Double Bass Clarus = Enough Power?

[Greg O]

Hey Guys,
I'm a student preparing to begin college where i'm gonna be majoring in jazz performance and I have been in need of a serious upgrade. I was always turned of by acoustic image because of their high price but then i saw the new Clarus head on Bob Gollihur's (all hail) site and became quite smitten. My only question is that I have an aguilar cab with plenty of power but the clarus only runs 250w at 8 ohms. I was just wondering if this is going to be enough power to fit my needs (outdoor gigs, big band, noisy jazz clubs...etc) I know that the clarus will give me great sound but i just hope the power will be enough.

peace,
greg o

ps. i have a k&k bass max pickup if that helps anyone

 

[robgrow]

How much power is enough depends on many things. There are lots of bassists using amps such as Walter Woods M-100 8 (100 watts @ 8 ohms), GK MB150 (also 100 watts @ 8 ohms) and Acoustic Image Series II Clarus (120 watts @ 8 ohms), and they are perfectly adequate for their needs.

Keep in mind that it takes 10 times more power to double the volume level. So you'd need a 1000 watt amp to play twice as loud as you can with a 100 watt amp. At the same time a 200 watt amp has 3 dB more headroom than a 100 watt amp. A 400 watt amp has 6 dB more headroom than a 100 watter.

Another very important consideration is the sensitivity rating of your speaker cabinet. The higher its sensitivity rating is in dB SPL, the less power you need to achieve a given volume level. The sensitivity rating of the Aguilar 1x12 cabs is 95 dB SPL measured with 1 watt @ 1 meter. A speaker cabinet with a sensitivity rating of 101 dB SPL, which is only 6 dB higher, would need 1/4 as much power to develop the same volume level as a speaker with a 95 dB SPL sensitivity rating.

Although the Aguilar 112 cabinets are very high quality, they don't have particularly good sensitivity ratings and are much more power hungry than something like a Euphonic Audio Wizzy M-Line. Also the Clarus would develop 400 watts into an EA Wizzy M, since it's a 4-ohm cab. Between the 400 watts available into the 4-ohm load and the Wizzy M's excellent sensitivity rating (103 dB SPL), you would probably be able to play most gigs with the Clarus-Wizzy M combo.

Subjectively, I think the Wizzy M is a much better choice for double bass amplification than the Aguilar 112 cabs, which are more suited for electric bass IMO.

I believe Marc Piane ("Fingers"), one of the regulars here on TB, had an Aguilar cab that he replaced with a Wizzy M and uses it with a Clarus. Perhaps he'll chime in here.

 

[Francois Blais]

Many thanks to Rob for sharing those very useful technical details!

Cheers!

François

 

[bolo]

Greg, you want to tell us a little bit about the Hamburg upright listed in your profile?

How much do you think you will be splitting your time between DB and EB?

 

[Greg O]

Thanks for the info rob.....and on the topic of the hamburg. I got it at a local samash for about $500. I was new to the instrument so i didn't fully recognize what a ridiculous deal that was until i played my schools $700 bass that sounded like crap. I've now had the bass appraised at around $3000. The tone is very mellow and is great for jazz ad classical. It doesn't necessarily have the big percussive sound of a standard jazz upright but i don't see my self having to get a new bass for a long time.

peace,
greg o

ps. the bass's name is burgess

 

[PhatBasstard]

I just picked up a spotless AI Clarus I Series II in a pawn shop last week (had the bag, cords, everything! ). Haven't tried it with an upright yet, but took it to one of our smaller to medium sized club gigs with a classic rock power trio this weekend. Ran it through my Tech Soundsystems CT2000 (think Schroeder 1212) at 4 ohms.

This amp was way more power than I needed (giving me 200watts at 4 ohms) for this fairly loud gig. Never had to turn the pre or the master past 12 o'clock.

I think the newer Clarus is actually rated 50 watts higher than mine.

Good Luck

 

[bolo]

....and on the topic of the hamburg. I got it at a local samash for about $500. I was new to the instrument so i didn't fully recognize what a ridiculous deal that was until i played my schools $700 bass that sounded like crap. I've now had the bass appraised at around $3000. The tone is very mellow and is great for jazz ad classical. It doesn't necessarily have the big percussive sound of a standard jazz upright but i don't see my self having to get a new bass for a long time.

Hey Greg. Is your Hamburg from Vienna Strings? Violin corners or gamba?

BTW the soundclip on your band's myspace page sounds good.

 

[Greg O]

it's violin corners....and it's just from a local shop not sure exactly the origin.
peace,
greg o

 

[bolo]

Well if it matches Invalid Link Removed you durn near stole it for $500 bro.

Back on topic - I use a Focus instead of a Clarus, but I've been told the difference in output capabilities is not really that huge in practical terms. In your situation starting your university experience and all that, I would think a Clarus would be a good choice.

So light one up and enjoy.

 

[Barcza]

The clarus @4 ohms could be loud as a Focus @8 ohms?

 

[bolo]

I am not a real techie so I could be all wet. But I am looking at the specs for Series III models and they look pretty close. The Focus produces 450w at 8 ohms, and the Clarus is 400w at 4 ohms.

I think in Greg's case though the thing that might limit him for those times when he needs to go quite loud would be the somewhat low efficiency of his Aguilar, like robgrow said.

I could be wrong, but I still think the Clarus would be fine. Kinda wish I'd had one when I was in college. The 70's SVT head I had at the time was very, very heavy.

 

[drurb]

How much power is enough depends on many things.

Truer words were never spoken. A fine post rob! I'd like to clear up a few details and no, I'm not picking on you! I think it's important to keep the use of the terms precise so as to avoid misunderstandings. It can actually save people money as well!

Keep in mind that it takes 10 times more power to double the volume level.

Well, it takes about 10 dB (10x more power), all other things being equal, to double loudness.

So you'd need a 1000 watt amp to play twice as loud as you can with a 100 watt amp.

Indeed!

At the same time a 200 watt amp has 3 dB more headroom than a 100 watt amp. A 400 watt amp has 6 dB more headroom than a 100 watter.

Well, not actually headroom but 3 dB and 6 dB more power, respectively. See this thread for a discussion about headroom.

Another very important consideration is the sensitivity rating of your speaker cabinet. The higher its sensitivity rating is in dB SPL, the less power you need to achieve a given volume level. The sensitivity rating of the Aguilar 1x12 cabs is 95 dB SPL measured with 1 watt @ 1 meter. A speaker cabinet with a sensitivity rating of 101 dB SPL, which is only 6 dB higher, would need 1/4 as much power to develop the same volume level as a speaker with a 95 dB SPL sensitivity rating.

Actually, it would take 1/4 the power to develop the same sound-pressure level and, by extension, if a host of other factors were constant, 1/4 the power to achieve the same loudness.