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Ampeg SVT 7 Pro Club

#1,081
It's horrible...during soundcheck at a gig about a month ago my 7PRO went down, no sound at all but the threshold light still lit up. Hmm....I thought. I checked the speaker cable about moved it a bit and the sound came back. I replaced the cable and carried on the rest of the night.

Damn 7PRO ruined my speaker cable.
 
#1,083
hey 7Pro users. I came back (I originally posted waaaay back at the top of this club thread) to check and see how you all were doing with the SVT 7Pro.
I am (again) looking at amps that can deliver more headroom than what I have avail today (300w Mesa Walkabout hybrid, 200w all tube Fender Studio Bass and a PF500).

Before you ask, I'll say that while I do have a PF500, it has proved to be somewhat unreliable for me (has gone into shut down mode 2x on gigs, so it's a rehearsal only head). I like the Ampeggy-ness of the PF500, and would be seeking that same kind of tone from the 7Pro.

So, primarily I am seeking to know if the latest rev (c.000 ?) is stable and pretty much working for all of you. Early on there were some reported bad units in the A and B revs, and I do not want to deal with that at all.
Second, I am interested to know if anyone is using their 7pro with a Berg CN212 ? If so, how is that working for you.

I read the BGM review and saw that even though the 7pro is advertised as a 1kw amp into 4ohms, it actually only benches at 763w @ 4 ohms (peaks around 914w ?)
Anyone feel cheated by this ? (and I really mean this as an honest question .. not trying to bait anyone). I don't need to kill small animals at 50yds, and I'm sure the 7Pro will be louder/more powerful than what I am gigging today, but I do kind of feel that, if an amp is advertised as 1000w, it should deliver on that, or be re-rated more honestly.

anyway, let me hear from you.
 
#1,084
If the 7PRO wasn't delivering the wattage I needed for the gig I would probably feel different for sure. Although I don't feel cheated I could see where someone else would feel that Ampeg was possibly not being honest in their ratings. I'm not techy at all and don't have much understanding regarding testing criteria but I'm guessing its possible to get different results with differing testing methods and who's to say which method is the best way to test. I'd probably have more of an opinion if there were more data and testing done on the wattage of the amp as the only knowledge I have is from Ampeg and BGM. I recall someone else measured it on a bench but I'm not positive about that. I've had mine for about 2 1/2 years (C00) with no issues. It was also a B stock when I purchased.
 
#1,087
As I said, I am not trying to be inflammatory on the topic of advertised wattage vs amp benches. Just curious how you all felt about that, and also interested in feedback on the realworld experiences with the useable power the amp can produce. 763w is still way more than what I have avail today, so it's not a major issue for me. For reference I also have been looking at GK MB800 Fusion (although I am not a huge fan of the so-called "GK Growl"), TecAmp Puma 1000, and both of those appear to deliver the rated wattage.

BGM is very reliable and respected for tech reviews, I wonder how Tekdiver and BGM's testing differed.
 
#1,088
pfschim said:
I also have been looking at GK MB800 Fusion , TecAmp Puma 1000, and both of those appear to deliver the rated wattage.
Click to expand...

Does this mean you have read bench tests of these amps?

As was said there're different ways to measure the power output. But one shouldn't get too caught up in the numbers. This is a powerful amp and I don't see how it couldn't fill just about all needs. If you're playing stadiums, just get a Crown amp tapped into the "pre out" and add more speakers to taste. :D

I think what you need to ask yourself is do you want the "Ampeg SVT" sound. Because this is about as close as you can get without lugging around a 80-85lbs all tube amp around. I have never played a Tecamp Puma. I've heard good things though. I do know that it's an expensive amp. And if you are not a fan of the "GK growl" then that's not the amp for you.

I highly recommend this amp. Even though I've only had it a short time, I do have a year's experience with the SVP-PRO preamp so the tone is not new to me.
 
#1,091
johnsonabq said:
Does this mean you have read bench tests of these amps?

As was said there're different ways to measure the power output. But one shouldn't get too caught up in the numbers. This is a powerful amp and I don't see how it couldn't fill just about all needs. If you're playing stadiums, just get a Crown amp tapped into the "pre out" and add more speakers to taste. :D

I think what you need to ask yourself is do you want the "Ampeg SVT" sound. Because this is about as close as you can get without lugging around a 80-85lbs all tube amp around. I have never played a Tecamp Puma. I've heard good things though. I do know that it's an expensive amp. And if you are not a fan of the "GK growl" then that's not the amp for you.

I highly recommend this amp. Even though I've only had it a short time, I do have a year's experience with the SVP-PRO preamp so the tone is not new to me.
Click to expand...

Both the GK MB Fusion 800 and the TecAmp Puma 1000 benched at their claimed wattage.
again, I did not want to make anything of this issue. Sounds like those of you who responded are happy with the overall avail power of the 7pro
 
#1,095
Hey gang,

I purchased my SVT7 pro and 410HLF in February, and I love it, so I guess I am a part of this club.

Have a couple questions though,

I just noticed that my 4x10 is a 4 ohm cab, and when I bough this setup, I actually had a future purchase in mind of the ampeg SVT115E which is a 8 ohm cab. I understand having 2 4 ohm loads brings it down to 2 ohms which won't work with this amp, but will having a cab that is 4 ohms, and one that is 8 still work? I am assuming you would be at 2.66 ohms, and this still wouldn't work. I was hoping to use 500 watts toward the 4x10, and 200 toward the 15 (taking into account bench wattage)

Basically if what I am thinking is true, I have 500 useless watts because my 4x10 can only handle up to 500. If i had known this (thinking I could use two cabs to use up all watts) I would have gotten a smaller amp to power the 4x10, and bought another small amp to handle the 200 for a 15.

Can anyone confirm if you can connect a 4x10 and 1x15 with the svt7pro

Also I haven't touched the settings on my amp since purchase and they are pretty much all at 12 o clock and sounds pretty good, but I do see the yellow overload light flicker often, sio should i turn down some of the gain settings? what do you guys run your settings at?

Thanks!
 
#1,096
Homeslice said:
I just noticed that my 4x10 is a 4 ohm cab, and when I bough this setup, I actually had a future purchase in mind of the ampeg SVT115E which is a 8 ohm cab. I understand having 2 4 ohm loads brings it down to 2 ohms which won't work with this amp, but will having a cab that is 4 ohms, and one that is 8 still work? I am assuming you would be at 2.66 ohms, and this still wouldn't work. I was hoping to use 500 watts toward the 4x10, and 200 toward the 15 (taking into account bench wattage)
Click to expand...

Minimum load for the 7PRO is 4 ohms. Don't go below that or the amp will shut down on you.

Homeslice said:
Basically if what I am thinking is true, I have 500 useless watts because my 4x10 can only handle up to 500. If i had known this (thinking I could use two cabs to use up all watts) I would have gotten a smaller amp to power the 4x10, and bought another small amp to handle the 200 for a 15.
Click to expand...

Ampeg has several 410 cabs with the HLF designation so I'm going to assume you refer to the SVT-410HLF. You can use this cab with the 7PRO, just be careful of hitting the cab's limit. If you wanted the 410/115 combination then the SVT-410HE would've been your choice to match the SVT-115E. If you were to have twice the power going to a 410 than the 115 it sits on the results would not be desirable. You basically would not hear the 115. 115's have a hard enough time keeping up with a 410 of the same ohmage. Anytime I've run a 15"/18" speaker along with a 410 I've always run full range into the 410 and pushed the 15/18 with another amp crossed over at 100~150 hz making it a subwoofer. After all, isn't the reason for adding a 115 instead of another 410 is because more low end is needed? Why not just add a sub?
 
#1,097
Assuming you have the SVT-410HLF what is it that you want to add to your tone by wanting a 115? If you have the cab I mentioned it already has very pronounced lows and my guess would be you wouldn't be adding much in the low end department and definitely not in volume by adding a 115. You also can't get around the fact that it's a 4ohm cab and you won't be able to run any other cabs with the 7PRO. What I would suggest is if you absolutely love the tone of the 7PRO and the 410HLF together and you need more volume maybe consider adding another 410HLF and slave a power amp to the 7PRO. Not the cheapest solution but both could be had used in the 600-700 range total.

As for your tone settings play around a bit. I keep mine as follows.....

Compressor between 8 and 11 o'clock, Gain between 1 and 3 o'clock, Bass at 2 o'clock, mids at 12-1 o'clock mid selector at 2 or 3, treble at 11 o'clock, master usually between 9 and 1 o'clock. The yellow light is the compressor threshold, when it's on the compressor is kicked in. The red signal light should flash on occasionally to maybe 1/3-1/2 the time (for me anyways).
 
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#1,098
The yellow light is not a limiter. It is the compressor engaging, which is related to the red light for gain. I like that red light on when I'm digging in consistently. You can get stupid loud with an svt410hlf and a seven pro. You would most likely be going deaf well before you started damaging the speakers, although the tweeter might be the weak spot.
 
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#1,099
last 7 pro i had was rev c00 and b stock.
it started shutting down almost immediately on a gig.

i loved the way it sounded but wanting some input as far as the "real world gigging experiences" go.
meaning,

id like to hear from guys who gig 3-4 hours 4 nights a week with this.

thanks
 
#1,100
midichlorine said:
last 7 pro i had was rev c00 and b stock.
it started shutting down almost immediately on a gig.

i loved the way it sounded but wanting some input as far as the "real world gigging experiences" go.
meaning,

id like to hear from guys who gig 3-4 hours 4 nights a week with this.

thanks
Click to expand...
yikes, that's the kind of thing that has me a little spooked. I had a similar issue with a PF500, which is now a rehearsal head only. Don't want another rehearsal amp.
I know there are plenty of players who have had no problems at all with this range of Ampeg heads .. but these kinds of stories kinda put a kink in my desire to grab one.

sorry to hear it midichlorine
 

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