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Team Trace Elliott Pt 3
- Thread starter Chef
- Start date
- Status
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,941
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Tom this is my same Live Rig set up. I use A 1210 combo into a 1048 cab and also was a original TE user.
I owned and toured with one of the 1st AH250 heads 410 and 115 cab they made. What I appreciate is the inside electrical craftsmanship is still there with the new TE gear.
Your review was spot on. I will post a picture later this weekend of the rig in action
Glad you liked it!
Hey guys, I have this old TE AH350SMX (with blacklight) for a while now and even though I love it to bits I've been having some trouble lately...
First of all I don't have a matching cab and, for practical reason, wouldn't be able to take it with me on the road anyway for some time. So I'm left at what I can borrow from other bands/bassplayers/venues to plug it into. This usually turns out to a 8ohm cab, while my trace is a 4ohm head (at least.. it says 4ohm minimum and 700w peak output at the back).
Parallel plugging two cabs doesn't seem to be an option since I usually only have 1 at my disposal and I don't seem to have a parallel out anyway (it has one 1/4 jack and one XLR speaker output, I haven't tried using them both at the same time yet).
Strangely enough, the back panel of my trace doesn't seem to match with other pics and post I've seen about the AH350SMX. So I'll post a picture of my front and backpanel with this.
Maybe I should just sell this to get a more flexible head until my band can support a full backline. But I was hoping somebody can help me out with this!
First of all I don't have a matching cab and, for practical reason, wouldn't be able to take it with me on the road anyway for some time. So I'm left at what I can borrow from other bands/bassplayers/venues to plug it into. This usually turns out to a 8ohm cab, while my trace is a 4ohm head (at least.. it says 4ohm minimum and 700w peak output at the back).
Parallel plugging two cabs doesn't seem to be an option since I usually only have 1 at my disposal and I don't seem to have a parallel out anyway (it has one 1/4 jack and one XLR speaker output, I haven't tried using them both at the same time yet).
Strangely enough, the back panel of my trace doesn't seem to match with other pics and post I've seen about the AH350SMX. So I'll post a picture of my front and backpanel with this.
Maybe I should just sell this to get a more flexible head until my band can support a full backline. But I was hoping somebody can help me out with this!
Attachments
Bob, your amp will l run fine at 8 ohm, even 16 ohm. What its telling you is not to run less than a 4 ohm load or put more than two 8 ohm cabs in line. Two 8ohm cabs make a 4ohm load. Less than 4 ohms and you'll damage the amplifier section.
Why not? Wouldn't that just be the same as running 2 cabs in parallel?
Maybe the old heads are different, but my 1210 has a single 1/4" and a speakon/1/4" combo. I use them both without incident.
Maybe the old heads are different, but my 1210 has a single 1/4" and a speakon/1/4" combo. I use them both without incident.
I meant don't plug two inputs into the speaker. And yes some TE heads are different. Mine (AH1200SM) will run at 2ohm min load on either channel but it says not to use both outputs on the same channel. Either XLR or 1/4" but not both.
How are you using them two 8ohm cabs is probably ok. But not two 4ohm cabs nor a 4 & 8 ohm cab mix either. I think that give like a 3.2 ohm load. Mine will run it but not if yours say 4 ohm min load.
Good thing to know about the xlr & 1/4" jack, I almost tried to plug them both, thankfully I didn't.
I tried to use it with some 4x10 8ohm cabs (one at a time, that is. Not parallel) and though it seems to work fine, it just doesn't give enough volume. Shouldn't it still pack at least some punch with a peak output of 700w? I think I accidently used an instrument cable a couple of times to plug it, might this also add to the problem?
I don't really know an aweful lot about these things to be honest.. I still have a lot to learn! Thanks so far!
I tried to use it with some 4x10 8ohm cabs (one at a time, that is. Not parallel) and though it seems to work fine, it just doesn't give enough volume. Shouldn't it still pack at least some punch with a peak output of 700w? I think I accidently used an instrument cable a couple of times to plug it, might this also add to the problem?
I don't really know an aweful lot about these things to be honest.. I still have a lot to learn! Thanks so far!
Yep see 3 posts up
Me too. That makes 3 of these that I know if still working. I talked to the TE tech in England before they sold to peavey, he said they only made like 6 or 8 of them special for a band. He didn't say which one.
Good thing to know about the xlr & 1/4" jack, I almost tried to plug them both, thankfully I didn't.
I tried to use it with some 4x10 8ohm cabs (one at a time, that is. Not parallel) and though it seems to work fine, it just doesn't give enough volume. Shouldn't it still pack at least some punch with a peak output of 700w? I think I accidently used an instrument cable a couple of times to plug it, might this also add to the problem?
I don't really know an aweful lot about these things to be honest.. I still have a lot to learn! Thanks so far!
Two 8ohm cabs in parallel is fine. That gives a 4ohm load. You could run in series for a 16ohm load but that yields less volume than 8ohm.
700 watt peak (PEP) is just that, PEAK Envelope Power. RMS is 350 watts at 4 ohms. One 8ohm cab will give you about 200 RMS because of the higher resistance.
2 cabs move more than one of same model.
Don't use instrument cables. The center conductor (hot wire) won't carry the load. They're meant for low voltage signal not the power from and amplifier.
You can make XLR cables yourself. They have better signal transfer than 1/4" connectors because of better surface contact.
Ok, so I obviously made a crucial mistake by using an instrument cable... Do you think 200w RMS is enough for most small venue setups (bars, small clubs etc.)?
And I'm still a bit confused about using both the 1/4" and the XLR output to parallel plug 2 8ohm cabs... Since jungleheat didn't seem to have problems doing that...
Never use instrument cable, if you blow it you'll blow your amp.
Trace followed a different convention on their XLR wiring. I would shy away from using the XLR at all without checking the lead and the cab, and the amp for that matter. I'd be surprised if it isn't simply parallel wired with the 1/4" on that amp all the same. Check it all out.
Your one has the stereo pre but only one power amp, unlike TBP's. His one is very unusual.
The 350 should be pushing almost any 8ohm bass cab as hard as it can handle. My 250SMX is supposed to do 180W clean into 8 ohm, so yours might be around 250W.
Trace watts, gotta love 'em. Anyone else marketing your amp today would be calling it a 1000W amp.
Trace followed a different convention on their XLR wiring. I would shy away from using the XLR at all without checking the lead and the cab, and the amp for that matter. I'd be surprised if it isn't simply parallel wired with the 1/4" on that amp all the same. Check it all out.
Your one has the stereo pre but only one power amp, unlike TBP's. His one is very unusual.
The 350 should be pushing almost any 8ohm bass cab as hard as it can handle. My 250SMX is supposed to do 180W clean into 8 ohm, so yours might be around 250W.
Trace watts, gotta love 'em. Anyone else marketing your amp today would be calling it a 1000W amp.
Two decent cabs with your amp will blow away the drums in any venue. Blow away the bar in a small place as well.
Put it this way, I gig rock music in small bars with the 250W and 1518 cab no problem. Two cabs is nice because it's fuller sounding but I don't turn it up so far.
Put it this way, I gig rock music in small bars with the 250W and 1518 cab no problem. Two cabs is nice because it's fuller sounding but I don't turn it up so far.
Well ya, you could run 2 cabs one on each output if you didn't have a daisy chain output jack on one of the cabs. They are wired parallel hence no switch on the head for choosing output connector type but, then you need longer speaker cables than if you used a short one to connect one cab to the other.
Also, if you stack 2 similar cabs you get an extra 6db gain free over the gain you get by adding a cab. But, they must be stacked or side by side. Like two 4x10's or two 15" cabs together. But that's another topic.
Just suffice to say, as long as you aren't running more than two 8ohm cabs on one output, using speaker cables then you're good to go.
200 watts out of a Trace Elliot should do you well for most small to mediumish venues.
Also, if you stack 2 similar cabs you get an extra 6db gain free over the gain you get by adding a cab. But, they must be stacked or side by side. Like two 4x10's or two 15" cabs together. But that's another topic.
Just suffice to say, as long as you aren't running more than two 8ohm cabs on one output, using speaker cables then you're good to go.
200 watts out of a Trace Elliot should do you well for most small to mediumish venues.
I have the AH350SMX. I run a 2x10 and a 1x15 cab with mine. I have never turned the volume up past three in any gig situation. Was even asked to turn down a few times. IMO, these older TE amps are seriously under rated.
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