ryancowell25 Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Hi all After a great deal of research i'm hitting a bit of a brick wall regarding lightweight poweramps. Heres my situation - I'm currently running an Avalon U5 into two 8ohm Barefaced cabs (Compact and Midget and for bigger gigs Compact and Compact). I'm doing this via the poweramp on my Genz Benz streamliner 900 (bi passing the pre-amp) My problems are two fold - 1. Using a Streamliner as just as a poweramp is a bit over the top. 2. I have the U5 and streamliner rackmounted. The streamliner rackmount kit is ridiculously heavy and has now ruined the idea of having a light weight portable rig. Therefore I want to swap this out for a lightweight poweramp (9lbs and under with roughly equivalent or more power). I'm struggling to find anything that will chuck out enough power in stereo at 8ohms. I've been looking the crown Drivecore 1000 and 1500. However i'm unsure if I can run them mono bridged into two cabs (the barefaced cabs have only one input each). so - 1. Can I run a poweramp bridged into two 8ohm cabs? - maybe via a Y splitter or something like this [url="http://www.morrisstagetechnology.com/productinfo.asp?product=2+Way+Speakon+splitter"]http://www.morrisstagetechnology.com/productinfo.asp?product=2+Way+Speakon+splitter[/url] 2. Would the drivecore 1500 be too much for my Barefaced cabs or should I stick to the 1000 If I can do the above? here are the crown specs [url="http://www.crownaudio.com/amp_htm/xls_drivecore.htm"]http://www.crownaudio.com/amp_htm/xls_drivecore.htm[/url] Alot of questions but if anyone can help me out its the basschat community. Alternatives and any suggestions most welcome. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiamPodmore Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 (edited) For lightweight poweramps my choice would be a Peavey IPR, probably a 3000. As for the bridging, would running amp-cab1-cab2 not just present the amp with a 4 ohm load (Providing the amp does bridged @ 4 ohms, which the Peaveys do). Edit: i didn't see the bit about 1 input. Might be worth talking to Alex to see if he could add a second one to your cabs? From what i've seen he seems like the kind of person who might be willing to do that, but you can never be sure. Liam Edited February 22, 2012 by LiamPodmore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryancowell25 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 I've considered the IPR 3000 but no one seems to have any in stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_S Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I bought a Crown XLS1500 Drivecore a few weeks ago and am using it bridged into a Barefaced Super 12 - so far it's all looking very positive, not to mention sounding quite ridiculously loud. I bought the 1500 rather than the 1000 because there's a chance I might want to use it for PA duties at some point so wanted the extra power more than the few quid left over, but as long as you use your ears and be careful not to push your cabs too hard, who cares if it's 1500W or 15kW?! As for the speakon Y-splitter box, it looks like it'd do the job just fine. Alternatively you could use two leads with speakons at the cab end and bare wire at the amp... binding posts maybe aren't that fashionable, but they still work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73Jazz Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Did you consider this one? [url="http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/GBP/Synq-Audio-Digit-2K2-Endstufe-2x-1100-Watt-/-4-Ohm/art-PAH0008521-000"]http://www.musicstore.com/en_EN/GBP/Synq-Audio-Digit-2K2-Endstufe-2x-1100-Watt-/-4-Ohm/art-PAH0008521-000[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryancowell25 Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 I did have a look but i'd read some negative online reviews on them. Anyone tried one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prime_BASS Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Agreed, the rack kit for the streamliner is one piece of grade A crap. It's effectively a shelf for the amp and looks hideous. Anyway. A lot of getting the right ampage for needs is compromise. You'll be hard to find sometyhing that less than 9lbs and chucks out lets say 500w a side(for serious loudness) The MB1000 (markbass) is 300w at 8 ohm a side and will drive the cabs very hard. Is uinder 9lbs aswell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherairsoft Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 If you run it into two 8 Ohm cabs then thats a single 4 Ohm draw (bridge mono). Bridge mode is a single output so you won't get an amp that has 2 outputs in bridge - Stereo is two Bridge (mono) is one. A splitter 'might' work, though I have no idea how it would cope with large amounts of power and would not image that each side would receive exactly half power so they may be imbalanced. You really need to be running in Stereo. The Streamliner is actually quite a good solution in this case as to get stereo output in 8 Ohms you need a very high powered amp. Why not give this chap a shout - http://basschat.co.uk/topic/166124-10-off-any-amplifier-with-a-basschat-review/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed_S Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) [quote name='pantherairsoft' timestamp='1329936151' post='1550079'] A splitter 'might' work, though I have no idea how it would cope with large amounts of power and would not image that each side would receive exactly half power so they may be imbalanced. You really need to be running in Stereo. [/quote] The splitter box in the OP's link is rated to 30A continuous (same as a basic NL2FC speakon) so I wouldn't have thought there'd be any need to worry about the power issue. What makes you doubt that a passive Y-splitter hooked up with suitable cables would deliver the same juice to each one of a pair of identical cabs? Edited February 23, 2012 by Ed_S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherairsoft Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 No specific doubts - more of a concern. I am no expert... My train of thought was that is Amps contain a fair amount of technology to deliver accurate power to both outputs in stereo then a basic splitter may not do it alone. If it will, then cool! I just assumed (maybe wrongly) that some form of regulator would be required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gear4djs Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 ryancowell25, I will get to work on building up a list of recommended amplifiers for you and then I can post the reply here also, thank you pantherairsoft for recommending us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gear4djs Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) Hello again! For the sort of spec you've been talking about, the [url="http://goo.gl/B64db"]KXD3200[/url] would be an ideal replacement: This is 400W RMS into 8 ohms per side, 800W RMS into 4 ohms per side and 1600W RMS into 8 ohm bridge. Serious, serious amplifier! [url="http://goo.gl/B64db"]Click here for more specs.[/url] Or, if you wanted even more power, then the [url="http://goo.gl/vAVUG"]KXD4400[/url] would be the one. That's (wait for it!) 550W RMS into 8 ohms per side, 1100W RMS into 4 ohms per side and 2200W RMS at 8 ohms bridge(!). The [url="http://goo.gl/vAVUG"]KXD4400[/url] is (in my opinion) probably one of the most ideal amplifiers to mate with two Compacts, seeing as: [list] [*]For a start, the Compact is one of the ultimate lightweight cabinet designs in my opinion (26lbs for 600W handling with their frequency response and sensitivity is insane) [*]It has enough power in stereo at 8 ohms to really give the cabs a huge kick (although these cabs will happily take an amplifier up to about 800W). [*]If you needed EVEN more power (which is getting to pretty silly levels by this point, but it's worth mentioning anyway for the sake of it) then you can use 4 ohm cabinets instead. [*]These also obviously function as amazing PA amplifiers, if you also intend to use them for that purpose (which is what I do). [/list] You'll have an amp rig that comprises of the Avalon (12lbs-ish in weight?), KXD4400/3200(10-12lbs) and two cabinets (26lbs each) that'll be the lightest you can almost possibly make it. And it'll sound fantastic The 10% Basschat discount is also still currently available, and if an amp is showing out of stock we can get it in stock again for the next day. Commenting on what other people have said about Y-cables, this is absolutely fine. Obviously, there are quite a few amp makes that have used just one Speakon out (also the same configuration as a power amplifier's 'bridge' mode) so it becomes a necessity - no technical issues here. Please let me know if you guys have any more questions - keep them coming! Edited February 23, 2012 by gear4djs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Bridge the power amp - a homemade Y-cable with one speakon at the amp end splitting to two leads will work just fine. We can add an extra speakon but with the cost of shipping them back and forth it's probably not worth it when the Y-cable will work well (all our 8 ohm cabs now have two speakons to avoid these discussions in the future!)They'll handle the 1500 fine but you won't get any extra useful loudness over the 1000 - get the former if you're thinking you might want to also use it for PA duties in stereo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryancowell25 Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Thanks Alex and Gear 4 DJ's - much appreciated Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gear4djs Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 [quote name='alexclaber' timestamp='1329998547' post='1551011'] Bridge the power amp - a homemade Y-cable with one speakon at the amp end splitting to two leads will work just fine. We can add an extra speakon but with the cost of shipping them back and forth it's probably not worth it when the Y-cable will work well (all our 8 ohm cabs now have two speakons to avoid these discussions in the future!)They'll handle the 1500 fine but you won't get any extra useful loudness over the 1000 - get the former if you're thinking you might want to also use it for PA duties in stereo. [/quote] Yeah, I should've mentioned this as well i.e the Compacts *do* take over 600 watts, but you won't really get any extra output benefit. Cheers Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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