Goldmund asks "What recession?," releases Telos 5000 amplifier
By Steven Kim 
posted Apr 28th 2009 7:35AM
posted Apr 28th 2009 7:35AM
[Via BoingBoing]
posted Apr 28th 2009 7:35AM
The percentage of returned gadgets that have nothing wrong with them.
Of the $13.8 billion worth of returned products in 2007, only 5 percent were because gadgets were actually broken, according to a 2008 study.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
i am so lost, but is this really used for? i really a theater? that's more like a stage! i mean 650 pounds? that's just insane power a few jack hammers with that :-D
Steve, I bet you have a review coming really soon.
Crest audio Pro9200 Amp gives 6500 watts 8ohms bridged, weights in at 24 lbs and cost around $2000
Add two of these and you get 13000 watts 8ohms bridged, 48lbs total and cost about $4000.
Now tell me, aren't the rich absolutely STUPID?
http://www.crestaudio.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116237/number/01000560/cat/322/begin/0/Pro%209200.cfm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000NK5C8M/interactiveda8258-20
"Now tell me, aren't the rich absolutely STUPID?"
I can tell you, you are STUPID for comparing a piece of junk pro audio amp to a ultra-hi-end home audio amp.
It would be like saying a Bugatti Veyron was a ripoff because a $100,000 semi truck has more horsepower and torque.
Watts means NOTHING.
I guess you have NEVER herd of crest or even used one for their Amps. So until you do you can't call me stupid.
@Ken
LOL... I bet you buy $5K audio cables. I'd also bet money that in a blind test you would never be able to tell speakers driven by this absurd $190K amp and those Crest Audio amps. $190K is beyond ludicrous.
@Ken
If you are so confident that you can tell the difference between that Goldmund amp and a pro audio amp in a properly designed listening test, you should take Richard Clark's amplifier challenge:
http://www.tom-morrow-land.com/tests/ampchall/index.htm
By the way, no one has ever passed the test. In fact, no one has even come close.
Crest audio Pro9200 Amp gives 6500 watts 8ohms bridged, weights in at 24 lbs and cost around $2000
Add two of these and you get 13000 watts 8ohms bridged, 48lbs total and cost about $4000.
Now tell me, aren't the rich absolutely STUPID?
http://www.crestaudio.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116237/number/01000560/cat/322/begin/0/Pro%209200.cfm
You are comparing a high end audiophile amp with a middle of the line pro amp? No comparison, the pro amp is not designed to sound good, just be durable.
Yeah, I was in L.A. a few weeks ago photographing a high-end colored diamond dealer's office. Big, monstrous diamonds are selling. People with money like that are not hurting. I asked him where he's selling that kind of stuff. "Russia and the Middle East." Oil may be $50 a barrel, but they don't seem to notice.
I want the customer list for this thing. I could sell them ANYTHING.
Just be sure to connect this amp to your speakers with $30,000 per foot speaker wire or else it won't work, ok!
A lot of cost probably went into the D/A for the S/PDIF input. If you're using an amp like this, chances are you will use the analog XLR jacks.
I'd like to crash a Pinto into it.
Movie theaters use PRO Amps to power their sound system and NOT home theater gear. You aint gonna see Rotel, Krell, Anthem, Denon powering movie theater speakers.
They use Crown, Crest, QSC, etc. All Pro audio.
Yep. Various combinations of Crown, QSC, Crest, Klipsch and JBL probably power more than 90% of the theaters in the United States.
Walk into an imax (you know, those 10kW sub monster theaters) and you'll see a shiny JBL sticker on their sound equipment. They also power my car's system, but I guess you don't call it home theater gear.. Most companies that make home equipment also make pro equipment even if the brand is different. like Linksys and Cisco.
You would never see this in any recording studio/scoring stage/final mixing stage. Its just pointless excess.
Actually you are going to see Bryston and Lexicon more than crown, crest or others..
The problem with richards test is that it specifically does not allow for 'excessive noise' and this is one of the main differences between high end amps and off the shelf amps. On a good speaker system, with no audio signal (or zero signal) your average amp is going to have some background noise at even modest volume levels. During passages with large dynamic ranges (from quiet to full loud) it is the high end amp that will play with greatest fidelity. By imposing this one limit on the amps (that they be quiet) you are effectively limiting the number of potential contestants down to those with a high quality pedigree (From a design/manufacturing perspective) and the differences are going to be fairly small. the other limiting factor in the test is no test signals... why not. If the amps are equal, or perceptively equal then it should not matter that you are playing back test signals. the reason that Richard does not allow test signals is that the vast majority of commercial music has a noise floor well above the distortion levels of the majority of amplifiers available, this also colors the test because not only are you setting the bar high with the noise floor of the amps themselves, you are artificially raising the bar again by disallowing the types of audio signals which would reveal at least part of the signature of the amps. In other words, the test is loaded from the start.
Having said all of that (its just a response to the test), there are many good deals on amplifiers out there present tremendous value for the consumer. You do NOT need a megabucks amp to experience truly high end sound, in fact I would say that the amp is the last place you should spend your budget. Yes, you need a good amp, but without a good source, good pre-processor, and good speakers, it is very easy to blow money on an amp. And you should match your amp to the speakers you are driving since the speakers will be the single biggest component in coloring your sound. Pick your speakers first, pick everything else to support them and what you like about them, and of those components, pick the amp last.
Agreed.... speakers obviously have the largest effect on the sound, so the upstream equipment should be chosen to match them..... have speakers with a harsh top end.... don't use an amp with a harsh top end, or you will never listen to the system.... for example...
I would be surprised to learn that Bryston or Lexicon are commonly used in commercial theater applications. I have only heard of one theater that used Bryston equipment (SST pro amplifiers). Lexicon has the 960L but I dont know any theater that uses it.
Crown DSI/CSI, Crown I-tech or QSC PLX are the most commonly used amplifiers.
Dolby CP sound processors are very common also.
Wow, a lot of stupidity here, for a start the idea of comparing a Goldmund to a Crown is simply absurd. And who ever said this was about cinema? Who care's what gear theater's use? This is about stereo hi-fi, for listening to music. Hence it being stereo.
The notion that differences in amplifier quality are non-audible is blatantly incorrect (considering that at the bottom they have a link to him commenting in a car sound forum should say it all), on the most extreme level, get the 300 watt amplifier in your sony hi fi with maxx bass to drive a set of JM Lab Utopia's, now get a 300watt Plinius to do the same job and tell me there's no difference, i will refer you to a hearing specialist. On a less obvious level go to your local hi-fi shop, get them to set up 3 different amps in the same price range (say a NAD, a Rotel and a Musical Fidelity) and you WILL hear the difference between them. There are a lot of elements of an amplifier that affect the overall sound that greatly differ between models.
I guess though, it does all depend on what your using them for, and how much you care, if your listening to your 256KBs MP3 copy of Tiesto, the crown will probably be a much better choice, but for anyone who care's about sound quality and spends a lot of time listening to music (ie; not Tiesto) then there is no way they would find listening to home audio produced by a crown amp remotely enjoyable.