Best lightweight poweramp under 400 EUR (or USD)

[dezspet]

Guys,
I am having an Ampeg pre (SVTII-P) for a long time and now I am about to use it. All I need is a good poweramp.
I am using now a Markbass TA 503 head and I love its speed, dynamism, headroom.
So if I buy a poweramp I want all these in one package: lightweight, loud enough (I play in Clubs mainly, so I rarely use more than 200-300 watts), fast response and dynamism.
So which one should I prefer? Crown XLS, or even the new Behringers are good enough? Peavey? Or shall I buy a bass specific poweramp?
I do not want to spend a lot, actually I have decided to keep it under 400 EUR or less.
Please give me your thoughts!
Thanks,
Peter

[Avezzano]

G&K MB200

[Goteky45]

check out carvin's poweramps. cheap, light and pack a lot of power.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by dezspet

Guys,
I am having an Ampeg pre (SVTII-P) for a long time and now I am about to use it. All I need is a good poweramp.
I am using now a Markbass TA 503 head and I love its speed, dynamism, headroom. It fits your price range, weighs 3 lbs, and puts out 400 watts RMS at 4 0hms.

I do not want to spend a lot, actually I have decided to keep it under 400 EUR or less.
Please give me your thoughts!
Thanks,
Peter

Dezspet,
If there available in Hungary I'd audition a SWR Amplite.
It fits your price range, weighs 3 lbs, and puts out 400 watts RMS at 4 0hms..

Ric

[Avezzano]

since you're in Hungary, you might want to check these (good stuff); as for Q/P they are unbeatable!!!

HARLEY BENTON BA250H - Thomann Cyberstore Italiano

HARLEY BENTON BA500H - Thomann Cyberstore Italiano

[BurningSkies]

Lovin' my Peavey IPR power amp...light cheap and reliable.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/peavey_ipr_1600.htm

I have the 3000, but that may be in your range too.

[icks]

For all of our American friends here, there are numerous possibilities for a reliable and lightweight poweramp in the 400 € range.
For European people, swr, carvin are way out of budget. Behringer and Thomann/tAmp/Harley Benton are lacking of reliability.

The best product for your need is actually the Crown DriveCore XLS.

Poweramps are design for PA, not that is an issue for bass playing but many poweramps have way too much power for bass playing (+ 1000watts). It will not be a problem for your tones to play at 1/10 or only one side of the amp.

[Avezzano]

...are lacking of reliability.

I've heard/read horror stories about Behringer products in general, so I agree. But, could you please give evidence of Harley Benton lack of reliability? I've only read good about them...

[dezspet]

Is your Peavey loud enough for clubs and medium gigs? Seems to be a very good deal for the money!

[icks]

Harley Benton products are made in China under German control quality, for Thomann shop. It's policy is "lowest price for standart quality". It seems true these last months, but it can't keep up with the quality of 'professional designed products' made by Crown.

[Avezzano]

"lowest price for standart quality"

...and this is true and reasonable. It's the "lack of reliability" part of your assessment that seems not matching with the Harley Benton; I ask again: can you give evidence of that? Otherwise (mvho!) maybe you should be fair and take it back, because there is no evidence. Just to give you an example about how good these products are and how serious the people at Thomann are:

BETA AIVIN BT500 H - #1905781 | su MercatinoMusicale.com in Amplificatori - Testata / Cassa

HARLEY BENTON BA500H - Thomann Cyberstore Italiano

Remember what the OP said:

I do not want to spend a lot, actually I have decided to keep it under 400 EUR or less.

is that enough?

[delta7fred]

Originally Posted by dezspet

Is your Peavey loud enough for clubs and medium gigs? Seems to be a very good deal for the money!

I have the IPR1600 that Burning Skies mentions, it will drive 320W into 1 X 8 ohms or 1050W into 8 ohms bridged, 1600W bridged into 4 ohms (IIRC).

As to how loud it will be will depend on the sensitivity of your cab/s, mine has been loud enough (one side so 320W max) into a fEARful 15/6 for the indoor gigs (medium sized) I have done with no PA support. For outdoor gigs I will bridge it but as yet no need.


Rated Power (2 x 2 ohms) - 800 watts per channel @ 1 kHz at <0.1% T.H.D. both channels driven.
Rated Power (2 x 4 ohms) - 530 watts per channel @ 1 kHz at <0.1% T.H.D. both channels driven.
Rated Power (2 x 8 ohms) - 300 watts per channel @ 1 kHz at <0.1% T.H.D. both channels driven.
Rated Power (1 x 2 ohms) - 1000 watts @ 1 kHz at <0.1% T.H.D.
Rated Power (1 x 4 ohms) - 600 watts @ 1 kHz at <0.1% T.H.D.
Rated Power (1 x 8 ohms) - 320 watts @ 1 kHz at <0.1% T.H.D.
Minimum Load Impedance - 2 ohms
Maximum RMS Voltage Swing - 55 volts

[Jools4001]

I looked at the Peavey IPR range but I saw quite a few posts on various sites that echoed the following comment on the Peavey forum itself.

"Called Peavey and the 8ohm rating is 300 4ohm 530 and
800 2ohm, not recomended at all for bridge"

I also downloaded the user manual and looked right through it to see if it was safe to run in bridge mode, but bridged mode was not specifically stated as an option.

Life is too short for such ambiguity so I went with the Crown XLS100 where there was no such uncertainty - it was only a few pounds more than the Peavey and more than worth the time I saved running around trying to analyse Peavey's tech data.

The Crown is great, I run it bridged into an 8 Ohm Barefaced Big One (similar to fEarful 15/6) and it does exactly "what it says on the tin"...big, clean power with loads of headroom

You'll easily pick one up for 400 Euro

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by Jools4001

I looked at the Peavey IPR range but I saw quite a few posts on various sites that echoed the following comment on the Peavey forum itself.

"Called Peavey and the 8ohm rating is 300 4ohm 530 and
800 2ohm, not recomended at all for bridge"

I also downloaded the user manual and looked right through it to see if it was safe to run in bridge mode, but bridged mode was not specifically stated as an option.

Life is too short for such ambiguity so I went with the Crown XLS100 where there was no such uncertainty - it was only a few pounds more than the Peavey and more than worth the time I saved running around trying to analyse Peavey's tech data.

The Crown is great, I run it bridged into an 8 Ohm Barefaced Big One (similar to fEarful 15/6) and it does exactly "what it says on the tin"...big, clean power with loads of headroom

You'll easily pick one up for 400 Euro

I've been bridging my IPR3K off and on for about 8 months now. The details on how to bridge, and the fact that it could be done safely...came directly from people in Peavey's engineering staff. I also know there are folks bridging the 1600 in the same way without a problem.

[delta7fred]

Originally Posted by Jools4001

I looked at the Peavey IPR range but I saw quite a few posts on various sites that echoed the following comment on the Peavey forum itself.

"Called Peavey and the 8ohm rating is 300 4ohm 530 and
800 2ohm, not recomended at all for bridge"

I also downloaded the user manual and looked right through it to see if it was safe to run in bridge mode, but bridged mode was not specifically stated as an option.

Life is too short for such ambiguity so I went with the Crown XLS100 where there was no such uncertainty - it was only a few pounds more than the Peavey and more than worth the time I saved running around trying to analyse Peavey's tech data.

The Crown is great, I run it bridged into an 8 Ohm Barefaced Big One (similar to fEarful 15/6) and it does exactly "what it says on the tin"...big, clean power with loads of headroom

You'll easily pick one up for 400 Euro

When I was looking at amps I Googled it and found the Peavey Forum with a Peavey guy explaining how to do it in 2 minutes.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by delta7fred

When I was looking at amps I Googled it and found the Peavey Forum with a Peavey guy explaining how to do it in 2 minutes.

Sure. And you didn't have to even go that far. They've explained it right here in the TB amps forum a few times.

[Jools4001]

Originally Posted by BurningSkies

Sure. And you didn't have to even go that far. They've explained it right here in the TB amps forum a few times.

I always research stuff that I am buying thoroughly.

I searched on here, I googled "Peavey IPR Bridge mode" and also looked right through the Peavey user manual without finding an unequivocal answer.

Maybe the TB or Google search I entered didn't throw up the same threads or search results that you guys found in an instant...maybe I didn't research it hard enough, but I shouldn't have to, it's not my job to clarify Peavey's ambiguous specifications for them, especially when their competitors make it easy.

[Duke21]

Originally Posted by Avezzano

since you're in Hungary, you might want to check these (good stuff); as for Q/P they are unbeatable!!!

HARLEY BENTON BA250H - Thomann Cyberstore Italiano

HARLEY BENTON BA500H - Thomann Cyberstore Italiano

I saw these in Thomann, never of this brand, how are these heads compares to the other class D heads as the GK MB200/ 500 and the PF350/ 500?

[Duke21]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Dezspet,
If there available in Hungary I'd audition a SWR Amplite.
It fits your price range, weighs 3 lbs, and puts out 400 watts RMS at 4 0hms..

Ric

The SWR Amplite Is ridiculously priced, for the same price you get. GK MB500 and is 100W more.

[BurningSkies]

Originally Posted by Jools4001

I always research stuff that I am buying thoroughly.

I searched on here, I googled "Peavey IPR Bridge mode" and also looked right through the Peavey user manual without finding an unequivocal answer.

Maybe the TB or Google search I entered didn't throw up the same threads or search results that you guys found in an instant...maybe I didn't research it hard enough, but I shouldn't have to, it's not my job to clarify Peavey's ambiguous specifications for them, especially when their competitors make it easy.

Peavey IPR 1600 - INTERNAL PHOTOS

Originally Posted by BbbyBld

The IPR1600 can be bridged into 8 ohms, but it's kinda tricky.

You have to parallel the inputs (no signal inversion or anything, just a straight parallel. Then, you take (+) from channel 1 and (-) from channel 2. Match the gain control on both channels and you're there.

Originally Posted by BbbyBld

The 3000 is bridgeable like the 1600, but the 6000 is not.

The 1600 will do:

800 watts cont. x 2 at 2 ohms

535 watts cont. x 2 at 4 ohms

I'm not sure about the stereo 8 ohm spec.

1600 x 1 into 4 ohms

1000 x 1 into 8 ohms

I'm not working on this project. I get my info from the head of the power amp department. If there are specific spec. questions I can ask, but I'm not sure if we are publishing detailed specs on the other models yet.

Originally Posted by BbbyBld

I tried this yesterday. I used a Max preamp to drive the power amp. The way I did it may not be the best way, but I was in a hurry.

I plugged into the channel 1 input, then used a jumper from the channel 1 through jack to the channel 2 input.

Next, I used 2-1/4" plugs for the output speaker cable (12 gauge wire). I soldered the positive side to the channel 1 positive output, and soldered the negative side to the channel 2 negative output.

I ran both gain controls at unity (all the way up) to make balancing the two sides easy.

I used this setup to drive an 8 ohm 410 cab. It seemed to work well. This configuration was giving me 1000 watts into 8 ohms, so I had pretty crazy headroom.

Using Speakons would be better, but I didn't have any spares on hand.

I have a 4 ohm, 1200 watt 412 cab. The next thing I will try is bridging into that.

Originally Posted by BbbyBld

When you bridge an amp, you are taking the difference between two opposite polarity channels rather than a solid ground reference for negative and an alternating signal for positive. For this to work properly the outputs need to be as equal as possible and out of phase. If they become unbalanced, the output signal can become asymmetrical and clip sooner on one side. If a knob gets bumped it's not the end of the world. It would probably sound weird.

Aaaaand the cable I use for bridging: