Mikeg Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Ive been poking around trace elliot stuff and found that their heads are going for quite alot considering how low the output is. Ive read that a 300 watt trace is like a 500 watt of somthing else Is that true? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Difficult to equate loudness to power output, but I always found TE amps to be conservatively rated. My AH250 through two 8 ohm cabs was hugely loud, and was never pushed for volume at any gig... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Put it this way, I had a 400W SMXGP12, and even with 1 8 ohm cabinet, it never went over half on the volume control. Usually under that. VERY loud amps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 I used a trace 4x12" with a Mk V putting out a theoretical maximum 90w and it was very, very loud. Their cabs are beasts as well - the 1528 I am selling is a very loud cab. I have the input of my GK 700RB II at about 11 o'clock and the output at about 7 o'clock, ie just on and no more and its very, very, very loud Did I say they were loud? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 loud, very, very loud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MythSte Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Ive never played a Quiet one! I dont know how linear their volume pots are but Ive never had to push them to get a good stage volume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziggydolphinboy Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 i bought my full trace rig about 10/15 yrs ago rah400smx,carpet coverd 1x18=4x10 vynyl coverd 9and the cabs were very tatty) £ 650.00 sold them and got two 4x10h, sold one 4x10h, then got a 1x15 plus my 4x10h, just got a 2x10h, and hopefully a bright box on the way so i can now have any combination i like! phew! but ive always kept my 400smx head its just the nuts, cut out twice (think it overloaded) in around 10/15 yrs i didnt realise how good it sounded untill a bass player got up and done a few numbers throuhg ,my rig the thing punched through a long way into the crowd. so now im gonna get (if money allows me ) another trace head to power the two cabs separately. i love my trace (and i have a wife tracy without the e!!!). ps i went to the gallery to change my whole set up and i was advised just to change the cabs NOt the Head. and if you get a smx head the compressoer is the nuts dude1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeg Posted September 30, 2010 Author Share Posted September 30, 2010 Ok so would a 250 watt trace head with a 4x10 cab be load enough for a reasonably sized gig, say 250 people? Any reasons why theyre loade than other makes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 Had the Ah500-12 normally ran at 8ohm and never got the dial past 5, at 4 ohm never got the volume past 3. Very loud and very awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Mikeg' post='972776' date='Sep 30 2010, 03:07 PM']Ok so would a 250 watt trace head with a 4x10 cab be load enough for a reasonably sized gig, say 250 people? Any reasons why theyre loade than other makes?[/quote] I also had the 1210 combo which I think was about 200 watt, coped everytime I had to use it in mid sized pub and hall venues. However there's so many for sale on here, I'd be looking for one slightly more powerful, the price diffence would prob be negligable Edited September 30, 2010 by farmer61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 [quote name='Mikeg' post='972776' date='Sep 30 2010, 03:07 PM']Ok so would a 250 watt trace head with a 4x10 cab be load enough for a reasonably sized gig, say 250 people? Any reasons why theyre loade than other makes?[/quote] PA or not? Either way it should be enough. They're louder cos they were very conservative when quoting output figures unlike certain brands that quote impossible figures, especially when it comes to speakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conan Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 [quote name='Mikeg' post='972776' date='Sep 30 2010, 03:07 PM']Ok so would a 250 watt trace head with a 4x10 cab be load enough for a reasonably sized gig, say 250 people? Any reasons why theyre loade than other makes?[/quote] Depends on the cab. If it's a TE cab then it will probably be 8ohm, which means that the amp will be putting out (IIRC) 175 watts. If it's a decent cab then you might be OK. Also, "250 people" is not really an indication of how "big" the gig or venue is. If its 250 people in an outdoor marquee then I would think you might struggle. Will you have PA support or play purely on backline? If it's a room with decent acoustics and you have PA support then you are only really using the cab as an onstage monitor, so it will be plenty loud enough... There are a lot of variables to consider! Why are they loud? Quality of components? Slightly under-estimating their actual output? Well-designed speaker cabinets? Could be lots of reasons, but it would need someone more technically-minded than myself to be able to explain it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Conan' post='972842' date='Sep 30 2010, 03:49 PM']Why are they loud? Slightly under-estimating their actual output?[/quote] This, apparently Edited September 30, 2010 by Musicman20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted September 30, 2010 Share Posted September 30, 2010 As per my sig, I have played medium size venues and not needed to go thru the PA, nor turn up over half. V heavy to transport, but really do a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rptrsn2 Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 my band opened for another band last weekend and i had to play thru the other bassists rig. He had a 500w trace head that was f'n huge. I thought cool Trace should be a good rig.I was dissapointed, the 500w Trace did not have near the output of my 480w GK 700rbii. It sounded ok but i expected alot more as i always heard good about them but just not for me.But i guess Gks not everyones thing either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4 Strings Posted October 1, 2010 Share Posted October 1, 2010 The components will provide a certain output and this is what will be quoted. However, nice, big power transformers and other quality elements give lots of head room, peakiness and ease of performance would mean that they perform well. There are other amps similarly conservatively designed with quality components, so its difficult to say if TE are louder than some 'typical' other but they are quality products, reliable and powerful. I had the 150W version for years, never a problem, was only ever pushed once when I underestimated a gig and only brought a 2x10 along. Put into 2 cabs even this so called modest output was plenty enough for anything I used it for. If you like the sound, and plenty do, you cannot go wrong with TE. I remember seeing Mark King in a pub like venue in Essex, before the recent re-rise of Level 42, he had one AH350 with the classic 4x10 and the 1518 bin and he had it up loud enough to make me feel physically sick (honest!). Exquisite pain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protium Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 Even if they are conservatively rated, we are routinely told watts=/=volume. So even a 10% power advantage would not mean you gain much in volume. Obviously, the reason they are so loud is the green colour scheme Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted October 2, 2010 Share Posted October 2, 2010 (edited) My first Trace was a 7410 I believe (7 band graphic 4 x 10 combo), rated at 150W. It could cut any gig (used it on a large stage in 12 piece band with brass etc). You should be fine with a 250W head + 4x10 cab. Edited October 2, 2010 by zero9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost_Bass Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Trace is loud... very loud! I hope i'm not mistaken but when Trace says a amp is rated at 300W they mean that in every frequency on it's range you'll have at least 300W of power available. Being some freq's "louder" (can´t realy explain this better... lacking some technical knowledge...) than others you'll end up with much more volume than the 300W rate sugests. Other makes (not all, obviously) rate their gear at a medium figure or at it's maximum (low-end gear), that's why everybody who's ever played Trace gear says they're louder than "everything" else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I don't know any of the science but I've owned two Trace Elliot amps in my time and they were both obscenely loud compared with other amps of double the wattage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 [quote name='Delberthot' post='972719' date='Sep 30 2010, 02:16 PM']I used a trace 4x12" with a Mk V putting out a theoretical maximum 90w and it was very, very loud. Their cabs are beasts as well ......[/quote] +1 to that. Beasts to carry also! Can shake the room with this when I need to, only 300w! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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