far0n Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 You can get tiny rack mount power amps fairly cheaply these days, just wondered if anyone used a little preamp straight into a power amp. All opinions, advice and abuse welcome ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBod Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 My pre/pwr set up is very old-fashioned, Alembic F2B/SWR Stereo 800. Sounds great but is 4U rack and the fan in the SWR is noisy. I sometimes use my Euphonic Audio 500 head as a power amp, but I find the gain staging a bit more difficult (too hot for front inputs...a bit weak for effects return/pwr amp). I fancy the SWR sounds better, but the heat and fan noise can be a problem for any smaller gigs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 I use aguilar tone hammer pre & crown xls 402. That work fine, dont cost so much and the agui can be bring everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 Sansamp RBI and a Crown XS700. When I bought it the Crown was set up with a bridging cable to run at 1900 watts. I found this didnt give any more real volume than when it's running 700 watts per side and the heat caused it to cut out a lot when pushed so I put it back in stereo mode with a regular cable. So far it's been a good bit of kit, I wouldnt mind something a touch lighter though. Saying that, I once paired the Sansamp with Mr Foxen's old Matamp Quasar 1000 watt power amp to do some troubleshooting and that sounded incredible - so much clean headroom. If I ever see one of those for sale I'll be sorely tempted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 Yeah, that Quasar with a Trace V-type, and a Peavey Raxx preamp, either or both, depending on how I'm feeling/how big the room is/how many cabs I can lay hands on. Hefty kit though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted September 16, 2010 Share Posted September 16, 2010 Yep- Boss VF-1 running into a tiny BK Electronics class D power amp. Will be super portable once I get a cab I can actually carry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Most of the preamps mentioned above are 'rack units' though. So I wouldn't necessarily call them little. The VF-1 is a lovely little half rack, so I think that's a good example. How about the EBS MicroBass II and the Sansamp ParaDriver. Both are pedal sized preamps and are both brilliant! - Infact I like the fact that they are 'dual purpose' - sling them in your pedal board - or use as a full preamp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
algmusic Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 [quote name='dood' post='959487' date='Sep 17 2010, 02:23 PM']Most of the preamps mentioned above are 'rack units' though. So I wouldn't necessarily call them little. The VF-1 is a lovely little half rack, so I think that's a good example. How about the EBS MicroBass II and the Sansamp ParaDriver. Both are pedal sized preamps and are both brilliant! - Infact I like the fact that they are 'dual purpose' - sling them in your pedal board - or use as a full preamp![/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
far0n Posted September 17, 2010 Author Share Posted September 17, 2010 [quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='959013' date='Sep 17 2010, 12:24 AM']Yep- Boss VF-1 running into a tiny BK Electronics class D power amp. Will be super portable once I get a cab I can actually carry.[/quote] See now, I quite like the idea of those teeny Class D racked power amps. What wattage is yours ? Got any info ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 Not so Tiny Ashdown RPM-1/APM-1000 rig - I like the ability to Bi-amp more than anything else about this setup.. I have a spare Amcron GeoDyne II that I can use as a backup, and a no-name active crossover/graphic EQ that in extremis can function as a preamp.. Now wait for the posts about transformers and slew rates in power amplifiers being the most important thing rather than pure RMS power.. :-) (ducks and hides).. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted September 17, 2010 Share Posted September 17, 2010 [quote name='far0n' post='959668' date='Sep 17 2010, 05:02 PM']See now, I quite like the idea of those teeny Class D racked power amps. What wattage is yours ? Got any info ?[/quote] Sure, it is [url="http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/ClassD/ClassD.htm"]this one[/url] which I bought from our own Dood a few years ago. It really is tiny, and goes up to 600W at 2 ohms. I'm sure I read that they don't make them any more, so not sure why they're still on the site...? Anyway, I really like it; the only issue is it's really designed to be stuck into a speaker so it's not easily rackable. Not an issue for me. Here's a pic for scale: [url="http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e157/velvetkevorkian/?action=view¤t=minirig1.jpg"][/url] Anyway, it's served as backline for death metal gigs and been fine for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.