It seems the general consensus is that it's loud enough.
I find that 200 watts from the micro vr is more than sufficient, however, ymmv.
I find that 200 watts from the micro vr is more than sufficient, however, ymmv.
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Ampeg Micro-VR reliabilty
- Thread starter HolyGrowl
- Start date
Personally, I find the micro vr to have plenty of volume. 200 watts is plenty for me, however, ymmv.
yeah it's definitely loud enough. bass gear magazine's analysis showed it has potential to get up to 260watts with 2 cabs. isn't the bigger SVT-VR head 300watts? if so, that's pretty close isnt it. tell me if im wrong
Currently, I'm using just a 410 8 ohm cabinet and it sounds great! I only have the one matching cabinet, maybe i'll invest in another 210av to take advantage of the full wattage.
As far as the bigger svt-vr is concerned, I believe there is difference between tube and ss amps when it comes to volume and wattage.
As far as the bigger svt-vr is concerned, I believe there is difference between tube and ss amps when it comes to volume and wattage.
if you REALLY want to take advantage of it, get a second identical 410. if each get the same amount of wattage, the 210 will be about half as loud as the 410.
Hey Jimmy, I would love to hear this amp with another 410, I bet it would sound amazing. Has anyone tried the micro vr with an Ampeg 810?
sorry chili...i misread your post. i bruised a rib yesterday and was in a lot of pain 
if you already have one 210av, a second one will also kick much ass. i thought you were thinking of combining the 410 and the 210.
if you already have one 210av, a second one will also kick much ass. i thought you were thinking of combining the 410 and the 210.
No problem Jimmy, sometimes I'm not quite clear in my replies on the forum.
Hope you're ok.
Regarding the 210av cab, I would love to hear Holygrowl's ported cab.
Hope you're ok.
Regarding the 210av cab, I would love to hear Holygrowl's ported cab.
- Feb 16, 2008
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not to rain on your parade, but micro-vr isn't even close to a 300 watt tube SVT as far as sound output (no matter how many cabs you run with it). its a great little amp, and quite powerful for its size and weight, but IMO, an SVT is in a completely different league.
i would love to do an ab of these two heads, but i think it'll confirm what you said. i don't think it would be so much loudness as the thickness of tone, though, like the compression thing you guys were talking about in this week's "tube watts vs ss watts" thread.
yes im sure ur right.
i've never had the chance to play around with a real SVT.
I had an outdoor gig yesterday with the micro SVT and 2x 210av cabs.
I used my upright bass thru this rig.
The sound I got was "huge and phat" as described by the pianist
Volume was no problem for playing outside too, I wasn't pushing the amp at all.
Alright so here's a little post gig review of the two cabinets rig and A/B between the ported and sealed cab.
I didn't have a lot of time before the soundcheck to A/B both cabs but from the time I had I found out that the ported cab is a very tiny bit more polished sounding and a bit more even. It seemed to be a bit less aggressive while retaining the throaty Ampeg growl. It's as if there was a very thin silky veil to the sound. Again, it's very subtle.
As for the whole rig altogether. Let's start by saying that it was a very unforgiving environment. The room was very boomy, and not only for the bass. On top of that, the soundman was the owner of the place who is not a professional soundman and though the mix in the PA was very decent, the guy pushed it so loud that it was burying the stage sound. Despite that, the rig delivered a full round and beefy sound. I could've used more definition and more power but I believe it's really not due to the rig itself but the harsh conditions. Had I chosen to use the cabs in a vertical stack, it would've improved things.
All in all, I'm very pleased with how it performed and on top of that I had great comments on my sound by my fellow bandmates. Looking forward to use it again on the next gig.
I didn't have a lot of time before the soundcheck to A/B both cabs but from the time I had I found out that the ported cab is a very tiny bit more polished sounding and a bit more even. It seemed to be a bit less aggressive while retaining the throaty Ampeg growl. It's as if there was a very thin silky veil to the sound. Again, it's very subtle.
As for the whole rig altogether. Let's start by saying that it was a very unforgiving environment. The room was very boomy, and not only for the bass. On top of that, the soundman was the owner of the place who is not a professional soundman and though the mix in the PA was very decent, the guy pushed it so loud that it was burying the stage sound. Despite that, the rig delivered a full round and beefy sound. I could've used more definition and more power but I believe it's really not due to the rig itself but the harsh conditions. Had I chosen to use the cabs in a vertical stack, it would've improved things.
All in all, I'm very pleased with how it performed and on top of that I had great comments on my sound by my fellow bandmates. Looking forward to use it again on the next gig.
- Apr 3, 2003
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Well, as I said, I didn't have a lot of time to A/B so today, I decided to record two small clips of each cabs. Setup is SR5 into Micro-VR with Apogee One external mic in front of bottom driver of each cab straight into Logic. Mixdown to wav file with no effect or compression whatsoever.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/5mznjyezgyn/210av-ported.wav
http://www.mediafire.com/file/yzmegzm4mxj/210av-sealed.wav
Please keep in mind that I'm not a professional studio technician and that I live in an appartment and couldn't turn the volume very loud so there's a bit of leakage from ambient noise sucj as amp fan and ummm... let's say bass player breathing lol.
After listening back to the clips, seems like there is a bit more low-end to the ported cab. Unless the mic being not precisely at the same place (1cm at the most) on each cab could have made a difference. I tried to be as careful and precise as I could, marking where the cab was on the floor and switching them without moving the mic.
- Apr 3, 2003
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Cool, thanks for sharing! I do hear a slight difference in the low end, but I hear an even greater difference in the midrange. The sealed cab seems to be a good bit more mid-present.
Tom.
Tom.
You're welcome Tom and you're right about the midrange difference. And that would be the correct way of explaining it rather than my "silky veil" interpretation LOL.
- Apr 3, 2003
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Dude, I like the "silky veil" line. In fact, I plan on stealing it for use in a future review.
Dude, I like the "silky veil" line. In fact, I plan on stealing it for use in a future review.
Ha ha ha right on! I'll continue enjoying the next issues cover to cover and will be looking for that line.
Now I guess that, since the micro rig is the tiny version of the big SVT, the ultimate test would be to compare both ported and sealed 210av to a big SVT810 cab to see which one retains the best the sound of this classic and then maybe understand why Ampeg went with the sealed version rather than ported one, if this ever was the goal.
