What size of amp do I need?

[TurnStables]

I have recently purchased a pair of 3 way speakers. I am new to live PA since I have spent a lot of my time in the recording side of sound production.

What size of amp will I require if they are 600W RMS and 1200W MAX each? They're also 8 ohm.

First post here, thanks guys!

[Corabar Entertainment]

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[addoaddo]

I would suggest an amp about 1000W per side but when using it keep the levels out of the red. It is always better to have a more powerful amp than the speakers as it can cope with transients in the music. If you use a smaller amp you get tempted to turn it right up which results in clipping = blown speaker.

[TurnStables]

I've been looking about and I've found the Behringer iNuke NU6000. This will give me 1100w RMS @ 8 ohms. I think this would be more than enough.

Thoughts on this amp?

[Excalibur]

Hello Charlie, sorry I didn't reply to this before, I got diverted along the way somewhere. What make and model are your speakers, they sound fairly heavy duty. Have you purchased an amp yet, and if not, what are you using at the moment?

Sorry for answering a question with a question, but the more we know, the more accurate advice we can give.

[TurnStables]

Thanks for getting back to me. They are Omnitronic 2252s (Cheap I know) I picked them up to start off. They are 3 way.

I was looking at the iNuke NU6000 by Behringer. It looks like it'll do the job and even after these speakers die when I choose to upgrade.

What would you recommend?

[Excalibur]

Thanks for getting back to me. They are Omnitronic 2252s (Cheap I know) I picked them up to start off. They are 3 way.

I was looking at the iNuke NU6000 by Behringer. It looks like it'll do the job and even after these speakers die when I choose to upgrade.

What would you recommend?

I'll do a bit of research, and get back to you. I have a suspicion you won't need such a monster amp, cos I think the speakers ratings will be "optimistic". ;):(

[Excalibur]

Right, a quick look round hasn't astounded me with anything. The cabs are the configuration and components I expected. I haven't heard these ones, but I have two pairs of roughly similar ones myself, from another ( now defunct ) supplier.

If the specs posted were to be believed, the Inuke amp wouldn't be big enough, as it gives about 900watts at 4 ohms, and as advised, if your cabs were a true 600w RMS, you'd need an amp delivering that at 8ohms, and you'd be in the realms of this brute (http://www.thomann.de/gb/tamp_proline_3000.htm). It's highly regarded for its price, and weighs a ton! However, ignore that one, cos you don't need anything like that.

I'm guessing that anything in the same range as the Inuke you posted would be fine. All my amps are around 500w at 8ohms, and that's a very versatile size. I know nothing about the new Behringer range, so can't comment. I note that the Inuke is out of stock, so if you wanted something similar from Thomann quckly, have a look at this (http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tamp_tsa_2200.htm). I very nearly bought one, again it gets reasonable reviews, but I've no first hand experience.

That's a couple of the new ones, but if you weren't determined to have something bright shiny and new, I'd recommend looking for a secondhand Peavey PV2600 on Ebay. They usually go for between £175 to £225 depending on condition.

Whatever amp you get, keep it and your mixer out of the red, even if the punters want it turning up. Driving the system harder than it's designed to is the fastest way to blow it up. Hope this helps, keep us posted.

[TurnStables]

Thanks very much for looking into this with me I appreciate it (and also your advice on my other thread).

The iNuke NU6000 will give me 1500W (Max) at 8 ohms (1100 RMS)
Were you maybe looking at something less powerful in the range?
I can pick one of these up for £300. Seems pretty good for the price.

What do you think?

[Excalibur]

Thanks very much for looking into this with me I appreciate it (and also your advice on my other thread).

The iNuke NU6000 will give me 1500W (Max) at 8 ohms (1100 RMS)
Were you maybe looking at something less powerful in the range?
I can pick one of these up for £300. Seems pretty good for the price.

What do you think?

Hold on there, Musky!!!! I just told you that a 3000 was more than big enough, and you ask if one twice the size is a good idea? No it :Censored: well isn't. The specs of those omnitronics are a fib. A terminological inexactitude. Economical with the actualité. A whopper. An untruth.

I gave you a link to THIS (http://www.thomann.de/gb/the_tamp_tsa_2200.htm) correct sized amp,which is in stock, and a suggestion for a secondhand one.
Other amps I'd use cheerfully with those cabs, KAM KXR1500, W Audio DA 1800 or EP1800, C Mark 2450, T Amp 1400-x, PV2600, and Yamaha P5000S. I've either had experience of them, or know them to be reliable.

You want something giving around 500 watts at 8ohms with those cabs, not 1000.

[TurnStables]

If the specs posted were to be believed, the Inuke amp wouldn't be big enough, as it gives about 900watts at 4 ohms, and as advised, if your cabs were a true 600w RMS, you'd need an amp delivering that at 8ohms

I was just stating that you must have read up about the wrong amp, nothing more.
I understand that the specs are a bit optimistic but I am eager to expand and get more powerful speakers at a later date.

A technician from a local theatre suggested that I get an amp about 1.5 times the RMS of the speakers so that I wont fry the amp.
I will definitely be looking into the models you've mentioned.

[Excalibur]

I was just stating that you must have read up about the wrong amp, nothing more.
I understand that the specs are a bit optimistic but I am eager to expand and get more powerful speakers at a later date.

Apologies my friend, the error is mine alone. :o:o I was indeed referring to the 3000, which is out of stock. That's because I'd spotted the 3000 as being the right sort of size. Sorry.



A technician from a local theatre suggested that I get an amp about 1.5 times the RMS of the speakers so that I wont fry the amp.
I will definitely be looking into the models you've mentioned.
Most folk ( myself included ) would agree completely with your technician's advice, no problem. Where the discrepancy lies, is that your cabs have certain characteristics, one being that they'll need a lot of power putting in to get a lot of sound out. If the power ratings are accurate, no problem, they'll cope happily. I have two pairs of these (http://www.amazon.co.uk/CD215-1000w-500W-2x15-Loudspeaker/dp/B002VRC7X8), and mine are only rated at 350watts per cab. I'll bet mine have at least as good components inside as yours, so you see why I'm sceptical about your speakers ratings. If you start feeding them with an amp as big as a 6000 ( assuming that Behringer are being half truthful ) something somewhere will give way. Usually the mid driver first.

The amps I've recommended are what I would call " standard sized", as the vast majority of speaker cabs are rated around 350w RMS, so they fit the 1.5 ratio nicely. Don't worry mate, we'll get there.

[deltic]

Here is a little review of the I nuke I read on another forum,may help you.

We bought one of these for testing in December (and have subsequently ordered another two which should tell you something).

In brief if you're looking for a lightweight amp with a bit of power these are great except they are a bit lacking in the top area. They are good for Subs and Mids but not so hot for full range or tops.

In our tests they have cut out running into 4ohms at sustained high loads but this was under test conditions with pink noise so not really typical of gig conditions. They run quite cool in general though. Our conclusion is that they are fine for use in bi or tri amping solutions but no use otherwise.

Do not think of them as 6KW amps. Running 4 Ohms they are a good 1500W/Channel with 3db headroom and 750W into 8 Ohms. They do not like running into any funny loads so do not even think of using them with speakers with sub crossovers, they're better with mid/top crossovers but our tests show they lose clarity and you can see break up on high frequencies on the scope. Their damping factor is laughably low and this is probably the cause so watch out for your cables and use the best and shortest you can. We normally site amps in close proximity to speakers well away from the desk and they like that.

The inbuilt crossover is very simple and to all intents useless for professional use, we haven't tried the DSP version so cannot comment. Use with an external active crossover, drive one channel sub and the other mid and they seem to like this, no cutting out (even into 4Ohms pink noise after 15mins).

With the three year warranty they are hard to beat bang for buck but you have to be aware of their limitations. DO NOT buy from the likes of Amazon though, if you buy there or from another non authorised Behringer dealer you won't get your warranty.

[Excalibur]

Many thanks to Andy for posting what I read this morning elsewhere. If you had access to the whole thread, it's a very informative read. It's been copied and pasted here, because you have to join to view it, so we can't just say "go look here......".

The salient points I took from it were that for your purpose, it would not be a goog amp, since he says it doesn't like running cabs with passive crossovers ( and I think there will be a rudimentary one inside yours, like mine ) and it's not too hot full range. It seems to get a big vote of confidence for running subs, but again, not the ones with a built in high pass filter.

If you're running it into cabs with no internal crossovers, it's recommended. Otherwise, it's not. It has its own crossover circuit, but this gets a big thumbs down. All in all, it's probably not the amp for the cabs you have.

[ckpr2]

This can be an explosive question on DJ forums.

There are three camps:
1/ Amp matches speakers.
2/ Speakers are higher wattage than amp so as not to blow them up.
3/ Amp has higher wattage than speakers so as not to strain it but crae needs to be taken not to blow the speakers.

[SamV]

The amps should always have headroom and never be pushed, that'll create square waves and cook speakers. You can quite easily kill 500wrms speakers with an 100wrms amp. I've done it. You are best having at least 50% extra. Not to mention that most of the quality of amps we're talking about here don't like being pushed and can/will go into protect or worse when you need that little bit extra. It's all about dynamics.