Who's making lightweight half rack power amps?

[hifibass]

You're gonna need some power to drive those VL-110's properly. As you know the pair is rated at 500 watts so I would think that the SWR Amplite, at 400 watts into 4 ohms, might be the ticket. That is a 1/2 space unit and should work with a 1U shelf as a rackmount.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Hey Brad!
Were the Mitres discontinued?

Yeah, Mike said there wasn't much demand for it. And I think I have the only one.

 

[Brad Johnson]

You're gonna need some power to drive those VL-110's properly. As you know the pair is rated at 500 watts so I would think that the SWR Amplite, at 400 watts into 4 ohms, might be the ticket. That is a 1/2 space unit and should work with a 1U shelf as a rackmount.

Can't get past the cost on that one, seems high for what you get... and based on past experiences with much higher power rated SWRs...

 

[Brad Johnson]

Thanks for the lead, Brad!

This could be just what the doctor ordered.

I found these power stats on line:
PA-100B
90W x 2 @ 4 Ohms
50W x 2 @ 8 Ohms
180W x 1 @ 8 Ohms Bridged

What can you tell us about the bridged 4-Ohm power rating?
How much does the amp weigh?

UPDATE: 4 ohm bridged was a no go despite what I was told. After a couple of minutes of moderate playing the amp would go into protect mode and shutdown. Power cycling brought it back up. With an 8 ohm load no problem, at any volume and it puts out a surprising amount. Still a keeper but the hunt continues for a HP 4 ohm 1/2 rack power amp.

 

[Jazzdogg]

UPDATE: 4 ohm bridged was a no go despite what I was told. After a couple of minutes of moderate playing the amp would go into protect mode and shutdown. Power cycling brought it back up. With an 8 ohm load no problem, at any volume and it puts out a surprising amount. Still a keeper but the hunt continues for a HP 4 ohm 1/2 rack power amp.

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for letting us know.
The search continues.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Sorry to hear that. Thanks for letting us know.
The search continues.

Same here. If the 4 ohm bridged setting worked out, considering everything else about the amp it would've been a winner.

It does have me wondering why they told me it would work.

 

[Brad Johnson]

K-Array KA7
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Has the right specs for me except two... 19" deep and $2k+ price. Granted it's not geared towards something as simple as a bass performance rig.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Nice find!

I have the same reservations you do. The search continues.

 

[BurningSkies]

At 19" deep, you're just trading one dimension for another. You might as well just turn a standard power amp sideways.

 

[Brad Johnson]

At 19" deep, you're just trading one dimension for another. You might as well just turn a standard power amp sideways.

That's exactly what I thought upon first glance. It's not often a spec makes me LOL. That one did.

 

[BurningSkies]

That's exactly what I thought upon first glance. It's not often a spec makes me LOL. That one did.

...see, we just saved you about 15 hunnert bucks.

 

[Brad Johnson]

...see, we just saved you about 15 hunnert bucks.

Nah, I saw this amp over a year ago. The depth was just as funny then.

 

[anonymous122511]

Can't get past the cost on that one, seems high for what you get... and based on past experiences with much higher power rated SWRs...

You should test drive an Amplite. At 400w into 4ohms it seems to have all of that compared to a 300w Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 into the same cab. After years of using under-powered Stewart PA series amps I was so happy to find the Amplite I didn't really stop to consider if it was "too expensive". Compared to other more massive 400w amps it didn't seem so and in over a year of use it's become core piece of gear.

 

[Brad Johnson]

You should test drive an Amplite. At 400w into 4ohms it seems to have all of that compared to a 300w Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 into the same cab. After years of using under-powered Stewart PA series amps I was so happy to find the Amplite I didn't really stop to consider if it was "too expensive". Compared to other more massive 400w amps it didn't seem so and in over a year of use it's become core piece of gear.

Thanks for the hands-on experience, still... $550 for a mono SWR 400w amp, in light of what has to be on the near horizon, just doesn't sit well with me. And I've yet to be impressed by an SWR amp powerwise compared to a like-rated amp. It should be more power than the 3.0 but then IME the 6.0 didn't really stack up against the LMII. An LMII/III or F1/F500 minus the preamp in the $400-$450 range or less (new) would work IMO.

 

[pbassnut]

You might consider checking out a Genz Benz Streamliner which has a "poweramp in" jack that enables you to use the power section only.

 

[anonymous122511]

Thanks for the hands-on experience, still... $550 for a mono SWR 400w amp, in light of what has to be on the near horizon, just doesn't sit well with me. And I've yet to be impressed by an SWR amp powerwise compared to a like-rated amp. It should be more power than the 3.0 but then IME the 6.0 didn't really stack up against the LMII. An LMII/III or F1/F500 minus the preamp in the $400-$450 range or less (new) would work IMO.

Your criticism is completely valid. On the other hand while you're waiting I'm getting my money's worth now.
I have to agree though that it's a questionable 400w. Using a Raven Labs preamp I've redlined it into an 8ohm cab that with an SVT I never got much past 6.

I'd like to think other companies would be closer to releasing power amps along the lines of the Amplite but it doesn't seem to be an idea that's gaining much momentum. Too bad because the niche market that's been using the little Stewart PA amps (and those things have sold steadily for what, 20 years?) is more than ready to jump on a light weight, well built, accurately rated, half rack power amp with more muscle.

 

[Brad Johnson]

Your criticism is completely valid. On the other hand while you're waiting I'm getting my money's worth now.
I have to agree though that it's a questionable 400w. Using a Raven Labs preamp I've redlined it into an 8ohm cab that with an SVT I never got much past 6.

I'd like to think other companies would be closer to releasing power amps along the lines of the Amplite but it doesn't seem to be an idea that's gaining much momentum. Too bad because the niche market that's been using the little Stewart PA amps (and those things have sold steadily for what, 20 years?) is more than ready to jump on a light weight, well built, accurately rated, half rack power amp with more muscle.

I have a couple of lightweight Crown Drivecores so trust me, I'm already getting my money's worth out of what I have. This is so far from a need it's not funny... I just want to put together a very small, very light setup utilizing the Mitre Box as the front end. It just sounds so much better to me than anything I've heard built into the current crop of heads. The Mitre Box through the Drivecores sounds pretty amazing.

I'm picking up an EA Micro 300 just for grins, I'll see how that works out.

 

[Brad Johnson]

You might consider checking out a Genz Benz Streamliner which has a "poweramp in" jack that enables you to use the power section only.

That's going to be in the $500+ range and IIRC wider than a half rack space.

 

[anonymous122511]

I'm picking up an EA Micro 300 just for grins, I'll see how that works out.

Used I'm assuming? They were around $650 new last I checked. Curious to hear your opinion on it. I'm kinda surprised a company like EA hasn't done something like a power amp based on the power section of their 550w Doubler head. Certainly a significant part of their customer demographic uses high end outboard preamps and would be interested.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

From my experience the EA Micro 300 is a *very* nice sounding amp. However, its weak point is its power rating. IMHO its a very soft 300 w. My 200w GKMB200 eats it for breakfast in terms of power, but tonally, I'd give the edge to EA.