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Can anyone recommend any cheap (sub £100) 2 channel rack mount power amps?


ForbiddenWytch
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Hey everyone

I'm basically just looking for any pointers here towards any decent, budget friendly 2 channel 1u rack mountable power amps please.

preferably 100w or more per side as it's going to be used to power 2 4x12 cabinets in a doom/stoner rock band. Must be rack mountable, 1u spacing and have 2 channels. 1/4" ins and outs would be preferable too. I have the power conditioner, pre amp, noise gate and multi fx units I want in the rack but need an amplifier for it all now!

Thanks in advance!

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That certainly is very cheap, and a proper bargain if it's any good.

However (and at the risk of kicking off a "watts-are-watts-or-are-they?" debate), in my experience cheap amplifiers tend to be not as loud as expensive amplifiers of nominally the same wattage, so if you're tempted by this, I'd be inclined to push your budget slightly further to the next model up - apparently the same size and weight:

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/amplifiers/devine-d-600-class-d-amplifier-2x-540-w

If you go for one of these, do let us know how you get on with it!

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Used has to be the way to go. If you don't mind the weight, there are some very decent old school class A/B power amps being sold cheap on places like eBay. I wouldn't touch a £100 new power amp with a 10 foot sterilised bargepole. £100 retail means wholesale price is £50, which means price at the factory gate is around £20. It's going to be junk.

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6 hours ago, paulbuzz said:

That certainly is very cheap, and a proper bargain if it's any good.

However (and at the risk of kicking off a "watts-are-watts-or-are-they?" debate), in my experience cheap amplifiers tend to be not as loud as expensive amplifiers of nominally the same wattage, so if you're tempted by this, I'd be inclined to push your budget slightly further to the next model up - apparently the same size and weight:

https://www.bax-shop.co.uk/amplifiers/devine-d-600-class-d-amplifier-2x-540-w

If you go for one of these, do let us know how you get on with it!

That's the one I've been wanting to try myself, I just don't have any cabs at the moment! And I share some (not all) of Dan's concerns.

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I too am certainly somewhat sceptical; however, I have bought several examples of super-cheap gear that have been ridiculously good for the money (Harley Benton 250/500w 1x10 combo, Joyo American Sound pedal...), so I wouldn't write these things off out of hand.

If minimum size/weight and super-low price are critical factors, these power amps seem like they could well be worth a punt.

I'm not sure that they're very doom though - surely for that you would want a power amp to be at least 6U high and weigh the same as a small family car...?

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Thanks for all your suggestions everyone! I’ve had a couple of messages about potential power amps as well which is quite handy so I’ll be taking those in to consideration. And yeah it was definitely a case of the 2nd hand market for buying one. Ideally I wanted a Marshall VS 8008 but whenever they pop up, it’s always at the wrong time and going for more than what I could budget. 

 

Again thanks for all the suggestions!

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On 22/11/2019 at 21:17, la bam said:

Go 1u more and get a used QSC. Different class in sound and reliability.

If you're lucky you'll pick one up for around £100.

Failing that the original behringer ep range (copies of the qsc) are pretty indestructible.

Both are heavy.

Unfortunately my case only has 1u of space in it as there is a power condition, Marshall JMP-1 and multi-Fx unit in there and it’s a 4u case

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3 hours ago, ForbiddenWytch said:

Unfortunately my case only has 1u of space in it as there is a power condition, Marshall JMP-1 and multi-Fx unit in there and it’s a 4u case

Why do you need a power conditioner. As far as I know, they were developed for the USA where supplies were inherently dirtier than here. YMMV.

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1U space pretty much means Class D only and there are very few available in that size that are any good.

Making another 1U space available gives you a lot more options, and as has been said power conditioners are pretty much irrelevant in the UK where our mains supply is far more reliable and consistent than the US.

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2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

1U space pretty much means Class D only and there are very few available in that size that are any good.

Making another 1U space available gives you a lot more options, and as has been said power conditioners are pretty much irrelevant in the UK where our mains supply is far more reliable and consistent than the US.

Matrix do one but ironically,  although it is class A/B amp, the power supply section is a switch mode power supply.

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On 17/11/2019 at 01:49, ForbiddenWytch said:

Hey everyone

I'm basically just looking for any pointers here towards any decent, budget friendly 2 channel 1u rack mountable power amps please.

preferably 100w or more per side as it's going to be used to power 2 4x12 cabinets in a doom/stoner rock band. Must be rack mountable, 1u spacing and have 2 channels. 1/4" ins and outs would be preferable too. I have the power conditioner, pre amp, noise gate and multi fx units I want in the rack but need an amplifier for it all now!

Thanks in advance!

Where are you based? 

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On 25/11/2019 at 13:44, Chienmortbb said:

Why do you need a power conditioner. As far as I know, they were developed for the USA where supplies were inherently dirtier than here. YMMV.

Because I was bought it a few years back and noticed that it made a difference to the noise in my rig when playing crappy dingy "venues" (aka pubs that think they're a venue) who run extension lead in to extension lead and have sh1te grounding. In fairness, that's also been the case in some other more professional venues too. I'm not in a pro touring band, I'm in an unsigned metal band so we don't have our pick of the creme de la creme venues unfortunately.

On 25/11/2019 at 17:28, Chienmortbb said:

Matrix do one but ironically,  although it is class A/B amp, the power supply section is a switch mode power supply.

They're also 6x the top end of my budget! haha

14 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Where are you based? 

I'm in Bedfordshire mate.

On 25/11/2019 at 14:49, BigRedX said:

1U space pretty much means Class D only and there are very few available in that size that are any good.

Making another 1U space available gives you a lot more options, and as has been said power conditioners are pretty much irrelevant in the UK where our mains supply is far more reliable and consistent than the US.

That would mean having to buy another case which would likely cost another £50 which I don't have the budget for unfortunately.

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