lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

I bought an fp6400 clone. It was less then $600 shipped to the USA, and I'll have it in a week. I'm very curious how it performs. For the price, I couldn't say no. It comes with a 1 year warranty, and the engineer I talked to seemed pretty knowledgeable and content. Based on what I've read, they're solid in fixed installations. We'll see what happens...



Evan

Hey Evan, did you get this amp, and if so what was it like, does it perform ?
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

Chicken!

We needed a real "test subject"-to use in real world world testing/abuse.


Despite the real threat of follow on "i told you so's" from my fellow labsters... lol I ordered a fp10000q and a fp14000...

Worst case I could always re-sell it to any of the AVS forum members who are worried about sending thier $ to china.


I'll be conducting some controlled experiments with both amps... then when I'm done, I'm seriously hoping Langston wouldn't mind measuring them for our entertainment....(not with a 2ohm load as recommended)

they are in the wind as we speak, DHL tracking info and all....

cheers
SP
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

Well I've received my Lab clones. I unboxed the 10000q, and I thought I'd share some pictures, and some bad iphone video. I'm going to do some more specific testing tonight with the limited knowledge I have of smaart. I plan to run a test tone into the amp, and see what kind of max db I can get etc.. I am not yet familiar with impulse readings and the like, and it will be nowhere are throughout as langston's reviews, but it does seem to pound out some sound, and in comparison wiht the plx3402 I compared it to, the depth of the sub is improved, and there is some increased warmth, and extension that the plx did not have.
I only had it powered with a 15 amp plug, that it came with, and I was running left to the lab, and right to the plx...(none of that videoed it was done afterwards). Again the iphone isnt' picking up the freq produced, but it's picking up the garage items vibrating off the walls, and the door rattling.

LAB GRUPPEN FP10000Q CLONE TEST - YouTube
 

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Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

Be careful attempting continuous sine wave testing with very high power amps, most speakers will not handle the pain for more than very short bursts, and amps don't really need to put out continuous power very long with actual music. Most mains power sources will sag under heavy current draw.

Flog it hard with pre-recorded music, strong speakers, and agreeable neighbors. The bottom line is how does it work in real applications.

JR
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

Thanks JR. That is exactly the kind of advice and caution i was asking for in the first place i appreciate it
Fwiw i was using sw1000 and tx9 subs on 63 hz. Just lighting the first signal light on the amp. One of my planned torture test was to mix a band w a real lab on one side and the copy on the other ( with a secong real lab in the wings waiting to be patched in on signs of failure). Or i was going to run a center cluster on subs on aux to see if it died. And that wouldnt compromise the whole gig if the center cluater went down. Ill keep everyone posted
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

Hi Evan,
Do you mind telling me which company did you buy it from and what method of payment did you use.
Thanks
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

There are some Lab clones around here in Germany. In fact besides some well kown amplifier brands, I also have two FP 10.000 clones for low/no budget events. One from "Sanway" and one from "Gisen Audio". The Gisen one is slighty better manufactured than the sanway one, and they do their job quite well. The Sanyway is about three years old, the Gisen about a year. Beside the fact, that the fans are quite loud I have very little to complain about. There are some "official distributors" in Germany, Denmark and so on. So you can buy them here from a regular vendor including warranty and such. Like always: You get what you pay for.
These are no Lab Gruppen amps, but they imho work at least "ok". Some links:

FP-new series Switching Power Amplifier
FP Series-GISEN AUDIO

You can buy them here-->

Gisen Audio Vertrieb, Deutschland, Veranstaltungstechnik, MM-Production
CAD AUDIO - DIGITAL RACK AMPLIFIERS
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

I bought 7 sanway clone amps. 2 were an initial "trial" buy, of an FP10000Q, and an FP14000. I sold both of them, to the home theatre crowd and ordered 5 FP10000 ( I wanted 4 for use one as a back-up). Of the five that came, 1.25 channels were out of box failures. One amp was completely dead, and one channel was dead on another. After some email exchanges with sanway, they sent me several chipsets which I had a local tech replace for about $100. All amps worked. I sold the spare and I still 4 on my bi-amp monitor rig. I've used one clone amp before on 4 tx-9 subs and it wigs out (goes into clip, low to no output), one cab per channel. and it was not working hard. I haven't tried that again but I probably should. I bought the real deal for my pa cause I didnt want to take any chances with that going down, but the clones confirmed for me that that's the route I wanted to go. I figured if the real labs sounded as good or better, with the reliability, then that's how I wanted to spend my money. I am waiting on an IPD 2400 demo to show up at my door (any minute), so I can transition these clones out to home theatre guys, and also I could lose my UX8800 processors on my bi-amp monitor rig, since IPD has it built in. 8 spaces, 8 mixes... nice.....
 
Re: lab gruppen clones - would you buy/use one?

The one i have run into (the 14000) did a very serious subwofer job. We had our Bold Audio displayed at the demo area att India Palm Expo this year. I was told that the distributor would provide two fp14000 for 4 of our BA218 suns. It turned out they provided a Chinese clones. So i had to work with what i was provided with the first day of the show and requested that they get me the real ones for the next 3 days. So i decided to give those clones a hell that day (note is was out on direct sun at close to 55 degrees celsius). Amps survived the torture and i was positively impressed.
Next day they brought me two fp13000. I was scratching my head arround for the good part of the day when i failed to notice any difference, Either sonicaly or in the performance.
So there goes my story about the clones.
BTW the clones are not 100% clones. There is a difference in the schematic and in some parts.