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the Traynor YBA-200 thread

peter G said:
you ever think about adding another matching cab? how do you think the head would sound with the 2-4 ohms cabs?

The thought had crossed my mind. I was thinking a 4x10 or 2x12 at 4 ohms. However... at 160W output it would kinda defeat the purpose... besides, the matching cab is raited at 400W RMS... so it is more than enough. I find the matching cab sounds HUGE on it's own... I really prefer it to 4x10's that I have used it with, probably because of the 'girth' the 15' adds to my tone.

On a practical level I have never needed more power than the amp/cab can give me (and it has a line out anyway for bigger shows with a PA). If I always did need more power... I would go the fridge/SVT direction... or maybe two traynors.... :bassist:
 
Calaverasgrande said:
You know, I am very interested in this amp, but I can't find it for sale anywhere. Where did you fellas pick yours up?
They show up here on TB and on that auction site every so often, or there are several on-line vendors you could try if there isn't any place local. Some of the online places have free shipping, some don't. Or you can go to yorkville's site and locate a dealer.
 
Well, here's a sad tale with a happy ending.

I wanted to try some KT88s in my YBA200, after reading several posts from TBers who had replaced the stock Sovtek 6550s with them. I found what were represented to be lightly used Teslovaks in great operating condition :eyebrow: , bought them and began installing them. The first two sounded great, but the next one I put in lit the room with a bright blue flash when I powered up from standby. Not only did it blow the fuse, but inspection of the circuit board showed three fried resistors as well. Unsure of collateral damage, I elected to try out the Traynor "no fault" warranty and send it in for repair. There is a local firm registered as a dealer (although they don't actually sell these amps) and they 'represented' and sent it in for me.

In a month or a little less it was back, working just like new. They had replaced one melted resistor, and another that I hadn't noticed as damaged, but not two others (which I was later told were intended to reduce hum in the filament circuit) so I assume they aren't really needed since it was obvious they were blown, but there is no hum in this amp. Anyway, they also replaced a preamp tube which was working well when it left here, but possibly became a shipping casualty (OOPS). Net cost to me was $50 in shipping.

As it turned out, I spent about what local service would have cost. But considering that I didn't know if something else expensive (like a transformer) might have been damaged, it was worth something to me to have the factory repair unit check it all out. Most of all, it is refreshing to find a company that actually honors its warranty without any hassle whatsoever. :)
 
peter G said:
you ever think about adding another matching cab? how do you think the head would sound with the 2-4 ohms cabs?

I also own a YBA 200, I think that mixing 2 4 ohms cabs wil do allright, but I guess you´ll have to overdrive the amp more to get the same volume. The powerrating is 200 watts at 1% THD. Or 160 in 2 ohms. It can be more than that, but the amp will distort, but that can be really sweet if you like it....
 
Bump for an old thread and a question.

I'm thinking of getting this and running a portabass 2x10 (4ohm) and adding a 1 or 2x15 to it. Would it have enough to power both cleanly and loudly for gigs with NO pa support and 200+ people?

I do NOT want to get rid of the portabass, so even if I add an 8ohm,would run at a max of 2.67 ohms if I understand correctly, possibly 2ohms.

Great informational thread so far!
 
As you can probably tell after reading this (and other YBA-related thread(s), out of the box this head distorts at fairly low gain. To get more headroom, many owners drop the gain in the preamp stages by using different tubes. If you do that, be sure to get them from a reputable source.

Also, as described by several folks, it can take some tweaking to find the tone you want, but once you do you are in love. In my experience, it sounds even better the more cabs are hooked up (paying attention to impedance, of course), and I run several just because I like to.

It can get good and loud (like your old Bassman), but whether or not it's loud ENOUGH for your needs, I don't know since I don't gig. If I had to bet though, I'd say it has plenty in the tank, and your 2x10 with 15s pushing the bottom would put a big smile on your face. Somebody else needs to verify the sound levels though, based on their actual experience. Is there any way you can demo one?
 
mattsk42 said:
Bump for an old thread and a question.

I'm thinking of getting this and running a portabass 2x10 (4ohm) and adding a 1 or 2x15 to it. Would it have enough to power both cleanly and loudly for gigs with NO pa support and 200+ people?

It depends on the cabs, and how efficient they are. The Sadowsky cabs are very efficient, fairly priced, and sound killer with tube heads. Two of their 4x10's can actually be driven reasonably well by "just" 200 tube watts, and they probably could cover that kind of gig. But, it would be close, to be honest. The SA200 with two SA410's can do it without breaking a sweat, but it's a good bit louder than the YBA200. But still, the Traynor just might be up to it, but you definitely need efficient cabs (no Acmes for that gig! ;)).

Tom.

P.S.
All kidding aside, Acmes do sound really good with tube amps. They just are not as efficient as some.
 
I just broke down and ordered on of these bad boys. My first all tube amp and I'm stoked! Now I'm looking to purchase some new pre tube since I'm about 99% sure I'll need the headroom. I'm gonna go with an JJ 12ay7 and an 12at7 on the recommendation of other posts. Also since they're affordable and seem to do the trick. Looking on tubedepot.com there are a couple options....do I need 'Matching', 'Balanced Triodes', 'Matched + Balanced Triodes' or what? I'm confused.
 
PH, for what you want to do I think you'll be fine with pick-of-the-bin tubes. Pretty sure the "matching" is more important for the output tubes than the preamp ones.

Now, hi-fi applications could be different...and I don't know enough to go there, anyway.
 
patrickshofner said:
I just broke down and ordered on of these bad boys. My first all tube amp and I'm stoked! Now I'm looking to purchase some new pre tube since I'm about 99% sure I'll need the headroom. I'm gonna go with an JJ 12ay7 and an 12at7 on the recommendation of other posts. Also since they're affordable and seem to do the trick. Looking on tubedepot.com there are a couple options....do I need 'Matching', 'Balanced Triodes', 'Matched + Balanced Triodes' or what? I'm confused.
To order a balanced (matched) phase inverter tube. I believe the stock on a YBA 200 is a 12AU7 for that position. I wouldn't worry too much about matching on your other preamp tubes...JJ's will work nicely for you, although I would suggest new Tung Sol's from dougstubes or someplace like that. The new Tung Sol's are just MONEY tubes for a great price...great gain structure and excellent frequency evenness throughout. If money is no option, I might suggest the Tung Sol's for the preamp positions and a Mullard 12AU7 (balanced) for the phase inverter. While the Mullard won't come cheaply, you would have about the best possible tone section for your preamp. As long as the power tubes are matched reasonably well with adequate gain and not a lot of microphony, you should be set with the stock ones.

Jay
 
No new insights but another vote of confidence. I played an outdoor gig last July 4, (Behringer bx3000t thru an old Ampeg 810) and needed more volume and better tone. Asked some questions around here, decided I really wanted to try all tubes, and ended up getting a new yba-200. I did the 12ay7 and 12at7 preamp tube swap that's been mentioned before. I've played 4 outdoor gigs in the last 6 weeks, and it does great, I just :D love it. I gigged indoors with it for the first time today at a fraternity party and got compliments from band-mates about the tone and clarity...after being told to turn :spit: down. I'm really satisfied, so why am I wondering what another 100-200 tube :eek: watts (mesa 400 [+] ?) would do?

Never ends :rollno: does it?

Anyway, I'm thrilled and want to thank everybody :D who was answering questions last July about wattage and tube amps.
Provided me with lots of :help: !!