Finally went to a pro amp..

[joest]

I have been waiting over a year to get a new amp to power my twin manifold IB & I finally done it. Just a quick history, I had started with just two Dayton DVC 15"s powered off a PE 250 watt plate amp. I than later added another manifold with another two Daytons still being powered off the same amp. I have ran all four subs for around 7months like this & had been very impressed & never seamed to lack any power. Man was I wrong. Just this past week I added a new Crown XLS602 to drive my subs with one ch & my center with the other. Normal listing levels are not really any different from before, but get into something a bit more & it is a very nice change. The bottom end now goes much deeper than before with alot more authority. I played a few scenes from U-571, Black Hawk Down, Lord of the Rings & a few others. Before there was strong bass with subtle hints of the lower octaves. Now there is strong bass with very noticeable notes in the bottom end. For example on BHD the Irene scene when the Black Hawks are getting ready to take off, with my plate amp it would shake things just a little bit & sounded pretty good. With the new amp you can feel the pulse through the floor & it almost sounds/feels like there is really a chopper close by. Watching U-571 the depth charges are much tighter & cleaner sounding than before, & again seem to go lower than before.
I know a big part has to do with losing the rumble filter that the PE amp had, but I really wasn't expecting this much change. It dose make me kinda leery of over driving the subs with some sub sonic stuff not having any kinda filter. But so far for what I have messed with & the levels I listen to I haven't noticed any problems. With BHD I had gotten up to watch just how much the subs were moving, & at one point (Irene scene again supposed to be in the 5hz range) the subs were probably close to there Xmax, but I was at an above normal lisitninglevel for me.
Anyway I just wonted to share my new found joy in the pro amp world & the difference it made. Next up will be a BFD hopefully soon. I'm really happy with how it sounds now but if it can be improved on even more I'm all for it

[Darren]

Cool assesment of your switch. How much of the difference do you suppose was due to increased output alone? I'm trying to gauge what to expect from my first Pro amp purchase... making that purchase today.

[ThomasW]

Good news....

Just be careful when you add the BFD, you'll quickly use up the excursion in a pair of 15"s.

[joest]

Darren, really I'm not sure, but I would say that that alone had to make a good deal of the difference. I have noticed with just music that the subs don't appear to move quite as much as before but the output seams to be greater & is much cleaner in sound. I can get to levels now that I couldn't before without a hint of distortion. Where as before for the same volume levels it would start to sound somewhat distorted (keep in mind this is at very high playback levels & with music only)& I had assumed that is was both the subs & the amp running out of juice. Now I realize it was merely lacking enough power for the demand of the four subs.

Thomas, I don't know if I took you're post wrong, but I have four 15" not just a single pair. I am a bit confused though how adding the BFD will cause me to use more excursion. I would assume it would be from any frequencies that may get boosted, or am I not thinking right?
I have been beating around the bush about getting a BFD but now it is definitely on my must add list. Not because I'm unhappy with the performance of the system, but again anything to improve it farther is just a must have for me.

[ThomasW]

I am a bit confused though how adding the BFD will cause me to use more excursion. I would assume it would be from any frequencies that may get boosted, or am I not thinking right?

Right, boosting lower frequencies uses amplifier power and driver excursion.

[joest]

[/quote]Right, boosting lower frequencies uses amplifier power and driver excursion.[/quote]

Got it, I do find myself keeping ahold of the remote alot more now just in-case. But normally I keep the levels pretty modest that in most cases the drivers are just barley moving so hopefully I wont have to worry about them too much. The only time I get them going pretty good is with music or showing off for friends, than I start pushing the drivers limits a bit.