Power Amp questions

[Sweeneythebass]

So I’m looking for a power amp now I have a Tonehammer Di Preamp. So my question is what’s out there ? Single stage Power amps for Bass guitar amplification?

so far I’ve found a thread where Jules amps were mention but they seem expensive and difficult to get hold of, also Bassics do a power amp less pricey but also I suspect difficult to get hold and I can’t find any reviews if there gear.

Thougts please BC’ers

[Gottastopbuyinggear]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a power amp for an experiment into bi-amping a cabinet with a woofer and mid-range speaker.  Like lots of ideas I toy with it might never happen, but if it does I'll probably be going for a Crown XLS 1502, which are about £325 from Thomann at the moment.  If you have simpler requirements than that then the XLS 1002 would probably be ample for a normal set-up - 700W bridged into 8 ohm or 1100W bridged into 4 ohm, for about £245.

One of the attractions of these amps is they have switchable input sensitivity, 1.4v or 0.775v, with the 0.775v probably being more appropriate for preamps like the ToneHammer. 

[Sweeneythebass]

Interesting, thanks for your input ! Sounds like a lot of power on the XLS 1002! 

[Dan Dare]

Power amps go for very little secondhand. Always worth a look on evilBay etc before buying new. Brand, provided you stick with decent name stuff, doesn't really matter. They tend to be much of a muchness as far as quality, output, etc is concerned. Everyone uses pretty well the same circuit.

[Sweeneythebass]

Just found a crown ce1000 on evilbay is that the sort of thing? 

Ratings

250w per channel stereo 8 ohm

450w per channel stereo 4 ohm

900w bridged 8ohm

1100w bridged 4ohm

it looks like it had a Hot input and a normal input too I’m guessing this is similar to the 1.4v 0.775 switch in the model gottastopbuyinggear mentioned.

More power than I need but if I put my 4 ohm Barefaced 210 cab in one channel in stereo mode what will the result be ? I.E will a stereo output sound different? 

All that power might be handy when I (🤞) build a biggger rig. I’m imagining a 6x10 using 3 Barefaced 210’s (12 ohm mode of course) 😁

Edited July 3, 2018 by Sweeneythebass
Including power figures

[3below]

I am well pleased with my QSC GX7 (and sans amp pedals).  Light (7.5Kg) and delivers 800W into 8 Ohms  single channel (rather more into 4 Ohms). Plenty of headroom. The Leeds pedal is remarkable, I have the Hiwatt experience at a fraction of the weight - not done an AB with the real thing but it reminds me of my Hiwatts of my youth.  Main gigging cab is BF Dubster (smaller cab is a Shermann Audio 15/6/1 full range).

[stevie]

As Dan Dare says, you can get some good bargains in used power amps these days as long as you're happy to carry 12kg+. The PA guys tend to favour the lighter amps with switch mode power supplies nowadays - which is understandable if you're carrying several dozen. I sold a 900W QSC on here for £90 a few years ago and a Carvin 1000W for £100 - both really nice old-style amps.

[Sweeneythebass]

15 hours ago, 3below said:

I am well pleased with my QSC GX7 (and sans amp pedals).  Light (7.5Kg) and delivers 800W into 8 Ohms  single channel (rather more into 4 Ohms). Plenty of headroom. The Leeds pedal is remarkable, I have the Hiwatt experience at a fraction of the weight - not done an AB with the real thing but it reminds me of my Hiwatts of my youth.  Main gigging cab is BF Dubster (smaller cab is a Shermann Audio 15/6/1 full range).

Nice 👍 I’m now worrying about weight as I’ve got rather used to the Tonehammer

[Sweeneythebass]

4 hours ago, stevie said:

As Dan Dare says, you can get some good bargains in used power amps these days as long as you're happy to carry 12kg+. The PA guys tend to favour the lighter amps with switch mode power supplies nowadays - which is understandable if you're carrying several dozen. I sold a 900W QSC on here for £90 a few years ago and a Carvin 1000W for £100 - both really nice old-style amps.

Thanks dude yes weight/bulk/portability on my mind now 

[stevie]

In which case, in addition to the suggestions that have already been made, you might like to look out for a Peavey IPR1600 on eBay. It's just 3kg and a good, reliable amp with plenty of power. Your easiest and lightest option would of course be to sell the Tonehammer preamp and get an Aguilar TH500.They're not cheap, but used ones do come up in the Basschat For Sale section. I expect that's crossed your mind.....

[Phil Starr]

+1 for the Peavey IPR1600 I have two for PA use, they are just plug in and forget, no real sound of their own and they just work.

[Owen]

 

[Daz39]

Bassics have a thread and a banner ad here; how hard can it be to get hold of one?

[Sweeneythebass]

10 hours ago, owen said:

 

I’m selling My Tonehammer 350 and keeping the Tonehammer pedal reason being some gigs we have backline provided so I just rock up with the preamp pedal I dial in my tone.

[Sweeneythebass]

10 hours ago, Daz39 said:

Bassics have a thread and a banner ad here; how hard can it be to get hold of one?

Think their website is being updated at the mo thanks tho

[jrixn1]

21 hours ago, Sweeneythebass said:

weight/bulk/portability on my mind now 

Some things to consider:

I've never used one, but it looks interesting: http://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-1000w-sumo-guitar-bass-power-amp-c2x23791314

It might seem like going round in circles, but the smallest power amps are often found in class D bass heads rather than PA power amps.  E.g. the above Tone Hammer 500 contains (of course) a 500W power amp - you can bypass its preamp and go straight to the power amp section by plugging into the "return" of the effects loop.

What type of gigs are you doing?  Have you considered selling the Barefaced and getting a powered speaker like an RCF 735-A?  This is the route I went down.
 

[ped]

3 hours ago, Sweeneythebass said:

Think their website is being updated at the mo thanks tho

If you want me to put you in touch let me know - there may be a deal to be had, if for example you'd be happy for others to try it.

[Sweeneythebass]

20 hours ago, ped said:

for

Y

 

20 hours ago, ped said:

If you want me to put you in touch let me know - there may be a deal to be had, if for example you'd be happy for others to try it.

That’s would be great be nice to see what options there are. 

[Dan Dare]

21 hours ago, jrixn1 said:

I've never used one, but it looks interesting: http://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-1000w-sumo-guitar-bass-power-amp-c2x23791314

I'd bet that's an IcePower module in a box. Quite a few offer them. Output numbers look a bit suspect. It doesn't work out that way in practice (doubling of output every time the impedance halves).

[Sweeneythebass]

10 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

I'd bet that's an IcePower module in a box. Quite a few offer them. Output numbers look a bit suspect. It doesn't work out that way in practice (doubling of output every time the impedance halves).

Anyone actually tried these ? (Guitar sound systems Sumo ? ) 

[NancyJohnson]

Probably late to this party, but I've been using a 2U Matrix GT1000 poweramp for the last three years or so.

It looks good, is lightweight, goes loud, has been uber reliable.  I've fed it with a variety of Tech21 pre-stage, so don't ask me about whether it sounds transparent!  Great value too.

[fleabag]

Another Peavey IPR 1600  ( ex ) user. Great lightweight power amp. I think they've been superceded now

[Wolverinebass]

To add a slightly different view of the Peavey ipr1600. I had one in my bass rig. There was no way it was 600w per side. The thing clipped very, very early. 300w, yeah, but not 600w. Rather frustratingly, it broke twice. Peavey fixed it and the 2nd time they put in the board from the 2nd generation of them. I didn't trust it for my rig so it now powers the PA in my studio.

The other thing that grated was it has a switch on the back to high pass the signal at 120hz. Even with it off, I felt like normal wasn't that much lower. The difference was very apparent when tons of bass was added in when I got my Yamaha power amp. My rig is midi controlled so it was the same settings. 

I might have just been unlucky, but it was quite irritating at the time. I hasten to say that I haven't had any problems since they gave me the updated board and that's 3 years ago or so.