What is the best cheap pa power amp that can be used as a hifi amp?

I have for some time wanted a power amp, not 200-300watt pr channel in 8ohm (i have 8 ohm 84db speakers) but something like 125-150 watt in 8 ohm, im not gonna play excessive loud realtive to the amps max power, how much power my speakers can handle and relative to how low the sensitivity is from my speakers.

I want to have a power amp so i can play loud with more dynamic headroom, when i play as loud as im doing now, the sound would be a bit more relaxed since the amp is further away form it's limit where many small amps often distorts, sounds agressive or both, like trying to playing loud with a small 50 watt amp vs a bigger 125-150 watt amp.

I know you can use a pa amp like a behringer A500 (no fans) and a few weeks ago i so that they are gonna release a behringer A800 with more power but theres almost a month to the relase date, the date where shops like the german store Thomann can deliver one, the new behringer A800 is a class d amp and to my surprice it's even cheaper than the beringer a500 (about 200 euros for a A500) .

What is the best cheap pa power amp without fans that can be used as a hifi amp?

How many of you use a power amp like some 400-600 watt crown amp (some of crowns pa amps should be really good to use a hifi amp for power hungry speakers with low impedans,sensitivity)

 

D class

 

Yes Class D like the Nad D3020, Behringer A500 is an AB amp

 

Or just get an EVM from TI and a power supply and have at it.

 

Used Musical Fidelity MA50,s
Some say the best. Drive anything

They are 50 watters.
But...the amount of current they supply will blow most 100 watters out of the water . Insensitive speakers want current.

 

To directly answer your question a QSC GX 5.

 

Yamaha P5000S: 500 watts/CH without the class D shenanigans.

 

It has a fan

A little to expensive

 

looks like the QSC GX 3 is passive cooled, is there a big difference ?

 

I use a couple of Crown XLS at home. Tons of power. The fans stay off most of the time, and are practically noise free even when they do run.

 

Yes i forgot about Crown.
Very good indeed. More power than you will ever need.

 

So fare there cheapest amp is Crown XLi 800, i could get a used Crown XLS 1000 for a littel les than a new Crown XLi 800.

So fare im looking at gear4music's subzero amps (there own brand), i think if i could get a Behringer A800 in a few days i would by one, but i have to wait 5-6 weeks

 

Class AB or class D ?

 

QSC stuff is awesome, but I have a friend who designs them so I may be biased.

I have a Vestax VDA-1000 in my home theater powering my infinite baffle sub and it's freaking incredible. All the power you could ever want. I think they're long out of manufacture though.

 

Is that a good rule of thumb? (forget that it's about pa speakers) If so i need 300 watt pr channel in 8 ohm

Matching Amps to Speakers Power Amp Buying Guide | Sweetwater

When you’re matching a power amp to a PA speaker setup, a good rule of thumb is to pick an amplifier that can deliver power equal to twice the speaker’s program rating. This means a speaker with a “nominal impedance” of 8 ohms and a program power rating of 350 watts will require an amplifier that can produce 700 watts into an 8-ohm load. For a stereo pair of speakers, the amplifier should be rated at 700 watts per channel into 8 ohms. A quality professional loudspeaker can handle transient peaks above its power rating if they occur.

 

No domestic-use speaker I can think of has a program rating of 350 watts into an 8-ohm load. "Programme" power handling should be the same as maximum continuous power. Maximum short-term (like <1 second) power handling is different and is often the spec manufacturers use as a marketing tactic so the consumer believes it's a bonified LOUDspeaker.

You said you mostly listen at moderate volumes. In an average-sized living space, that means your speakers are gobbling about 1 watt of power 90% of the time. I've owned KEF LS50s, also an 8 ohm- nominal impedance with 84db sensitivity.
I was able to drive them to loud volumes with 45 tube watts, and no notable distortion - in a fairly large room.

If you're sold on the "more power is better" school, you can run a couple of these in bridged configuration:
Monoprice Unity 200-Watt Bridgeable Power Amp - Monoprice.com
Being class D, I wouldn't be surprised if they sound as good as the Crowns.

 

The 350 watt into 8 ohm was pa speaker

 

Live in denmark so this monoprice amp may cost me a bit more, besides that i think the speaker therminals looks horrible, wouldn't be big enough even for standard banana plugs?

Can you have to much power

 

He has a very good point, he has a lot of power, but he turned the gain down to a level he prefers, since the amps has much more power he never have to worry about distortion,clipping and being close to the limited where an amp gets harsh. That is a really good point of having more than enough power and even when i have seen the video before, i didn't realize, that is actually something i want.

Having enough power so you (i) never have to worry about distortion,clipping or harshness from the amp.

Watch the video and i think you get the point later in the video where he talks about it

 

No, slight topology difference. I think the GX-3 is class H. Still a great amp.

 

Whatever you prefer. I'd rather have 50 watts of quality amplification than 500 watts of cheap chip-amp power. The former will often sound more powerful. One member here went from driving his Magnepans with a 350watt/Ch Rogue Pharaoh to a ~45 watt/ch Prima Luna tube amp and said the latter drives his speakers with greater authority. The Pharaoh couldn't handle the load - was going into protection mode.

 

I don't have low ohm and low sensitivity speakers, only low sensitivity.

 

As a loudspeaker engineer, lemme tell that that speaker power ratings are pretty meaningless. I'd reinterpret the Sweetwater rule as "you can't have too much power IF you're careful to TURN IT DOWN if things sound bad." This is especially true if you like to crank it up! And to really crank it, even the most powerful 50 watt amp won't be enough, you need a high-wattage amp but to @Helom's point, a strongly built one.

 

Im gonna adjust it like in the video

Lets say i find a 200 watt amp, then i could adjust it so it's 50-75 watt at 3 o'clock, than i could no matter what i play turn my volume up til 12 0'clock and it's loud, where 3 o'clock gives me just a little bit ekstra and i never have to worry about clipping,distortion or the amp getting close to where it get's harsh.

Or 100/150 watt if i find something around 300-400 watt.

It's about having a powerfull amp where i can play loud without worring about distortion,clipping,harshness, i realized that when i so the video with the crown amp again, it's a 200-400watt amp i will look at.

Zeos nailed it pretty good, the reason to have a lot more power then you need when you like to play loud music, atleast thats my opion.

If it sounds better because of the extra watt i don't know, i have to try it for my self

It's like having a car with less than 100 hp and having 200-300 hp, even if you don't drive as fast as the faster can, it still makes a difference having more horsepower.

10 years ago i did have a fairly powerfull amp, but at that time i didn't have the best speakers, playing loud didn't sound good.