which Hartke for practice amp?

[spats]

Hi folks,
I started playing bass in the late 60's with vox ac50's & marshall 100 amps. Not yesterday huh?
I know nothing about non-valve amps but I don't think that I've much choice but to go for a transistorised model.
I've been told that the Hartke range A35 - A100 are good combos, as well as the Kickbacks.
As a general rule, in the old days, the bigger the speaker & the more powerfull the amp gave the better quality sound. Is this still the case?
I imagine that the 10", 12" & 15" speakers give an entirely different sound, and in some ways perhaps the 10" is the better choice for "relatively" low volume home use??
Sooo, what would do justice to my EB3 and be good for blues/rock?
Is the kickback version superior to the A35,A60,A100 range?
Thanks to anybody with the patience to help

 

[BassmanPaul]

If you have been using a tube amp all this time you might not be too happy with the average combo amp. Back in the day we used 12" or 15" speakers because those were all that were readily available. The first amp that I wished for was a VOX AC15 because it came with a 15. The first amp I actually bought was the VOX AC50 Foundation that was equipped with an 18" Tannoy. That was also the last amp I bought as I started making my own. Since that time I have played through all the speaker sizes that there are and have settled on 2x10 Acme B2s (I have four). These give me more bass than any cabinet I have ever used. I seriously doubt if I would ever gig with another make. My power comes from a carvin DCM1000 stereo power amp feeding one B2 per channel as I usually only use two of my cabinets at a time. This set up provides 700 watts and enough volume for every gig I have ever played. Pre amp is a full tube unit I built around the circuit of an Ampeg B15.

Bottom line is that speakers have come a long way during the last fifty years and solid state amps have come just as far. Tube amps have stayed pretty much static but some have now started appearing with switching power supplies eliminating the weight of the power transformer.

Paul

 

[spats]

Thanks for your input Paul. My first amp was the ac50 with the 18" foundation cabinet as well. You could fry eggs on the amp top!
I remember taking the back off the cabinet to admire the speaker, without realising that it was vacuum sealed! Didn't make any difference....

 

[thehangingmist]

btw, i think the A series has aluminum cone drivers which sound VERY different from the normal paper cones. they are sound bright bright bright, best thing would be you try the combos if possible. the B series has got paper cones if i am right.

 

[BassmanPaul]

I remember taking the back off the cabinet to admire the speaker, without realising that it was vacuum sealed! Didn't make any difference....

It is/was a sealed cabinet (no ports) but it was not a vacuum, just filled with common or garden air.

I thought the air from Lancashire gave the cabinet more of a brogue than the original air from the VOX factory!

Paul