Peavey Amps Club

[Warwick Qc418]

So here is a little review after first use with the band... This amp is a beast...

We play Tool like music, I like to have some distortion in my sound. I only have active basses and mainly play my Spector Euro 5 and Fearful 1212/6 with this band.

Gain/preamp:
This is not really a 2 channel amp, it is more like a 2 input gain amp. I cannot switch channels during a song because there is other adjustment that needs to be done with the eq or volume to make it sound good. The pad button is -15db which is a lot. The input of this amp is very sensitive and I think it is going to permit to have some preamp grit with a passive bass on the clean channel. The -15db pad permits to have better control over the overdrive channel which gets easily out of hand. For me the Compressor is unusable without the -15db pad because it is very sensitive.
The mid control is cut only with frequency selection. I don't cut the mid so the knob is always maxed.

Graphic eq:
The graphic eq is very useful but has unusual frequency points. It goes from 30hz to 3.2khz so you have to check the frequency and know what you are doing. The smiley face won't work. Even flat the graphic eq adds some warmth to the sound. It is tube driven. It will also help a lot to overdrive the power amp section when boosted.

Sound:
The Clean channel is very warm and tubey (of course). The overdrive channel has a very nice grain a lot like Guitar distortion for bass. It complements heavy guitars very well and closes the gaps between bass and guitar.

I love that amp and the band loved it too.

 

[SickAura]

Hey fellow Peavey fans....anyone here given the PVH 1516 an extended try out?

Did some comprehensive searching and there's not much info. I have sentimental GAS for this cab and have a line on one new at a great price. If it was 4 ohms I would own it already.

In store it sounded great with a variety of heads and I actually preferred it up against a Subway 210/112 stack.

Would love to hear other opinions or thoughts

 

[tom dicus]

Hey fellow Peavey fans....anyone here given the PVH 1516 an extended try out?

Did some comprehensive searching and there's not much info. I have sentimental GAS for this cab and have a line on one new at a great price. If it was 4 ohms I would own it already.

In store it sounded great with a variety of heads and I actually preferred it up against a Subway 210/112 stack.

Would love to hear other opinions or thoughts

My PVH is a 4ohm. It sounds perfect with my SVT 7PRO and P bass. Very low, very high, lots of punch. Depends what you want.

 

[SickAura]

My PVH is a 4ohm. It sounds perfect with my SVT 7PRO and P bass. Very low, very high, lots of punch. Depends what you want.

Which PVH do you have? The ~2016 PVH 1516 is definitely 8 ohms. The old 1516 was 4 ohms

 

[StereoPlayer]

I gave this amp head to my nephew 4 years ago. I recently re-acquired it.
It was missing the footswitch. I’ve been searching for it online and finally found one. Fairly cheap too!
It has a weird 6 pin plug. I bought two of these heads in 1978...this is actually one of them.
No pic of the footswitch.

 

[tom dicus]

Which PVH do you have? The ~2016 PVH 1516 is definitely 8 ohms. The old 1516 was 4 ohms

Mine is a USA built in the 80's. Sorry, I had no idea they were building them again.

 

[SickAura]

Mine is a USA built in the 80's. Sorry, I had no idea they were building them again.

I still have my 80's 1516 too, though I hot-rodded it with a 4 ohm Eminence 3015 LF and 2 Faital Pro 8FE200’s then ported and tuned the cab to 49 Hz. Sounds absolutely killer now. You can check it out here if you have any interest:

Peavey Reclamation Project – Need advice + Lots of Pics

I don't need the new PVH 1516 - but I look at it as a modern classic - and you can't beat the price

 

[slapshot]

Can I get a number, please.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I gave this amp head to my nephew 4 years ago. I recently re-acquired it.
It was missing the footswitch. I’ve been searching for it online and finally found one. Fairly cheap too!
It has a weird 6 pin plug. I bought two of these heads in 1978...this is actually one of them.
No pic of the footswitch.
View attachment 3391305

Found the picture of the day I bought these in 1978.

 

[SickAura]

Unfortunately Peavey gear has become a bit of a rarity around Toronto.
So I figured I'd probably never see one of these again and would kick myself if someone else scooped it up at 30% off already great pricing.

So....YEAH!!!

Shortly it will be put up against my old 1516 and a Mesa 112/115....

 

[Five String]

Unfortunately Peavey gear has become a bit of a rarity around Toronto.
So I figured I'd probably never see one of these again and would kick myself if someone else scooped it up at 30% off already great pricing.

So....YEAH!!!

View attachment 3393158


Shortly it will be put up against my old 1516 and a Mesa 112/115....

View attachment 3393163

I played through an old 1516 for years and it was fantastic. Interested to hear whether the new ones are better/worse/different.

 

[SickAura]

I played through an old 1516 for years and it was fantastic. Interested to hear whether the new ones are better/worse/different.

First impressions at home/solo....TLDR version....the marketing material descriptions for the new 1516 are pretty accurate. If you like what they say and are looking for a single cab solution...then this cab should be on your consideration list

Long version...
I found the cabinet to have very good clarity and richness to its tone and is very responsive to playing dynamics. The lows are deep enough and the overall sound is full but yet tight.
At home, I slightly preferred setting #2 which has a slight mid-scoop vs setting #1 which is more mid-present. Both sound good though and I can see having these options as a huge benefit
It can handle power without farting out and seems to be very solidly built - and I hit it HARD with both volume and playing dynamics that would reveal any weaknesses - the cab didn't even break a sweat. My house did though!
It did seem to very slightly breakup in a very pleasing way during that part of the test that put a smile on my face

Up against my old 1516 - it's not a true new vs old comparison as I completely hot-rodded and retuned that cab with a 3015 and Faital 8s.
However, the new PVH 1516 was a little darker and had a little less clarity. It did have a richness to its tone as mentioned above and a slight edginess that seems better suited for Rock vs the extreme clarity of the 3015/Faital combo.

Up against the Subway 115 there was really no comparison.
They had similar output and the Subway had deeper lows but sounded nasally and congested throughout the mids in comparison.
The Subway 115 gets huge praise here on TB - but the 8s on the 1516 just open things up and provide a true full range of tone and clarity the single SW115 can't match. Perhaps it's not a fair fight...but at 1/2 the cost I know which cab I would choose if I could only choose one.

The real test starts on Thursday at Band practice - with my bar friendly Rock band - where the PVH1516 will go up against the SW112/115 stack in a band setting. As per above, I find the SW115 really needs the SW112 to round out its tone and open things up. It's a great combo that is going to be very hard for the 1516 to beat.

Then another test on Monday with my Metal band - which is the main reason I bought this cab. We will see if it can sound great while cutting through a loud and dense mix....2 guitars, keyboards, 2 singers, loud drummer....more to come!

 

[murph7489]

I have been thinking about getting an Eden cab to replace or add to my Trace Elliot 1518 cab..I think the 15 inch speaker is great but doesn't give me enough clarity...a little muddy. So I have been looking at Eden because well, Phil Lesh uses them..must be good right?. thinking about maybe a 2/10 xst..and either go with that alone or add it to my 1518, but I think there maybe a ohms issue there...my TE cab is 8 ohms and I think the eden is 4...so not gonna work together..sigh...

With all that said, the Peavey cab is an interesting thought...might be what I'm looking for....it will match well with my mini max I'm assuming..something to think about

 

[Thundar]

First impressions at home/solo....TLDR version....the marketing material descriptions for the new 1516 are pretty accurate. If you like what they say and are looking for a single cab solution...then this cab should be on your consideration list

Long version...
I found the cabinet to have very good clarity and richness to its tone and is very responsive to playing dynamics. The lows are deep enough and the overall sound is full but yet tight.
At home, I slightly preferred setting #2 which has a slight mid-scoop vs setting #1 which is more mid-present. Both sound good though and I can see having these options as a huge benefit
It can handle power without farting out and seems to be very solidly built - and I hit it HARD with both volume and playing dynamics that would reveal any weaknesses - the cab didn't even break a sweat. My house did though!
It did seem to very slightly breakup in a very pleasing way during that part of the test that put a smile on my face

Up against my old 1516 - it's not a true new vs old comparison as I completely hot-rodded and retuned that cab with a 3015 and Faital 8s.
However, the new PVH 1516 was a little darker and had a little less clarity. It did have a richness to its tone as mentioned above and a slight edginess that seems better suited for Rock vs the extreme clarity of the 3015/Faital combo.

Up against the Subway 115 there was really no comparison.
They had similar output and the Subway had deeper lows but sounded nasally and congested throughout the mids in comparison.
The Subway 115 gets huge praise here on TB - but the 8s on the 1516 just open things up and provide a true full range of tone and clarity the single SW115 can't match. Perhaps it's not a fair fight...but at 1/2 the cost I know which cab I would choose if I could only choose one.

The real test starts on Thursday at Band practice - with my bar friendly Rock band - where the PVH1516 will go up against the SW112/115 stack in a band setting. As per above, I find the SW115 really needs the SW112 to round out its tone and open things up. It's a great combo that is going to be very hard for the 1516 to beat.

Then another test on Monday with my Metal band - which is the main reason I bought this cab. We will see if it can sound great while cutting through a loud and dense mix....2 guitars, keyboards, 2 singers, loud drummer....more to come!

Thanks for the review! I have really been wondering about these new 1516 cabs. So...two of these new Peavey's with my MiniMega might shake some booty?

 

[Warwick Qc418]

Up against my old 1516 - it's not a true new vs old comparison as I completely hot-rodded and retuned that cab with a 3015 and Faital 8s.
However, the new PVH 1516 was a little darker and had a little less clarity. It did have a richness to its tone as mentioned above and a slight edginess that seems better suited for Rock vs the extreme clarity of the 3015/Faital combo.

Do you have documentation on your retuned old 1516? It seems like a very interesting project, would you care to elaborate on this?

 

[SickAura]

Do you have documentation on your retuned old 1516? It seems like a very interesting project, would you care to elaborate on this?

Sure thing - I created a couple of threads to get advice and track my progress.

General discussion and pics of changes
Peavey Reclamation Project – Need advice + Lots of Pics

More technical discussion with winISD charts etc.
Though I ended up with 2 Faital Pro 8FE200's vs the Alpha8's that were modelled:
Please help me upgrade my drivers and tune my cab

 

[SickAura]

The more I play this cab the more I like it....

With the Quilter it cuts through a dense and loud 6pc Metal mix and remains punchy and thick.

It has a really nice little breakup when pushed with power. Not too much. Just a bit of hair. A really great sounding cab for Rock/Hard Rock.

With the Carbine vs the Subway 112/115 stack in a standard 4 pc Rock mix it completely held its own.
I honestly don't know which one I prefer. No joke

The Subway stack was maybe a little more refined and articulate vs the PVH being a little more raw, loose and open - but still tight
Like I said above....just great for rock n' roll.

I believe the PVH is crossed over at 300Hz and I was honestly a little concerned about that having had a couple of fEARful/Nearful cabs that were crossed at 800 - and the old 1516 is crossed at 600.

Could the 8's handle the power and sound good?

Well in the mix it sounds full and even across the spectrum.
Playing up the neck on the D/G strings sounds very rich while popping out vs being buried or thin.

As a 1 cab solution @BbbyBld and the team at Peavey really got this right IMO
More TB'ers should try these
At 25% the cost of that Subway stack you really can't go wrong

 

[SickAura]

Oh yeah....I know people were concerned about the weight of these cabs....but here's how I see it...

It's on casters so weight only becomes and issue putting it in and out of the car/truck or when there are stairs.

It's a 75lbs one cab solution Vs the Subway stack which is a 71lbs two cab haul (38lbs + 33lbs)

So would you rather go up the stairs once with 75lbs or 2x with 38lbs?

Only you can make that call...for me 1 cancels out the other

 

[bigtone23]

Just wanted to pop in and share my Peavey amps.
1978 Century 200 head. Used quite often--it's my main amp for a CAN tribute. I really wish someone with electronic savvy could make that distortion circuit into a pedal. It's the best!
1990 X115 cab with Scorpion Plus. Classic cab, big sound.
1982 Special 130. I know it's a "guitar" amp, but perched on top of my TL806 cab loaded with a Delta Pro 12A and you have one hard hitting 2x12" Bass VI amp. TBH, the Special 130 is not that different from the passive channel of the same era Centurions.

 

[LennyJ]

Just picked up a mint old Peavey Century 120 amp like I used to have.

Picks to follow.