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Any demand for a good high output solid state head ?

2

2x4strgkramers

Dec 15, 2008
317
2
#1
Is there any demand for a good high output solid state head ? Built in biamping etc ? If so what types of Preamps,power ratings. sound coloring options are people interested in ? How many features ? How bare bones or jazzed up ?

Just doing some checking around. I am looking at reissuing and clonning my randall as well as sevral older obsolete amps that performed well but cost to much at the time they debuted. Maybe a new Mark IV style head.

Taking input and may make a sample to test with ?
 
#3
I am leaning on class A&B at least 400w botttom 200h and that would be at 8 ohms. I had a bunch og bass players last night trying to buy my Randall when I was at guitar center. It was rather ammusing. We kept adding cabs and lowering the impedence it just kept on shinning. I told the sales guy it would eat every other head there for breakfast.

Looking at doing a Welded and fabricated Aluminum Housing/Casing to save wieght. These would be small production with all top quality components. I will do up some drawing in the next few days and see if anybody digs its. I figure I can cut 10-15 lbs by using aluminum sheet over steel to construct the casing withouth making it ******** thinned out.
 
#4
2x4strgkramers said:
I am leaning on class A&B at least 400w botttom 200h and that would be at 8 ohms. I had a bunch og bass players last night trying to buy my Randall when I was at guitar center. It was rather ammusing. We kept adding cabs and lowering the impedence it just kept on shinning. I told the sales guy it would eat every other head there for breakfast.

Looking at doing a Welded and fabricated Aluminum Housing/Casing to save wieght. These would be small production with all top quality components. I will do up some drawing in the next few days and see if anybody digs its. I figure I can cut 10-15 lbs by using aluminum sheet over steel to construct the casing withouth making it ******** thinned out.
Click to expand...


As a new products consultant in my day gig, I would HIGHLY recommend looking at what is currently available in the market at the moment. The market is full of WONDERFUL, lightweight, powerful solid state heads, with even more to be announced at NAMM. Many of these amps are 500 watts+ and 3-5 pounds, with tons of features for a very reasonable price.

Also, with today's full range cabs, biamping seems like a feature that would be a very niche type thing, and not really drive interest or sales.

That being said, Acoustic seems to be having some success in reintroducing that brand as a very low end/low cost line of amps. However, that was a pretty strong brand name back in the day. Randall... not so much IMO.

Just IM and FYI.
 
#5
The thing is, there are loads of high-powered, high quality solid state heads on the market. I'm not knocking an old Randall, it's probably a great amp, but have you heard of Glockenklang? Thunderfunk? GK? Genz Benz? EA? etc. And that's not even naming the EU brands that specialize in class D.

Good luck on your hobby project, I'm all in favor of cool DIY underground product lines- but in order to get more of a response of interest here you'll need to do some market research and figure out what is already on the market, and exactly how your product will be different or better.

Edit: Ken typed it faster than me; both of us have done this for a living. :)
 
#6
If you are truly talking "high power" then the action is better spent on a preamp design, because there are plenty of great pro power amps to choose from. But it appears you are talking moderate power. Well, it seems like that tier is pretty well served already, so unless you have something really special...
 
#7
Seems to me the solid state market is brimming over in every niche. The small, moderately powered is covered, the budget is definitely covered, the high end is pretty well covered, modern tone is covered, more vintage type tones are covered. I can't see much of an opening myself.

But for me, I look for reasonable wattage (at least 350W, preferably 500W), reasonable price with plenty of EQ scope. Parametric or multiband EQs are a must for me.
 
#8
Are you reffering to the mark bass ? Heads ? or the GK heads.

I would have to show you how good the control is with the amp I am thinking about coppying.


The amps I am reffering to is Considered a Class A&B 2. very different layout. Requires lots of big stable components.

Some of the parts for that head have been obsoleted so it would take some design changes to make the circuts work properly again.

I am gonna build one for my own amusement and if people like them I may offer copies.

Either way a comprehensive list of amp competeing out there would be nice to see.

I do know this depending on your likes and dislikes this head does kill most of the newer stuff even with the big wieght sacrifice.
KJung said:
As a new products consultant in my day gig, I would HIGHLY recommend looking at what is currently available in the market at the moment. The market is full of WONDERFUL, lightweight, powerful solid state heads, with even more to be announced at NAMM. Many of these amps are 500 watts+ and 3-5 pounds, with tons of features for a very reasonable price.
Also, with today's full range cabs, biamping seems like a feature that would be a very niche type thing, and not really drive interest or sales.

That being said, Acoustic seems to be having some success in reintroducing that brand as a very low end/low cost line of amps. However, that was a pretty strong brand name back in the day. Randall... not so much IMO.

Just IM and FYI.
Click to expand...
 
#10
It works out to roughly 1000 watts of low and 600 wats of high at 2 ohms. Is 1600 watts enough ?

greenboy said:
If you are truly talking "high power" then the action is better spent on a preamp design, because there are plenty of great pro power amps to choose from. But it appears you are talking moderate power. Well, it seems like that tier is pretty well served already, so unless you have something really special...
Click to expand...
 
#14
Low end focus. The lows are very very focoused. It is why I bought the amp in the first place. Everything else out there just sounds blah to my ear but to be honest what does that really mean ?

This amp wasn;t loved enough to stay in production so it could simply have a very narrow audience.


If you want an aggresive mean sound head for playing hard rock this is a damn fine piece for that. It does soften well but it always retains that growl.

That and the output is very very clean no mudd in the signal. I have been beating on it since 1993 it was made in 1990 and has been uber reliable up until a speaker fialure recently. 8 new transistors later and it is back to rocking the house.

Scionreality said:
If you don't mind my asking, why does it "kill most of the newer stuff"?
Click to expand...
 
#15
2x4strgkramers said:
Are you reffering to the mark bass ? Heads ? or the GK heads.

I would have to show you how good the control is with the amp I am thinking about coppying.


The amps I am reffering to is Considered a Class A&B 2. very different layout. Requires lots of big stable components.

Some of the parts for that head have been obsoleted so it would take some design changes to make the circuts work properly again.

I am gonna build one for my own amusement and if people like them I may offer copies.

Either way a comprehensive list of amp competeing out there would be nice to see.

I do know this depending on your likes and dislikes this head does kill most of the newer stuff even with the big wieght sacrifice.
Click to expand...


Markbass, Genz Benz, TecAmp, GK, Aguilar, Thunderfunk, Glockenklang, Mesa Boogie, EBS, etc., etc., etc.

Just tons of amazing stuff in the micro area (3-6 pounds and 300-1000 watts), the two space moderate weight category (5-25 pounds, 500-600 watts or so) and the lead sled category (750+ watts and three space, 30-50 pounds). Most of the two space and three space heads are class A/B, with a few class D and H sprinkled in.

That being said, there's always room for improvement. The biamp thing does not seem to be an 'interest driver' given todays market, but who knows.
 
#17
I never understood that lack of use of BiAmping. It saves alot of wear and tear on the drivers in teh cabs.

KJung said:
Markbass, Genz Benz, TecAmp, GK, Aguilar, Thunderfunk, Glockenklang, Mesa Boogie, etc., etc., etc.

Just tons of amazing stuff in the micro area (3-6 pounds and 300-1000 watts), the two space moderate weight category (5-25 pounds, 500-600 watts or so) and the lead sled category (750+ watts and three space, 30-50 pounds).

That being said, there's always room for improvement. The biamp thing does not seem to be an 'interest driver' given todays market, but who knows.
Click to expand...
 
#20
2x4strgkramers said:
I never understood that lack of use of BiAmping. It saves alot of wear and tear on the drivers in teh cabs.
Click to expand...

Never heard of this before, and I've never had a driver fail in 30 years of playing. Why would electronically removing treble response be easier on a full range driver than a full range signal, or a simple passive two or three way crossover.

I'm not saying there aren't advantages (huge front of house systems of course have subs, etc. that require electronic crossovers, etc.), but biamping has been around in the bass backline amplification for year, and there doesn't seem to be a big advantage. Yes, back in the day when you had components that were limited (i.e., 10's that didn't go low and 15's that didn't extend as much into the midrange as today) it made sense as a way to 'fix problems', but now, it seems like a waste for a large number of players.

Again, not saying it couldn't be cool, just questioning if enough would find that particular option worth the money, the size, the weight, etc. Who knows! I don't know anyone personally who runs their Eden WT800 (still an industry standard) in biamp mode, but I'm sure there are some that do it.
 

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