a wide array of fault conditions.