Karaoke Forums

So as I mentioned in another thread recently, I bought a second hand Peavey PV1500 amp when I bought some Sennheiser e835 mics off craig's list.

For the first time I actually read through the manual. I looked at the pictures of the back of the amp that showed several configurations like stereo, mono, mains with subs, bridge mode etc.

Well, I thought I understood what it was saying and how to hook things up. I hooked the mixer main output into the amp input with a 1/4" to 1/4" cable, I always run in mono, both channels from the soundcard into one channel.

I used a speakon to 1/4" cable to the speakers, that was the easy part.

The first time I did this I thought the speakers sounded strange. Very heavy on the bass, but they were 15" and I was used to using 12", so I EQed the bass down and increased the mids and high frequencies, but it still just didn't sound that great. I was disappointed and thought "I should have checked the speakers out better when I was buying everything, I guess they're junky speakers".

I set everything up again in my garage where I rehearse in the cooler months and again plugged everything in the same way. It sounded bad again and even worse at low volumes, real bass heavy too. So finally I looked at the back of the amp again and I saw another input jack that said "Low z" and something else, my eyes aren't that good anymore so I couldn't read it that well.

The jack looked different than other jacks. It was black and it looked like you could plug in either an XLR cable or a 1/4" cable. So what the heck, I decided to try plugging into that jack instead. I started the music up again and jumpin Jehosephat, the music sounded clear, crisp and wonderful. The bass was normal and the highs were crystal clear.

I was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with the amp?
I had tried several different speakers and none of them sounded good. I couldn't understand what was wrong or why it sounded so bad.

I'm lucky I didn't damage something or blow something up. Plugged in the right way, I realized it was a pretty powerful amp because at a very low volume, it was putting out a good amount of sound. By the time I figured all of this out I couldn't crank it up because it was late and my wife was in bed.

Tomorrow I'm going to put that amp through it's paces and see what it can do and the new speakers too, now that I realize they work and sound just fine. I'm curious to see what some of my other speakers sound like with this new amp too.

Not sure if you have the model that includes the thru jacks or the active low pass filters but that's sounds like what you were using. In any case here is a link to the manual on that rascal. You might have to make more than one attempt as the Peavey site is a little on the flakey side.
http://www.peavey.com/assets//literatur ... 512820.pdf

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Quickness of mind will deceive the eye

I not dumb, really. Sometimes it takes me a couple of tries to get certain things right. Other things I take to real quick. I'm still learning a lot and pretty new to this stuff. I've made a lot of progress in the past little over a year that I've been doing this.

I do believe that the the Peavey has a clearer sound than my Yamaha EMX512. The highs are noticeably crisper and cleaner it seems just from the little time I had it running properly.

The Peavey is a class AB amp and I believe the Yamaha is a class H. Whatever it is, I get quite a bit of amplifier hiss at high settings on the Yamaha. The Peavey is nearly silent. The amplifier hiss and the vocal effects on the Yamaha are why I was going to replace it. I got an Alesis multimix 8 USB mixer and the vocal effects are MUCH better than on the Yamaha. That's important to me.

I LOVE the convenience of the EMX512. It's so light and portable and so easy to set up, it's very powerful, but it seems that there are some compromises that I didn't know about because I lack experience with other equipment.

I was planning on getting a Behringer EP2500 for the longest time. Then I stumbled onto the Samson PG3800 which puts out more wpc for about the same price, maybe a bit less than the Behringer and I was planning on buying it within the next few months.

I didn't figure I would end up with a Peavey amp because they go for a bit more money. I have no doubts about the quality of Peavey amps or other non entry level Peavey products. I own a pair of old Peavey speakers and they sound good. They don't even have the more modern drivers in them.

In any case, I think this Peavey amp is going to work out great. Even better when I figure out how to use it.

If you think you peavey amp is clean you should hear a Crown or QSC.

At 300watts at 8 Ohms your a little short on power but much better off than any powered mixer.

The pv amps are great they have a built in crossover and can be configured many different ways.

Someone posted the owners manual take the time and read it.

Sounds like you were using an ouput or thru as an input.

Actually the powered mixer puts out about the same as the Peavey.
Both are 500wpc @4ohms and about the same at 8ohms. For some reason the Peavey has less hiss and sounds clearer. Maybe the amplifier experts can say why, I bet they have some explanation.

If the Crown and QSC weren't 2-3 times as expensive I would consider them, but no way am i going to pay what they cost. QSC RMX 2450 is like $700. Behringer EP2500 which is nearly identical under the cover is half that. Maybe some day when I'm making the big bucks I'll buy a Crown or QSC, right now I'm looking for good deals on craig's list and ebay to get started. That Yamaha EMX512 is a very popular unit and I can sell it for what I paid for it, probably more.

I can get you a new RMX 2450 for $500 and I think the current mail in rebate is $100. Your cost after rebate $435 including tax.

You got to make some friends in pro audio.


Hey! There is nothing wrong with finding some good deals on used equuipment.

Share the love bruddah. I'm sure your contacts would love to get more business.

That's a great deal for a RMX-2450!!!

Check out the Samson PG3800 specs, I can get you one for around $300-$325 at NLFXPRO.

It puts out 560wpc @8ohms and 900wpc@4ohms and 1800wpc@2ohms.
That ain't chickenfeed. I betcha it sounds good too.
I searched around a lot to find that amp.
I haven't found more bang for the buck yet.
It's class AB so it's heavy.