Amplifiers!!!
Don't worry, guys, I haven't been completely unproductive chasing bullshit speaker specs during the past couple days.
I've also been chasing bullshit amplifier specs, too!
Ha! So there!
I went down a bit of a rabbit hole on amps. Really trying to understand the power tables, cross-referencing those with power/thermal draw sheets, comparing class A vs AB vs D vs H amps, etc.
Right now, I think we are just going to copy HifiBob. He seemed very satisfied with the Crown Macro-Tech MA-3600VZ amplifiers with his system. Here's the download page:
https://www.crownaudio.com/en-US/produc ... ech-series
I have also attached a few screenshots of the more relevant pages, as far as I can tell anyway.
The plan is to get at least 4 used ones. We found a good price. Less than $1000 each. The risk I suppose is that the used ones have all the complications that come with used gear. However, I've been assured that they have had one owner. They were used for touring, but have been kept in cases/racks the whole time.
It seems like these things are really heavy duty, built to last, which inspires extra confidence in buying them used. And apparently you can spot weld with them? Lol
The only downsides I can see is that they are heavy - 55lbs - and maybe aren't as efficient as say, class D amps. They are class AB. Or, as the anniversary brochure states, they are class AB+B. Whatever that means.
But apparently class AB sound better than D? Or H? I don't know enough to know. Maybe someone here does?
Anyway, the extra weight isn't really a concern, since it's not like we are doing events all the time. It's mostly just the once per year.
The lower efficiency isn't too much of a concern either. With how efficient these T60 cabs are, and since we have plenty of power to spare, that's not a biggie.
That said, does anyone feel like getting into the weeds on amps?
A few questions have come to mind. Keep in mind we will only be using these to run the T60s. For the DR280s, we already have a Macrotech 1200 for the compression drivers, and a Macrotech 2400 and/or 5000 for the mids.
1. What amp class is best for these T60s? A, AB, D, H? Does it even matter? Could you hear the difference?
2. How many T60-1xLAB12 cabs could you run per 3600VZ amp in parallel? Seems like our inputs are 45v, 5.625a, 8ohms, and 253.125w. Does that mean 4 cabs per channel would be just fine and dandy? Think there's enough headroom there for transients?
3. How hard do you think you can push the 3600VZ? If you were in a pinch?
This will be a story of bottlenecks, for sure.
The first bottleneck I can think of is...
What the maximum amperage that can continuously flow through each channel?
For instance, our generator has a maximum current of about 150 amps per phase. You can get more wattage by running it a higher voltage, but no matter what the voltage is, we are limited to 150 amps per phase. Bottleneck. That limit is based on the gauge of the wiring and components inside, how much heat they can take before failing and staring a fire or something.
What amperage do you think the 3600VZ can do? I see in parallel-mono it can dive into the 1 ohm range and pump out a minimum 3550 watts. I'd have my answer if I knew what voltage they use to generate the numbers in this table. Does anyone know that? Crown's tech support did not. Somewhere online I think I read that 70v is the industry standard... Is that it? Or maybe 60v? Thoughts?
Once I get the amperage limit, then I believe I can know how hard I can push it. For instance, for simplicity of calculations, if it can do its name in wattage - 3600w - and their numbers are based on 60v, well then they used components that can handle 3600w/60v = 60 amps. But I'm not sure how the electricity flow in parallel-mono is that both channels together, or for each channel? If in mono, is that one channel really beefed up, and the other not so much? I don't know. I do know that from our power grid that 6awg with 90*C THHN jacketing can handle 75 amps. But the jacketing can make all the difference. For instance, if you jump down to 75*C jacketing, ampacity drops to 65 amps. 60*C jacketing drops to 55 amps. What does the wiring look like in the 3600VZ? What gauge is it? And is there jacketing? Probably not, so it can vent and cool off?
I'll run two scenarios for fun.
Scenario 1 - 60v and 60amps per channel. If I run the T60s at 45v, and each channel can handle 60 amps each, then max I could do is 0.75 ohms. That would mean 10 2/3 cabs per channel. So up to 10 cabs per channel in practice, 0.8 ohms, 56.25 amps (5.625 each), 2531.25 watts per channel. Nope, no way. There's probably a bottleneck somewhere before reaching that level.
Scenario 2 - 60v and 30 amps per channel. If I run the T60s at 45v, and each channel can handle 30 amps each, then max I could do is 1.5 ohms. That would mean 5 1/3 cabs per channel. So up to 5 cabs per channel in practice, 1.6 ohms, 28.125 amps (5.625 each), 1265.625 watts per channel. Hmmm... Maybe.
The next limitation I need to consider is the conservation of energy. Even though they were designed for a 30 amp circuit, these 3600VZs will be plugged into 20 amp circuits. At 120v, that is a maximum of 2400w going into the 3600VZ. They cannot output more than 2400w. Actually, a little less due to inefficiencies like heat loss. So 10 cabs and 2531.25 watts per channel is not possible, and neither is 5 cabs and 1265.625 watts per channel - the 20 amp circuit will trip!
This is where I get mixed up, though. I know that there isn't a constant load on the output side of the amplifier, at least not in the same sense that a motor or heating element load that is engineered for 60Hz on a generator. Music is a variable load. Maybe not as much for a lot of EDM with relatively consistent tempos and beats, but still way more variance than something like a box fan or oven. Plus, there are transients to consider, that could demand big draws from capacitors inside the amp.
That makes me reconsider to a maybe on the 5 cabs per channel... I guess that just depends on the music?
Anyway, back to bottlenecks. I bring this up because my next step is going to try and backdoor into the limit by using the 2400w power into the amp. If my nominal max is 2400w from the 20 amp circuit, and the ampacity is high enough inside the amp, then I could get away with 45v, 8/9 ohms mono, 50.625 amps, and 2278.125w. That's 9 total cabs.
Again, this is an exploration of what might be possible if we get in a pinch out there in the desert. I have no idea if we'd ever actually do that try to put 9 cabs in whatever configuration on one 3600VZ.
Now that I think about it, it seems like, since we are ultimately limited by the 20amp breaker on the power conditioner, a Macro-Tech 2400 would be the perfectly sized amp for this setup. Put 8 cabs on it, do that times 4, and that's a wrap! If you guys think that would be enough headroom, that is. Which I certainly hope so, otherwise I guess we need to split the system up into 8 amps x 4 cabs. Or some combination in between.
However, since the deal we found is for 3600s instead of 2400s, that seems like the way we'll need to go.
Also, my guess is HifiBob had full 30 amp circuits to plug his 3600VZs into, not 20 amp circuits, so he had a whole extra 1200-ish watts of headroom there. We'd only have 400 ish watts. That might be a little close for comfort?
4. What is the relationship between the power/thermal draw spec sheet on the input side of the amplifier, and the power tables for the output side of the amplifier?
For instance, on the Minimum Power table, the fully utilized minimum power of 1800w at 2 ohm stereo load at 1kHz per channel, does that match up with a 40% duty cycle on the power draw table?
Also...
I'm confused on the relationship between pink noise and duty cycles. The concept of a duty cycle is simple - 50% means half on, half off. Pink noise is a lower-frequency-weighted collection of signals across the whole spectrum. Like a waterfall. But I haven't yet been able to connect the dots. My guess is that pink noise can be so demanding that it makes amplifier amplify signals half the time, or more, on average. But even as I type that, I don't really know what I'm saying.
Does a 50% duty cycle mean 1/3 pink noise (heavy clipping)?
Does a 100% duty cycle mean full pink noise (100% clipping)?
Is there such thing as 1/2 pink noise?
Where does 1/8 pink noise (no clipping) fit in? 40% duty cycle?
I've tried the Wikipedia page of pink noise, and it's a bit dense. Also, I'm a bit dense. So maybe I just need to walk away from this one. The idea with this question was to get a good handle on this relationship, so I can balance the power grid properly. I can do that without knowing the answers, so I guess I'm just curious is all.