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Down side to pre/pwr amp

rptrsn2

rptrsn2

Feb 21, 2008
890
3
Northeast Missouri
www.facebook.com
Disclosures
Endorsing Artist: Aurora Strings
#1
I will soon have the funds to redo my whole rig and debating on what i want to go with. There are alot of good choices out there but i keep coming back to buying a power amp and some pre to be decided. from all ive seen why would you ever do any other option. more pwr than id ecer need, can run any cab opt i would ever want, with vast amount of pedals like the vt that can be used as pre you change your sound cheaply, the new light weight is great. so what is the down side to this route. thanks
 
#5
I have three power amp/preamp rigs and don't have any cons and I have 4 screws in my back at L5.
Here's one I think is sexy.....

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#6
Upsides -- Easy to buy more power without really changing the pre tone you like.

If you have the power you need but don't like the tone you can shuffle pre's until you find something you like.

Ability to chain more cabs together than most people would care to haul around.

Downsides can be -- Size, weight, and sometimes overall cost of the whole system although good power can be had for relatively cheap nowdays. 20 years ago or so I considered about $1 per watt to be sort of a fair price for good reliable power, you can get it for much less now. Peavey for one is making 1 rackspace poweramps too.

Also more cabling, generally a more complicated setup/not as much just plug-n-play and maybe looks for some of you vanity girls out there????

Then there's that thing where when you have rackstuff, you inevitably find an excuse to need more rackstuff.:D Just a pre and poweramp isn't enough anymore, you want an eq, an outboard compressor, a rackmountable tuner, a wireless unit and of course one of those glorified powerstrips with the pullout lights. Now you've got some 100+lb. 2ft. cube that's a mixing board short of being a PA system just to play bass.:D
 
#9
Overall I don't really see a down side. It's just another way to get "the system" that you want.

I wouldn't mind having one, but I really don't have use for one at the moment. I'm sure it would be fun to build such a unit. And very satisfying.
 
#12
i actually was using a recording preamp for a little while as a bass pre, Joe Meek, it sounded awesome, and then also doubled for me in the studio for mics and actually tracking my bass...all i added to it was a qsc power amp and was good to go...its nice when funds are limited that you can have gear that accomplishes multiple goals.
 
#13
My pre/power rig includes a Yamaha PB1, and Aguilar Agro, and a QSC PLX3002. It sounds good, provides bi-amp capability if I want to mess with it, and has more than enough power for any gig I'll ever play. But, I seldom use it anymore.

Although it's in a shallow rack, size and weight are still factors because it's more convenient to grab a small, powerful, head in padded carry bag my way out the door.

I like to take my pre-power rig to outdoor gigs with big cabs. Otherwise, it stays in the closet with a seldom worn raincoat.

If I had a dedicated music room/man cave, I'd love to have switching equipment with which I could rout signals among several different components via a convenient switching console, but that's a fantasy that's unrelated to everyday gigging.
 
#14
I used to have a pre/pwr rack. I highly recommend it. Six spaces was just right for me (power conditioner, tuner, 1.5-space pre and 2 space power).

If there is a downside, it might be ventillation. But if your units are not vented out the top, then that's no issue at all.
 
#18
I can see more pros than cons in this arrangement. (but I'm not a pro or even regular gigger so I may be wrong) I almost do the "pre+pwr amp" thing now and plan to get a 'real' power amp this year. My old amp (Crate BX160) died so I removed the heavy transformer/guts to reduce the weight I haul around and am just using it as a 1X15 cab. (I replaced the 20 year old driver with a new Eminence 3015 - much love for that driver) I'm currently using a Mackie 408M powered mixer as my 'head' but it's way too big and heavy so I'm surfing Craig's List a couple of times a week looking for a Crown or QSC power amp.
 
#19
Only downside to the rack rigs over mini amps like my LMII is the size and maybe 15 pounds or so . I had a RBI preamp with a Crown XTI1000 that I used for a few years and it was a great rig . Once you have your rack set up and wired there are no more cables than a standard head at the gig because all you need is a 1/4" sheilded cable from the preamp out to the poweramps input and that's it . Plug in your speaker cables and your bass cable and you are done .

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