You know how cheap I am. $125.

That's a very interesting idea, Mark.

It's funny that you guys are talking about this.

A few days earlier, Chris and I had the same discussion at lunch. The watt/$$ ration is absurd, therefore, what? I don't' know.

We were thinking we should audition one and see how we feel.

There are a lot of competeing brands out there, most with similarly low prices. Oh, I'm sorry, the new, more complicated term for "prices" is, of course, "pricepoints." Duh.

It's not like they've been a secret. However, if listeners like us would be happy with them, then zillions of other people would have already found that out and whoosh!-- no more Outlaw, no more Emotiva. Right?

I am still really interested in finding out. However, it would be dangerous for me to go into a Guitar Center without buying a new keyboard and a Hi-Watt stack.

I know those amps are commonly used by large venues to power stage monitors and the like, but they don't have to be that clean to do that well enough. Hmmmm?

Like the vast majority of this equipment nowadays, it is manufactured in totality or at least the innards at a minimum, are from China. I think one would also have to take in to account that Crown is part of the JBL/Harmon conglomerate so there is a long history there. Yamaha, for example has a separate professional division with power amp models, however, it would be interesting to know whether or not there is any direct or indirect design connection between these units and their AVRs because, unlike the Crown stuff, their power amps certainly aren't cheap.

As an old guitar player myself, like Bob, my only concern would be in using such equipment in an A/V application, is how would the noise floor compare to a quality A/V amp? Used in a professional/live application, realistically, noise nor extended frequency range is of much importance especially when cranked up. One is certainly not going to connect their system to a Hi-Watt stack and expect it to sound any good.

Having said all that, I have never tried one, so in all honesty, I wouldn't know until I connected one to hear if there is any meaningful difference and how it would compare to electronics designed specifically for A/V use.

I've been tempted to buy a "pro" amp a number of times, but have wondered about the noise floor, etc... as well.

If the "specs" of that "pro" amp are equal to an HT amp, then what allows it to be SO much less expensive? Manufacturing volume? Competitive market? Lower markup?

This is the Crown that I keep going back to: 775WPC, Stereo, @ 4 Ohms and 440WPC, Stereo, @ 8 Ohms. I mean, if you're going to see if increased power makes a difference, why only go a bit above my Denon Receiver? I also like that it has RCA inputs and can take banana plugs on the outputs for convenience. $600 with a full, 3-year warranty. How can you go wrong?

As much as I like the idea of the Outlaw monoblocks, for the same cost, they only offer me 200 WPC at my 8 Ohms... not a huge difference from what my Denon is giving me now.

Now, take that Crown amps' specs and stick it in this case. NOW how many people would pay $800 for that product?

one of my amps is a proamp: QSC GX5, and at full gain, there is a bit of noise IF one puts his ear near the speaker; when i lower the gain (sensitivity) by about 6 dB, then it's totally quiet.
My other amp, a Hafler 500 was a proamp; those sold for house use did not have any sensitivity pots, but the pro ones did. That was the only difference between the two.

one only has to check specs to see that they're as good quality as excellent home audio amps and, for the price, they're a bargain.

a plus is the fact that the standard warranty is 3 years, and if you register your new amp at QSC, you get a 3 year extension.

if you have a question about using the QSC amps, usually it's the chief engineer who answers you on their forum.

Exactly.

JB: Quebec isn't that far from Concord, NH.
If I do my part by sending you a nice blanket to wrap it in, can you drive it down to Mark's for us to hear?

Mark, you free tomorrow?

sorry, but i don't have a car...but i do have blankets.

the amp has no sound of its own (it sounds exactly the same as my other amp), but it's a perfect feed for M80's, specially in my small room, where only a fraction of the potential power is used.