Conference napalm::commusic_v1

Hi Jim,

I have had both an AB600 and an AB900 in the past. I found them to be
extremely heavy and not very powerful. I also found them to be very
costly relative to performance. I ended up buying two Carver 1.5L amps
which are very light (no big power transformer) and much more powerful.
I bought them as floor demos at Wurly's for less than I paid for the
AB amps. I'm not familiar with the AB110. I would definitely try it
out before you buy. Check power rating vs. volume, and also distortion.

dave

    
    Is the AB 110 the little 50W/ch studio amp or one of the larger
    commercial (non-Precedent Series) amps? I can't remember.
    
    I have had bad (gig-ruining) experiences several times with AB
    Precedent Series amps, specifically the 600 and 900. The 1100A
    seems to hold up ok. Realize that these are convection cooled amps
    like DC300's and if used in a case MUST be fan cooled. Even then,
    the AB's blew the power supplies. I don't reccommend them. I have
    no experience with their commercial stuff, although they re built
    MUCH heavier and are true dual mono, so I would expect better
    performance, but at outrageous weight penalties.
    
    I don't like Carver's at all.
    
    FWIW
    
    CdH
    
    
    
    

>I don't like Carver's at all.

An interesting comment. I would be interested in knowing more. Can you
give some specifics?

dave    
    
    
    

    
    Well, this really doesn't have anything to do with AB power amps,
    but since *you* brought up Carver...

    More than anything, I don't like the way they sound. They don't
    clip nicely, even with the limiter. The bottom end lacks punch
    when you push it although the only switcher I've heard that does
    is the new Crown MacroTech 2400, that sucker has balls. Carvers
    were home hifi amps that were adapted for pro use, not designed
    from the ground up. Despite what the ads claim, they are failing
    on the road just like the competition. Clair Bros. has so many of
    them that they don't need to push them to the limit. Their speakers
    are also fairly efficient by today's standards, so the ads claims
    aren't very representative of the real world. Granted, they have
    the best power/weight ratio of any amp on the pro market, even when
    you dilute their overrated specs down to more realistic levels.
    If that's by far and away the most important thing to you then you
    made a great choice, because there is no other manufacturer that
    even comes close on that aspect *alone*.
    
    CdH
    
    
    

    It's not just power/weight that can be important (tell it to my
    hands- I wear weightlifting gloves for gigging), but also efficiency.
    
    More specifically, if the house circuits can't give you over some
    number of KW, then you better use it the most efficient way you
    can- which generally means a hyperefficient amplifier like a Carver.
    A lot of places are really under-wired.
    
    Every KW that goes out of the amp rack as heat does not go out as
    sound.
    
    I guess it depends on your application and situation.
                                           
    	-Bill

    
    > I guess it depends on your application and situation
    
    Precisely. And on the quality of your front end, and how much weight
    you're willing to lug around, and how critical you are about that
    sound.
    
    BTW, switchers are more efficient at low power levels, but still
    draw big currents on demand. If the demand is high consistently,
    like when driving into clipping all night, i don't see much difference
    over the long term AC demands vs. conventional amps.
    
    CdH