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  #1  
Old 09-30-2010, 08:29 PM
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Can you add a power amp to any head for more wattage?

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Another dumb question from me Okay, I love the Ampeg tone but the affordable heads have been ripped to shreds in these pages for being underpowered. Can I add a SWR amp lite down the road and get 400 watts more with a B2RE?

Or maybe just an Ampeg preamp & power amp is the way to go.
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Old 09-30-2010, 08:35 PM
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Most solid state amps can be run with an infinite load so it would be feasible to take the preamp-out signal and feed a power amp...but not the most practical. The preamp out (and in) is usually intended as a patch point and most likely doesn't have enough gain to drive a power amp to full output.

But now that have read your post many times, it almost appears whether you are asking if you can combine the output of the B2RE with the output of a power amp? NO.
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Old 09-30-2010, 08:46 PM
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[quote=leftybass77;9783076

Or maybe just an Ampeg preamp & power amp is the way to go.[/QUOTE]

That's the same rig set up I used for years. Ampeg SVT 2p or an F1X Alembic tube preamp and whatever solidstate power amp that that made 500 watts or better. I was very satisfied with the tone, the versatility and I didn't have to lug around a ten ton SVT head and have to worry about costly retubing when the time came. I would definetly recommend a setup like this unless you find a head that just does it for you.
  #4  
Old 09-30-2010, 08:54 PM
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KEWL! So far I only LOVE the Ampeg tone. I've tried a long list of amps. Only left to try a Hartke lh500 & a tc electronics rebelhead but I crave Ampeg phatness & warmth so I'll be shopping for a used SVT 2P. Sounds like your rig is what I'm looking for.

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Originally Posted by beezerjoe View Post
That's the same rig set up I used for years. Ampeg SVT 2p or an F1X Alembic tube preamp and whatever solidstate power amp that that made 500 watts or better. I was very satisfied with the tone, the versatility and I didn't have to lug around a ten ton SVT head and have to worry about costly retubing when the time came. I would definetly recommend a setup like this unless you find a head that just does it for you.
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Old 09-30-2010, 08:57 PM
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you could probably run the xlr on the b2re into a power amp, you might have to run a di in between.
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  #6  
Old 09-30-2010, 09:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leftybass77 View Post
Or maybe just an Ampeg preamp & power amp is the way to go.
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Old 09-30-2010, 10:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leftybass77 View Post
KEWL! So far I only LOVE the Ampeg tone. I've tried a long list of amps. Only left to try a Hartke lh500 & a tc electronics rebelhead but I crave Ampeg phatness & warmth so I'll be shopping for a used SVT 2P. Sounds like your rig is what I'm looking for.

The thing I liked about that particular Ampeg preamp was that it was just simple and it worked. When they come up for sale you can usually get them for around acouple hunderd bucks some times less. I let a friend if mine borrow it for a while and it kept getting snaked out his rack and into the control room at the studio he rehersed at. Apparently the engineers liked it too.
  #8  
Old 09-30-2010, 11:19 PM
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While there are some cases where you can get more power by taking the preamp output of a "wimpy" amp head and running it into a power amp... it's usually not worth the extra bulk, weight, and hassle of lugging two heads.

Much better, as the guys above said, to start over with a good-sounding preamp and a power amp... just sell the low-powered head if you need more power.
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