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Seymour Duncan Power Amps - 700w and 170w

monsterthompson

monsterthompson

The Eighth Note Wonder Of The World
Nov 25, 2008
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#1
Anyone see these pop up on the Duncan page as "coming soon"?

Powerstage 170 fits on a pedal board and does 170w at 4 ohms. Not sure about the EQ points, and the 1/4" output.
PowerStage 170

The Powerstage 700 seems better suited for bass, in terms of power. I'm curious about the EQ points and the "True Cab" (speaker sim) option on the XLR out.
PowerStage 700

Seems competitively priced for a 700w power amp, with some extra features. 6.3 pounds seems a little heavy, but only a little.
  • LEVEL:0 dB to 47 dB
  • TREBLE CONTROL:+/- 13 dB @6.61 kHz
  • MID CONTROL:+/- 13 dB @712 Hz
  • BASS CONTROL:+/- 13 dB @87 Hz
  • OUTPUT IMPEDANCE:4-8 Ohms
  • POWER:350 W at 8 Ohms, 700 W at 4 Ohms
  • DIMENSIONS:11.5” x 2.2” x 6.9”
  • WEIGHT:6.3 lbs.

Seymour_Duncan_PowerStage_700_News(1).jpg

PowerStage-170-Side.png
 
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#3
Yup. Seems to be full "amp" options. Here's a demo on guitar, showing it functioning as a stand alone.


The marketing copy makes it seem like the power section is really what it's about, more than it being a stand alone guitar/bass amp "head."

From their site:
Summary
PowerStage 700 is a revolutionary power amp designed specifically for guitarists using modelers, pedals and effects processors to create their tone.
 
#4
monsterthompson said:
Yup. Seems to be full "amp" options. Here's a demo on guitar, showing it functioning as a stand alone.


The marketing copy makes it seem like the power section is really what it's about, more than it being a stand alone guitar/bass amp "head."

From their site:
Summary
PowerStage 700 is a revolutionary power amp designed specifically for guitarists using modelers, pedals and effects processors to create their tone.
Click to expand...


A whole lot of people in those categories have been bugging me for years to do something like that, so I'd expect that they could do well with it if the price point is substantially lower than a comparable power full featured bass amp. But personally, I tend to think that full featured amps are the best solution, even if you don't personally need or want all those features. Economy of scale is where it's at, IMHO.
 
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#5
Passinwind said:
personally, I tend to think that full featured amps are the best solution, even if you don't personally need or want all those features. Economy of scale is where it's at, IMHO.
Click to expand...


Right? Plug into the FX Return and bypass the front end. It seems reasonable that it is as cheap to produce large quantities of full amps as it is to produce smaller quantities of power amps. Yet there seems to be a demand for the power-only. Demeter and Jule have shown that people are willing to pay for it, and Verellen just announced their power module.
 
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#7
monsterthompson said:
Right? Plug into the FX Return and bypass the front end. It seems reasonable that it is as cheap to produce large quantities of full amps as it is to produce smaller quantities of power amps. Yet there seems to be a demand for the power-only. Demeter and Jule have shown that people are willing to pay for it, and Verellen just announced their power module.
Click to expand...

Yeah, some people are clearly more than willing to pay more for less, and sometimes less is actually more in other senses. Because of the CUP I'm gonna butt out now, but thanks for sharing that link.
Yel_wink.gif
 
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#8
This looks interesting. Might work for a small coffeehouse type of gig where you would want to use your pedalboard and a small cab. Pedal preamp of choice into the Powerstage 170, and set the EQ on the Powerstage 170 flat. It's made for guitar but I would think it would work for bass as well?
 
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#10
Both the PowerStage 170 and 700 (which can be used as discrete stereo) are not really designed to function as a full-featured amp. If you have a preamp though (Tech21, MXR, etc), that has your tone-shaping controls, then this is where they shine. The onboard EQ of the PowerStage just compensates for the room you are in. This way, for fly dates, just show up with your preamp pedal and the 170, and plug into whatever cab they provide. It takes the amp and puts it on the pedalboard.
 
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#13
I spoke with both Sweetwater and Duncan about the 170. A Duncan tech support person said that it would work, although the amp is voiced for guitar so you would probably need an EQ tailored for bass in front of it. He said that he got good results running into a 410 cab. I asked if there's any breakup as you turn up the power and he said that the amp stays clean all the way up.

The Sweetwater tech also said that the amp is tailored for guitar so without additional EQ, you might lose some low end punch. That being said, the Sweetwater tech added that he is a guitar player so he was speaking from that perspective. I told him that I'd be using the amp with a 112 cab and he said to be careful because I would be underpowering it.:rollno:
 
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#14
Zoobiedood said:
Both the PowerStage 170 and 700 (which can be used as discrete stereo) are not really designed to function as a full-featured amp. If you have a preamp though (Tech21, MXR, etc), that has your tone-shaping controls, then this is where they shine. The onboard EQ of the PowerStage just compensates for the room you are in. This way, for fly dates, just show up with your preamp pedal and the 170, and plug into whatever cab they provide. It takes the amp and puts it on the pedalboard.
Click to expand...

This is quite literally all I ever want in an amp. A straight wire with gain (and the ability to compensate for the room).

I get my sound from my pedals mostly.

I just saw this today and I'm smitten.
 
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#15
Has anybody tried the 170 with bass yet?

I am getting a Verellen Meatsmoke preamp soon and love the idea of having a single small board (Tuner, B3K, MeatSmoke, PowerStage 170) that I can use as a full featured amp.

Otherwise I do have the Darkglass MT900 which admittedly fits in my gig bag so it's not like I will be saving that much weight. :D
 
#17
LOL, you think 110w per pound is "a little heavy"? Really? Your bass in a gig bag is twice that at least.

Historically, anything better than about 20w per pound (like my Bass 350) and you're doing pretty good. An old tube combo like a Bassman 10 is probably not quite even 1w per pound (although to be fair that includes 4 10s), and even that isn't all that bad to move around. At 50w per pound, you're looking at a 1000w amp that weighs in at a very manageable 20 pounds (not the extremes of what's possible today, but hard to find fault with). This thing has twice that much power to weight ratio, and you think it's too weighty? Aren't we getting a little ridiculous with this weight obsession? "I want to carry my whole rig in 3 times in half a trip from the car!"
 
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