Crown XLI 1500 2 x 450Watt @ 4Ohm

I am a bit of a connoisseur. I have had many integrated amps and separates over the years. Integrated amps are labelled for home use by the reviewers as they have generally lower output, generally more aesthetically pleasing to look at, and sound very good indeed. You can get some high power old school integrated amplifiers pushing out 100 watts per channel and for most, this is more than enough.

I started to get into AV receivers to get multiple channel options for more power and these units are relatively cheap to pick up second hand. They sound great and have power on tap, up to 120 watts per channel and again is enough for most people.

Let’s make it clear, I am not a dj or running a studio. I thought to myself of what the amplifier was in integrated form. This is a pre amp and amp in one box, built to a price. The components you buy and use are the bench mark for the sound and you build around your equipment rather than buy an amplifier and then the bits to add on. You can use a small power integrated with pre out, this is important as you only need one volume dial, with line out it’s full power for a stand alone amp and you have to use the left and right adjustments on the power amp to compensate.
With a pre amp or mixer it can be pre set to maximum volume before clipping and then one dial controls everything.

I thought that by separating the components of pre and main, the sound quality can be improved and I was right, but the sound is your perception and you will get through many bits of kit over time to find your sound.

I looked into hi-fi power amps, but most top out at 70 watts per channel, which is less than a receiver, and was very expensive even second hand.

So then I started researching power amplifiers for pa or dj use. This is where it gets confusing to get the numbers right as this equipment is boastful and inaccurate. The power quoted is always maximum power into 4 ohms, which is misleading if your speakers are domestic 8 ohms. So a 1500 watt amp is 750 watts rms divided by 2 which is 375 watts at 4 ohms and about 177 at 8 ohms.

Then you have to decide on second hand or new, this depends on your budget. Due to the nature of what these type of amps are used for, I would be only inclined to buy second hand if I knew it had come from a studio collection. These tend to have a much gentler life than an amp on the road, being gigged at full tilt every weekend.

Then there is the class debacle, Class A/B - which is a small amount to power dedicated to Class A at lower wattage, then Class B as the power goes up. These are analogue sounding and appear to be more warmer than the Class D digital amps, which are newer technology and half the weight of a Class A/B in its power rating. Class D are more analytical and sharp, slightly colder sound, but clearer. Class A/B are more for analogue sources like vinyl or iPhone, not a CD player with an external DAC which outputs in digital form than analogue phono. Ideally you will need to try and listen to both and also match speakers, as both will produce a different sound, but remember, the turntable or CD player is the one to marry with the amp and speakers.

I was hesitant to buy a pa amp for home use and didn’t have an integrated with a pre out. I therefore invested in a good mixer. You need to spend a good piece of the budget on this as it takes your signal in and churns it back out with a slider to control the main volume, you set the level with a pair of headphones and keep the led meters in the green. Tape off under and above the slider and then set your master without the speakers connected to the same level. This set, you then connect a pair of phono leads to your amp and play a clean, but loud level song which you used to set the mixer up with and turn the left and right until the clip light flashes, and then step it back one notch at a time until it stops. This amp is quality sounding and great value for the power

I would rate this amp very highly. It's great value, compact, not so heavy and very easy to use. I have never had the volume over half-way and it still gives plenty of power. I use this to drive 2 x15" PA Cabs with no complaints. It may start distorting if pushed harder but it does the job for me.