colin100 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hi everybody Im new to bass chat and all so though I would say hi and ask this question... I have recently bought a Little mark II amp which is totally brilliant and was wondering how they make it so small and light compared to other amps. I noticed that the Genzbenz shuttle amps are even lighter!!! Why are the normal amps that we have been using for years much heavier? Like what is in them that the little mark doesn't have? Just curious! Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 They filled my amp with bricks I'm sure someone will give a non-stupid answer soon. Welcome to Basschat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boneless Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 (edited) If I remember correctly, it's all (at least for the main part) in the power transformer, which is a "switching" power transformer (at least, I THINK this is the correct name ), which weighs much less than traditional power transformers. It's a relatively new technology, this kind of transformers used to be less stable and less able to adapt to sudden increases in power request, AFAIK, but recently they've improved greatly, and have become much cheaper as well. Some say that this kind of power transformers influences negatively the amp's tone, though (here in Italy we have had the chance to compare the old Markbass amps - which used traditional power supplies - and the new ones, and some say the new ones have a more mid-strong tone, but sound less refined and a bit more compressed, while the older ones were fuller and warmer, and less compressed. Edited February 16, 2009 by Boneless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply"]Switch Mode Power Supply[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switching_amplifier"]Class D Amplifier[/url] Both very similar but some Class AB amps still have SMPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexclaber Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 To give you an idea of how much difference an SMPS makes, compare your current mobile phone charger's weight to the charger you got with your first phone (assuming that was ~10 years ago). Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrenochrome Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I think class D stuff is great, our main PA has class D amps built into all the cabs which gives a tremendous weight and space saving - very useful when you play quite a lot of gigs and travel a fair bit to get to many of them. I also have a tiny class D g####r amp (Crate) that I use for rehearsal. If it had a bit more clean power (and a DI that didn't mute the speaker outs), then I'd use it for gigging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 [quote name='bass_ferret' post='411564' date='Feb 16 2009, 10:55 PM'][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply"]Switch Mode Power Supply[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switching_amplifier"]Class D Amplifier[/url] Both very similar but some Class AB amps still have SMPS.[/quote] Indeed, I think yer Genz is class D, but yer Markie is AB with SMPS. What I can say without hesitation is that a million of them weigh less than a Boogie Bass 400+. Is that use Wiki, rather than [i][b]the[/b][/i] Wiki? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_ferret Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 [quote name='johnnylager' post='411733' date='Feb 17 2009, 09:46 AM']Indeed, I think yer Genz is class D, but yer Markie is AB with SMPS. What I can say without hesitation is that a million of them weigh less than a Boogie Bass 400+. Is that use Wiki, rather than [i][b]the[/b][/i] Wiki? [/quote] There is the wiki, and then there is the basschat wiki. Its amazing what you can find with google But then I did lnow what to look for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin100 Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Thanks everybody. Not everything made sense but I'll go with new technology making the power transformer smaller and lighter and I liked the phone charger analogy!! Cheers Colin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clockworkwar Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 It is the transformers, but also the components and construction method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I absolutely adore my MarkBass F1 [url="http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua=it&cat=1&vedi=82"]http://www.markbass.it/products.php?lingua...t=1&vedi=82[/url] - I think it's about time that manufacturers moved with technology and started investing in the future. Big poorly designed boxes are a bit like dinosaurs that are being kept alive! Ooohhh! I'll surely be shot for making such a remark! lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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