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

[JimmyM]

Tried it again with the volume knob turned up all the way. Still had to turn the gain to at least 4 o'clock to get the clip light on.

When I maxed the Stingray's bass and treble settings, the light came on at the 2 o'clock gain setting.

I know Stingray pickups have a very low resistance. Mine measure only 1.8 K ohms. Looks like the bass doesn't have a very hot output until the preamp is pushed.

In the whole scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. The amp sounds fantastic - especially with a Vintage-Blue B15 cab.

+1 for Vintage Blue! And +1 for having the right attitude. It's kind of cool to push the preamp but I think there's better ways of getting overdrive if you want it, especially on a gig.

 

[jumbodbassman]

Stingray IIRC is a parallel pup so it is not a very hot pup without the preamp cranked. my active basses about 1-2 and passive about 3-4 before the gain is pinned with some exceptions within those categories (such as dimarzio pups, or SD 3 or even a p versus a j bass

 

[johnk_10]

+1 for Vintage Blue! And +1 for having the right attitude. It's kind of cool to push the preamp but I think there's better ways of getting overdrive if you want it, especially on a gig.

+1!!!
now that I've had mine for quite a while, I just use a pedal if I want overdrive. IMO, the 7 pro is not really designed to be dirty.

 

[JP Morin]

Looks like you are correct. I just did a simple hearing test and found my hearing starts to fade at 14khz and by 16khz I cannot hear it.
Hearing Test - high frequency sounds measure hearing loss

be sure your headphone can reproduce well up to 22khz !!! (necroquote...)

Thanks for this thread John... but too much of reading... Does some of you had tested the 7 pro with the groove tube that ampeg used in their units ?? I liked the drive and opened sound I got from them in my SVT3 and 4 pro I had... I found the JJ's to be on the verge of the mudd a bit in mine and I would like to try if that can open my sound a bit. I found the RCA and amperex interresting from your tests... thanks !

 

[JimmyM]

Weird thing about the JJ tubes...I didn't like it as much in John's 7 Pro test, but they're killing in my Heritage SVT-CL. I had planned to do some tube rolling, but I'm just going to leave them until they fizzle out.

I think I'm done with NOS tubes. When run of the mill RCA gray plates cost $50, that's the time to make peace with the new tubes Got a couple old ones left and when they're gone, I'm just going to buy new from now on. Probably will try Tung Sols. Heard a lot of good about them for pre tubes.

 

[greggster59]

I put a new Mullard 12AX7 in my 7PRO and it made the tone beefier and easier to overdrive than the stock tube.

 

[JP Morin]

Thanks for the answers !! I guess I'll have to buy some and test them RCAs and groove tube... Groove tube cost 10$, no hassle here, but the RCA cost around 60$ on e-bay... expansive for a test but they may stay inside !!

The mullard sounds interresting too... I heard better less muddy lows from the John's tests, but I prefered the more opened top end of RCA and Amperex tube...

I must say the input of the SVT7 is way hotter than on my previous SVT4 and 3, I ran them with gain around 2 o'clock and 3 o'clock. I can barely pass the 12 - 1 o'clock area with the SVT7 without the lows beginning to be muddy. It is really hotter. I would prefer the top end crunchier without the lows being muddy... (eq set flat, but a little low mid cut, mid selector in the first position, to compensate for the heavy mid bump from my classic ampeg 6x10 hlf cab.) Would a different tube would help me doing that ? From the John's experimentation I would guess it would be possible !!

 

[JimmyM]

It might.

 

[JP Morin]

Have tried a JJ, Groove tube and electro harmonic so far in my SVT7... For now the GT will stay in...

Compared to the JJ, the GT has less gain, but the lows are cleaner, the top end and mids were more opened nicer to my hears, I was able to get a nice grit on the top with non farting lows. I found the SVT4 and SVT3-PRO character I had before in that tube...

I disliked the electro harmonics, it is not for me. I found it scooped the sound, with less clean more farting lows, may it was the tube but it also brang a kind of buzz in the bass when starting to overdrive...

I would have never thought a single tube would have make as much difference in the sound of an amp !! I feel like I just started a quest...

I can get a tung sol, a mesa boogie and a PM tube around home too... If you have tried, please what do you think of these tubes ??

thanks a lot !!

 

[JimmyM]

I've not tried any of them, but next tubes I'm going to try are going to be the Tung Sols. They come highly recommended by JGR, who builds his own preamps and does a lot of experimentation.

Did my own tube rolling in my Heritage SVT-CL today, BTW. Had a JJ, a Japanese Raytheon (actually 3 but they all sounded the same), a GE 12ax7/7025, a Ruby, and a no-name 7025. The JJ, Ruby and GE all sounded very similar while the Raytheon and the no-name had an ever so slight increase in treble. I put the Raytheons in V1 and V2 just because I paid almost $30 each, but I really shouldn't have bothered, I was so underwhelmed by the difference.

 

[JP Morin]

I was thinking, may be the difference could be bigger in the SVT7 because it has just on tube, compared to a multi tube SVT-CL. Could many tubes to even the sound and make different brand to sound more similar ?

I'll let you know when I try the tung sol, the store that keep it just told me they were suposed to get them by the middle of next week... but that could mean by next month sometimes in these little shop !!! I don't think I'll try the Mesa, but I've been told the PM was pretty high gain... I'll may give it a try !

 

[johnk_10]

I've used the tung-sol RI's in marshall jcm800's and JMP's in for service and they sounded great (they're probably my fave RI 12AX7), but haven't tried one in my SVT-VR or SVT7-pro yet.

 

[JimmyM]

It's possible, but Johnk has an SVT-VR with NOS tubes in the preamp and he says he can hear the improvement from the stock Sovteks. Me, I have no clue...I can only tell you what I heard, and all I heard was slightly increased brightness.

 

[johnk_10]

weird thing. after being super reliable for over a year without a single hiccup, my 7Pro just let out a super loud POP and is now completely dead. I checked the fuse, and it's still good. I popped the top off and can't see a thing (like what burnt up). since it's mostly SMD, I guess it'll have to go back to ampeg to see what happened to it. bummer. I wanted to use it at this Sunday's gig.

 

[arai]

Damn

 

[MultiScaleMale]

It's possible, but Johnk has an SVT-VR with NOS tubes in the preamp and he says he can hear the improvement from the stock Sovteks. Me, I have no clue...I can only tell you what I heard, and all I heard was slightly increased brightness.

Did you conduct a double blind test in a controlled environment? Heh.

 

[nutdog]

weird thing. after being super reliable for over a year without a single hiccup, my 7Pro just let out a super loud POP and is now completely dead. I checked the fuse, and it's still good. I popped the top off and can't see a thing (like what burnt up). since it's mostly SMD, I guess it'll have to go back to ampeg to see what happened to it. bummer. I wanted to use it at this Sunday's gig.

Bummer. Too bad you don't have any other decent amps for backup.

 

[Tunaman]

weird thing. after being super reliable for over a year without a single hiccup, my 7Pro just let out a super loud POP and is now completely dead. I checked the fuse, and it's still good. I popped the top off and can't see a thing (like what burnt up). since it's mostly SMD, I guess it'll have to go back to ampeg to see what happened to it. bummer. I wanted to use it at this Sunday's gig.

Streamliner > 7pro ... its official !

 

[johnk_10]

my guess is that it has something to do with the switch mode power supply.

 

[Jim C]

weird thing. after being super reliable for over a year without a single hiccup, my 7Pro just let out a super loud POP and is now completely dead. I checked the fuse, and it's still good. I popped the top off and can't see a thing (like what burnt up). since it's mostly SMD, I guess it'll have to go back to ampeg to see what happened to it. bummer. I wanted to use it at this Sunday's gig.

Why don't you just drive a steak knife through my heart?

I had convinced myself that the Rev C's were good to go and bought a used one.
Love the amp; not one disappointment in tone or power.
Haven't bothered to roll tubes (and I have plenty to try) as the stocker sounds fine.
Even the built in compressor was good enough to rack the thing in a 2 space rack even though I have spare dbx compressors and a 3 space rack.

In hind sight maybe I should have bought new or settled for an amp that has better reliability. Fingers crossed that mine will stay working.

I have NEVER had an amp die after 100's of gigs and probably 15 different amps over 35 years.