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why did ampeg discontinue the 215e?

beebassdude

beebassdude

Supporting Member
Sep 29, 2008
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#1
i just got one of these cabs the other day, its a mid 90s model, and my god does it rule. its got the richest lows ive ever heard out of a 215, definitely IMO better than the mesa 215 ive heard. im just wondering if anyone knows why it was discontinued? theres no information on ampegs site about it, the manual isnt even on their discontinued products list. and 215 cabs are still popular for rock, it just makes no sense to me why these cabs are no longer made.

anybody know?
 
#2
beebassdude said:
i just got one of these cabs the other day, its a mid 90s model, and my god does it rule. its got the richest lows ive ever heard out of a 215, definitely IMO better than the mesa 215 ive heard. im just wondering if anyone knows why it was discontinued? theres no information on ampegs site about it, the manual isnt even on their discontinued products list. and 215 cabs are still popular for rock, it just makes no sense to me why these cabs are no longer made.

anybody know?
Click to expand...

Pics?
 
#5
Spedracer said:
Well i think its pretty obvious that if it was selling well it would still be produced. Ampeg isn't one of those companies that tries to set trends anymore, it only seems as if they would rather follow them at this point IMO.
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fair enough, but even some info on it would be good. when were they first made and what was the last year of production? and i find it hard to believe that a company as big as ampeg would stop selling a 215 cab. they had to have sold decently, and plenty of other companies still make them, so why would the biggest one stop making them? youd think if 215s just didnt sell, mesa, kustom, peavey, etc would all discontinue them.
 
#7
The Ampegs are rather big for a 2x15 (same size as the 810 fridge IIRC). I think most 2x15 fans are looking for the slightly smaller cab... I don't know anyone ('cept you) who uses the Ampeg one. Not saying that makes it bad... just saying spedracer's prolly right. No one was buying the Ampeg version.
 
#9
brothernewt said:
The Ampegs are rather big for a 2x15 (same size as the 810 fridge IIRC). I think most 2x15 fans are looking for the slightly smaller cab... I don't know anyone ('cept you) who uses the Ampeg one. Not saying that makes it bad... just saying spedracer's prolly right. No one was buying the Ampeg version.
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good call on the size, its definitely big, although it weighs less than the 810. i guess id just like to find a concrete (or close to concrete) reason as to why these are gone. there is little to no information on the net or ampegs site at all. just kinda intriguing is all.
 
#10
I used one of these back in the day. It had Delightful lows. I put the fridge on it's side and it would be a nice place to sit (or to let chicks sit!).

However, I think the freq response on it only goes up to about 1k.
 
#11
chaosMK said:
I used one of these back in the day. It had Delightful lows. I put the fridge on it's side and it would be a nice place to sit (or to let chicks sit!).

However, I think the freq response on it only goes up to about 1k.
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thats how i have mine set right now. the 215E on the bottom, the 810E on top of it, the VR sitting on top of both. best rig ive ever had.
 
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#13
Spedracer said:
Well i think its pretty obvious that if it was selling well it would still be produced. Ampeg isn't one of those companies that tries to set trends anymore, it only seems as if they would rather follow them, at this point (IMO).
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I think Ampeg has done enough trend setting for the next 100 years. Does that have anything to do with the subject, or are you just in the mood to bash Ampeg? Don't get me wrong...LOUD's done enough crappy stuff to warrant bashing, but that was so far out of left field that I think you can understand when I give you one of these:

:scowl:
 
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#14
Right now I have a CL and 8x10 and iv been trying to find a 215E to complete my rig, The 215E were all USA made so once they moved to asia they were done, they are lighter then the 8x10 they are 140 compared to the 8x10 which i believe is 165... but dont quote me on that one im pretty sure they were discontinued because they dident do great with highs were big and heavy and i dont think that many were sold
 
#19
Looks like 2000 through 2005 for the SVT-215E, according to the serial number records. might have been a year or two earlier.

Discontinued no doubt due to poor sales compared to other products, although I don't know for sure. The 2005 date may be significant, that is when Loud showed up, and the sale went through..... After that it got into a different mode.

Loud figured that you folks would HAVE to buy Ampeg, because of the name. They assumed that the name would sell any crap that it was stuck onto. They never considered that maybe the name was big because the products were cool.

or maybe they did, and assumed they could make their money before the cheapening made sales drop off. They wouldn't have been the first ones. Of course, what was done to Ampeg was nothing compared to what was done to EAW.........

We tried enough odd things for any two companies, like the front and rear facing speaker (back one crossed over), plenty of amplifier stuff, and things you never heard of because they were developed but not made for sale.

A 215 is not what I would call ground-breaking new stuff....... but if it sold it would likely still be in the line.
 
#20
I have (2) SVT 215e's and also a 215 LGS. Normally I run a pair of these and love the way they sound!

SVT-GS_stack.jpg
 

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