Peavey Tour 700 vs Hartke LH1000

mmccleskey · #1 03-05-2011, 02:58 AM

Im looking t upgrade from my old half stack toether the Peavey Tour 700 or Hartke LH1000. Pwer really isnt an issue either head has plenty of power. I just tryen t see whjich e is more verstile. I play alot of dfferent styles and versatility is a must. I know thee LH1000 only has 3 band shelving and the tour has a 1 band graphic eq. I know the tour had clipin issues in earlier models bu Iv hard theyve woked that out. Im gonna be using this for sessions and recording. I like high power bt quality sound. The LH1000 has a bright switch does it mke difference? Im gona b running an avatar 4 ohm cab. Any suggestions?

monkeyking · #2 03-05-2011, 05:45 AM

I had a Tour 700 for a while as a back up amp. I think I used it for two or three gigs while the Hartke HA 3500 was getting a check-up. Admittedly, I did not much more than plug into the Peavey and hook a cab to it, so maybe I missed some of it's potential. In theory the 700 had twice the power of the 3500, but I never found it. In terms of tone, power, clarity, and punch the Hartke kicked the crap out of the Peavey. Perhaps the Peavey wasn't well suited to my rig (mainly an Ampeg 410 at the time), or maybe my old Hartke is a freak of nature, but I no longer have the Peavey.

It was well reviewed when I bought it and maybe other owners will chime in with better experiences. My only real disappointment with Peavey.

NoGraveConcern · #3 03-07-2011, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmccleskey

The LH1000 has a bright switch does it mke difference?

Yes it does. If you have a cab w/ a tweeter the bright switch will slice your head off. I guess it's there to get a dark, tweeterless cab to sound bright.

No shortage of power in the LH1000. From 2 - 6 it goes from practice volume to really dang loud. From 6 - 7 it goes from really dang loud to "sweet zombie jesus what just happened my ears are bleeding." I haven't ventured into the land of pain that lies beyond 7, but the logarithmic volume control is interesting to say the least.

For tones, it really only does one thing: loud and warm.

klejst · #4 03-07-2011, 07:07 AM

I currently own and use the Peavey Tour 450 model (which is a great amp itself). A while back I was looking into options to upgrading to something with a little more power so I invested in a brand new Tour 700. At glance and in features it is pretty much the same as the 450, just with 700w. Anyways at first practice I ran into the infamous sound clipping at high volumes problem that seems to plague the 700. The problem seems to be with a resistor that needs to be removed and the it supposedly works fine after that, and I even heard Peavey will even tell you how, show you how, or even pay for it to have it professionally serviced. I just returned mine and just went back to using the 450, however have been keeping my eye's open for a possible upgrade and great deal. Just my two cents on the Peavey.

jjk2007 · #5 03-07-2011, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoGraveConcern

Yes it does. If you have a cab w/ a tweeter the bright switch will slice your head off. I guess it's there to get a dark, tweeterless cab to sound bright.

No shortage of power in the LH1000. From 2 - 6 it goes from practice volume to really dang loud. From 6 - 7 it goes from really dang loud to "sweet zombie jesus what just happened my ears are bleeding." I haven't ventured into the land of pain that lies beyond 7, but the logarithmic volume control is interesting to say the least.

For tones, it really only does one thing: loud and warm.

I love my LH1000 and agree with this. A lot of times I run my Hydrive 410 off of one side of the amp and have plenty of volume. If your into slap, the brite button works wonders for that and it does make a big difference in the amps upper register. I run the 2-10-2 eq and can get punch for days. Blend to the back p/u and it really growls. Great amp for the $$ and I also like the fact Larry Hartke is around TB and is a phone call away to help fix any problems that might come up.

JimiLL · #6 03-07-2011, 02:27 PM

LH 1000 is a sledge hammer of an amp.

A real Plug and play unit..... not too many tones can be had but they are all great

dukeisdog · #7 03-07-2011, 02:35 PM

The Peavey also has a bright switch. I own one, and demo'd the Hartke LH500/1000's, and took the Peavey for the more versatile EQ, either would probably work great for you. The Hartke also has the Preamp tube, where the Peavey is all solid state.

I love mine, it's loud, haven't ran into clipping issues, and it's built like a tank. I can't see me needing anything for quite a while. The picture is what I'm up against in a band situation, and it handles the job no problem, even only at 8 ohms with a 212. We play loud.

I hope this helps.

BbbyBld · #8 03-07-2011, 02:47 PM

Quote:

...haven't ran into clipping issues

The Tour heads never has any issues with clipping.

dukeisdog · #9 03-07-2011, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BbbyBld

The Tour heads never has any issues with clipping.

They did have an issue with the amp going into protection mode because of the triac resistor or something though. I also havent had issues with that happening.

Doll · #10 03-07-2011, 03:01 PM

I had the tour 450 for a while, it was fairly decent but I could not get anywhere near the tone I wanted, I sold it and bought a used Peavey Max 700 for cheaper, saved some money got better tone and more power, can't go wrong. I almost bought the LH500 after the 450 because of some of the sound clips I had heard, beautiful tone from what I can tell but again never played one myself.

So yea +1 for the hartke I guess