Looking for a Poweramp

[zoltank8]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of buying a bass PowerAmp (without pre-amp) but I cannot easily gather information on the possibilities.

It should be 500W max, the closer the better and solid state.

What are my options out there?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Take care,

Zx

[Jools4001]

Funnily enough, I've been looking at the same sort of specification. I've got a couple of 8 Ohm CX110 Eden cabs that handle 200 watts RMS each and I've been looking for a power amp that will drive those optimally. I've narrowed it down to a Crown XLS202D which gives you:

200 Watts/Channel @ 8 Ohms (perfect for my little Edens)
300 Watts/Channel @ 4 Ohms
600 Watts bridged into 8 Ohms

Of course if you're talking about needing 500 Watts per channel, this won't be big enough so you may need it's bigger brother the 402 or even the 602.

I just settled on the Crown because it does just what I want, no more, no less, it's a good brand name at a very good price (in the UK at least) and has a 3 year warranty, but there are loads of other alternatives to choose from - Behringer at the lower price points, Peavey, Yamaha, Samson in the lower mid range all the way up to pricey pro gear etc etc. As always it depends what your budget is.

[Zooberwerx]

You need a power amp, period. Don't know what you have available on the used market locally but Crown, Crest, QSC, Peavey, etc. are all great values. Just about any power amp will do the 500+ watt thing in bridged mono mode but a lot depends on your target enclosures. What cab(s) will you be using?

Riis

[mikeddd]

I run a QSC GX5 in my rig, and use my Shuttle 6.0 as a pre. The GX5 is rated 500w x 2 @ 8 ohms stereo or 700w x 2 @ 4 ohms stereo. It cannot be bridged, however. An important detail, IMO. I currently only have one cab (Avatar B212). It's an 8-ohm cab. I'm currently using only one channel of the amp. Works great for me. In the future I will add an Avatar B210 (4-ohm) on the other channel of the amp and have a Kilowatt rig. At bedroom practice levels the amp stays ice cold. At gig levels it barely goes much above room temp. For $400 and a 5-year warranty, it's a hard amp to beat, assuming it's two-channel-only (no bridge mono) configuration works for you.

[zoltank8]

Originally Posted by Zooberwerx

You need a power amp, period. Don't know what you have available on the used market locally but Crown, Crest, QSC, Peavey, etc. are all great values. Just about any power amp will do the 500+ watt thing in bridged mono mode but a lot depends on your target enclosures. What cab(s) will you be using?

Riis

Sorry, I forgot to say....it's an Ampeg SVT-410HLF cabinet and I wish to use my SansAmp Bass Driver DI for pre-amp.

[Zooberwerx]

Originally Posted by zoltank8

Sorry, I forgot to say....it's an Ampeg SVT-410HLF cabinet and I wish to use my SansAmp Bass Driver DI for pre-amp.

Very nice! You might want to make sure the BDDI has enough oomph to drive your amp of choice. I know there's a "history" behind this but the details escape me. Maybe somebody else can fill us in.

Riis

[Plstrns]

The new BDDI's with a 1/4" out boost button will drive a poweramp.