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**New SWR headlite™ Mini-Amp**

#181
I made the mistake of borrowing a friend's Headlite for a few gigs while my Bass 750 was in the shop. Not a mistake as in it was a bad amp, a mistake as in now the guys that load the band trailer keep asking me "so when ya gonna get that small amp so we can quit toting this heavy SOB?"

So I may just have to buy the Headlite. It's such a great amp anyways, hehe. Probably gonna get a Golight Jr. and Golight 1x15 to go with it.
 
#182
i have the headlite with the golight jr and the golight 115. its unbeliveable loud for an amp that is smaller than a wheat thins box.

i have had many rigs. this one has been by far my fav. portability and tone. just an all around great setup.

I used to lug around a svt4pro with a rack korg tuner and 2 bxt 410 hlf cabs. what a pain in the back. lol. that was probably the only other setup i had that i liked as much as my headlite and golight cabs.
 
#183
DWBass said:
Just wondering why they stopped at 400w instead of the standard 500w micro-head configs??
Click to expand...

If they made the amplite 500 watts, I would buy one and plug my VT Deluxe in and use that as my rig amplification. Wish some company would make just a mono 500 watt lightweight power amp and reasonably priced. With My VT Deluxe it's all the preamp I need.
 
#184
just got my headlite yesterday, ran it thru its paces, and still puts a smile on my face. easily one of the better ultralite amps i've played in a long long long time. swr did their homework.

but again, like i said my previous post, the build quality does seem a touch iffy. i.e. the knobs just arent as solid as i'd like. course, when you're used to the tactile, jet fighter like knobs and switches of my LA610, most other switches will feel like utter crap. and again, the power plug socket just felt a touch loose. small niggle yes, but also annoying yes.

other than that, still a terrific amp, and worth the dough over the amps i've owned and played.
 
#185
I'm pretty sold on the Headlite and will go pick one up by the end of the month, but I have to say I am really surprised at how there is NO variance in price, ANYWHERE on this amp.

SWR gear used to vary a little from place to place. But now, I just see $699.99 for it everywhere. What gives? Guitar Center doesn't carry them anymore (not that I am dying to throw money at them) but they used to be good to help work the price down with other dealers. Has anyone found a better listed price than $699.99 online or in stores? Has SWR become like Mesa where they now require their dealers to sell at a specific price with no discount from list?
 
#186
bass4u said:
If they made the amplite 500 watts, I would buy one and plug my VT Deluxe in and use that as my rig amplification. Wish some company would make just a mono 500 watt lightweight power amp and reasonably priced. With My VT Deluxe it's all the preamp I need.
Click to expand...

I see this sentiment in various threads, and as a techie, I'm a bit mystified.

The difference in loudness between 400 and 500 watts is what, about 1 dB? A few reasons why a difference of that size is barely worth mentioning:

1. You have to double your wattage just to get 3dB. So if 400 watts isn't loud enough, another hundred watts isn't going to cut it. At that point, you need to be shopping for an amp in the 900-1200 watt class. (side note- if you're actually using much over 500 watts continous, you'll need some pretty serious cabs to handle it...)

2. Slight differences in midrange voicing can make 400 watts from brand A sound significantly louder than 500 or even 600 watts from brand B.

3. Ditto for differences in power supply design. Amps with exactly the same continous power rating can sound and feel significantly different, depending on how much short-term headroom they have.

4. Not to mention that companies vary so widely in how they measure output. Example: the "300 watt" Eden WTX260...
 
#187
steve_rolfeca said:
4. Not to mention that companies vary so widely in how they measure output. Example: the "300 watt" Eden WTX260...
Click to expand...

In a email exchange years ago, a tech from Ashdown told me that they, and "many other" manufacturers measure the amp output RMS value with a continous 1kHz sine wave.

Uhh, thanks? We are measuring for bass amps here guys, not guitar or p.a.s.. Hopefully they aren't measuring on a C weighted curve. That would only inflate their readings more....
 
#188
ToeJam76 said:
I'm pretty sold on the Headlite and will go pick one up by the end of the month, but I have to say I am really surprised at how there is NO variance in price, ANYWHERE on this amp.

SWR gear used to vary a little from place to place. But now, I just see $699.99 for it everywhere. What gives? Guitar Center doesn't carry them anymore (not that I am dying to throw money at them) but they used to be good to help work the price down with other dealers. Has anyone found a better listed price than $699.99 online or in stores? Has SWR become like Mesa where they now require their dealers to sell at a specific price with no discount from list?
Click to expand...

I was able to pick mine up for $600. I made an offer for $575 on ebay and they countered with 6, then my local store matched the $600 counter-offer.

Love this little amp more every time I pull it out of bag :hyper:
 
#189
If you find a dealer, they have some leway. I have gotten incredible deals on brand new fresh off the press SWR Gear.

I purchased the MM Preamp as well as one each of all the Golight Cabs and got just fabulous deals.
 
#190
steve_rolfeca said:
I see this sentiment in various threads, and as a techie, I'm a bit mystified.

The difference in loudness between 400 and 500 watts is what, about 1 dB? A few reasons why a difference of that size is barely worth mentioning:

1. You have to double your wattage just to get 3dB. So if 400 watts isn't loud enough, another hundred watts isn't going to cut it. At that point, you need to be shopping for an amp in the 900-1200 watt class. (side note- if you're actually using much over 500 watts continous, you'll need some pretty serious cabs to handle it...)

2. Slight differences in midrange voicing can make 400 watts from brand A sound significantly louder than 500 or even 600 watts from brand B.

3. Ditto for differences in power supply design. Amps with exactly the same continous power rating can sound and feel significantly different, depending on how much short-term headroom they have.

4. Not to mention that companies vary so widely in how they measure output. Example: the "300 watt" Eden WTX260...
Click to expand...

My thing is not so much the power but the higher price point with 100w less as compared to the 'others'! Hell, I'm still trying to figure out why the Littlemark 250 costs more than a GK MB500 or Carvin BX500!
 
#192
bass4u said:
If they made the amplite 500 watts, I would buy one and plug my VT Deluxe in and use that as my rig amplification. Wish some company would make just a mono 500 watt lightweight power amp and reasonably priced. With My VT Deluxe it's all the preamp I need.
Click to expand...

honestly, you really dont need that extra 100 watts. 400 watts is aplenty for most anyone's needs. and the amp runs cooler, which is always a good thing.
 
#193
jokerjkny said:
honestly, you really dont need that extra 100 watts. 400 watts is aplenty for most anyone's needs. and the amp runs cooler, which is always a good thing.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I believe I remember reading in a Bass Gear Magazine review of the LMII that the actual output was well under the published specs, and the top end compressed before running out of power.

If the Headlight uses its 400 watts efficiently, that should be a good amount of power. Especially if its matched with the right speaker box.
 
#194
B String said:
Agreed. I believe I remember reading in a Bass Gear Magazine review of the LMII that the actual output was well under the published specs, and the top end compressed before running out of power.
Click to expand...

Actually, we rated the LMII at 406 watts into a 4-ohm load, which actually is not too far off, (Markbass calls it 500 watts). But, it is worth noting that back in issue #1 (when the LMII was reviewed), we used a rigid target THD of 1% for solid state heads. We have since revised our testing to indicate max power without a rigid THD constraint (though we do report the measured THD at max output). What this means is that if we were to retest the LMII (and we will publish retests of most if not all of our issue #1 and #2 amps in a future issue), it would likely rate out a tad higher.

Sorry for going OT, there...

Tom.
 
#196
B String said:
(...)

If the Headlight uses its 400 watts efficiently, that should be a good amount of power. Especially if its matched with the right speaker box.
Click to expand...

from what i can tell, doesnt seem INefficient at all. plenty of power for a piano pop womans. heck, even made even last nite rehearsal space's craptastic hartke cab sound rather decent. better than the equally craptastic ampeg ss head that's normally there.

if anything, despite all the new mini, ultra, super, feather weight amps that have already hit the market, this one is the only one that i've been actually excited about.

on a totally ironic note, i'm about to gripe about another thing...

...kinda wish the headlite had were at least "two" speaker outputs. and tied to that, why cant the speakon be one of those dual 1/4"/speakon jobbies, i.e. the GK mb head?

but other than that, love the head! ;)
 
#197
tombowlus said:
Actually, we rated the LMII at 406 watts into a 4-ohm load, which actually is not too far off, (Markbass calls it 500 watts). But, it is worth noting that back in issue #1 (when the LMII was reviewed), we used a rigid target THD of 1% for solid state heads. We have since revised our testing to indicate max power without a rigid THD constraint (though we do report the measured THD at max output). What this means is that if we were to retest the LMII (and we will publish retests of most if not all of our issue #1 and #2 amps in a future issue), it would likely rate out a tad higher.

Sorry for going OT, there...

Tom.
Click to expand...

review on the headlite soon? or did i miss the boat yet again?
 
#200
tombowlus said:
Actually, we rated the LMII at 406 watts into a 4-ohm load, which actually is not too far off, (Markbass calls it 500 watts). But, it is worth noting that back in issue #1 (when the LMII was reviewed), we used a rigid target THD of 1% for solid state heads. We have since revised our testing to indicate max power without a rigid THD constraint (though we do report the measured THD at max output). What this means is that if we were to retest the LMII (and we will publish retests of most if not all of our issue #1 and #2 amps in a future issue), it would likely rate out a tad higher.

Sorry for going OT, there...

Tom.
Click to expand...

OOPS! I really have to stop doing "relaxation inducers" at the end of long days, then throwing my opinions out there. Sorry for the bad info.

I thought I remembered it correctly but apparently it was the opposite of what I remembered. Its Genz that over rates the gear. That said, I'm really enjoying my 9.0.

Again, I've been very impressed with the Headlight, considering its size and power rating. My main gripe with it is that its so hard to see the controls, (especially the mid sweep controls) on stage.
 

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