Just curious if anybody uses pro sound amps for home audio? Is there any reason why they wouldn't have the same sound quality (assuming the amp itself is of good quality...not a $99 import) as a good home audio amp?

The reason I ask is because I need a good 2 channel amp and many pro sound amps (such as Carvin amps) have balanced inputs (to mate with y super Outlaw 990!), input bridging (for bi-amping), and level controls for each channel (also for bi-amping). I can't find all three of those features on any home audio amps.

The only question is..how is the sound quality?

There have been some discussions here over the years, so a search could turn up some good clues. Pro sound amps generally are designed with different goals in mind (mainly bullet-proof reliability under severe loads) - you're more likely to have ambient noise from cooling fans than with a home amp, and I'm not sure they are necessarily going to be as transparent sonically (although that'll depend on the pro amp and the home amp in question).

I'm using a Blue Ice pro amp. Its a two channel amp with balanced as well as RCA imputs, level controls, no imput bridging. (doubt if any pro amps has this feature) Sound quality is a subjective thing. The blue ice does sound better than the older NAD amp and two Emotiva BP1 amps that I was using before. I'm very happy with it, but then I have never tried one of the Outlaw amps either. The unit does have two fans, one that pulls in the air and the other that exhausts it. It was pretty quiet when running, but I disconnected the intake fan and now it is totally silent and is barely warm to the touch after two hours of heavy use. It also put's out plenty of power!

Most of them I've looked at have input bridging (the lack of this feature on home amps is what lead me to look into pro amps).

At the top of my list is Carvin amps. Good price, made in the USA, have all the features I need. They have variable speed fans and are designed for recording studios so I would imagine they are quiet.

Before buying my 7500, I used a pro audio amp. It had a 2-speed (i.e - variable) fan too. I removed the cover and unplugged it also, because it was too noisy for me. It was a Crest Audio amp.

There is rather a long thread in the AVSFORUMs discussing pro amps for HT/Music. I am not sure if I can post that link here but the subject of the link in the amp section is: "New amp is making me grin from ear to ear =)"

I am thinking of trying on the pro amps for my setup (mostly for watching movies).

I'm going to go the pro amp route too I think, just need to find one that's got good variable fan control - several brands make a point of saying how quiet they are under modest loads, so I suspect something is out there ....

Carvin is the amps I'm looking at mainly because of the variable speed fan. www.carvin.com

The only thing is that they don't have auto turn on, and I'd need at least 4 amps. I just can't stand the thought of having to turn on/off 4 amps..not to mention where to plug them all in.

Those 4 amps will cost the same as an Outlaw 7125 so that's my dillema for the day. Do I lose balanced inputs and level controls for auto turn-on and ease of installation?

If the price is the same, I would go with the Outlaw amp. The only reason I went with a proamp is because it was cheap and had plenty of power! It's holding me over until I can afford a more user friendly amp (eade of installation and auto turn on)

I am running old Crown PSA-2's (6 of them) with my 990. Balanced (or 1/4") inputs, adjustable gains, lots and lots of power. They are fan cooled, and so can be noisy (mine sit in an adjascent storage room), plus they'll throw off enough heat to noticably warm up my small theater room over a few hours. But all in all, I couldn't be happier with them.

More info: the old Crown amps, of course, do not have auto-turn on. My solution was to run some dedicated circuits over to the amps (3 20amp circuits). As I said, they are in a 19" rack, in a basement storage room which shares a wall with my home theater. They amps are actually only ~5ft from the 990- just on the other side of the wall.

Anyway, each amp has it's own individual power outlet, which is individually switched. In my theater room, on the wall just above the 990, are 8 light switches (2 quad switch boxes)- so I can turn the equipment in the other room on/off without going back there. I actually need to be a little careful how I power things up; if the amps energize their high power circuits simultaneously, they will blow the breakers ;-). So, I just need to stage the power up over a few seconds.

There are 2 big pieces of PVC pipe (4" diameter I think) which go through the wall acting as conduit for the cabling. One for speaker wires from the amps, one for signal cables going to the amps from the 990.