The M-3000 (3000W) amplifier by Mackie represents the pinnacle of Class-H power amp engineering, from a design team with a collective 38 years of amplifier experience. Mackie named the M-Series "High-Efficiency Amplifiers" for their ability to squeeze every drop of power out of standard 120/240v power outlets, delivering more watts to your loudspeakers than anything even close to their price. And not only do the M-Series deliver major watts, but they sound incredible, thanks to Class-H power stages, new built-in limiters, a sparing use of negative feedback, and perfect crossover integration with Mackie's Precision Passive loudspeakers.
The final major M-Series advantage is their next-generation Fast Recovery and Adaptive Slew circuitry, a Mackie hallmark which lets them run "in the red" for hours on end without compromising sound integrity.
High-Efficiency Design
What makes the M-Series so efficient? Glad you asked. The M-2000 utilizes 2-rail Class-H circuitry, while the M3000 & M4000 utilize the higher power capacity 3-rail Class-H circuitry. (If you understand this, skip this paragraph and give Mackie a call. They're always hiring at Mackie.) For the non-engineers among us, 2- and 3-rail Class-H circuitry taps into additional power rails only when needed. This results in much greater efficiency and less destructive heat. So it runs very cool versus other types of power amp designs, especially in real-world applications playing real music. This design not only maximizes power, but also improves long-term reliability.
Fast Recovery Circuitry
Borrowing from technology found only in high-speed test equipment, the M-Series amplifiers employ Fast Recovery circuitry with Baker Clamps. The Baker Clamps prevent both the output stage and final Class-A voltage amp stage from saturating—a phenomenon known as "sticktion," where the amplifier delays its recovery past the original input clipping point. When recovery finally does take place, it can be abrupt, and generate a massive amount of higher-order harmonic distortion... which sounds like, well, crap. Other amp manufacturers forgo the Baker Clamp since its effects are only noticeable when you are clipping your amp. But at Mackie, they know that most folks run their amps at unseemly clipping levels, so they figured it was worth it.
Fast But Remarkably Un-Furious Transients
Before Mackie tells you about the M-Series exclusive Adaptive Slewing technology, here's what you need to know about slewing: the faster an amplifier's rate of slew, the better its transient response, the faster its recovery from clipping, and the less risk of slew-induced harmonic distortion through the entire audio band. A Mackie exclusive, new Adaptive Slewing circuitry allows M-Series amplifiers to pass the fastest transient attacks—like kick and snare drum, or any bass player trying to imitate Marcus Miller—while minimizing Class-H switching distortion. As a result, the M-Series have the lowest distortion of any Class-H amplifier on the market. And no matter how hard and fast you thrash, the M-Series amps are gonna be a couple of steps ahead, making sure the output is clean.
50% More Output Components than Other Competitors
Check out the competition, and you'll find the M-Series amps typically use 50% more output parts for the same power output levels. The M2000 uses 10 output transistors per channel, the M3000 has 12, and the M4000 sports 16. Sure, this costs Mackie a lot more money to design and manufacture. But in extremely hot environments—like a punk show where one amp is driving a real-world 2? load like eight speaker cabinets—having more output transistors is the only way to go. So that's just how Mackie rolls.
Low Feedback / Low Distortion
In addition to the aforementioned High-Efficiency design, advanced Filters and Adapting Slewing, M-Series amplifiers employ some good solid amp design principals. Namely, triple Darlington output stages, purely resistive loading of all voltage amplifier stages, and fully complementary / differential design from amplifier input to output—all working together to give the M-Series some of the lowest distortion numbers of any manufacturer, without having to resort to substantial amounts of negative feedback. (Because, lets face it, you probably get enough negative feedback about your music as it is.)
Internal and External Protection
Amplifier reliability comes from both robust design and internal and external protection. Internally, M-Series amplifiers feature power supply over-temperature protection, low voltage / brownout protection, extensive fusing, and fusible resistors throughout. Each amplifier channel features Output DC offset protection, overtemperature protection, Input Slew clamping, and extensive Output stage protection. On the external side of things, the M-Series are over-designed to withstand bumps, drops and twists of fortune. Taken together, the chance of one of Mackie's M-Series amps failing at some critical moment is right up there with destruction of our planet by rogue asteroid collision.
Technical Info
Power (1kHz@1%THD): M3000
Stereo Mode
8 ohms per channel: 600W
4 ohms per channel: 1000W
2 ohms per channel: 1500W
Bridge Mono mode
8 ohms: 2000W
4 ohms: 3000W
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