As someone who works in the electronics industry, having electronic equipment assembled overseas is pretty much the norm. While having China do it is a bit new, the prices they are charging are just that: 'sweat shop labor' rate. Yet America is quite happy not look too close at any human right issues because the price is cheap.
If anyone really wants to make a difference and send a message, simply don't buy QSC products made in China. Amps are expensive, so even if it turns out that they really are made in a sweat shop, people won't stop buying them. It's not like they are cheap shirts or shoes, which you can go buy cheap elsewhere for.
I'm not directly anti-China (or anti-QSC) but this problem is being supported by American greed, and the willingness of China to make a buck off of that greed.
Just my own 0.02.
The RMX amps do not have the right feature sets for cinema. The RMX amplifier is for the retail/MI market--individuals looking for an inexpensive amp for their DG rig or for a small band.
One of the reasons why the RMX came about, is because of buyers wanting an inexpensive amp, consumer demand.
Plus, as for that "made in America" product, you would be very very hard pressed to find an amplifier from any company that is completely American made. Many of the parts in amplifiers are sourced from export countries. That's the way it is, world commerce. And we are much better off because of world commerce.
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John Gordon
Cinema Applications Engineer
QSC Audio Products, Inc.
1675 MacArthur Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 957-7100
john_gordon@qscaudio.com
http://www.qscaudio.com
The RMX is a cheap/basic amplifier.
It's strengths are that they are only 2-U tall and inexpensive.
They are heavy and not terribly shallow. Their attenuators are also located on the front (making them somewhat cinema unfriendly). Unlike the DCA amps, their knobs protrude.
For inexpensive Cinema amplifiers, stick with the USA and ISA line. The USA line having a nice shallow depth, the ISA accepting crossovers and other features.
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
Weather or not these amps are intended for the cinema or not is yet to be determined, at least by myself and for my own use. They are certainly better than the 6 channel single amps that I know of that some people put in cheap sound systems. IN this case, I was in need of a cheap amplifier in a certain price range and these fit the bill nicely. In this case the depth was irrelivent as the other equipment living in the consoles rack was about as deep....A DA-20 for instance was also in the rack and is as deep. The torid power transformer in these is a nice addition and far more efficient than its iron laminate counterpart as used in the USA amps. In/Out facilities are better than on the USA series and they have the same dip switch settings as well.Build quality is very nice, Heavy chassis, and I say as good as any other QSC amplifier.
Unfortunately QSC has priced the USA series way out of line. I was told by the rep the USA series is being discontinued. Oh well...I'll use the RMX from time to time as as long as they are reliable as the price of these is comparable to my old pricing on the USA 900.
Steve, Actually the amps are fairly recessed into the rack as compared to the way other amps mount, and the knobs are not really too bad off. This is something easily covered up too. I too would prefer to see them on the back though.
Mark @ GTS
If you want better performance and on a tight budget, our new ISA series is what you should be looking into, not the RMX--for reasons stated in my previous post.
And of course for the best solution would be to use the DCM crossover with DCA amplifiers.
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John Gordon
Cinema Applications Engineer
QSC Audio Products, Inc.
1675 MacArthur Blvd.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 957-7100
john_gordon@qscaudio.com
http://www.qscaudio.com
For example, even the most esoteric and fastidious audio reviewers in the industry feel that the Rotel RMB-1090 is one of the best sounding amplifiers on the market at any price (but especially when one considers the price).
So the point is, it can be done well.
Thank you for your kind words many months ago!!!! I was inquiring into your RMX amps that all the comotion seems to be about. Pricing..availability...dealers...and specs on the amps. (Not to be used in theaters of course but possibly highschool mini mixing rooms) Made in China? hmmmmm everything else is too...or Taiwan.....or India,Pakistan etc... at this point it would be hypocritical of me to start chosing whom to buy due to origin of manufacturing so Sign me up!!! QSC has always been the best in everything and I'm sure some of those engineers were still driving their foreign cars to work and had lunch in foreign owned Orange county restaurants. Jees. QSC bashing should be taboo!! (OPINION)
RORY
?
Certainly, an OPINION expressed by someone working for the manufacturer. 
As to the USA amps, Mark... Depending on the rack, the shallow depth is nice...ie working in a shallow wall rack or even in a 20" floor standing rack the shallow depth may be necessary.
The use of deep amplifiers with weight generally has me using rear hangers for the amps to prevent sagging. For instance, all of my MXa series amps are strapped front and rear. One thing Crown used to be good about was trying to get the center of gravity as close to the front as possible to prevent sagging. You already know my dim view of putting the sound inside of the console so I won't rehash it here. I generally prefer the medium-deep racks anyway (25"). It allows me to keep the various signal levels separated and wire paths neater.
As to outboard crossovers, why increase your wiring? The QSC line of XC-1, XC-3 crossovers and the SF-1 or SF-3 sub filter (including B-6 tuning) do an adequate job and are quite flexible for getting the contour you may want. Generally, 1/3 octave EQing is reduced to turing a couple of mid-bass trims (depending on room quality and speaker response, of course). This presumes a 2-way system, I know you like 3-ways so in that case, I could see going outboard though QSC does offer a 3-way module for the DCA line in addition to their DCM monitor/crossovers.
Back to the RMX...I am curious as to why QSC would not encourage it's use in Cinema. While QSC has certainly made cinema specific amplifiers, at the core, an amplifier is an amplifier. If the RMX has enough of a feature set for the installer and end-user why not take advantage of it's low cost?
Personally, I'm getting used to the VERY light weight of the DCA amps with their soft starts when lugging up 80 or so amps on a complex, I'll take the 20 pounders, you can have the 40-50 pounders!
Steve
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"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"
I think it is a quality issue in assembling. Some electronic equipment I have seen coming from China just does not seem to hole up as well, (poor wave soldering techniques, and defective components) just to name two.
In fact, NOTHING I have ever purchased that was made in China never had a long life expectancy, as compared to Japan.
Steve, I've never really had to lug anything up into a booth except on rental jobs. I've always brought in a forklift for that job, or hired some strong ushers that'll do it for a few bucks! In most cases they're glad to help out anyway. Why chance ruining your back? As far as using the newer lighter amps I am against the extra cost of them, they are not just a little more expensive but allot. Quite frankly, why spend a third to almost double in some cases for an equivelent power rated amp? This money can be spent elsewhere to gain higher system performance, such as three way speakers, or better analog x-overs, and using the cheaper, heavier amplifiers does not constrain the performance of a system at all. I just feel it pays to spend the money where you'll get the biggest return, and it's usually in the speakers, not in the amps.
Mark @ GTS
I don't mind buying products from other countries like Japan, France, England, Canada, Germany, etc. These are countries that treat their people reasonably. They agree to certain living standards, so when competing for world commerce, they are all on a level playing field.
I feel China can "underbid" because they exploit their own people. That's not having a level playing field.
I have sat and watched Zenith televisions go from a high reputation of quality, to a cheap piece of junk. Thank YOU Goldstar!
RCA, and GE, are in the toilet too with their cheap circuit boards, and cheap production work. Thank YOU Thomson of France!
Sony, once a high quality set, is now assembled in Malaysia, and not worth the price you will pay for that name.
Now we have a new president who is claiming that our "forthcoming tax breaks" will help us pay for the higher fuel prices. Wow.
Prices are spiraling out of control. Pay scales are not keeping up with any of this. I am afraid that there is going to be a massive depression that will put much of this nation out of work.
Sorry for the rant, but I am tired of staying one foot ahead of the bill collector, while all the available work goes to Mexico, China, and other places.
But what can I do? The technical work market that I am in is getting smaller and smaller. The company that I work for is afraid to up the prices because the competition will just lower theirs and squash us.
It has been 3995 days since the last post.