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Decided on YBA200 - from your inputs

P

PickyRickyMike

Oct 29, 2005
26
0
67
Seacoast New Hampshire
#1
Newbie poster guy here - Due to all your input, feedback and reviews in this forum, Ive decided on the YBA200 coupled with an Avatar 2x10 Neo and exisiting 1x15LF Eminence cabinet. I cant wait for the big brown truck to arrive... Im hoping the rig will be prefect for the small places our trio will be playing, with fat bottom and crispy highs to fill out those guitar leads...

After reviewing the 200 schematics, Id like to maybe clarify a couple things Ive read here, and some other observations...

(techie section)

1. Yes there are fuses in the amp, but they are on the PCB, I cant find them on the layout diagram but will eventually. Two fuse the main power transformer for +-15V, I cant find where the other 1.5a slow blow is used.... they dont seem user replaceable.

2 There is solid state in this amp, even thought its advertised as all tube - theres a transistor for the tuner out, an op amp for the direct out, and what appears to be 4 transistors that must make up the "auto bias" circuitry for the power tubes. Theres a solid state +-15v supply for the op amps too.

3 The cooling fan is on the same supply at the 6v tube heater circuit supply, interesting, and funny.

4 The -78v bias voltage appears to be set by 2 zener diodes. So if you want to change power tubes that require different bias, theres no pot to twiddle, a diode would have to be replaced or piggybacked. Im not a tube tech but I believe thats whats happening, its pretty simple analog stuff.

And, from all the info in the tube posts, Im ordering some of JJ 12ax, at, and ay7s to experiment with.

Thanks guys, if this gives me the sound I think it will, in a smaller footprint and lighter to boot, I owe you all one.
 
#2
Guys, received this amp, Im very very pleased. This amp is what it is, I dont think you should try to upgrade it or change anything, and it is loud, it has character. It really shouldnt be compare to any other amp, it has its own sound, its own niche I suppose. Although comparing to a baby svt is close. Like someone posted before, it trys to be a really big amp!

Immediately I noticed how musical this amp is, full of harmonics and warm sound, without any mud or breakup. There isnt a dead spot anywhere in the amp. My Rick never sounded so good except when i was lugging a 90# svt around in the 80s. Its like I have a new guitar now. The amp is full, round, warm, and punchy (keep the mids up) even thru a single 15 eminence cab. When I paired it up with the 1x15 and 4x10 Peavey is was the same loudness as my 700W SS setup, but cruchier and bassier. No real audable distortion however, but this is subjective I guess. It is nice and fat. No more SS for me! I think paring the 1x15 and 2x10 Avatar cab will work perfectly.

I dont see upgrading any tubes at all either, the sound is perfect for me. I set all tones to 5, pre to 3 and master to 6, no scoop! awesome sounding amp. Although I may try a couple different ax7s in V1 just for fun...

My feeling is this amp could be one of those that sneak up on you in a few years... why didnt I get one of the originals?! I can see it becoming a small club standard. Traynor/Yorkville has a winner here, Im estactic I bought one.

Techie update - found it! theres a fuse in the AC power socket where the cord plugs in. This amp is very well engineered, they put some time into this one, A+ in my book.

-mike
 
#3
Gret review, thanks.

I've been thinking of replacing my yorkie h800xs with the yba200.

You said it's as loud as your 700 watter, could this thing push an Aggie 4x12 cab?

Dave,
Hamer USA Cruise x2
Aphex Exciter, EH BassBalls
Fulltone BDII
Yorkv xs800h, Aggie 4x12
 
#6
Nope, the spliter is a 12au7 tube. The power tube auto biasing circuit is solid state, its 4 tranistors actually with associated resistors, maybe that whats he was talking about.

I was thinking, if you have to play any louder than this amp can put out, then you should be going thru the PA anyways, IMH (and logical) O. Someone posted this amp needs speakers, and I agree totally to make it work.

Tightlines... oops, wrong forum!

-mike
 
#8
Thanks for the reviews PickyRicky, i'm seriously thinking of unloading the G.K. 800 and sansamp for one, The G.K. i've had since '83 and with the sansamp gets close, but man real tubes do sound sweet especially when there under 50lbs. and under $1000,I'll bet if they did'nt say Traynor, they would be all over this board, I think they look to be an excellent choice.
 
#10
I emailed Traynor & asked 3 questions in re to amp tube options. Carl promptly emailed back & answered.

Can you remove the 2 middle tubes for less wattage?

Can you use GT Substi-tubes in all 4 positions?

Can you use GT Substi-tubes in 2 outer positions for even less wattage for a more hot rodded sound & guitar amp too?

Carl, Yes to all three questions.
 
#11
It's about time I said hello, I have posted a few times but never quite introduced myself. So "Hello".

I happen to be a YBA200 owner and have played quite a few gigs with it. Think pub to club size. Am I happy with this amp?

Mmm I am not sure yet and the reason why?

CLEAN HEADROOM

The band I play with is loud and with a pre-amp change {old at7's and one au7 and this is a MUST} I can keep up, but my gain is on 4 and the master is flat out on 10, this running throught an ampeg 4/10 and one Peavey 1/18 with mixed ohmage being 2.67 ohms and yeah this is not a problem confirmed by Traynor. Yet if I want more I am out of luck.

I best add that I am no young buck and have been playing semi professionaly for quite a few years.

Another thing I had to do was start using flatwounds to help get rid of annoying pick attack noises,this amp can have a very hifi sound. I do not regret this but I do lose a bit of tone due to apparently the loss of the third harmonics, I may change back to roundwounds in the future.

To the bloke who may change from a Yorkville 800, try before you buy.

Now, this all might sound a bit negative yet my YBA200 is staying with me. A bit of mucking about and I have want I want. I suppose I wish it had two more output valves yet for the money I paid I should not be whinging.

At the end of all this rambling here is what I believe you should do:-

Buy it, change the pre-amps to at7s and you will be happy especially if you give it heaps of speakers.

Best of luck
Phil
 
#12
Voltaren said:
Another thing I had to do was start using flatwounds to help get rid of annoying pick attack noises,this amp can have a very hifi sound. I do not regret this but I do lose a bit of tone due to apparently the loss of the third harmonics, I may change back to roundwounds in the future.
Click to expand...

This is a real issue with this amp; it can be very "bright", and the brightness can be hard to dial out. And pick or "zipper" noises can be a problem.

Since the brightness comes from the pre, when I really need to tame it, I've begun to use a SABDDI into the "Amp In" jack on the front. Changes the characteristics of the amp entirely; takes out much of that "sharp" edge.

Welcome to TB, Voltaren.
 
#13
Try switching the power/output tubes to KT88's they should give you a boost in clean headroom.

Voltaren said:
It's about time I said hello, I have posted a few times but never quite introduced myself. So "Hello".

I happen to be a YBA200 owner and have played quite a few gigs with it. Think pub to club size. Am I happy with this amp?

Mmm I am not sure yet and the reason why?

CLEAN HEADROOM

The band I play with is loud and with a pre-amp change {old at7's and one au7 and this is a MUST} I can keep up, but my gain is on 4 and the master is flat out on 10, this running throught an ampeg 4/10 and one Peavey 1/18 with mixed ohmage being 2.67 ohms and yeah this is not a problem confirmed by Traynor. Yet if I want more I am out of luck.

I best add that I am no young buck and have been playing semi professionaly for quite a few years.

Another thing I had to do was start using flatwounds to help get rid of annoying pick attack noises,this amp can have a very hifi sound. I do not regret this but I do lose a bit of tone due to apparently the loss of the third harmonics, I may change back to roundwounds in the future.

To the bloke who may change from a Yorkville 800, try before you buy.

Now, this all might sound a bit negative yet my YBA200 is staying with me. A bit of mucking about and I have want I want. I suppose I wish it had two more output valves yet for the money I paid I should not be whinging.

At the end of all this rambling here is what I believe you should do:-

Buy it, change the pre-amps to at7s and you will be happy especially if you give it heaps of speakers.

Best of luck
Phil
Click to expand...
 
#14
Hi Guys! Well i matched up the YBA200 with the Avatar 2x10 Neo cab and a Eminence 15lf cab, I am still very pleased and happy, this setup is like a bulldog lol! Ill say again, if you need more volume than this rig puts out, then your playing way too loud imho! I have made some adjustments and observations - with the Avatar cab I need to pad the tweeter pretty good because of the pick noise, and like the poster above noticed, this amp can be hi-fi, so if you pick hard like i do sometimes, it could become raspy, but if you pick soft, very very pleasant and clean, beautiful ringing notes.

With pre set to 5, master set to 4-5 is a pretty healthy level with the 1x15 and 2x10 cabs, the neo 10s seem pretty efficent. Hi set to 3, mid 6, bass 5, range 5, no scoop (but nice pleasing sound with it in) is good for my git. And the resonace really does have an affect on tightening up the sound and boomy-ness.

I jammed manic depression, round about and whipping post for about an hour straight last night and lost track of time, I guess I really do like the sound.

No problem getting a piano string sound, very clean and warm, sustanes forever if you want, round sounding. The range of EQ you can dial in is wide, especially for a passive circuit.

Im happy I didnt go with a combo, I was looking seriously at the Fenders, and Ampegs, had a $1000 budget, but now I do have a combo - the Traynor head and 2x10s for small places, then add the 1x15 for larger stages. I only need to lug what i need, and instead of one box weighting 80#s - UGG, I have three that weight 40#s each. Nice.

Now Im downsizing my rack stuff, and on to a ME50B, less is more...

got to run, need to do some work this morning!

-mike
 
#15
Blues Cat said:
I emailed Traynor & asked 3 questions in re to amp tube options. Carl promptly emailed back & answered.

Can you remove the 2 middle tubes for less wattage?

Can you use GT Substi-tubes in all 4 positions?

Can you use GT Substi-tubes in 2 outer positions for even less wattage for a more hot rodded sound & guitar amp too?

Carl, Yes to all three questions.
Click to expand...

Yes and not quite.... Go ahead and remove 2 tubes to reduce power, but it is better to remove either the first two or the last two, not the middle pair. It won't cause harm to remove the middle pair, but it will kill the amps ability to auto-bias itself. It's safe to use the Substi-tubes, either 2 or 4, so long as you don't mix and match them with "real" tubes.

Be aware that if you remove a pair of tubes your amps output impedance shifts from 8 ohms down to 16 ohms, so if you want to run an 8 ohm load (or lower) you have to set the impedance switch to 4 ohms (which with 2 tubes will become 8 ohms)
 
#18
Subculture13 said:
Yes and not quite.... Go ahead and remove 2 tubes to reduce power, but it is better to remove either the first two or the last two, not the middle pair. It won't cause harm to remove the middle pair, but it will kill the amps ability to auto-bias itself. It's safe to use the Substi-tubes, either 2 or 4, so long as you don't mix and match them with "real" tubes.

Be aware that if you remove a pair of tubes your amps output impedance shifts from 8 ohms down to 16 ohms, so if you want to run an 8 ohm load (or lower) you have to set the impedance switch to 4 ohms (which with 2 tubes will become 8 ohms)
Click to expand...

Interesting. Thanks for the info. Good to know. Any other good tips for running the YBA200?
 

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