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Author Topic: QSC DCA reliability Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-29-2003 07:26 AM                        Hi everyone. My theater has QSC DCA 1622 and 2422 in all screens. They sound very good but we had two fail (center channel of course!) during last 4 months. Does this kind of amplifier has some reliability problem? Bye A  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-29-2003 09:37 AM                     I haven't had any failures of those amps yet  |  IP: Logged Greg Mueller Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1687 From: Port Gamble, WA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-29-2003 10:03 AM                        I love QSC amps I bought my DCA 1622s as B stock units and they had been modified so the fan cooling is on Hi all the time. I think (but not sure) that they had a two speed or on/off arrangement originally. Maybe there was a problem with overheating?????  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 10-29-2003 11:15 AM                        Perhaps the fan was blown but I cannot check 78 amplifiers every day!! Does that amp has a termal protect? I noted that they don't have any fuse... Bye A  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 10-29-2003 05:32 PM                     DCA amps have proven to be very reliable in our theatres. I had one go in the four years that we have been installing them, and that was a minor issue with a failed diode in the power supply. I hate the idea of switchers in general, but I can't fault these amps for being switchers. They work very reliably and sound very good. Anyone notice how much improved the filters in the new DCMs are? (a bit OT, I know) I don't know what they did, but the first batch I installed four years ago sounded like plastic. I just installed ten new ones in a theatre and they sounded like music...  |  IP: Logged Jean-Michel Grin Expert Film Handler Posts: 222 From: Geneva & Lausanne, Switzerland Registered: Jul 2002 posted 10-30-2003 01:31 PM                        Ciao Antonio ! In our new multiplex we installed all DCM monitors and DCA amplifiers series. No faillures with amplifiers, by luck, but the center channel on The DCA was mute ! The cure to correct this was to switch Off and On again the DCM. I will back to mono Bye,  |  IP: Logged Michael Harlow Expert Film Handler Posts: 170 From: Faversham, Kent, UK Registered: Jul 2002 posted 10-30-2003 04:30 PM                     I have QSC RMX1450 power amps in my cinema, no problems at all, although they are only 2 years old! Did have Peavey CS1000x amps and managed to blow two channels out of 4 amps. I also have QSC RMX2450 amps in a nightclub i have they are on 24/7 in their own air conditioned room, never had any problems....  |  IP: Logged Pete Naples Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1565 From: Dunfermline, Scotland Registered: Feb 2001 posted 11-01-2003 03:50 AM                     I've had quite a number of failures with those amps, however it is always at power on when brand new. A loud bang, a puff of smoke and it's all over! In fairness to QSC, their UK agent has replaced the faulty units in bery quick time, and the replacements have been trouble free.  |  IP: Logged Nic Margherio Film Handler Posts: 91 From: St. Louis MO, USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-01-2003 09:58 AM                     Just over four years ago, when the DCA was still fairly new, I began to have problems with a couple of amps at a new install. I contacted QSC about the problem and I was told that there was an "unofficial" recall of all DCA amps manufactured prior to July of 1999. The reason for this was a faulty ribbon cable, manufactured by a supplier that they had since dumped. All 48 of our installed amps and three spares had to be replaced. QSC was very prompt and professional about taking care of this, but I think they certainly should have made us or our supplier aware of this potential problem before we had to call them. That being said, we haven't had a single failure since and it is still my opinion that the DCA is the probably the best amp on the market. One problem I have with the DCM monitor is the lack of digital input. The first thing that it does to the analog inputs is run them through an A/D converter. For DSP-based processors, it would be far better to output a bitstream to the DCM instead of going through unecessary (and signal degrading) D/A and A/D conversion. [ 11-01-2003, 12:57 PM: Message edited by: Nic Margherio ]  |  IP: Logged

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