Product: Mackie 1400i Power Amp
Price Paid: USD 350 USED
Submitted
11/09/2006
at
11:52am
by
James
Features
:
10
Stereo outputs, 800W @ 2 ohms, 450W @ 4 ohms, 310W @ 8 ohms; & bridged mono mode - 1400W @ 4 ohms, 900W @ 8 ohms, Fast Recovery circuitry, independent defeatable limiter on each channel; hi-pass filters & low-pass filter on sub mode, XLR and 1/4" inputs, mine's the older model with 1/4" and XLR outputs (the newer ones did away with the 1/4" and use speakon outputs). Steel 2U rackmount chassis, heavy as a ton of bricks but well worth the weight!
Sound Quality
:
10
This amp is fed by an Ampeg SVTIIP preamp and powers Ampeg 4x10's. The sound is amazing. The transformer is IMMENSE and therefore needs and produces a LOT of power! There is zero distortion produced so you get a clear reproduction of what you put into it with more depth and headroom than a normal power amp. It's heavy, but in this case it translates into good tone, which isn't always the case.
Reliability
:
10
It's a few years old and has had zero problems. The chassis is solid steel and it's a solid state design so I'd imagine it will last a great while longer. Everything seems like it is shielded well and it doesn't introduce any excess noise into the signal. Now the fan is another story...
Customer Support
:
8
No clue but the website is pretty cool which in this day is good CS.
Overall Rating
:
10
I've played for a while and owned a lot of crap and a lot of good gear. My opinion: you can't sound any better than your gear, and your gear can't sound any better than you play. This is good gear. Run a decent preamp through it and you'll have a reliable, powerful sound for any style of music.
The one issue I do have with this, is the fan is very loud and cannot be turned off (at least I haven't found a way to yet). I wouldn't recommend this for recording anything which 1400 watts seems like overkill for that anyways. The fan isn't noticeable when the volume is above 1/4 of the way up but anything before that and it's just an annoyance. I kinda wish it was a bit lighter too...30-something pounds for a power amp only is a lot. It is worth it though.
