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Is there a market for small class D power amps?

#61
-Asdfgh- said:
I'd be happy if there were more small class D amps with effects loops as that allows you to to what you suggest. There are some small power amps out there, IIRC, not specifically targeted at bass, you might be able to use. People have added effects loops to the Vox MV50 range but I'm not sure of you are talking small physically or low power.
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As the amps get smaller, there is less space available to install such features.
 
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#63
paskisti said:
Maybe WD-800 is not the answer to this string. If one wants to promote Mesa, better one would be D-800. It's smaller and less features.
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amp.jpg
 
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#66
paskisti said:
Maybe WD-800 is not the answer to this string. If one wants to promote Mesa, better one would be D-800. It's smaller and less features.
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The D-350 would be a better choice due to the smaller form factor.
 
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#67
N. Kentucky Bass said:
That's pretty funny, but you don't have to resort to a fake photo to illustrate the concept of what we're going for here: a dirt simple, pedal-board-sized amplifier. Like Straight Ahead. Doesn't get any simpler than this!

View attachment 5312314
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The vented top cover will become a dangerous disaster on the floor as soon as any liquid is present. If there's not safety isolation between the power supply and the signal ground, if liquid enters the amp it could result in dangerous voltage to become present on the signal ground which is connected to the player's fingers through the bridge bonding path. This is the sort of thing that safety certified products address as part of the design and then testing for approval.
 
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#72
in my recent amp shopping, logic brought me to this idea as well. why are there no simple, high powered, reliable class D amps on the market?

obviously a lot of industry and engineering reasons - not to mention supply and demand..

but i think a huge part is how good most class D amps really are, and how small/convenient they are to begin with. if the complete amplifier fits in your gig bag, do we really need to reduce the size even smaller by removing the preamp - for a product with perhaps 5% the potential number of customers as the standard amp?

billy sheehan uses his hartke 800w class D heads only for the power section. he runs the helix with his preamp modeling right into the effects return.

that got me thinking about some of the awesome preamps out these days - the dicosimo acoustic replica is one example... i bet that would make a pretty cool rig bypassing the pre of any high powered class D head.
 
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#73
For some, the idea of integration is all good. If you can integrate different technologies, the result can only be smaller and better. Often this is true. But in some cases, individuals chose to reject a particular integration model because they prefer the result of doing their own "integration" by using separate physical devices. This is the driver for wanting a tiny, unobtrusive, powerful amplifier that fits on a pedal board and takes signal from a separate preamplifier. Yeah, sure, there are many small integrated pre/amp devices. I've owned several of them. I prefer the sound of my preamp and separate tiny power amp. It's not a religious thing. I just like the way it sounds!
 
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#74
N. Kentucky Bass said:
For some, the idea of integration is all good. If you can integrate different technologies, the result can only be smaller and better. Often this is true. But in some cases, individuals chose to reject a particular integration model because they prefer the result of doing their own "integration" by using separate physical devices. This is the driver for wanting a tiny, unobtrusive, powerful amplifier that fits on a pedal board and takes signal from a separate preamplifier. Yeah, sure, there are many small integrated pre/amp devices. I've owned several of them. I prefer the sound of my preamp and separate tiny power amp. It's not a religious thing. I just like the way it sounds!
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If it's about the sound, and an integrated amp that has a power amp input that bypasses what you don't like, how does that not work?
 
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#75
agedhorse said:
If it's about the sound, and an integrated amp that has a power amp input that bypasses what you don't like, how does that not work?
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I think that for a lot of people, buying an amp in order to use only the power section by bypassing the preamp is just against their religion. I figure they don't want to pay for a preamp circuit they're not going to use.

To these people:

#1. If it's for financial reasons, it's just not cheaper to produce a power amp than a full featured amp, even if it has less physical components, for numerous reasons that already have been explained extensively: economy of scale, cost of R&D and certification… The market is too small.

2. If it's for pratical reasons, the preamp components in a integrated amp are so small that removing the preamp circuit would probably make no significant difference in terms of size and weight of the unit.
 
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#77
agedhorse said:
If it's about the sound, and an integrated amp that has a power amp input that bypasses what you don't like, how does that not work?
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because it feels wrong from a logical (or illogical :thumbsup:) point of view to pay for, and carry around, the preamp when you'll not be using it.

as far as "pay for," im sure a mass produced complete amplifier will still be cheaper than a special "class D power only" unit...

p.s., how does one know if they can or cannot bypass the preamp on a particular amp?
 
#78
gtirard said:
I think that for a lot of people, buying an amp in order to use only the power section by bypassing the preamp is just against their religion. I figure they don't want to pay for a preamp circuit they're not going to use.
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Maybe I'm an outlier here, but the only reason I really want a dedicated power amp is for something that's nestled into a really efficient cab. No knobs, just a power switch and a 1/4" input (with a passive/bypass option... cause it seems prudent). If there was a powered Mesa or Bergantino 112 or 210 cab released this year, I'd probably sell off most of my other cabs in short order to buy one. I would very much prefer something like that over a powered QSC k12 or similar.

Editing this to add... this is not a must have or a need... just something that would be nice to own. Honestly if one never appeared, my quality of life would not change one way or another. The sun will shine just as bright, the sky will be just as blue, and my tone will still be good.
 
#80
gtirard said:
Jule Simone 500 is pedalboard friendly

View attachment 5353985

but not cheap
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Perfect example of a pig of a device sitting on a pedalboard. The Simone is 7.25 x 7.25 x 2.5 inches. The Nano+ is just five inches tall so the Simone would stick out two inches in the air -- before plugging in connector cables.

The power amp I'm using fits the Nano+ perfectly.
 

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