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NAD! SVT7 Pro (also comparing it to my Streamliner 900)

#62
actually, i think that the SVP-CL sounded better and closer to an SVT than the SVP-IIPro. at least that's comparing the two that i had, and they we running perfectly to factory spec with NOS USA tubes in them. the SVP-II sounded good, but it was really noisey (IMO it had way too much circuitry in it), and the SVP-CL's tone was better, but its low ouput wasn't all that friendly driving of power amps.
 
#64
johnk_10 said:
every once in a while a manufacturer gets every aspect of an amplifier just right
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Thanks for the great review, John. My G.A.S. pressure is now building to dangerous levels. I need to come up with some flimsy excuse to pay you a visit in person. We're practically neighbors. Hmmm...I have this vintage preamp that needs some work. :)

M. M.
 
#65
blowinblue said:
Thanks for the great review, John. My G.A.S. pressure is now building to dangerous levels. I need to come up with some flimsy excuse to pay you a visit in person. We're practically neighbors. Hmmm...I have this vintage preamp that needs some work. :)

M. M.
Click to expand...

sure, just give me a call and come on out. you know that you're always more than welcome neighbor! i don't think that the visit will be relieving any of you GAS pains though. ;)
IMO, the 7Pro is the bomb!
 
#66
pedulla1 said:
Excellent thread and thanks for your effort! My request is to hear comparisons through 10 inch speakers instead of 15's if possible. Great work! I suspect differences in tonal character will be more apparent.
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right now my only really good 10's cab is my Ampeg 810 with 4 original speakers and four mod50's ( i love that cab) but it's buried in my storage room since it hasn't been making it to very many gigs lately, so unless i can dig it out of there, that won't be happening soon, but i do have a couple of 210 cabs with eminence 2510's in them if you want to hear that.
 
#67
John, thanks for all the clips, especially the one with both amps having all the controls at noon. I definitely preferred the more neutral tone of the Ampeg - the GB's scooped voicing was a no-go for me when I demoed it. Makes me want to check one out - also makes me curious about the -8 pro, but I haven't seen anything on it in a long time, and I wonder what it would bring to the table to justify the substantial price jump. Have you had a chance to crank them to the limit? I'd like to know how they compare and behave as things approach the stupid levels where I generally reside.
 
#68
JGR said:
John, thanks for all the clips, especially the one with both amps having all the controls at noon. I definitely preferred the more neutral tone of the Ampeg - the GB's scooped voicing was a no-go for me when I demoed it. Makes me want to check one out - also makes me curious about the -8 pro, but I haven't seen anything on it in a long time, and I wonder what it would bring to the table to justify the substantial price jump. Have you had a chance to crank them to the limit? I'd like to know how they compare and behave as things approach the stupid levels where I generally reside.
Click to expand...

i was actually cranking the 7Pro today to levels way louder than i'd ever be able to a gigs (and i mean really stupid levels). i've cranked the streamliner like that too last week and they both sound awesome and 'behave' very well when they're that loud. i may be just an old rocker that digs high SPL bass tones, but i do like to see the limit of their output section to get an idea of what they are capable of.
 
#69
johnk_10 said:
i may be just an old rocker that digs high SPL bass tones, but i do like to see the limit of their output section to get an idea of what they are capable of.
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Cool, glad to know that - I've found that pushing things to the limit, besides just being fun, can also be telling of the overall design/quality, and often separates the men from the boys. And a big +1 for high volume bass tones! :)
 
#70
johnk_10 said:
right now my only really good 10's cab is my Ampeg 810 with 4 original speakers and four mod50's ( i love that cab) but it's buried in my storage room since it hasn't been making it to very many gigs lately, so unless i can dig it out of there, that won't be happening soon, but i do have a couple of 210 cabs with eminence 2510's in them if you want to hear that.
Click to expand...

In fact I play through two gk210 neos so that would be just fine. Thanks much.
 
#71
johnk_10 said:
believe it or not, i can actually see some players favoring the SVT7-Pro over an all tube vintage SVT or VR and i already much prefer it over an SVT CL. i say this because some people might want the clean tone of an SVT, only much louder, and this amp is more than capable of that. this amp is SUPER punchy and IMO, has 90% of the tone of my all tube SVT VR, if not more.

i actually prefer it over the SVP-CL and SVP II Pro preamps with my crown xti2000's.
QUOTE]

Now that is just plain disturbing (to my MI budget)
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#72
At the risk of outing myself as a tin-ear, I just listened to all those tracks with the different tubes, and as God as my witness, if you had told me the JJ was the Mullard, I'd have believed it. I listened on the comp but I have a pretty good set of AKG headphones. Just couldn't tell much of a difference in any of them. I know you guys heard differences so they must be real, but I've never been able to pick up on the differences and I still can't. Sorry.

:hiding:
 
#73
JimmyM said:
At the risk of outing myself as a tin-ear, I just listened to all those tracks with the different tubes, and as God as my witness, if you had told me the JJ was the Mullard, I'd have believed it. I listened on the comp but I have a pretty good set of AKG headphones. Just couldn't tell much of a difference in any of them. I know you guys heard differences so they must be real, but I've never been able to pick up on the differences and I still can't. Sorry.

:hiding:
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wow. really? you can't hear that the JJ is darker and a little muddy compared to the rest of them? i also thought that it was pretty obvious that the Mullard had more mids than any of them.
 
#74
You know what? I'll listen again when I'm not so fried from a long day at the gig, bro. I initially did think the JJ was muddier, but then I'd hear you do something on it that made me think that maybe the difference could be accounted for slightly different phrasing or accenting. Maybe I need to get right with my head before I try to listen again ;)
 
#76
OK, I had a little time to eat cookies and mellow out here and listen a little harder with less on my mind, and OK, I do hear some sort of difference with the Mullard and JJ. The RCA, BB and Philips I don't think I could tell blindfolded. There were times I thought the JJ was more muffled but other times in the riff that it didn't seem so muffled. Did seem to be lacking a little something overall, though. The Mullard does have some sort of thang to it, I'll give you that. A slight kick to it that gives it a little more presence.

OK, I admit that I heard differences in tubes finally, and I'm not just saying that to humor anyone ;) Subtle but I did hear it this time. Apparently most of my tube swaps have been more lateral moves like the other 3 NOS tubes you're using, so that may be why I never picked up on tonal changes with tubes before. And I can't say I've noticed much difference even when going from one of the less expensive NOS tubes to JJ's in my own amps, though I hear something hinky here. But there does some to be some differences between tubes at the lowest and highest ends of the price scale, for sure.
 
#77
i guess that i'm pretty picky since, for me, finding a tube that has more of what i like and less of what i don't, makes a big difference in how my amps 'feel' and respond to my playing. sometimes it's not just a tonal thing (dark/middy/bright etc), but also in it's attack/sustain envelope. what i have also found is that when i find one that does what i like, it works better with all of my different types of basses, and not just one of them.

...and surprisingly, i've also found that the NOS tubes made in the 50's-60's are incredibly consistent, where two RCA's will sound identical to each other, whereas the RI's just don't seem to be anywhere near as consistant. that said, i do generally like the tung sol RI 12AX7's quite a bit though.
 
#78
BTW, here's a few RTA charts of my Pro7 with the RCA in it.

the first one shows it with ALL of the tone controls set at 12:00 in BLUE, and adjusted as flat as i could get it in GREEN

Pro7-Blue_noon---_Green_adjusted_flat.jpg


here's how it looks with all of the controls at noon (again in BLUE) and with only the ultrahi switch clicken in ( in YELLOW)

Pro7-Blue_noon---_yellow_ultrahi.jpg


Again, the BLUE is at noon, and ORANGE is with only the ultralo clicked in.

Pro7-Blue_noon---_orange_ultralo.jpg


and here it is at noon (BLUE) with both the utrahi and ultralo switches (in TURQUIOSE) clicked in:

Pro7-Blue_noon---_turquoise_ultrahi-ultralo.jpg


tomorrow i'll take some pics of the front panel of the amp to show where the knobs are to get the flat setting, and the setting that i use with my dual 3015 cab (they are actually almost the same ;))
 
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#80
Hey Jimmy,
I've read that you don't hear the differences in tubes in at least 10 posts over the last two years; it's OK bro

John
Would the desert island amp be the SVT, 7 Pro, SL, or Urei / Crown if you had to pick just one (based on how you feel today)?
 

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