Truckstop Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Hello all, So obviously there's loads of very powerful micro bass heads around (Markbass, TC, GK etc) but I can't see any micro PA power amps around. Why is that? It'd be really handy to have a very small power amp that fits in a laptop bag rather than a rack case or suchlike! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 You mean like these Alex? PJB B-200 underneath a Bass Buddy preamp SWR Amplite underneath a Headlite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 maybe there aren't many because a lot of pa speakers are going self-powered? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franzbassist Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Oops, missed you were talking about PA amps The Peavey IPR range are D class and silly light, but still in a full 2u rack case for some reason, even though the internals take up probably 10% of the space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commando Jack Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1372361484' post='2124931'] maybe there aren't many because a lot of pa speakers are going self-powered? [/quote] Powered speakers and powered mixers would also be my guess. Funnily enough, the only thing we don't like about our 2 piece setup is the monster of an old Peavey power amp. Oh how'd love to find a super light 1K power amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Digital amps for PA these days are either in the mixer or in the speaker for small rigs. On bigger rigs they need to to rack mountable, 2-channel and high powered (500 + 500 W at the very minimum). All of those requirements tend to increase the form factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 There's loads of cover bands out there that only need maybe 250-300w a side for vocals and keys and it just seems silly that even the really low powered PA amps seem to be ultra-heavy and need to be fitted in a rack case. It's not like power amps need to have more than 2 knobs on the front and 4 sockets in the back (2 Speakon, 2 jack) and a power supply. If the guts of something like the GK MB Fusion can fit inside a box the size of a Mac Air why can't someone design a similar size power amp? I'd buy one! I only need 300w a side. My mixer is one of those tiny 5 channel Mackie doodads and it looks silly perched on top of my PV1500! If I could get a power amp the size of a TC Electronics RH750 that'd be amazing! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 You're looking at this all wrong. There are plenty of micro power amps already for small PAs. It's just that they are built into the backs of the speaker cabs. My covers band has just bought some new Mackie cabs (DLM12). They are tiny, lightweight (under 15kg each) and loud and each cab has it's own built-in 2kW amp. We run this from a small 8-channel mixer and the whole system including the bag of leads takes up less space than the 2 unpowered cabs they had when I joined the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 The other thing you have to remember is that in the PA world..... Amps (and outboard in general) are a standard 19" unit....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlapbassSteve Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 [quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1372417040' post='2125469'] You're looking at this all wrong. There are plenty of micro power amps already for small PAs. It's just that they are built into the backs of the speaker cabs. My covers band has just bought some new Mackie cabs (DLM12). They are tiny, lightweight (under 15kg each) and loud and each cab has it's own built-in 2kW amp. We run this from a small 8-channel mixer and the whole system including the bag of leads takes up less space than the 2 unpowered cabs they had when I joined the band. [/quote] This. I own a pair of active Mackie SRM450's, the Mackie gear is brilliant and seems to just be getting smaller and smaller by the year. I think the reason so few outboard power amps are made with low outputs is because there's pretty much no need for them- most people needing this kind of spec just get active speakers, or a micro system with the amp built into the mixer like the Yamaha Stagepas [url="http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/pa_systems/stagepas_300/"]http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/proaudio/pa_systems/stagepas_300/[/url] The stagepas is good as the mixer/amp combo also fits into the back of the speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 http://demeteramps.us/index.php?route=product/product&path=62&product_id=92 Ouch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 I agree with all the above points about power amps increasingly built into speaker cabs. The other advantage of such things is that all the various PA cables can be standard balanced XLR types, with no need for long runs of high-power speaker cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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