Good amp head that won't break the bank?

The Thunder · #1 03-09-2011, 09:24 PM

What is a good amp head for a small to medium venue? I play mostly christian music so I play in a lot of churches so the size and number of subs vary. My home church has 4 18in subs so it needs to be able to handle that much power at least. I don't know much about different brands so any information will help.
Thanks,
The Thunder

JimmyM · #2 03-09-2011, 09:30 PM

are you talking about needing power amps for your subs?

The Thunder · #3 03-09-2011, 09:34 PM

Yea I need a amp head unit to power the subs.

JimmyM · #4 03-09-2011, 09:44 PM

well in that case you don't need a head...you need a power amp.

figure out how many watts they'll take altogether then find a power amp with that wattage. there are lots of very good power amps on the market for not very much money. qsc, crown, peavey...honestly, i'm a little out of the power amp loop these days so i don't know all the brands, but there are quite a few out there that are very light and put out a lot of power for not a whole lot of money.

BassBob1 · #5 03-09-2011, 09:45 PM

so you need a head to power 4 18's? Is this for a PA, a bass amp? Are the cabs for the churches PA?

I'm sorry, I'm just really not sure what you are looking for.

The Thunder · #6 03-09-2011, 10:10 PM

Yea I need to power the 4 18in bass subs that are separate from the PA system. When I play other churches some don't have subs just a PA system. So then I just plug in directly into the pa system. I was told that I need a head unit but I'm not sure what exactually is right thing I need to buy. I don't know much about bass amps and whats good or not.

ezstep · #7 03-09-2011, 11:10 PM

No way I would play 4 18" subs at one time. Uber muddy!!!

The subs (if I am reading this correctly) should be connected to the p.a. If not, you need a head to run one sub??? Honestly, you don't need a sub as a stand-alone bass cab. No clarity whatsoever. Lots of bottom, not much else. If you are not running through their p.a., you will have no clarity whatsoever.

You might need a smaller combo, say, 2x10, with extension speaker jack, say, for one of those subs.

punkrocko · #8 03-10-2011, 07:39 AM

Seems to be a little confusion. The subs are part of the PA, and should be the church’s responsibility. You shouldn’t be expected to carry supplemental PA with you.

I would suggest a medium size combo amp and let the church figure out their FOH needs. GK, Hartke and Markbass all make some pretty nice stuff these days that would fit the bill.

modulusman · #9 03-10-2011, 07:52 AM

If the OP isn't confused then the idiot soundman for the church sure is.

ezstep · #10 03-10-2011, 09:21 AM

Actually, I was thinking of the G-K MB210. Sit it on top of the sub, plug in when no subs are used. Stage monitor when subs are used.

BurningSkies · #11 03-10-2011, 09:25 AM

If I were a soundman looking to power those subs for cheap I'd be looking at the Peavey IPR4500, slated to come out this spring.

If I were a bass player who's been told that I need an amp to play through that also powers the front of house subs, I'd tell them they don't know what the hell they're talking about.

Otherwise, if I had very little scratch and wanted a decent sound small-to-mid powered head, I'd be looking on the used market for one of the older Hartke 3500 MOSFET heads. You can find one for under 250$, and they're known to be good sounding and very solid/dependable.