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Ampeg SVT 7 Pro Club
- Thread starter Verminaard
- Start date
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,636
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
Hi everyone. My new SVT-7 pro arrived today. After some time trying to decide between this and the pf-800, I finally went for the svt. Coming from the pf-350, it makes a big difference! What a sound...it's full, fat, rich, huge...all I was looking for. Love it.
But, although I just have used it for about an hour, I've noticed some things that make me wonder if I received a bad unit: when I hit the strings, the peak light turns on, with the gain and master at zero...It's not right, is it? But i can turn the gain knob at noon and it sounds perfect (then I've set the master at 8 o'clock, so it was loud enough yet). It sounded great! Do I have to worry about the light clipping at zero, if it sounds right??
Also, I don't know if it's related to this issue, but I find the compressor useless. Just at 8 o,clock, it compresses a lot, taking away all the richness and harmonics...can it be because of the red light issue?
And, at last, just a couple of times (not always), when I hit the E string hard, the volume drop a little for a second (not cutting out, just volume), as if the compressor was working, but it was at zero.... Is this the famous "cutting out" thing? Do you think I got a bad unit? By the way, I use a Passive bass and a 810e. Thanks!
But, although I just have used it for about an hour, I've noticed some things that make me wonder if I received a bad unit: when I hit the strings, the peak light turns on, with the gain and master at zero...It's not right, is it? But i can turn the gain knob at noon and it sounds perfect (then I've set the master at 8 o'clock, so it was loud enough yet). It sounded great! Do I have to worry about the light clipping at zero, if it sounds right??
Also, I don't know if it's related to this issue, but I find the compressor useless. Just at 8 o,clock, it compresses a lot, taking away all the richness and harmonics...can it be because of the red light issue?
And, at last, just a couple of times (not always), when I hit the E string hard, the volume drop a little for a second (not cutting out, just volume), as if the compressor was working, but it was at zero.... Is this the famous "cutting out" thing? Do you think I got a bad unit? By the way, I use a Passive bass and a 810e. Thanks!
Congrats on the new amp! That is abnormal behavior plain and simple (provided you don't feed it with an absurdly hot signal). With all the stories out there I'd return it instantly (for a full refund, that is) while you still have the chance, especially when it concerns a factory fresh unit such as in your case.
I love the tone and the heritage of Ampeg but after you got kicked in the n*tsack time and time again by the 7PRO one tends to become a bit biased
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The important point there is "provided you don't hit it with an absurdly hot signal"
If you ain't doing that. .. i.e. your bass isn't extremely hot/loud output. . It shouldn't do this
Also. ..I ignore the clip light on most Ampeg solid state/hybrid amps. .. but as the clip light IS coming on THAT early. ..either your bass /signal in. ..is VERY hot or unit is defective. If yr signal IS particularly hot. ..try backing off the bass's volume control
If you ain't doing that. .. i.e. your bass isn't extremely hot/loud output. . It shouldn't do this
Also. ..I ignore the clip light on most Ampeg solid state/hybrid amps. .. but as the clip light IS coming on THAT early. ..either your bass /signal in. ..is VERY hot or unit is defective. If yr signal IS particularly hot. ..try backing off the bass's volume control
A bass alone (be it active or passive) would not be able to provide a signal so hot it clips the preamp with zero gain. If you plug in your bass directly into the amp and it behaves like you mention above it is a faulty unit. Get a refund and (my personal opinion, no flame intended) reconsider your choice for the 7PRO. Plenty of powerful class-D amps out there which also have great tone and are reliable night after night. My Basswitch/Lehle Sonic Spark preamp has been mistaken for being Ampeg when playing my Precision and Tecamp Puma on recordings more than once
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Yes, I get what you mean...I've been using a Sansamp BDDI for four years in front of many amps in order to emulate an SVT, and it's my main tone, but when i plugged the bass straight to the svt-7...wow, it was the sound I've been looking for a lot of time! Finally I got it! The sound of the BDDI, but better. Then, after playing some time with it, I put the sansamp in front of the SVT-7 and...AWESOME. No words. My desired sound. So, now that I've found it, maybe I'll try another unit of te SVT-7 ang give it another chance. It seems like the issues with this amp have been more or less fixed, doesn`t it? At least, in the last two years I haven't heard or read almost anyone reporting problems with it...so maybe it has just been bad, bad, bad luck...
They use a newer ICE chip for the past couple years that has seemingly fixed the majority of issues.
Not so much a 'newer' SMPS current mode controller but one that is actually 'up to the job'. Fortunately for Sergi, the problems reported by him do not match the typical behavior of the ice2a165 chip repeatedly overheating and restarting (a.k.a. "cutting out").
To whom it may concern: the ice2a265 chip itself costs next to nothing and changing it can be done yourself if you're out of warranty and have some experience with a soldering iron. See the Link Removed. A tech would probably spend less than an one hour of work and less than $10 in materials used to complete the job.
But bottom line: it's still a bitter pill to swallow for users who have had their mainboard assembly swapped under warranty multiple times and repeatedly received it back with the under-specced controller only for the unit to burn out again until the amp is out of warranty and you're faced with a >€450 repair. I am one of those users and I know two other users in The Netherlands alone who had the same experience
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To whom it may concern: the ice2a265 chip itself costs next to nothing and changing it can be done yourself if you're out of warranty and have some experience with a soldering iron. See the Link Removed.
I'm in the process of looking for a 7Pro and I'm looking at used units. Just in case, I searched for the Ice2a265 chip on the Mouser Electronics website and yes, it's very cheap to buy. But there is a note in the description that says "Not recommended for new designs".
Would that have some bearing on its suitability as a replacement for the Ice2A165 chip?
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No. As long as the form factor is the same you are good when replacing ICE2A165 with ICE2A265. "Not recommended for new designs" means that the product is at the end of its life-cycle and is (or is to be) superseded by a more modern alternative.
What also helps is using an aluminum heat-sink suitable for DIP-8 packages to dissipate heat (because the placement of the 60mm fan is not optimal as well). You can source these cheap and easy from the same country as where Ampeg's accountant thought it would be a good idea to solder 7PRO together: aliexpress.com
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That's what I would like to do in two or three years, when I save more money. By now I'm choosing the svt-7 to get closer. Are you happy with the upgrade?
Yes I think it sounds warmer and more present but the 7 is a really good amp.
