Alembic pre into Crown PA amp?

[skyboltone]

Ok, here's the current hair brained scheme. When one uses a first class front end to his/her rig why is it necessary to run into a bass amplifier?? Wouldn't a good PA amp serve as the "horsepower" when preceded with a decent pre and perhaps some tone shaping eq?

[johnk_10]

it's not necessary. this rig of mine sounds great (alembic f1X into a crown xti2000). the ashly comp/eq is in the rack with the F1-x for a bit more flexibility:

[rmars]

Yes. I've been running a Demeter VTBP-201S thru a Crown MacroTech 1200 on and off for years. Never have a power issue... except with my back when I have to lift it! The Stewart power amps have also been quite popular for years and are light weight. I have not found any need for an eq outside of my pre but others like them. I've heard those Alembics are awesome... Robert DeLeo uses one which is good enough for me.

[skyboltone]

Thanks JohnK! That's about what I figured. Crown also has proprietary circuitry to tame sub sonic oscillations. I have a 400 watt Crown Com Tech in the stash and I've found an FX-1 for $500. Should cover everything I need.

[SactoBass]

Originally Posted by skyboltone

Ok, here's the current hair brained scheme. When one uses a first class front end to his/her rig why is it necessary to run into a bass amplifier?? Wouldn't a good PA amp serve as the "horsepower" when preceded with a decent pre and perhaps some tone shaping eq?

Running a bass pre into a PA power amp was the defacto rack rig for over two decades until the mini amps became the rage.

I run a Kern IP-777 high-voltage all-tube hand-wired bass preamp with NOS tubes into a QSC PLX3602 power amp (which is a typical PA power amp), and it is the bomb.

If you want good tone, I highly recommend that you stick with preamps that use high voltage in their circuitry. Some companies shove a 12AX7 tube into their preamp at low voltage just so they can tout it as a tube pre. Don't be fooled by such tripe. Stick to high voltage (~300v) preamps such as:

• Kern IP-777
• Alembic F-1X
• BBE BMax-T
• Avalon U5

There is a reason those sound so much better.....it's the high voltage.

[pbassnut]

Originally Posted by skyboltone

Ok, here's the current hair brained scheme. When one uses a first class front end to his/her rig why is it necessary to run into a bass amplifier?? Wouldn't a good PA amp serve as the "horsepower" when preceded with a decent pre and perhaps some tone shaping eq?

Yes, a good PA poweramp should work great with your Alembic preamp. The good ones (and in particular, the old school type A/B models) are made for "industrial usage" and can provide reliable "horsepower" for many years. My venerable Crown DC300A Series II poweramp recently gave out on me after 40 years of loyal, good sounding and reliable service (many of which were with an Alembic F1-X).

I am currently selling a Crest V1100 poweramp that would be a killer combination with your Alembic preamp:

For Sale: Crest V1100 poweramp

[skyboltone]

Originally Posted by rmars

Yes. I've been running a Demeter VTBP-201S thru a Crown MacroTech 1200 on and off for years. Never have a power issue... except with my back when I have to lift it! The Stewart power amps have also been quite popular for years and are light weight. I have not found any need for an eq outside of my pre but others like them. I've heard those Alembics are awesome... Robert DeLeo uses one which is good enough for me.

Thanks for the layout rmars. Some other options to think about.

Originally Posted by SactoBass

Running a bass pre into a PA power amp was the defacto rack rig for over two decades until the mini amps became the rage.

I run a Kern IP-777 high-voltage all-tube hand-wired bass preamp with NOS tubes into a QSC PLX3602 power amp (which is a typical PA power amp), and it is the bomb.

If you want good tone, I highly recommend that you stick with preamps that use high voltage in their circuitry. Some companies shove a 12AX7 tube into their preamp at low voltage just so they can tout it as a tube pre. Don't be fooled by such tripe. Stick to high voltage (~300v) preamps such as:

• Kern IP-777
• Alembic F-1X
• BBE BMax-T
• Avalon U5

There is a reason those sound so much better.....it's the high voltage.

Gotcha Sacto. I kinda thought that was the case; the pre into PA amp bit I mean. Also I'm well aware of the hot vs cold cathode technology. I do some amp building from time to time. The cold cathode tech is really pretty much of lie in my mind.