TRACE ELLIOT BLX-80:- minimum speaker load?

[BassManGraham]

Hi Fellow Basschatters, I have just acquired a BLX 80 Combo. I plan to remove amp to use separately and save my back, plus not overly impressed with integral 10" speaker.Howver It sounds massive thru my Barefaced or Vanderkley cabs.

Stupid question, I cannot find specs or manual on power amp section. The single speaker output jack says 8 ohm, I am assuming this relates to the internal speaker and not minimum load. I would like confirmation that I can run this amp safely into 4 ohm load. Most Trace Elliot amps state minimum 4 ohm load, but this doesn't. 

Are there any Trace Elliot aficionados out there who can advise? 

[Chienmortbb]

From memory the BLX80 was 80 watts into 8 ohms and I believe the internal speaker was disconnected when an extension is plugged in. The BLX130 was the same basic combo but within a bigger amp that could drive another speaker and there was one in the Trace range. 

Can you take a look at the back and post a photo?

[BassManGraham]

Here are pics. Have removed from combo case and built cabinet. Saves weight and the ten inch integral speaker falls far short of my Vanderkley and Barefaced Cabs.

That's right, there is only one jack output which was originally connected to internal speaker so to use an alternative speaker one had to unplug the internal speaker, so using an extension speaker was not facilitied.

Have run for a little while at 4 ohms, and it sounds huge, but not sure if it safe to do so for a 2-3 hour gig, without over heating and overloading power amp section?

 

 

[pete.young]

I'd say it relates to the amp and not to the internal speaker (these chassis were I think also available standalone) . If it says 8 Ohms and you're running it at 4, I think there's a risk of damage to the head.

[BassManGraham]

Thanks Pete,  I am thinking the same, best stick to 8 ohm speaker to play it safe.

[Thunderpaws]

I’m picking one of these combos up in the morning. Apparently quite rough around the edges. I fancy doing this head removal lark too. 

[TheGreek]

Plug it in, turn it up and surprise yourself how loud 80w can be...

[Thunderpaws]

This is the one I’m getting. Hopefully it works well. Does it have the Trace Ellliot sound that people rave about?

[Deedee]

Just to further shed light/confuse things, one of my old TE catalogues shows the same generation BLX model as @BassManGraham along with the 130 and states that both models have 4ohm output impedance.

 

 

 

However, another catalogue showing the earlier Series 6 version that @Thunderpaws has incoming states 8ohm.

 

 

 

I strongly suspect that the amps themselves are both 4 ohm min.

 

[Thunderpaws]

6 minutes ago, Deedee said:

 

However, another catalogue showing the earlier Series 6 version that @Thunderpaws 

I strongly suspect that the amps themselves are both 4 ohm min.

 

I wonder if they are talking about the speaker rating rather than the head?

[Deedee]

6 minutes ago, Thunderpaws said:

I wonder if they are talking about the speaker rating rather than the head?

Yeah, that's what I reckon.

[Deedee]

Just to add to that if the amp was minimum 8 ohm, to my knowledge it would be the only solid state bass amp that Trace ever made that wasn’t 4 ohm minimum.

[Thunderpaws]

Hi everyone. Just picked this up for a very little amount of money. Markings on the back say min load 4 Ohms. 

 

[Thunderpaws]

And opened it up to find this inside.....what is it....not stock for sure. 

[Deedee]

11 minutes ago, Thunderpaws said:

Hi everyone. Just picked this up for a very little amount of money. Markings on the back say min load 4 Ohms. 

Nice one. 👍

[BassManGraham]

On 06/09/2019 at 20:24, Deedee said:

Just to add to that if the amp was minimum 8 ohm, to my knowledge it would be the only solid state bass amp that Trace ever made that wasn’t 4 ohm minimum.

Many thanks for your very helpful posts. I had a shed load of Trace Elliot brochures that I collected when I wanted,,but couldn't afford them, sadly I think they were turfed out when we moved house. 

I recently acquired a second Series 6 BLX 80. This states 4 ohm minimum load on the two speaker jack outputs. On inspection and comparison of the amp chassis they appear to have identical components,  particularly ouput transforner, transistors and capacitors.  Apart from a few differences in preamp and front panel facilities the only difference I  can see being the series 6 has a much larger finned heat sink. So I reckon my other BLX 80 rated at 8 ohm does refer to internal speaker, can will run into 4 ohms speaker,  but may get a bit warmer.

[agedhorse]

On 08/09/2019 at 11:44, BassManGraham said:

Many thanks for your very helpful posts. I had a shed load of Trace Elliot brochures that I collected when I wanted,,but couldn't afford them, sadly I think they were turfed out when we moved house. 

I recently acquired a second Series 6 BLX 80. This states 4 ohm minimum load on the two speaker jack outputs. On inspection and comparison of the amp chassis they appear to have identical components,  particularly ouput transforner, transistors and capacitors.  Apart from a few differences in preamp and front panel facilities the only difference I  can see being the series 6 has a much larger finned heat sink. So I reckon my other BLX 80 rated at 8 ohm does refer to internal speaker, can will run into 4 ohms speaker,  but may get a bit warmer.

The later BLX-80's were rated for 4 ohm use and had a larger heatsink. There is no output transformer in the amp, so that part can't be part of any discussion.

There were earlier versions of this amp, and there was indeed a version that was 8 ohms only, I believe it can be identified by having only 2 output transistors rather than 4, but my documentation is not entirely clear on this.

It was not uncommon for Trace to have several versions of any model, making is more of a challenge to support. This appears to be part of the company culture, as I have had 2 supposedly identical models side by side on the bench and they were entirely different internally.

[Thunderpaws]

I took my new old BLX80 to rehearsal last night.  I have to admit that I was surprised at how loud this little (freaking heavy) thing is. 

I was also surprised to find out that it cuts through in the mix better than my Genz Benz Streamliner (even with copious eq fettling). One issue I had though was a horrible high pitched howling now and again. Could it be the weird cabinet slot design and too much air squeezing out? I am now thinking about taking the head out of the combo and using it with my other cabs.  

First time playing with the Trace Elliot sound and I liked it😃

[BassManGraham]

1 hour ago, Thunderpaws said:

I am now thinking about taking the head out of the combo and using it with my other cabs. 

First time playing with the Trace Elliot sound and I liked it😃

 Yes, My Trace BLXs sound amazing through  decent modern cabs such as Barefaced or Vanderkley,  far superior to the boxy honky sound from the weird slot fronted combo cabs. Much more beef far less weight, best of both worlds!

[Deedee]

1 hour ago, Thunderpaws said:

I took my new old BLX80 to rehearsal last night.  I have to admit that I was surprised at how loud this little (freaking heavy) thing is. 

I was also surprised to find out that it cuts through in the mix better than my Genz Benz Streamliner (even with copious eq fettling). One issue I had though was a horrible high pitched howling now and again. Could it be the weird cabinet slot design and too much air squeezing out? I am now thinking about taking the head out of the combo and using it with my other cabs.  

First time playing with the Trace Elliot sound and I liked it😃

Glad you like the TE sound but sorry to hear about the howling. ☹️

Could be something to do with that replacement speaker? I'm sure somebody who knows far more about such things will be along shortly.

[Chienmortbb]

The BLX range features a little used tuning system and not all speakers will benefit from it. I am sure someone on here will be able to tell you the correct speaker. I believe they used Celestion drivers from memory. 

There was an extension cabinet for the BLX130 but that was a conventional cabinet and did not feature the Slot port at all. 

[BassManGraham]

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

The BLX range features a little used tuning system and not all speakers will benefit from it. I am sure someone on here will be able to tell you the correct speaker. I believe they used Celestion drivers from memory. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

The BLX range features a little used tuning system and not all speakers will benefit from it. I am sure someone on here will be able to tell you the correct speaker. I believe they used Celestion drivers from 

My BLX80 had a CELESTION  CT10-150, which was original. These were made for Trace hence the T.

My other BLX-80 had a retrofited Eminence Beta 10A rated at 250 watts.

Both combo cabs sounded similar to my ears.

[Deedee]

4 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

There was an extension cabinet for the BLX130 but that was a conventional cabinet and did not feature the Slot port at all. 

I recently got hold of one of these ext cabs. I spoke to Celestion for advice on a suitable 4ohm replacement for the original 8ohm C10T-150 with a view to using it with my Elf to make a small and light ‘grab & go’ rig for small gigs and rehearsals. 

So it’s now fitted with a Celestion BN10-300X (4), sounds great, is louder and also now 3.5lbs lighter!

Edited September 14, 2019 by Deedee
Typo

[Chienmortbb]

On 14/09/2019 at 12:27, Deedee said:

I recently got hold of one of these ext cabs. I spoke to Celestion for advice on a suitable 4ohm replacement for the original 8ohm C10T-150 with a view to using it with my Elf to make a small and light ‘grab & go’ rig for small gigs and rehearsals. 

So it’s now fitted with a Celestion BN10-300X (4), sounds great, is louder and also now 3.5lbs lighter!

That’s the one. 

[Thunderpaws]

Hiya. I’ve just removed the chassis from the combo and will make a case for it to become a head this week:  

Is notice there that there is a connector saying “link for AH100”. What’s that for?