From ynottnaro@yahoo.com Tue Sep 30 13:55:50 2003
Subject:Re: power amps

I've used everything from Peavey (too big and heavy
for their performance, at least the early and late
CS400 and CS800 amps, although the CS400 was better)
to my last and favorite the EVp1250. I understand the
weight issues, but a good rule of thumb (techs will
hate this!) is weight of transformer = performance. I
was perfectly happy with my QSC MX700 until I upgraded
to a Crest 901 which sounded good but smoked a channel
3 weeks after purchase. I was so pissed off at the
store that they ended up giving me the EVP1250 in
exchange (a total mistake that they regretted later).
When THAT amp was put into service, my timbale player
commented on how HUGE the piano sounded, especially
the low end. It was tight and meaty.

A lot of this depends on your intended usage. At the
time, I was in an 8 piece latin rock group, and doing
everything from pianos, EPS, synth leads, synth pads,
and very lush layers, and needed something that would
sound big and not get washed out, especially when
doing things with "Taurus bass pedal" sounds. You
won't get that kind of performance out of "lesser"
amps.

If you're just looking for light duty, limited range
(not that piano and organ are limited, but compared to
thick midi layers with bass pedals and sparkly DXtype
stuff on top it is), these other brands would be ok.
But for real performance, expect to carry a 40lb
amplifier in the 300w per ch @ 8ohm range. That means
Crest, Crown, EV. If you can find an old Crest 701
series, those are lighter and still perform well, and
can be found for around $300.

T

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