Power amp for Alembic F1-X

hotsnake · #1 03-24-2011, 12:35 AM

Just picked up a steal of a deal on an Alembic F1-X preamp and now I need a good power amp to run it into. I need to power an 800 watt 4ohm Ampeg fridge. Any thoughts?

GrowlerBox · #2 03-24-2011, 12:37 AM

What did you hook up to your fried Acoustic? See, I pay attention!

hotsnake · #3 03-25-2011, 04:30 PM

hah! very good! I slaved it to one of my sunn heads just to make sure it worked. now i'm going to give it to a guy who just joined my band who doesn't have any gear, he's switching from guitar to bass for the group i play drums for and i want to keep him around. he's a virtuoso but has never played bass and has no proper bass gear (or any money for that matter) so i thought it would be perfect to give him as a welcome aboard present!

good thing is i just got a tip on a qsc rmx 2450 for 300 bucks , looks like i'm set!

jazzbo58 · #4 03-25-2011, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotsnake

good thing is i just got a tip on a qsc rmx 2450 for 300 bucks , looks like i'm set!

This is what I have for my rack rig! The amp is a bit heavy, but it sounds great pushing my Schroeder 21012 bottom!!

Cheers,
Jim

KramerBassFan · #5 03-25-2011, 04:53 PM

Get a MCintosh MC3500.

Bob Lee (QSC) · #6 03-25-2011, 05:31 PM

Those Alembics have a pretty low output capability, IIRC. I may be wrong on that, or thinking of a different model perhaps.

If that's the case, though, you would need either a power amp with extremely high gain, or any other power amp with an in-line signal boost, like a Rolls ProMatch or something similar.

lefty1979 · #7 03-25-2011, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

Get a MCintosh MC3500.

You mean like these?

**xed** · #8 03-25-2011, 06:49 PM

I ran an Alembic F1X with a QSC RMX1850HD for a long time. Over at the alembic forums seeing a f1x/f2b combined with a qsc plx or rmx is very common.

lefty1979 · #9 03-25-2011, 06:58 PM

Yeah, I was going to suggest going to the Alembic club and asking there. Probably the largest concentration of Alembic knowledge on the web. Someone there should be able to help. Check it out :
Topics - Alembic Club

KramerBassFan · #10 03-25-2011, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lefty1979

You mean like these?

Bingo!

Three or four ought to do the job.

Scobac · #11 03-25-2011, 07:06 PM

One of the new Crowns sure would keep the weight down on a rack set-up! Used mine with a K1 and a Bluemax for years through a Goliath Sr. Lugging around a 70lbs rack got old after a while even though it sounded great!

T. Alan Smith · #12 03-27-2011, 06:56 AM

I alway wondered what it would sound like thru one of those Carvin 100W all tube amps.

basslinejam · #13 03-27-2011, 07:00 AM

80's MacroTech 2400? Bonus is it could act as an anchor should your car brakes ever fail!

pickles · #14 03-27-2011, 08:55 PM

Pretty sure the F-1X will make 3/4 of a volt when you dial it in right. I loved mine with a QSC PLX. Just do a QSC PLX 1602, bridge it into the fridge, and call it a day. Keep the dimmers down, if you open it up the PLX will tear that cab a new one ... but with headroom running at a reasonable volume it'll sound great. Happy back + happy band.

hotsnake · #15 03-30-2011, 01:22 AM

Okay, update!

The guy with the QSC RMX2450 sold it his next door neighbor before I could make it out to grab it! While I am somewhat bummed about this, I figured I would come back here and pick yins' brains some more.

At this point i'd like to find something that does roughly 600-800 watts/side into 4 ohms stereo. One side will power the F1-X into the fridge and the other is going to beef up my dirty channel - Sunn Coliseum into a 70s Fender Bassman with brand new eminence speakers - 1000 watts.

Any ideas? That MacroTech is making me drool but i'm not about to wipe out my savings for one.

greenboy · #16 03-30-2011, 01:33 AM

Peavey IPR series or Crown XLS Drivecore series.

hotsnake · #17 03-30-2011, 03:28 AM

Any thoughts on the Crown XTI 2000? Looks like the perfect amount of power for my needs and there are quite a few on Ebay right in my price range.

Only "problem" seems to be...

It doesn't appear to have 1/4 inch inputs or outputs! I'm new to anything outside of 1/4 inch so correct me if i'm wrong but would I need to use 1/4 inch to XLR to input from the preamp to the power amp and Speakon to 1/4 inch to output from the amp to the speaker?

Last thing I want to do is buy more cables but if this is going to work i'm snatching one off Ebay ASAP.

ErnieD · #18 03-30-2011, 06:40 AM

I use the XLS1500 with my F-1X pre, works real nice. Tho I bridge it into a 8 ohm cab, so different use here. I used a speakon to banana speaker cable I used with my Eden cabs. Worked fine for bridging; then I made a speakon to speakon with the amp end modded to 1+/2+ for bridge.

Just started liking my BBE BMax (non-T) for more versatile EQ. So I pulled the F-1X out for awhile. My point being in all this, maybe consider the very lightweight, well priced, Crown Coredrive amps. Fits in shallow case, 2U and gives me plenty of power with either of my pre's. Good Luck.

zombywoof5050 · #19 03-30-2011, 07:02 AM

Regarding the Alembic preamps' conservative output level...I believe the F-1X is more 'poweramp friendly' than the F-2B, but I'd still try to choose a poweramp with an input sensitivity in the 0.775V-1.0V range.

Plstrns · #20 03-30-2011, 09:52 AM

Peavey IPR series has a very high input sensitivity, and weighs 7 lbs.