Suggestions for ampeg 610/crown xls1500/vt bass deluxe setup.

[sirmarkoscott]

So I already owned a VT Bass deluxe, and since they were having a 15% off on Black Friday deal over at The Evil Empire, I figured it was time to buy a new bass cab. I always have liked ampeg 810s and 410s, but ended up going with the 610, which I know a lot of people on here aren't huge fans of, but I rather like them for the convenience of movement/punch/and enough low end for anything I plan on doing. Anyhow, I got a crown xls 1500 too, which can put 1550 watts into the ampeg at 4ohms bridged. I'm using the VT Bass Deluxe with an instrument cable to the amp and the 1/4" boost button engaged so that the 1/4" is at line level. So here's the questions:

How should I setup my gain staging? The cab is rated at 600W rms/1200W program, which should be according to the Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook, 2400W peak. Crown's website says an amp paired to loudspeakers should be 1.6-2.5 times the loudspeakers continuous power rating. For me that would be 600w x 2.5=1500 watts(I think), which puts me a tad bit over, but I should be okay right? Anyhow, do I set the amp's attenuator at 50% or 75% and then adjust the VT Bass' output level to desired volume? Do I set all the VT Bass' presets at 50% roughly and slightly adjust each preset to make similar volume levels, and then use the amps attenuator as a master volume? At what point would you presume too much power is going into the cab? With the attenuator over 50%? I know I should just listen for speaker stress, but is their any standard way to do something like this? Also, the xls amp only registers input signal with a single LED, the meter that shows -20, -10, clip, thermal, is for output level and never even lights up, is this normal behavior?

Thanks again guys, your help is really appreciated
marko

[rpsands]

Get as much volume out of the VT deluxe as you can then use the attenuator on the crown to set your volume.

[Gearhead17]

Listen to the speakers for signs of distress. Ignore the idea of "peak wattage" - that number is useless because it only represents what the cab can handle for milliseconds. Focus on the RMS number.

I suggest the power amp all the way up and the pedal up as loud as you need to be.

[walterw]

Originally Posted by sirmarkoscott

...ended up going with the 610, which I know a lot of people on here aren't huge fans of...

says who?

anyway, you're over-thinking this a little.

i've been using a sansamp BDDI into a power amp for years, it makes for a killer bass rig.

set your VT somewhere in the middle of its range, to get a good "normal" signal to both the house and your power amp.

start with the power amp's volume all the way down, then bring it up to where you've got good stage volume. if just cracking open the amp level creates loud volume, back the preamp down a bit; if you have to dime the power amp to get anything, bring the preamp up some.

by leaving the preamp at a "normal" level and tweaking the power amp's level knob, you can adjust your stage volume without changing the level of the preamp to the house PA.

you could cook the 600w cab with this amp bridged for 1500w (especially with a compressed SVT-sim sound like the sansamp has), but you'll be blasting crazy loud before you get that far. (the knob position doesn't matter here; it's the clip lights that tell you if you're going too far.)

the idea of over-rating the power amp for the speakers applies to live band PA, which has a fairly dynamic signal (big peaks and valleys). the big peaks are short in duration, which gives speakers a momentary chance to cool off before the next hit.

for more compressed stuff like bass guitar (especially grindy rock bass tones like sansamps are so good at) or that techno/rave/club/dance music (which often cranks out non-stop, sustained bass), it's better to have the cabs more closely match or even over-rate the amps.

(edit: so i would maybe think about just running one side of that amp; 500 some-odd watts into a 6x10 is plenty loud. that would also draw less power out of the wall, not stress the amp as much, and leave you a second amp channel for other stuff.)

[rodl2005]

+1 to ask walterw said.

[sirmarkoscott]

Thanks guys, just using half the amp is a better idea.