all tube power amps?

Demeter makes one. It is expensive.

 

Aguilar makes one also...It's expensive...also. Mesa and Marshall both have stereo tube amps, but I think those are geared more towards guitars than bass as they are lower wattage. It's weird that for the same amount of money you can get a tube head (Pre and Power amp) in one box...ie the Ampeg SVT or Mesa 400+ or Sunn amps...or you can just get the power amp for the above mentioned companies. weird hmmmmm

 

Ampeg used to have the SVT300, which was just the tube power section of the SVT-II, however, you'd be aswell just buying an SVT-II and using the power amp input

doesnt Aguilar make one, or used to make one aswell? (edit/nm, masher covered it)

 

Whatever you buy may not give you the same "gritty tube warmth" you have now - so why not mic yourself?

Make an isolation cabinet if you're worried about feedback.

 

Peavey made a few, there were single channel models and a couple of stereo amps that could be bridged, IIRC. I believe these were the Classic 100/100 or maybe the 120/120....

 

I used a Peavey Classic 120/120 stereo amp for a long time with great results. I always had mine set up to run as a single 240 watt amp in mono. One thing thats VERY cool about the amp is how versatile it is as far as what loads you can drive. You can set it up to run just about ANY combination of cabinets. The XLR line out also comes from a tap on the output transformer(there is one for each channel if you run stereo) and it sounds very good.

Besides volume for each channel it's also got a presense and resonance control, presense for the high end, resonance for the lows, also very cool.

Fan cooled and 3 rach spaces high, 8 6L6's 4 12ax7's and 2 12at7's in that thing. Mine was very reliable and I had no problems in over 10 years of use.

I got rid of mine when I switched to a cabinet that was less efficient and I needed more power. The tone was nice when used with and SVP Pro preamp.

 

There used to be more in production than there are now. The cheapest would probably be the Mesa Strategy 400, sometimes cheaper than the 400+ (mine was). Much harder to find though. In general you can find powerful used tube bass heads cheaper than 300 watt tube power amps, depending on the source of the signal you wish amplified and the features of the amp you're using for a "power amp" it could work. Of course you'd still need cabs.

You might find micing, then into the PA or a solid state power amp sufficient. Nobody plays arenas with 24 Marshall stacks anymore, what you're hearing is the rig run through the solid state house PA.

Or, if you decide you like a certain 60 watt head through a certain cab, but just need MORE... get more. More of the same amp. More of the same cab.

 

No problems whatsoever keeping up with a Peavey Classic 50-410 combo at 12 for gain & master.

 

I recently sold my Demeter VTHB300M, which is an all tube, 300w power amp. It is a great amp! A fantastic sound and one of the most well built pieces of gear I have ever owned. It, like all tube amps, is quite heavy, and yes, as someone pointed out, quite expensive (It cost me me new just under $3k....but then you could factor in the $32,000 I was just billed for back surgery, and that becomes one hefty--pun intended--amp!)

If ya got a strong back...or a crew...it is definitely the way to go. The sound cannot be matched. For me, though, I am really liking my little AI...

Max

 

The Demeter and Aguilar tube amps are very impressive, IMHO, but also rather pricey. Jokerjkny did a great comparo-review of these two amps.

The Mesa Boogie Strategy 400 is another excellent suggestion, and normally presents a great bargain (I picked mine up quite reasonably). But it is a stereo only amp, so keep that in mind.

I didn't see anyone suggest the Trace Elliot VR350 or VR400. I absolutely love my VR350! It is more about great clean tone than grit, though.

Tom.

 

Carvin has a rackmount 100 watt tube power amp for $500. Looks like it's 2 spaces high and has a nice shiney front panel.

Rick B.