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Power amp for a tube Preamp

shababy32

shababy32

May 2, 2015
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#1
Hello guys and gals. Been a while since I've posted anything on here. Mainly because I have had every bass, amp, and pedal stolen from me. Svt3 pro, Pf-50t, F.A.S. P-bass, and over 15 pedals. U cant cry over spilled milk though... Yes u can!

Here is my question. I'm looking for another amp and found a good deal on an ampeg tube preamp. What is the best type of power amp to use? I know that a tube preamp and a classD poweramp doesn't seem to have the warmth that an all tube amp or even a mosfet amp has. Granted, they might have made great strides in Class D amps recently. I just haven't been able to afford to look.
 
#4
Sorry to hear about the stolen gear.
I have an Ampeg SVP-CL Preamp in one rig and a SVT-IIP pre in another.

My CL is an earlier version and does not have a lot of output. You would want an amp with a .775 Volt sensitivity rating which you can get from a Peavey IPR, most models from Crest, many from QSC, and the new Crown XLS Drivecore series.
My current power amp for this rig as an Ampeg SVP 1500 and it has an input sensitivity rating of 1.5 Volt. The pre won't drive this thing anywhere near full power but any clean gain device makes it work wonderfully. I have used a dbx 160 or even an EH LPB1. If it were me I'd get an amp with the right sensitivity rating. In reality, it still gets plenty loud enough for rehearsal or gigs with a 2x15 cabinet.

My other pre drives a GK MBF800 through the effects return (just the power amp side). You have to run this from the pre's XLR out to get enough gain but it sounds awesome too.

I'm not so sure any of these Ampegs really had that much output so it is probably best to get an amp with .775 Volt sensitivity as most also will switch to either 1, 1.2, or 1.5 Volt for use with other applications.
 
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#6
BassmanPaul said:
Having lost three basses to theft I'd just like to say to the OP sorry for your loss.

My main amp is a 2000W capable Class D Stereo power amp driven by a tube pre-amp of my own design. It's as warm as you'd want it.
Click to expand...
I had a couple of amps with a class D poweramp. It seemed to me it was missing that warmth of a tube amp. Does that come from the preamp or the poweramp?
 
#8
You can plug that preamp into a FOH Console, a recording console, a computer interface, a powered cabinet, etc. and it will retain all it's tone. The tone is in the preamp.

All power amps sound the same. They are all neutral and flat. They'll take the preamp tone and make it louder.
There's no different sound in Class of a power amp. Class-ab or class-d no difference. They sound the same.
Look for features you want, warranty, reliability, power, price, dsp, size, weight, supported ohms (impedance). Any of the major brand amps in production are fine. Ignore the class, but your likely to find the best to happen to be a modern class-d.
 
#9
XLS_DriveCore_2_2002_Front_full_width.png

Crown XLS 2002
 
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