Each PowerLight 3 model delivers higher input voltage and selectable sensitivity, and is easily adjusted via a series of rear panel switches with colour-coded LED indicators.
The 8,000-watt model PL380 combines a pair of 4,000-watt Class-D amplifier channels with QSC's PowerLight power supply to "serve up more than twice the audio horsepower of any previous 2U PowerLight amplifier". Within the PL380 circuitry, reactive "back EMF" from the loudspeakers is recycled into the power supply to help promote a plug-to-plug efficiency rating of 85% that reduces AC power consumption to a minimum, all while delivering more energy to the loudspeakers.
"Right now the PL380 has the highest overall efficiency of any amplifier available," QSC founder Pat Quilter suggests. "Its peak output can reach 185 volts, and it won't lose its efficiency when driving loads. From the amp's ultra-fast modulator - we measure its response time in nanoseconds - to its high performance filters, the PL380 is built to sound accurate, transparent, and linear. Full-range distortion is exceptionally low as well, and the amp is totally free of 'zero-crossing' distortion."
Operable between 20 Hz and 20 kHz, the PL380 is capable of taking on difficult loads without showing signs of stress or changes in tonality; the amplifier's performance is further enhanced by features such as silent, surge-free switching.
Models PL325 and PL340 complete the PowerLight 3 Series. DEsigned for use in lower-power applications, both amplifiers share the same feature set as the PL380, albeit matched to upgraded versions of QSC's most advanced linear, Class H amplifier platform. Increased power supply capacitance in both amps is responsible for boosting two-ohm power ratings to approximately 2,000 watts per channel in model PL340, and 1,250 watts per channel in the PL325. Both amps provide system designers with a choice of running a single type of amplifier throughout their system, or matching each amplifier to the needs of specific transducers.
(Jim Evans)
