What do you think of this power amp?

[Boss96]

I asked awhile back about what power amp to go with for my L100T's and this is what I came across. A Peavey CS800. I know it is used for PA systems but the specs are about as good as any home unit plus it seems to be built quite well, 56lbs:eek:
280/ch@8 ohms, 400@4. Has some kind of circuit to prevent clipping, etc. I imagine I could run a 60hz signal through it and power my washing machine with it:D .
The price is right, btw, free.....
Bob

[scott fitlin]

Thats supposed to be a good sounding amp! I know a few guys who use peavey amps, and thay all tell me they hold up, and sound good, and of course, prices are reasonable!

[Hofmannhp]

...... I imagine I could run a 60hz signal through it and power my washing machine with it:D ....Bob
Bob,

a very nice amp but.......don't take the denim temperature range.......the amp will get sweaty.

HP

[Boss96]

Bob,

a very nice amp but.......don't take the denim temperature range.......the amp will get sweaty.

HP
I"ll just use the "delicate" setting:D
Bob
BTW, I just cleaned it out, cleaned the controls, etc.
Power supply caps big as grenades (big grenades) plus and minus 75volt supplies, huge power transformer, they suggest having an AC supply with 15amp capacity..

[Hofmannhp]

I"ll just use the "delicate" setting:D
Bob
BTW, I just cleaned it out, cleaned the controls, etc.
Power supply caps big as grenades (big grenades) plus and minus 75volt supplies, huge power transformer, they suggest having an AC supply with 15amp capacity..
thanks Bob,

.gggg..... can you post some pics of the amp....like before and after

HP

[David Dryden]

Just be careful of the turn-on transients! I used to have a CS-400 and it worked great, but had a gawd-awful turn-on pop! If I still had it, I'd install a speaker mute relay.

[Boss96]

Well it did'nt work out as well as I hoped. First off, there is some kind of ground mismatch between the amp and the pre-amp, has a fairly loud low level hum all the time. There is also definitely a sensitivity difference (which I expected) and I was not able to really drive the amp with enough signal.

What I was most unhappy about though was the fact that the woofers simply can't handle all that much power, my current amp, an Adcom GF535 (60wpc) is about all they can take. More than that and the woofers bottom out on any kind of serious bass. I had posted a long time ago about that and it was suggested my receiver was somehow at fault and a good power amp should fix it, which the Adcom did fix, but it has less power than my receiver.
Oh well, they still sound very good and certainly can play loud enough as is so I'll just figure out something else to do with the Peavey.
Bob

[scott fitlin]

I"ll just use the "delicate" setting:D
Bob
BTW, I just cleaned it out, cleaned the controls, etc.
Power supply caps big as grenades (big grenades) plus and minus 75volt supplies, huge power transformer, they suggest having an AC supply with 15amp capacity..I was told once, that those Peavey amps were built for Peavey by BGW!

That HUGE power supply is definitely like what BGW uses in the 750 series!

[hosee]

I don,t know if the Peavey has a fan, but some of the "Road" type amps produced by Peavey, Alesis and Mackie have fans that make a lot of noise. I use a couple of Alesis 900s and a Mackie 1600i nad have tried to wire in 2 fans in parallel and it still makes more noise than the Hafler 500 used, which is designed for home use. These Amps are bullet proof and have very good specs but, if you use them, you may have to have them in another room. Of course some of the smaller amps use heat sinks and there is no problem.

[Boss96]

This one has a 2 spd fan, in low speed I could hardly hear it, not much of a problem.

Bob

[GordonW]

I was told once, that those Peavey amps were built for Peavey by BGW!

That HUGE power supply is definitely like what BGW uses in the 750 series!

The Peavey CS800 *IS* a BGW 750, in all important respects. There's slight differences (the Peavey uses a "crowbar" output protection, which deliberately throws a relay short across the power supply rails and blows the main fuse, upon sensing an output DC condition), but the architecture is exactly the same.

The hum thing is probably a ground loop. Those CS800s use a 3-wire plug, which grounds to the chassis, pretty directly. In some cases, an isolation transformer on the line inputs is needed to break the loop.

Regards,
Gordon.

[Oldmics]

All in Fun. Actually they are real workhorses!!

As for the relationship between BGW and Peavey amps,this link tells the story.

Good reading about early design history.

http://www.live-audio.com/messages/archive7/74813.html