Daniel Elliott said:
The prices I quoted are list prices. GK street prices are lower as well.
No question that a stereo power amp has all kinds of versatility, but the question was weight and portability. In that case, the GK rig is half the size, half the weight a simpler setup, and much easier to transport as well as close to half the cost (list price). The Neo 212 is an 8 ohm cabinet, so you are correct that you would be getting 460 watts from the 1001RB-II. We haven't decided yet if we are going to make it available as a 4 ohm. For most situations, 460 watts is plenty. There are situations where you need more, so add a second 8 ohm cabinet. Even then, the size and weight factor are still manageable.
Your cabinet handles 500 watts. If you're running 1600 watts into it, you're running the risk of burning out your voice coils. Ideally, you should only be using one channel of the amp with your cabinet. But, if you're running two 4 ohm cabinets and have the amp set in stereo mode, you are only getting 1000 watts from the amp. (still plenty of power btw) not 1600 watts.
The GK Neo 412 would be a good cabinet to run with your rack. It handles 1200 watts, weighs about the same as your Ampeg SVT410 and is about the size and shape of a 610 cabinet. I'm also discussing with Bob G about the possibility of coming out with a Neo 410 which would also be 1200 watts and slightly smaller than our RBH cabinet.
We'll have a whole new website up in a couple of weeks. All of the neo stuff will be up then. The cabinets start shipping at the end of June roughly. I'm having photos done as we speak.
I'm not sure about other bass amp manufacturers, but GK amps are overengineered in the same way that QSC amps are. I don't know if the QSC is a high current amp, Bob Lee could tell you, but the GK amp is the only high current instrument amp on the market as far as I'm aware. Most PA amps are not.
Here's a bit of GK trivia for you. Did you know that Bob Gallien designed a lot of the high end Harmon/Kardon equipment?
I understand your points and agree with some. However,
Listing list prices does nothing but confuse people on how much they would actually be paying. In all actuality my rig costs about $1365. The 1001RB retails for $800 + the cab (which I have no idea what the retail is on that)
Again, I never once recommended the Ampeg SVT-410HLF for this person to use. Even I in my previous posts complained of the weight and how I myself was going to replace it with a lighter cab(s). So lets not act like I am suggesting the Ampeg for kaz. I think that Neo GK would be a great cab, I just cant find any info on it like retail price.
I never said in "stereo" mode you would get 1600 watts with two 4 ohm cabs. What I said was that you can run the amp bridged mono to get 1600 watts and then add two 8 ohm cabs which would essentially put 800 watts into each cab.
Also my weight of 37-40 lbs includes a rack tuner as well. If he doesnt add a rack tuner and uses a 3 space rack instead of a 4 space rack the weight would be around 30-32 lbs. Im sorry but I will 'hump' and extra 12-14 lbs to get the versatility.
Speaking of, the 1600 watts doesnt have to be put into one cab. You can take (2) 8 ohm cabs and daisy chain them and then run the 1600 watts from the amp which in turn would put 800 watts into each 8 ohm cab. Or if you have a power hungry single cab like an Acme, Berg, etc. you can push all 1600 watts into it if need be. Have a low wattage single 8 ohm cab? No problem. Run it in stereo/parallel mode and you will get 300 watts. So we are talking about an amp that can push out (1) 300 watt source, (2) 300 watt sources, (1) 500 watt source, (2) 500 watt sources, (2) 800 watt sources, (1) 1100 watt source, or (1) 1600 watt source. And it only weighs about 12-14 lbs more. Plus if you ever dont like how the amp sounds, you can just change out the preamp and keep the power amp, no need to change the entire head out.
Another thing that shys me away from GK amps are all the stories I read here about how they burn up and break down all the time. Granted these people are probably a small percentage compared to overall sales, however I have not seen one story about a QSC PLX amp blowing up.
I dont run 1600 watts into my Ampeg cab. I run one side stereo which is 500 watts. However if I did run all 1600 watts it would only be a problem if I had the power amp gain knob on '10'. The amp will put out 1600 watts with the channels bridged, the cab impedence being 4 ohms and, and the gain/volume knob maxed out. The advantage you have by running bridged mono and not turning the amp up all the way is that you gain tons of headroom and a less likely hood of clipping.
Where I agree with you is that the head/cab package you are recommending is a simpler package. You only connect one cable from the head to the cab whereas in my setup you have to connect one additional cable from the preamp to the poweramp. So technically yes the head/cab setup is simpler. One can argue that its easier to carry around just a head than a small rack. I disagree bc the rack has handles so you can carry it like a briefcase. Also the rack provides protection for your investment.
The GK Neo 412 does sound interesting however 110 lbs is 110 lbs and that is what I am trying to avoid. What freq range are you guys advertising on the Neo 212? Also what kind of db sensitivity are you getting? I might be interested in this since I will be going to a 2x12/2x8 setup as mentioned above.
Wow I was not aware that Bob Gallien designed some of the Harmon/Kardon stuff. That is pretty cool.
