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Hartke Kilo Amplifier Head
- Thread starter Hawaii Islander
- Start date
I got mine on Friday - they seem to be available with some regularity now ( search Hartke Kilo on e-Bay ) - All I can say is...WOW! I've had a LH1000 for a year now and was reading a post here on Friday ( just before UPS showed up ) talking about how the tone on the LH was comparable ( even better ) to the Kilo. My opinion......no camparison - except maybe on "volume" alone. The overall tone, sustain, ability to shape & cut through with the EQ, the tight punch - I was blown away!! Don't get me wrong, I love the LH1000 and it does sound good, but for me, the Kilo takes your tone to a whole new level!
interesting. I checked one out at a music store couple weeks ago. Very nice amp but played through a hydrive 1x15 it sounded a little wooly to me. You can tell Larry definitely went after Ampeg with this one.
Made in China :/
Made in China :/
Bought a new one about 6 months ago. No issues. Plenty of power and clarity for Ampeg 8x10 for 6 4 hour gigs.
Gets warm but that is a lot of power it is moving.
Gets warm but that is a lot of power it is moving.
I love it too. Borrowed one for a few rehearsals and a gig. Fat, big sound and easy to shape it to almost anything.
I am very tempted to get one myself.
I am very tempted to get one myself.
Bought a new one about 6 months ago. No issues. Plenty of power and clarity for Ampeg 8x10 for 6 4 hour gigs.
Gets warm but that is a lot of power it is moving.
Why I do believe my cooling fans are not working. Checked the amp after 1 hour continuous use. Amp was hot and fans not running. Looks like I may have been wrong.
Over heating and bridged mono are two known issues. Have them sorted. Maybe you have warranty too. When those are fixed you have fantastic amp for years and years!
I am very close to pull the trigger on this one myself.
I am very close to pull the trigger on this one myself.
FYI,
I did not post the data but I recently looked into the Kilo workings. My head had never shut down from overheating or anything else. I may be one of the lucky ones. But I did recently determine my fans were not working.
The amp seems to be thought out and built very well. It produces Zero noise at high volume level with the EQ only adding minimal a minimal amount of noise.
The fan failure problem in mine is caused by the 4 cooling fans not working. Either the thermostat is failing to engage the fan power, or the power supply board is failing to supply 12vdc for the fans. I will check the thermostat this week.
The fans are specd. at 24vdc but their termination point on the psc indicated 12vdc. They will work at 12vdc only a little slower btw. There is no 24Vdc power source on the power supply board (30Vdc?).
I decided to place 4 pc cooling fans on top of the grill blowing directly onto the heat sinks. I provided an external power source for these fans.
Did a very loud gig Sat night using the 8x10 at 4 ohm mono. The amp stayed very cool and pumped all night. Get this fan issue straightened out and this is a beast. I still had plenty of head room. Will follow up later.
thx.
Looked further into the Kilo. It has two SS thermostats with one each installed on each power block heat sink with thermal paste. Looks solid. Their purpose is to complete the termination marked ( + - ) on the psb adjacent to the terminal also marked ( + - ) for the fan power, which then enables the power to the fans. The thermostats were not working. They are either defective or the wrong temperature range. Regardless, disconnecting the thermostats and shorting out their ( + - ) connection on the psb enables the DC supply for the fans and they will work. In my particular case the fans were not bad. Can't say this is the cause of the "fan failure" in all of the Kilos though. Since mine never got hot enough to shut down I expect it to last many years.
Lucky me.
Lucky me.
I believe mine has already been in for faulty fans. Still have an issue with it. It will shut down if I use the right side power amp, which also means it will shut down in bridge mono. If I use the left power amp no issues. Luckily 350 watts through a 4ohm 810 hydrive is still louder then I need.
I also had the head in the studio this past weekend, I ran 3 tracks per song. Hartke bass attack into my kilo, into a small 212 cab with a mic on each speaker and then a clean DI through a countryman. The engineer loved the tone.
I also had the head in the studio this past weekend, I ran 3 tracks per song. Hartke bass attack into my kilo, into a small 212 cab with a mic on each speaker and then a clean DI through a countryman. The engineer loved the tone.
Adam, I will assume you have had the cover off your amp at some point. That being the case can you verify the four fans do work? Especially on the amp that is failing? If they are working, the original failure repair may have not fully identified all the defective output transistors, or may not have gotten the replacements fully installed correctly. IF the fans for that block are not working, then I would investigate the thermostat circuit for that block. You are correct about one amp into 4 ohm being quite loud.
Good Luck. As I continue to use mine I will note any future failures.
Good Luck. As I continue to use mine I will note any future failures.
I have Carvin bX 500 15N Combo and for the money you can't beat the pre the only amp thetas in is price range it the Genze Benze Contoure 500 there very reasonable. I paid under 500 for the Carvin and i just bought a 75 watt hartke HD 75 for 150 and its a great little amp for practices it sounds real nice
