Swr Sm900 power amp cliping need help

[basspro557]

Swr pre fender model made in the mid 90's .power amp clip light flashes all the time ever since i set the eq flat.i use it bridged and use both channels toghether on an 8om load with an Swr golliath 2 4/10.
My gain is set at 1 oclock with the master at 3oclock...
Any sugestions????

[David1234]

By 'all the time' do you mean even when you're not playing, or do you mean 'with most notes i play'.

On my 900 (and several other SWR amps I've had) if there's clipping in the preamp the power amp will clip with the master at noon. If you need to run to 3pm you probably just need extra speakers.

Note, though, that there's usually about another 6dB of headroom in an SM900 between the clip light coming on and the power amp actually clipping and distorting. So maybe you're doing fine.

[chadds]

Originally Posted by basspro557

Swr pre fender model made in the mid 90's .power amp clip light flashes all the time ever since i set the eq flat.i use it bridged and use both channels toghether on an 8om load with an Swr golliath 2 4/10.
My gain is set at 1 oclock with the master at 3oclock...
Any sugestions????

Sounds like it would be really loud.
Try a ProCo Fat Max cable. Dial your pre back to 11.
Really though are you hearing distortion?
If not don't worry.
Aural enhancer off or just barely on?
If you dial the Master back a bit is the rig actually quieter?
As it is is it loud enough for your band?
I'd have to agree the pre gain is pretty high and may be sending a clipped signal to the power amp. Figuring out gain staging is what makes some Soundmen & Engineers great.

[basspro557]

Its flashing when i am playing notes but its not distorting.
At 3 oclock its not that laud its the only way i can get good volume its an 8 ohm load.
Aural enhancer is at 9 oclock,,Funny thing is when i had the eq set at bass 40 Hz, +3 dB; mid 250 Hz, + 4 dB;Highs 1kHz, +3 dB it was fine the Power amp did not come on but the minute i started using the eq set flat at 12 ock Power light flashes continuos.

[JimmyM]

My suggestion is that if it still sounds good, don't worry about the light.

[rpsands]

1. read the manual

2. if it says clipping occasionally is bad, turn the bass knob down until it stops.

3. if it doesn't sound good, turn the bass up and fool with other knobs.

[basspro557]

,,Manual says to keep a close eye on the Power amp light because it can cause damage to the speakers.

[rpsands]

Do you hear distortion from your speakers? if not, it's probably not a big deal.

I'd consider rolling a little bass off as the SWR preamp is incredibly bassy by default when set "flat"

[basspro557]

Not hearing any distortion...

[JimmyM]

There are situations where you have to trust your ears, and this is one of them. If you don't hear it, it's not there. It's OK for the clip light to flash in those amps (I used to have an SM-500 and it flashed but didn't clip audibly, either).