Crown LPS amp's

[back_ache]

We are currently looking at some amp's for an low-powered install and came across Crown's budget LPS range.

 

At first I was impressed as on paper as it is a good brand at a good price.

 

However, following the maxim "if its too good to be true, it probably is" I did some digging and found a rumour that they are re-badged phonic's and LPS should stand for "Low Priced S..."

 

Firstly has anyone actually used them and what have they found and secondly if it true, why would Crown risk sullying their brand by re-badging?

[Stan Hope-Streeter]

... why would Crown risk sullying their brand by re-badging?

 

Unfortunately, many of the major brands in the industry are now owned by conglomerates.

 

The people who run these organizations did not grow up in this business and have no understanding of how it works. It doesn't matter to them whether they are selling biscuits, washing lines, plant pots or power amplifiers.

 

It's all about making profits as fast as possible, so they see no value in customer loyalty, and preserving a brand's reputation is of no interest. Using a brand's goodwill to sell downmarket product is one way of boosting short term profit. They really don't care what happens in five or ten years' time - they will have claimed their profit-related bonuses, cashed in the share options, and moved on to find other rich pickings. It's really just another form of asset-stripping.

 

Gone are the days when certain companies (like, say, Crown, Soundcraft or JBL) made exclusively high quality products and their brand names could be relied upon when qualifying a potential supplier.

[Rob_Beech]

At the end of the day, sticking with the same brand, if you want macrotech quality, buy a macrotech, that's what I do. But if you want something cheap and cheerful with a crown badge on them the lps series do the trick. The largest one in the range is similar output on paper to the MA2400 without 2ohm capabilities or exchangeable PIP cards etc They're not as good as a MA2400 but there were never meant to be.

 

 

Rob

[back_ache]

if you want macrotech quality, buy a macrotech

 

funnily enough that is what we were trying to do(albeit with a different brand), we do a lot of work for a company with a range of venues and are normally forced to spec' based on price/performance which with the constantly changing marketplace has led to a hotch-potch of brands and models across their venues.

 

This was our first attempt to standardise on a brand whilst staying within our normal price/performance ratio so that the client could keep a centralised store of backup equipment

 

Maybe trying rationalise equipment choices whilst maintaining a price/performance ratio is an impossible dream

[TimmyP1955]

Independent field testers (as opposed to magazines, who can't risk offending advertisers) have been finding the new super-light-weight Peavey amps to be good performers. Apparently there are also Crest versions with more heatsink for situations that will work them hard.