• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

clean power amp?

SeayBass

SeayBass

Supporting Member
Jan 29, 2006
880
472
Washington DC Baltimore VA MD
#1
Hi all,
I am thinking of re-complicating my rig by taking some of my pro audio gear out of the rack i never use anymore and playing bass through it.
EQ, compressor, reverb, maybe a preamp. . .

I want to know if yall have a recommendation on power amp. I want a clean power amp that represents well. I have used some amps in the past that I found to be too colored (CARVER, RAMSA, other cheap amps).
I haven't messed with power amps in a long time, since using powered speakers for PA.
I could use some advice if you have experience with QSC, crown, etc.

-e
 
#4
sleepytime said:
Power amps are typically designed for clean, flat, low noise performance. Perhaps your experience is with low quality brands, I don't know anything about the brands you named, but any quality amp should meet your wishes.
Click to expand...
there is no question I have history with cheaper brands.
thanks for the advice. I think i'll run down to atomic music to see about some used amps. I seem to recall them having several QSC amps to choose from
 
#8
sleepytime said:
Power amps are typically designed for clean, flat, low noise performance. Perhaps your experience is with low quality brands, I don't know anything about the brands you named, but any quality amp should meet your wishes.
Click to expand...

Carver was a renowned power amp builder for pro sound and hi-end audio. while Ramsa was the pro audio division of Panasonic. Unless they had some budget entry stuff their gear was of significant quality. Higher THD than today's gear, possibly.
 
#11
seamonkey said:
QSC is a 6-year warranty!

An alternative is to skip the power amp and go with powered cabinets. Here too QSC is a big player. Check out these out:

Invalid Link Removed
Link Removed
Invalid Link Removed

One less thing to carry, and less to worry about mixing and matching
Click to expand...

I played with a group for a while that used a QSC powered PA (mains on subs). I wasnt terribly impressed. Had terrible time with them heating up and going into thermal shut down. May have been that there was something wrong with them (I continuously tried to get the drummer to return them for new ones).
 
#17
If you can deal with 'extreme weight to extreme clean power' try a Crest CA-18 -the internal guts of this amp are layed out beautifully not to mention its ability to deliever full power well beyond human hearing (its 3db down point is at 150 khz). I've never seen a bassist use one in a rig however I'd imagine that would be a sight to behold, of course at nearly 80 lbs. it's not going to be an easy thing to lug around, nonetheless it does deliever its 1700 watts per channel (4 ohms) in perfect non distorted 'high fidelity' while doing 2400 watts of the same into 2 ohms.
 
#19
FlemptonBass said:
I have a Carvin DCM1000L that I love so far! 1000W bridged for $350 new. Oh, and it only weighs about 10 lbs
Click to expand...

great point- we've been using a Carvin DCM-3000L for the lows of part of our bi-amped monitor system (about 4 years now) and find it has clean yet tight bass response and like the 1000L would be a great addition to any rig...the fact that it's only 15 lbs (over 900 watts per channel at 4 ohms) helps as well.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back