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Class D "digital" amps. Opinions on performance

#22
Class D is only for us old folks. All young bass players should be made to carry an old tube SVT for a few years. Yes, of course I'm kidding. I have continually gone with smaller and smaller equipment until I went too small then upped the size a little. I need a certain size of cabinet to do a good job. For me it is an Ampeg PF500/PF115HE. My PA speakers are QSC K12's. I went down to K8's but they lacked in warmth or something; they didn't fill a room. For guitar amp, I went down to a Fender Super Champ XD and now I am back up to a Deluxe Reverb.

None of what is light and small was possible several years ago. Class D is still in its infancy, and should get better and better and something else will come along too. I want to play music as long as I can, so smaller+lighter=better for me! I'm sure lightweight tube amps will happen someday if not already.
 
#24
GregT said:
Class D is only for us old folks. All young bassiss should be made to carry an old tube SVT for a few years. Yes, of course I'm kidding. I have continually gone with smaller and smaller equipment until I went too small then upped the size a little. I need a certain size of cabinet to do a good job. For me it is an Ampeg PF500/PF115HE. My PA speakers are QSC K12's. I went down to K8's but they lacked in warmth or something; they didn't fill a room. For guitar amp, I went down to a Fender Super Champ XD and now I am back up to a Deluxe Reverb.

None of what is light and small was possible several years ago. Class D is still in its infancy, and should get better and better and something else will come along too. I want to play music as long as I can, so smaller+lighter=better for me! I'm sure lightweight tube amps will happen someday if not already.
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lol, they have to "pay their dues?"... this is funny... yeah an SVT and an 8x10... we were body builders back then and didn't know it!
 
#25
My first amp in 73 was an SVT with Altecs. I remember I could Make my P-bass with heavy flats (heavier than the Jamerson set. Not made any more) even sound like a tele guitar. I still think it is the best amp ever made. Sold the thing for almost nothing (who knew?) when I started playing Jazz. Boy, at the end of the night that thing was heavy! A polytone 15 was all I needed.
 
#26
bryanspkr said:
My first amp in 73 was an SVT with Altecs. I remember I could Make my P-bass with heavy flats (heavier than the Jamerson set. Not made any more) even sound like a tele guitar. I still think it is the best amp ever made. Sold the thing for almost nothing (who knew?) when I started playing Jazz. Boy, at the end of the night that thing was heavy! A polytone 15 was all I needed.
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Back on topic...I think you are overthinking the Class D thing when it comes to back EMF. Whever this topic comes up most of the class D designers chime in with its just an amplifier. Treat it as such. You would love the MB200. I walk into rehersal with a binocular case in my hand and take out the head. At the studio it drives a 4X10 and a 2X18 set-up with no problem. Has tone for days.
 
#28
Most of what I use now is actually Class D. The Ampeg PF500 and the QSC K12 PA speakers are. I guess my real point is that I love the weight and also they sound great to me. And to the OP: Since you asked about performance, I use them live and they are powerful. I use four class D amps when I play in a medium sized club. Two mains, one monitor, (3 QSC K12) and the Ampeg. None of them are anywhere near their potential volume, but we aren't the loudest band. But we could sure get tons louder!
 
#29
After switching over to a few micros "ampeg pf350 and 500 and a gkmb fusion" I would never go back to heavier amps. They give me all I need and i do like the lighter weight. If i were going to replace my PA power amps i would also look to class d ones. Class d has not only brought down the weight but also seems to have brought down the price and i find the performance acceptable.
 
#32
seamonkey said:
You can carry with you on a city bus your complete bass and rig that will outperform in both sound quality and volume of anything that had to be hauled in trucks and vans years ago.
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that's a matter of opinion.

it's pretty hard to carry a cab on a bus that will (IMO) sound better and have equal volume to an ampeg SVT/810 cab.
 
#34
bryanspkr said:
There is a lot to be said about size and efficiency. 2 pieces of a limited pie. The third being low frequency extension.
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Not such a big deal. IMHO ... YMMV

If you build an cab that's 3db down at a point if the low freq you think you want, you can double the amp power to make up for it, if the driver can take it. Doubling power on an efficient amp is not a big deal.

As mentioned in other threads, reproducing the fundamental is not as important as the harmonics in getting a deep sound. One of the old big "classic" cabs actually has less low end than many believe it has. Plug in a modern efficient amp, and you can feed more power to the drivers if they could handle it.
 
#35
GregT said:
Class D is only for us old folks. All young bass players should be made to carry an old tube SVT for a few years. Yes, of course I'm kidding. I have continually gone with smaller and smaller equipment until I went too small then upped the size a little. I need a certain size of cabinet to do a good job. For me it is an Ampeg PF500/PF115HE. My PA speakers are QSC K12's. I went down to K8's but they lacked in warmth or something; they didn't fill a room. For guitar amp, I went down to a Fender Super Champ XD and now I am back up to a Deluxe Reverb.
Click to expand...

I would gladly "pay my dues" carrying around a vintage svt assuming you supplied one to me. :)
 
#36
seamonkey said:
Not such a big deal. IMHO ... YMMV

If you build an cab that's 3db down at a point if the low freq you think you want, you can double the amp power to make up for it, if the driver can take it. Doubling power on an efficient amp is not a big deal.

As mentioned in other threads, reproducing the fundamental is not as important as the harmonics in getting a deep sound. One of the old big "classic" cabs actually has less low end than many believe it has. Plug in a modern efficient amp, and you can feed more power to the drivers if they could handle it.
Click to expand...



Doubling power on a voice coil might. Though there have been great improvements in high temp materials, Heat can cause significant changes in performance.
Maybe another thread is needed for this one.
 

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