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Author Topic: Epected life of a QSC DCA1644 Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-21-2014 11:41 AM                     Hey guys. I've seting up my new home theater and currently have 3 QSC 2150s for the front stage. I've been eyeballing the crown xls 1500 but stumbled across a used QSC DCA1644 (4 channel amp around 400w @ 4ohms). It has a date code of November 2006, making it 8 years old. It was removed from a cinema. Is 8 years of steady use (cinema) a lot for this amp Or should I expect years of Home theater usage which is very light usage in comparison? Seems like a lot to me, and the guy want $430 for it and new ones can be found around $750. Thanks for any recommendations!  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-21-2014 12:16 PM                     We haven't had to retire ANY DCA amps yet so I'd think you'd be safe with it. About all we have had age over the years in them have been the input attenuators.  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-21-2014 12:59 PM                     Thanks Steve!  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-21-2014 01:04 PM                     That's some serious power for a home theater. I pity your neighbors . What decoder/pre-amp are you using?  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-21-2014 02:55 PM                     I'm building on 3.5 acres and it's sorta wooded..can't even see my neighbors from the house, closest house is 500 ft away... but the 4 18s may still wake them up, I normally listen about 5 db below reference (treated room of course). This is my second theater and I'll probably just stick with a good AVR. I want a separate amp at least for the mains as I don't want them running out of juice as my AVR will have enough to push. Planning on going ATMOS. I'm planning on going with QSC 8101 all around (except for mains of course) 2 paralled surrounds per side (multi row seating), 2 rears, 4 Atmos speakers. The ceiling is nice and high to accommodate the Atmos..10 feet height on the back row and 11.6 feet for the front. I called and spoke with Sam Hynes at QSC and he gave me a ton of installation advice, baffle wall etc. If anyone sees anything I'm missing feel free to let me know! I just thought of something. The amp had data ports for digital processors. Are there any settings that could have been changed by a processor when It was in use that can affect the sound that I can't change back to default?  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 11-21-2014 05:26 PM                     Go for it, indestructible. All settings are via DIP switch, the dataport is just a convenient way to connect the amp. I've had gain trimmers failures as well, nothing that cannot be sorted by turning it all way up/down a few times.  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 11-21-2014 05:47 PM                     Maybe someone should rather move this topic to a more appropriate location? It's not really about film . I don't know too much about the consumer version of Atmos, but the cinema version of Atmos requires far more power for the surrounds than a regular 5.1 or 7.1 setup. Atmos mixes also tend to be a lot heavier on the surrounds, they sometimes pan really loud sound effects across your room. So, running the three stage channels trough a bunch of oversized dedicated amps and speakers and having the rest of the channels on an AVR sounds a little bit unbalanced. Also, good luck finding an AVR capable of powering a whole array of SR-8101s without running out of headroom rather quickly . If you can live with "just" 7.1, I would recommend the NuForce AVP-18 and some 5-channel or 7-channel amp that can deliver the required 125W per channel for your surrounds. The primary thing speaking against the AVP-18 is that NuForce is somewhat of an audiophile brand and I'm a bit allergic to certain kind of "audiophiles". But the good thing is, the automatic calibration and EQ makes a whole lot more sense than that Audyssey stuff most AVRs are using. And the best thing is: It comes with a proper RS232 port which you can use to remote control the whole thing, much like professional cinema processors.  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 11-22-2014 07:23 AM                     quote: Marcel Birgelen the required 125W per channel for your surrounds May I ask where this figure is coming from? Edit: got it. We're talking about 8101. But those are 125W each and here they're x2, hence the figure we're looking is at least 250W - even though we should consider the room size too: if the power required to reach the max level ends up to be much lower, 250W would not be needed after all.  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-24-2014 01:19 PM                     Sorry if it's in the wrong section, I wasn't sure where to put it. With the current Atmos AVRs I'll have to supply at least two of the channels power. So I'm choosing to feed that power to the mains and the center as well just so it has the power of the mains. As for the 8101s, as long as I am feeding them at least 80 watts I can hit peaks of 103db. The farthest 8101 will be the rears when sitting in the front row and to exceed 103 safely it'll need more power. In general I'll be sitting no farther than 8 feet from any 8101 at any time. I listen around -5 below reference so the system should have no issues playing distortion free. And as for the surrounds in parallel the they will drop to a 4 ohm load and give me a 3 db boost. This is also my second theater with Cinema speakers. I've used the JBL 3677 which was the best most dynamic speaker I've ever heard for home theater. And feeding them power with an external amp greatly improves the mid-bass and dynamics.. So to some it may seem overkill but that's how I like it. I understand on paper the mains shouldn't need that much power but in reality there is a difference at least to my ears. There are several Home theaters using Cinema speakers on AVS and other forums. Here's a pro reviewers first taste of the JBL 3677 in his theater. skip to 3 minutes to get to the good stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pvBC0msHUQ Imax has also began doing Home theater installs using actual cinema speakers as well. Also I passed on the QSC amp due to age. I just bought 2 new crown XLS 1500 amps for $305 each with free shipping.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 11-24-2014 02:54 PM                     quote: Steven Smith ....I passed on the QSC amp due to age. I just bought 2 new crown XLS 1500 amps for $305 each with free shipping. So you spent an extra $200 or so for a pair of inferior amplifiers? Got it. QSC's DCA amps are about the best you can get at any price point. They are tough, very reliable and more importantly in a home cinema, have a MUCH quieter noise floor than Crowns. There is a thread on here discussing how bad Crown amps really are...along with a few on how much better QSC is, for example my own thread on the DCA line: Linky Crown amps also tend to take the speakers with them when they fail, which IMHO is far too often compared to other brands. I have locations with DCA's over 15 years old still going strong and the failure rate I have experienced has been literally less than 0.02%. You will ultimately regret getting those shiny new Crowns in time I predict.  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-24-2014 03:25 PM                     Well crap! LOL...I've read lots of good stuff on the Crown (exept the xls1000 which is very noisy) but it's all about them being used in Home theater use which is actually very common. They have a 3 year warranty. I noticed the S/N was a little better but not much ...(on paper). The QSC sold pretty fast as he had another buyer. But yea the age thing is why I hesitated and so many using the crowns..I figured they were both good. Ohh well. Hopefully I won't have any issues.  |  IP: Logged Jarod Reddig Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 513 From: Hays, Ks Registered: Jun 2011 posted 11-24-2014 03:30 PM                     HT wise Crown amps are great amps. Don't be fooled. QSC are great as well. The XLS models do have some fan noise but I bet anyone designing a no frills HT has there own equipment room in an adjacent room or closet. There are also fan mods for them if they must be placed in the room. Ive used Crown DC300A series II amps for years in my HT with no problems at all and they were over 20 years old when I bought them used. I use 2 to run my stage speakers, JBL 4722n, and just use my AVR to power my JBL 8340a surrounds. My dual subs are active. Cinema gear in an HT is the real deal. Good luck my friend.  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-24-2014 03:38 PM                     Yea I recognize your name from AVS. On there I'm cdy2179, I have the JBL 3677 have arrived thread. Anyways I know they're used and held pretty high over there. The guy who sold the QSC actually had several XLS1500 amps in his own theater. If he didn't have another buyer I probably would have went QSC just because my speakers are all QSC. But for $170 more I went for new with a warranty. Yea my gear will be in the foyer. From what I've read the fans shouldn't run much if at all. The Andrew Robinson Review stated the amps never got worked hard enough to even kick on that he noticed.  |  IP: Logged Jarod Reddig Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 513 From: Hays, Ks Registered: Jun 2011 posted 11-24-2014 03:42 PM                     Oh cool nice to see ya over here man!! Thought your name sounded familiar. Don't blame ya on the warrenty. So many different paths can get us to HT bliss.  |  IP: Logged Steven Smith Film Handler Posts: 35 From: Boyce, La/ USA Registered: Jul 2014 posted 11-24-2014 03:47 PM                     Yea I like to lurk here a little too. This forum kinda helped me in my decision to try the QSC 2150s instead of going for the JBL 3677 again in my new theater. I found the QSC 2150s for $400 NIB, couldn't pass it up, especially seeing how highly regarded QSC is around here.  |  IP: Logged

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