richrips Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Hey this is probably the dilemma facing just about everyone with a wallet, a band and a spine: How can i get a light amp, that sounds good, which is powerful enough for me, for the least amount of cash??? [b]Light?? = class-D then! Tone? = decent eq, low THD, solid/valve pre options power? = Lots!! [/b] I'm finding this a tough balancing act and would like to draw together the experiences of others in a measured way to make sense of that crazy marketplace..... [b]Me as an example:[/b] I have a huge crown power amp and peavey alpha valve preamp which feeds 2 BFM jack 12 cabs rated at 8Ohms and 400watts rms each. The amp combined weighs approx 15-20kg which is pretty bad on my already bad back. having said this it sounds incredible and drives the cabs to nuclear volume without even getting out of bed. i want a smaller amp for similar money so where do i start? current amp: total 600w in to 8ohms, 17kg (approx), used value £250-300 Markbass? sounds very nice, also very light, but to get similar power in to my cabs i'd be many hundreds of pounds out of pocket. Genz benz? Sounds equally nice, has a valve in there too, very light, very flexible, but many hundreds of pounds out of range for anything near as powerful. Orange? Bass terror seems to have issues with the sound being good (eg for rock) but limited flexibility due to only valve pre amp and few eq options. switchable output impedence means you get more power from 8ohm cabs than many of the larger amps by manufacturers mentioned above. price is again a few hundred over my current amp value. light too. Yamaha? Not enough power realistically. TC? Not much power and very pricey. again they sound rather good though! Ashdown? the superfly recieved mixed reviews and seems not that reliable. The little giant 350 seems underpowered (weak preamp section apparenty does it no favours) but is more reliable and WITHIN BUDGET!!! best of all, the little giant 1000 i played yesterday (along with markbass sa450 and bass terror) seems to tick lots of boxes. 1000 watts in to 4 ohm, less in to 8ohm but still very powerful. for £250 off the'bay you get the case thrown in and postage too and still half the price of anything of similar power. I didn't think the markbass warranted such a price tag for its benefits. The sa450 (£650) puts out only 300w at 8ohm. the tone is very clean (almost harsh by my standards, but very good for the whole low volume, low action clean freaks). i can't afford it and the power isn't really enough to feed my cabs. tone on the ashdown was warmer (this may be interpretted as less defined, woolier, smoother, more old-school etc depending on your preferences/opinion. basically a higher THD than the more expensive amps but whether you see this as a good or bad thing is personal). i liked the sound of the ashdown. [b]So the idea of this thread is for people in a similar position to me to say what they have done/propose to do to balance the three factors of power, tone and price to see if there are any other routes to high power and good tone in a way i (and others in a similar situation) can afford: [/b] [u]Please give your examples in the following way:[/u] [b]amp name power rating (with relevant ohms) cost (current) your opinions on tone (preferably compared to something else) [/b] Cheers, rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Swap out your amp for a lightweight power amp. Simplest way. Thomann have some fairly cheap ones. I think a lightweight poweramp and a Sansamp (if you like that sound) is the simplest light rig you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 A couple of comments. The Orange bass Terror can be tamed by changing the valves to make it less aggressive, however it still has that Orange tone. The Ashdown LG1000 is not 1000-watts into 4-ohms. It has 2 x 500-watt in 4-ohm power amps which are not bridgeable, so it 500-watts into 4-ohms + 500-watts into 4-ohms. No problem with using just one power amp and leaving the other unconnected. One BCer took the approach of an EBS Microbass 2 and a very small lightweight power amp made for him by BC member "Alien". I saw it at one of the SE Bashes and it seemed very com pact although not quite as small as a Shuttle 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pentode Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Oooooh! Jack 12's! What drivers are in them and how do they sound? Any photos? Just building one myself! Mr Foxens' idea sounds worth considering.... Peavey DPC1400X? - Oodles of power and very light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beedster Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 See final post in [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=72691&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=72691&hl=[/url] I've owned a lot of gear, and for balance of lightweight and tone, the PJB Super Flightcase is as good as it gets. Expensive but good! C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sk8 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 [url="http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/White-Horse-BT500H-500W-Bass-Head/B1D"]http://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/...W-Bass-Head/B1D[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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