bigjimmyc Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Hey BCers. Happy almost xmas shopping anxiety season. Just wanted to write a few lines about my new (old) amp, and get some advice. I swapped my TC BH800 with Calum of this parish for his SVT-II non-pro. It was a good deal and this thread isn't bemoaning that at all. The SVT sounded a bit weak when I got it, and I felt like it was salvageable using my reliable amp tech Raphael Sutcliffe (Sutcliffe Amplification, Waterlooville). Upon testing he found several problems including four duff power tubes. Thanks to OBBM Dave we replaced those with matching Sveltanas and I got it back all fixed up on Tuesday. The SVT is hooked up to my barefaced four10 (8-ohm), and the consensus so far is that it's ok using the 4-ohm tap. The sound is really something else than I've heard before. It rings more like a bell than a bass. Cranking it up can give me an angry Geezer or even a full Lemmy. Inspiring stuff! [Insert heft remark here] My only concern is this: I thought it would be louder. I've taken it to 3 o'clock on the dial and it's loud but not nuclear. With other amps (incl the aforementioned BH800) I've found this cab is really loud, and I've tried switching to a 4-ohm cab instead (noticeably quieter) just to be sure. This has been a reasonably expensive experiment so far, so before I splash out on more gear (Lozz's two10 for example) I'd thought I'd sound out the BC continuum. Where's my volume? Cheers Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave74200 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 You should never use this amp at 8 ohms. Some people say they do but it is not good for the amp at all. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I have had this straight from the horse's mouth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjimmyc Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 I had a feeling I'd hear that Dave. Care to expand? Alex from barefaced advised that it was ok, although obviously the cab could be reconfigured as 2-ohm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave74200 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I had a 2 pro and downsized the cab to a 4x10 which was 8 ohm. I was then told it would be bad for the amp's transformer and power valves. As many said it was ok, I continued to use it. After about 3 gigs, the power valves failed and had to be replaced..... along with the cab! I had an ex Ampeg engineer on talk bass tell me never to do it. Only 4 or 2 ohm. Good luck mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjimmyc Posted December 15, 2016 Author Share Posted December 15, 2016 Makes sense.... I'm not normally one to avoid the logical answer. Isn't it time we had switchable impedance cabs like many guitar cabs? I.e. The 4x10 can be 8 ohms (serial-parallel) or 2 ohms (all parallel). Anyway, is this the reason my trousers are not flapping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 Ive also heard a valve amp at 4 ohms should only be paired with a 4 ohm cab, but... I dont think this is your volume issue. The SVT 2 should be blowing the windows out, back to your Tech IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thodrik Posted December 15, 2016 Share Posted December 15, 2016 I have a Trace Elliot V6 which only has a 4ohm and 2ohm connection setting. This is pretty strange considering that the 4x12 and 2x15 cabs that Trace Elliot released for the amp all seem to be 8 ohm. Maybe in the 1990s people were just expected to buy a full stack...Anyway, I have used my Trace at low volumes with an 8 ohm cab, mainly to check that the amp actually worked. I certainly wouldn't use it for prolonged use with anything other than a 4 ohm or 2 ohm cab, which is why it is currently sitting unused until I buy another 4 ohm cab. The thought of having to replace the power tubes or transformer is enough to put me off. Valve amps are expensive to fix. There are also limits to the amount of clean headroom you will get. The SVT II should still be incredibly loud though, so I would take it back to your tech for them to check it over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulman Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I have a SVT11Pro Premium,it's as loud as hell!BUT,mine went the same way as yours and i had the preamp tubes checked,and a few needed to be replaced,just a thought,but you may need to get them checked,good luck,Oh,mine has always been run with a 4Ohm cab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjimmyc Posted February 7, 2017 Author Share Posted February 7, 2017 I've got a feeling that the BF four10 is a bit less than 8 ohms. Still tempted to require it to 2 ohms though, because it's all the cab I need in all other respects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damonjames Posted February 8, 2017 Share Posted February 8, 2017 Almost all amps suffer this problem. My Markbass seems to be lacking a little on my 8 ohm cab, so am going to try it with two 8 ohm cabs this weekend. You need to bear in mind, it is designed to be paired with an 8x10!!! Don't know why, but it's like you need to run it at minimum load to open it up and get the full depth of sound out of it ( it just volume!) I hope you get it sorted, I don't know if there are many (if any) unhappy svt owners... but their backs might have a different opinion!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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