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Amp DIY


four/five
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Having reached a “certain” age all of my amps are also from an era of weight.

Trace Elliot 250 SMX combo with 15”, still sounds good, but not light.

Hartke 5000 BiAmp head, a lot lighter than above but !

Mark King Ashdown 500 head as above !

And last maybe the saviour. Trace Elliot GP12 SMX pre amp.

Has anyone put together a pre amp with any of the Class D modules now available?

One module keeps cropping up is the Ice power 700ASC/X. It would seem this module is appearing

beneath the “hood” in quite a few of the top Bass Amp manufactures.

Unfortunately it would also appear that this module is not easy to get ones hands on.

Other Icepower modules especially a 1000 watt unit seems available for DIY.

I could go down the “power amp” route but most would have to be bridged for single cab use and they can be restricted to their

ohm output restrictions.

Anyone tried DIY ?

 

 

 

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Yep,

bad back , so,

been doing this for awhile. Started with a B&O module, then experimented with ( the fabulous ) Hypex parts,

and now I've bought a 1000w Sumo power amp.

preamps I've used range from the front end of SVT's, for which I've had to build power supplies, and pre's from Trace Elliot, Ashdown, Alembic, Ashly, SWR,  etc.

be aware, it's not just plug and play ! The different combinations don't all match. Some pre's don't drive the modules to full output,

and in some cases I've had to use a Sansamp , or micro amp, to get enough signal.

However, it's great fun, and as I can't lift my SVT's anymore, love walking in with ( what looks like ) my SVT in one hand !

be warned, you won't save money doing it the way I have !

mike.

 

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17 hours ago, Chimike said:

Yep,

bad back , so,

been doing this for awhile. Started with a B&O module, then experimented with ( the fabulous ) Hypex parts,

and now I've bought a 1000w Sumo power amp.

preamps I've used range from the front end of SVT's, for which I've had to build power supplies, and pre's from Trace Elliot, Ashdown, Alembic, Ashly, SWR,  etc.

be aware, it's not just plug and play ! The different combinations don't all match. Some pre's don't drive the modules to full output,

and in some cases I've had to use a Sansamp , or micro amp, to get enough signal.

However, it's great fun, and as I can't lift my SVT's anymore, love walking in with ( what looks like ) my SVT in one hand !

be warned, you won't save money doing it the way I have !

mike.

 

Thanks for the reply. It would seem by the lack of replies this mix and match  build it yourself , these days is not an option for many.

In the 60’s when I started we were always doing this out of necessity . A Vox AC 15/30 or nothing. After playing support to bands like Johnny Kid and the Pirates,Sounds Incorporate etc. I always pounced on the bass players and quizzed them re their gear.

They were usually using American speakers by Altec Lansing or Gause. Their amps came from suppliers of Cinema sound equipment. Rows of KT88 valves which by the end of the night you could fry your breakfast on from the heat they gave off. So my first serious bass setup used a Leak Slope Hifi preamp into a 100watt leak mono amp with KT88’s,weighing a ton. Two Goodmans 15” speakers,again weighing a ton.

The Sumo amp certainly looks like a serious option. I’ve not heard of the Hypex modules and they seem an option. Pity there’s not a British firm doing these units. It would appear reading between the lines, amp manufactures seem to be outsourcing their output section and only designing the pre amp sections.

Peter

Thanks again for the Sumo info

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  • 1 month later...
On 20/03/2019 at 09:50, four/five said:

Has anyone put together a pre amp with any of the Class D modules now available?

Yep, I've built around half a dozen. For starters, I assume you are OK with the fact that to do it right this will cost you more than a commercial solution?

You can see an brief overview of most of my builds here:  http://passinwind.com/DIY.html

I've also posted build threads on Talkbass, including:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diy-500-watt-bass-head.1061473/#post-15624273

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/a-diy-1-2-rack-bass-preamp.1135423/#post-16982343

The latter thread morphs from preamp to  matching power amp to a couple of all in one bass amp builds.

I've done a couple of separate tube preamps as well.

 

 

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