Why are Poweramps not the standard?

Many amps can have their preamp bypassed by using the FX return to drive the power amp. I did that yesterday at a custom cab builder so's we could listen to what the cabs sound like flat.

 

And most Class D amps have identical B&O Modules anyway.

 

Most people, myself included, use a preamp pedal and use it as a switchable channel by plugging direct to the power amp using the effects return. Same premise

 

Why would people want their amp to be multiple parts rather than one?

Why would people want their amp to be a pedal?

With the price of amps and the price of preamps costing more than a integrated unit, why would people want to pay more?

Why would most people want the complexity of trying to match the preamp to the power amp and deal with the extra gain staging and input sensitivity matching instead of a one piece unit that's matched from the start?

 

Uh...hmmm...why should they be?

 

Aguilar TH 350 is boutique? ?

 

Why wouldn't I want half my amp setup on the floor for people to kick, trip on, spill into or trample...that I have to bend over to mess with and that someone might step on and turn off my preamp mistakenly.

Or maybe perched on top of my rack where it can be pulled off or tumble down and where I can't see the miniature controls rather than my racked preamp with full sized controls at eye-height.

 

People love choices until there are more than a couple, then they don't like them. The Mo'Mark concept seemed great on paper, but people didn't really take to the 'build your own' approach. I prefer a power/pre setup, but I'm not most people and what I want out of an amp setup isn't most people. You should see faces fall when I share my amp as backline...I've gotten comments from touring pros about how they'd rather just see an 'amp head'...One guy took an Eden Nemesis combo over my setup because it was easy and familiar.

 

Yep, I have a TH-350 myself - awesome amp but no FX return. No prob here as I have a Shuttle 3.0 that does - plus it's ruler flat with everything set at noon anyways .

 

I once posed the same question to one of the "micro head" makers. He told me that the preamp guts aren't all that expensive, and a power-amp-only version would end up costing more due to being sold in smaller quantities.

For all of my DIY preamp experimentations, I just plug into the FX return of a regular bass head.

 

It is made in Manhattan, possibly one of the most expensive places to manufacture in the world.

 

Some people prefer simplicity. Some people aren't gearheads.

 

Doesn't mean that the TH350 is boutique. Jule Monique, JGR's amp, Shaw etc. not a TH, IMO.

 

A "Head" is a pre-amp plus a power-amp
The Power amp part are simply a commodity these days. All the tone is in the pre-amp.
Oh, yeah you'll see a lot of comments about how one amp will sound different than another, you'll see it, but you won't hear it.

With a head you're essentially buying a pre-amp, with all it's signature sound, and by they way it comes with a power-amp for convenience.

There'd be more small power amps if there was a standard form factor and rack case they could fit in. This would mean makers would have to agree on a form factor which will never happen.

Soon all power amps will come with a DSP. It's like all TVs now come with smart apps. It cost nothing really to include them but it makes them so much more useful.

 

Yeah, if I want to BYO I'll go the 500 Series approach, instead.

 

TH-350 is as Boutique as I will ever have/want