I have a rig where I alternate between Ashly pre amps. I use, an EQ, comp powered by a newer light weight Peavey power amp. I'm a guy from the 70's that used SVT's and Acoustic 360's and I love that sound and Ashly pre's are very cool, but my question is, what is the best power source, Peavey, Crown etc, or should I run it through a tube head like an Ampeg 4pro, Mesa? Can I get a better sound that way? Thanks.
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Bass Rig Power
- Thread starter rocked70s
- Start date
Modern Amplifiers are a lot more powerful and clean.
Much lighter too.
Peavey, Crown, QSC, Carvin, they all perform the same.
Good sound in, and they'll have good sound out.
Much lighter too.
Peavey, Crown, QSC, Carvin, they all perform the same.
Good sound in, and they'll have good sound out.
I stopped shopping for amps when my Peavey IPR 1600 matched my Bryston 3B for sound quality at 1/5th the weight and 3x the power. As far as I'm concerned, class D is class D, there's only different power levels, sizes, and prices.
If you want a vintage tone try to track down an Ampeg SVC-PL, it's the preamp from the SVT in a 1RU chassis. I use one with the IPR and it's just killer. Unlike with a real SVT, you can saturate the preamp at non-lethal volume levels. I can get that gritty bite at 10W or drive four 8x10's to oblivion.
Something to also keep in mind is that class D amps generally have soft-clipping limiters, and they don't generate much heat, so you can treat their wattage ratings like tube amps. Like tube, class D can fry speakers rated for twice their power, so match your cabs accordingly.
If you want a vintage tone try to track down an Ampeg SVC-PL, it's the preamp from the SVT in a 1RU chassis. I use one with the IPR and it's just killer. Unlike with a real SVT, you can saturate the preamp at non-lethal volume levels. I can get that gritty bite at 10W or drive four 8x10's to oblivion.
Something to also keep in mind is that class D amps generally have soft-clipping limiters, and they don't generate much heat, so you can treat their wattage ratings like tube amps. Like tube, class D can fry speakers rated for twice their power, so match your cabs accordingly.
Unless you play through pretty lackluster PAs, the less the better. The amp is for you, and perhaps the band (if the PA spill and/or monitors can't cover the band). The PA is the bass amp for the crowd.
With power amps you should be fine with most. If you want to get anal look for these specs:
Damping factor... Ability of the amp to control a driver from flopping around when it's not supposed to. Cheaper amps like
Crown xls, peavey IPR, QSC GX series are in the 200 range. QSC PLX series are greater than 500. Higher numbers are better and translate to tighter more defined low end. Short 12 ga cables to speakers Is best too. Light gauge long cables reduce damping ability . Specs are usually rated as such for 8 ohm rating and are degraded at 4 and 2 ohm ratings.
Look up slew rate as well. Faster slew rates equate to cleaner tighter bass as well. The quicker an amp can ramp up to full power when it receives a signal, the cleaner and clearer it sounds when you slap a string.
Damping factor... Ability of the amp to control a driver from flopping around when it's not supposed to. Cheaper amps like
Crown xls, peavey IPR, QSC GX series are in the 200 range. QSC PLX series are greater than 500. Higher numbers are better and translate to tighter more defined low end. Short 12 ga cables to speakers Is best too. Light gauge long cables reduce damping ability . Specs are usually rated as such for 8 ohm rating and are degraded at 4 and 2 ohm ratings.
Look up slew rate as well. Faster slew rates equate to cleaner tighter bass as well. The quicker an amp can ramp up to full power when it receives a signal, the cleaner and clearer it sounds when you slap a string.
