Can pro amps possibly sound good? Crown, QSC, etc


I have been looking into pro amps for a to-be-built HT/music room. Recently I came across an old review in The Stereo Times: The Complete Audiophile Magazine, which reviewed 2 discontinued Crown amps, the K2 and the Studio Reference I. The K2 the reviewer thought "not distinguished or especially musically refined", but the Studio Ref he thought an EXCELLENT full-range amp. It does have some amazing specs:

Signal-to-Noise (A-weighted) below rated full bandwidth power: 120 dB.
Damping Factor: >20,000 from 10 Hz to 400Hz.
780WPC into 8 ohms, 1160WPC into 4 ohms.

The review is here.

From what I've found so far, there are possbile downsides to using pro gear in an otherwise consumer setup, but in my case I think these are non-issues:

-fan noise: not an issue for me since I will have an equipment closet. Won't have to do a "fan mod".

-ugly: again, not an issue for me with an equipment closet

-hum: I believe not an issue as long as I use balanced interconnects from the prepro. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

-expects pro-level input levels: I think not an issue if the amp has dip switches or gain controls?

And yet, over on a couple of AVS forum threads, I actually got asked to leave when I started suggesting pro amps. It seems as though some of the audiophiles there (and the same guys might be over here) don't even want to hear about a class of gear which imo just MIGHT sound good. It just isn't worth "polluting" an audiophile thread. Am I missing some other downside to pro amps, other than the above pints? Were these guys attitudes based on something substantive and audibly detectable, or just a form of audio bigotry?

I'm not saying all pro amps are going to be great (for instance I know the Behringer A500 is lousy), but might there be some good stuff too, like QSC DCA, or Crown Macro Reference (other suggestions would be welcome)?
syswei
I saw where Crest Audio amps were mentioned here, unfortunately,no model number was listed. I've got an older model Crest Audio 4000 professional amp that I could use if possible. Not much info available online about this particular model, most likely because it's so old and forgotten. One guy did say that from what he remembers about the 4000, it used quality parts and had a HUGE transformer. Seems like most people recommend QSC or Crown amps when using pro amps in HT.
QSC and Crown to a degree are almost "pro-sumer" and the stuff they sell for DJ and live sound reinforcment is just that- it is PA gear and will not give exceptional detail sound that we as audiphiles expect.

I have tried a home system with amps from now defunct AB International. I'm sure the build and parts quality are just as good or better than any home electronics . The thing weighed a ton and could drive anything. Hooking it up was no big deal for me. I mainly XLR anyway. But the sound was somewhat PAish. It would be good to drive some PeeVees for a backyard party or something.
The Crest amp I have is called the P4000. I can't find much info online about it and Crest Audio's website doesn't seem to keep much on older gear.
Considering the largest QSC amp to run the low end. 22-39hz in a biamp configuration

With lucious tubes on the top would the QSC work or detract from the presentation?
The reason people are considering pro amps at all is the ludicrous prices of audiophile power amps of any decent power (e.g.300w per side at 8 ohms).

Im a live & studio sound engineer of 35 yrs, but I'm an audiophile at heart. I would concur that the necessity of bomb proofing pro power amps with a variety of protections doesn't lend them to suitability for critical home listening, not to mention the fan noise often present. Before there were dedicated pro amp manufacturers, the pro industry used Phase Linear 700Bs a lot, though being a hi fi amp they proved to be too hard to maintain & too devoid of protections for pro use.

I've been thinking of buying a used Crown Macrotech 1200 to drive my Earthworks Sigma 6.2s, but won't have a chance to hear it before purchase so am going off the idea. I'd love a Bryston 4B ST, but just too expensive. Any suggestion of great sounding 300w per side @ 8 ohms power amps that aren't in the multi $k bracket, I'd love to hear them. Perfectly happy to go with 2nd hand to ease up on the wallet. Thanks!