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Tec Puma Bass amps

#261
As long as I'm soapboxing a bit, and I promise to keep this short, this is a pet peeve of mine (I know, you can't tell). Any vendor "fudging specs" to make sales. Publishing what I'd call "pushed" ratings. We as musicians have VERY LITTLE or even NO tolerance for reliability issues. We NEED to know that product is gonna' finish the gig it started, and know it with enough assurance and confidence, that we don't have to be concerned about it, thus also distracting from our ability to focus and perform.

*ARGH*

Sorry. Had to vent.
 
#263
Vic said:
As long as I'm soapboxing a bit, and I promise to keep this short, this is a pet peeve of mine (I know, you can't tell). Any vendor "fudging specs" to make sales. Publishing what I'd call "pushed" ratings. We as musicians have VERY LITTLE or even NO tolerance for reliability issues. We NEED to know that product is gonna' finish the gig it started, and know it with enough assurance and confidence, that we don't have to be concerned about it, thus also distracting from our ability to focus and perform.

*ARGH*

Sorry. Had to vent.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. This seems to really only be an issue with 2ohm operation IMO, and is one of the reasons I avoid it like the plague:) And, that doesn't even start to address increased THD, etc. in some of these designs.

Also, I am not saying that the TecAmp stuff is not designed adequately for 2ohm operation... just pointing out that a couple of users who pushed the Bonafide hard bridged at 4ohms felt that it got hot to the point of worrying them. That, in and of itself, doesn't actually mean there is a problem. However, I personally wouldn't do it, and luckily have planned my cabinet purchases to not have to deal with this issue at all.

That being said, my view is, for gosh sake, if you are spending $2,000 for an amp (Puma1000 or Bonafide), get cabs with the right impedance to really use these optimally (i.e., either a big honkin' 8ohm cab, or two smaller 4ohm cabs).
 
#266
6stringbassist said:
Just when I thought I'd have to give up on the idea of getting a Puma, I have the chance of a used Tecamp Puma Combo 212.

Does anyone know if you can remove the amp part so you can use it with other cabs ?

Thanks !
Click to expand...

I don't believe so. Also, that combo cab is quite different from the other TecAmp cabs. It is tuned WAY low, and has a mid driver instead of a tweeter. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is fat and warm and huge down low versus the tone you hear on my youtube clips with the original s212 (tuned higher with tweeter). Not a 'good/bad' or better or worse thing, but way different.
 
#267
KJung said:
I don't believe so. Also, that combo cab is quite different from the other TecAmp cabs. It is tuned WAY low, and has a mid driver instead of a tweeter. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is fat and warm and huge down low versus the tone you hear on my youtube clips with the original s212 (tuned higher with tweeter). Not a 'good/bad' or better or worse thing, but way different.
Click to expand...

Right, thanks !

I was listening to your videos earlier, yours is kind of the sound that I'm after. I'm not really into the fat and warm sound too much.
 
#269
Can the Puma power two 8 ohm cabs? Or do I need two 4 ohm cabs? I understand it puts 1000 watts into one cab.

Getting down to the wire regarding my backup amp- already have a WW Ultra; in the running are:

Another Ultra
Puma
BX-1500

I've found that there's no real replacement for displacement, or that's to say wattage. I prefer my amps to loaf along at maybe 50-65% of max power, and the Puma dovetails nicely with this philosophy.
 
#270
CDweller said:
Can the Puma power two 8 ohm cabs? Or do I need two 4 ohm cabs? I understand it puts 1000 watts into one cab.

Getting down to the wire regarding my backup amp- already have a WW Ultra; in the running are:

Another Ultra
Puma
BX-1500

I've found that there's no real replacement for displacement, or that's to say wattage. I prefer my amps to loaf along at maybe 50-65% of max power, and the Puma dovetails nicely with this philosophy.
Click to expand...

I never found my Ultra to really feel like a 1200 watt amp. My 500 watt amps easily kept up with it (at least in low end ooomph and fatness and punch). So, you won't have ANY problem with the Puma1000, which should just simply BURY the Utra into either two 4ohm cabs or a single 8ohm cab bridged. WAY more real low end than the Ultra.... WAY more.

Supposedly, the Puma1000 no bridges safely into 4ohms, but per the discussion above, I would not recommend it. So, to optimally run that amp (i.e., each power amp running at 4ohms, putting out 1000 watts total), you need either two 4ohm cabs (amp will put out 500 watts per side) or one large, high power rating 8ohm cab (amp will put out 1000 watts bridged into 8ohms).

Edit: The cab requirements for the 'dual mono' Puma1000 are the exact opposite of the Ultra, which needs either two 8ohm or one 4ohm cab to put out its full power.
 
#271
KJung said:
I never found my Ultra to really feel like a 1200 watt amp. My 500 watt amps easily kept up with it (at least in low end ooomph and fatness and punch). So, you won't have ANY problem with the Puma1000, which should just simply BURY the Utra into either two 4ohm cabs or a single 8ohm cab bridged. WAY more real low end than the Ultra.... WAY more.

Supposedly, the Puma1000 no bridges safely into 4ohms, but per the discussion above, I would not recommend it. So, to optimally run that amp (i.e., each power amp running at 4ohms, putting out 1000 watts total), you need either two 4ohm cabs (amp will put out 500 watts per side) or one large, high power rating 8ohm cab (amp will put out 1000 watts bridged into 8ohms).

Edit: The cab requirements for the 'dual mono' Puma1000 are the exact opposite of the Ultra, which needs either two 8ohm or one 4ohm cab to put out its full power.
Click to expand...

I'm sure the Puma can put out a fine low end sound- I have faith in Teutonic engineering. So if I understand it correctly, I can't run two 8 ohm cabs with the Puma- I'd need two 4 ohm cabs, of which I currently own none. I do have a LSx1503 loaded with a 3015LF, which I imagine would have an insane "modern" sound if used with a Puma.

Edit- actually, I could run the two 8 ohm speakers daisy chained- they'd give the amp a 4 ohm load, and the amp would be able to deliver them 500 watts.
 
#272
CDweller said:
I'm sure the Puma can put out a fine low end sound- I have faith in Teutonic engineering. So if I understand it correctly, I can't run two 8 ohm cabs with the Puma- I'd need two 4 ohm cabs, of which I currently own none. I do have a LSx1503 loaded with a 3015LF, which I imagine would have an insane "modern" sound if used with a Puma.

Edit- actually, I could run the two 8 ohm speakers daisy chained- they'd give the amp a 4 ohm load, and the amp would be able to deliver them 500 watts.
Click to expand...

You could also run one 8ohm cab off each channel.
Any combination that results in a minimum of 4ohm using either or both channels when NOT biamping
OR
any combination that results in a minimum of 8ohm when bridging both channels together -- higher resistance is OK - lower than the minimum will stress your amp and could result in damage.
 
#273
lo-freq said:
You could also run one 8ohm cab off each channel.
Any combination that results in a minimum of 4ohm using either or both channels when NOT biamping
OR
any combination that results in a minimum of 8ohm when bridging both channels together -- higher resistance is OK - lower than the minimum will stress your amp and could result in damage.
Click to expand...

All true but more to Ken's point getting the 1000 is a waste if your going to run 2 8ohm cabinets and only utilize 500 watts.
 
#275
Had a long rehearsal with my Puma1000 tonight through an Avatar 410 Neo that my guitar player keeps in his studio. As I've suspected before, it's not an ideal tone for a classic rock type vibe (this band is a hair metal/butt rock type sound. Think Whitesnake, Cinderella, etc.). Despite the voicing maybe not being ideal, it still sounded really good.

There's something going on with the voicing of these amps that baffles me. To listen to them solo'd, I'd say that with everything set flat, the inherent voice is a little scooped in the mids. Put them in a mix and they're still forward and present like a heavily mid-voiced amp. Scooped and mid-present at the same time.... I can't figure it out. It's not something I've ever noticed on another amp.
 
#276
silky smoove said:
There's something going on with the voicing of these amps that baffles me. To listen to them solo'd, I'd say that with everything set flat, the inherent voice is a little scooped in the mids. Put them in a mix and they're still forward and present like a heavily mid-voiced amp. Scooped and mid-present at the same time.... I can't figure it out. It's not something I've ever noticed on another amp.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. That is what I use the term 'creamy' to describe. I don't find these amps 'scooped' at all, but there seems to be absolutely no distortion or 'grind' in the midrange at all (I hear this in the Glock amps and the Epifani amps also, although I like the TecAmp tone much better myself).

The good news is that you get a very 'through a high end mixing board' experience with these amps (with a VERY wide frequency range... deep, deep lows, and highs that extend all the way up into the upper treble region), and they are plenty punchy and articulate in the mix. The bad news is, they are 'grind suckers'... even a single coil J Bass sounds 'fat and smooth' through these amps, due to that midrange voicing (creamy!). That can be very good or not so good, depending on what you want (your comment about these heads not being voiced for 'rock' playing is spot on).

I prefer my Markbass heads for my pop playing, but man, the Puma just sings when you need it pure, wide and fat!
 
#278
silky smoove said:
There's something going on with the voicing of these amps that baffles me. To listen to them solo'd, I'd say that with everything set flat, the inherent voice is a little scooped in the mids. Put them in a mix and they're still forward and present like a heavily mid-voiced amp. Scooped and mid-present at the same time.... I can't figure it out. It's not something I've ever noticed on another amp.
Click to expand...

When I had the Puma 350 combo, it certainly didn't sound scooped in the mids. If anything, it was quite heavy in the mid-to-upper-mids zone. Perhaps it is a weird match with the cabs you are using.
 
#279
silky smoove said:
There's something going on with the voicing of these amps that baffles me. To listen to them solo'd, I'd say that with everything set flat, the inherent voice is a little scooped in the mids. Put them in a mix and they're still forward and present like a heavily mid-voiced amp. Scooped and mid-present at the same time.... I can't figure it out. It's not something I've ever noticed on another amp.
Click to expand...
See below...
KJung said:
I know what you mean. That is what I use the term 'creamy' to describe. I don't find these amps 'scooped' at all, but there seems to be absolutely no distortion or 'grind' in the midrange at all (I hear this in the Glock amps and the Epifani amps also, although I like the TecAmp tone much better myself).
Click to expand...
+1

I think this is a confusion in perception. Seems to me, whenever a bass or rig has a lot of "extension" in either the lows or the highs, the gut perception is "scooped" because lows and highs are particularly evident in a scooped sound.

HOWEVER... I DO believe in the case where you're not missing anything in the mids at all, yet you do have "extension" in the lows and highs. I think that's what's going on with the Tecamp stuff.
 
#280
Has anyone had any hum from the 500? I think it's coming from my gain pot. It comes and goes. Not super loud, playable, but doesn't suppose to be there. Any advice? My 1000 doesn't have this problem at all.
 

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