originalfunster Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 Hi all, Complete novice playing out of my depth here....... I have a trace elliot RA300 twin channel power amp and an Ashly BP41 pre amp, however I have just got hold of a 2nd hand Ampeg svt3 pro (you have to understand I am a bit of a Bass Junkie... Isee something and just have to have it.......) anyway getting back to the point the other thing you need to know is that I have only been playing about 16months and do not know the first thing about anything to do with amps etc. so first off what is the purpose of a pre amp? and could / should I use it with the SVT3 Pro? what I have noticed is that with all the knobs ie: gain, tube gain, master etc set at the half way point on the SVT and doing likewise with the Trace and Ashly pre amp, the trace is approx twice as loud I know the Trace is 300w and the Ampeg is 450w so is the Ashly providing all that extra power? or am I just being a complete muppett not understanding how amplification actually works??????? as always advise greatly appreciated.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 I don't know Trace, but to get the best out of an SVT3: I have all the buttons out, all the tone controls between 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock, some extra volume and a little tone out of the graphic, keep the gain at 12 o'clock (the clip light never comes on), put the master and tube control on 3 o'clock. Then control the overall volume from the bass. This works well for me with 1 cab (8 ohm) or 2 cabs (4 ohm). I've never been drowned out yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted October 27, 2007 Share Posted October 27, 2007 [quote name='originalfunster' post='80067' date='Oct 27 2007, 11:32 AM']Hi all, I have a trace elliot RA300 twin channel power amp and an Ashly BP41 pre amp, however I have just got hold of a 2nd hand Ampeg svt3 pro (you have to understand I am a bit of a Bass Junkie... Isee something and just have to have it.......) anyway getting back to the point the other thing you need to know is that I have only been playing about 16months and do not know the first thing about anything to do with amps etc.[/quote] Firstly how are you operating the Trace power amp. I believe it's a 2-channel device. - Are you just using just one channel? - Do you have each channel connected to separate speaker cabinet and if so what impedance are they? - Are you running it in bridged mode and if so what cab are you driving and what impedance is it? [quote name='originalfunster' post='80067' date='Oct 27 2007, 11:32 AM']so first off what is the purpose of a pre amp? and could / should I use it with the SVT3 Pro?[/quote] A pre-amplifier provides the inital amplification stages to raise the instrument output (a few millivolts) up to a voltage level suitable for driving a power amplifier - in your case the Trace RA-300. Pre-amps also have tone shaping circuits and sometimes a compressor, a direct output stage for sending a balanced line signal to a mixing desk, etc. The Ampeg is a complete system and includes a pre-amp and a power amp. You could use the Ashly with the Ampeg power-amp stage by connecting it into the effects return jack. You might be able to connect it to the input of the Ampeg as long as you set the levels accordingly. [quote]what I have noticed is that with all the knobs ie: gain, tube gain, master etc set at the half way point on the SVT and doing likewise with the Trace and Ashly pre amp, the trace is approx twice as loud[/quote] Controls are not linear and half way up on one piece of equipment is not necessarily half way up on another so your comparison is not really valid [quote]I know the Trace is 300w and the Ampeg is 450w so is the Ashly providing all that extra power? or am I just being a complete muppett not understanding how amplification actually works???????[/quote] As previously said the Ashly is a pre-amp and only serves to increase the signal level. It has no effect on output power. The only true comparison is to run both amps into the same dummy load, monitor the outpout on an oscilloscope and measure the voltage at the point where the signal starts to clip. That would give you a comparison of output power. Any other differences are down to settings and internal levels in the two amps being different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalfunster Posted October 27, 2007 Author Share Posted October 27, 2007 Hi OB, Yes it is a twin channel, but for the purpose of testing it I was just using one channel (it is connected to the ashly via the ashly crossover which is 1 high and 1 low) but i did alternate between the 2. both amps were going to a Trace 4 x 10 300w 8ohm cab. Errrrr bridged mode???? will pass on that one(psssst whats bridged mode?) what is more amazing than anything else though, is when I read back this reply to myself, it makes me sound like I know what I am talking about (apart from the bridge mode bit) where as in reality even though I have written it, it makes as much sense to me as the bridge mode bit. I should have also said I bought the whole trace rig (cabs, amp and preamp) from a friend who left it set up for me so that I just had to plug the bass in and play. he even wrote on the XLR's for me so I knew which lead to plug into the 2 x 10 and which to plug into the 4 x 10 [quote name='obbm' post='80088' date='Oct 27 2007, 12:42 PM']Firstly how are you operating the Trace power amp. I believe it's a 2-channel device. - Are you just using just one channel? - Do you have each channel connected to separate speaker cabinet and if so what impedance are they? - Are you running it in bridged mode and if so what cab are you driving and what impedance is it? A pre-amplifier provides the inital amplification stages to raise the instrument output (a few millivolts) up to a voltage level suitable for driving a power amplifier - in your case the Trace RA-300. Pre-amps also have tone shaping circuits and sometimes a compressor, a direct output stage for sending a balanced line signal to a mixing desk, etc. The Ampeg is a complete system and includes a pre-amp and a power amp. You could use the Ashly with the Ampeg power-amp stage by connecting it into the effects return jack. You might be able to connect it to the input of the Ampeg as long as you set the levels accordingly. Controls are not linear and half way up on one piece of equipment is not necessarily half way up on another so your comparison is not really valid As previously said the Ashly is a pre-amp and only serves to increase the signal level. It has no effect on output power. The only true comparison is to run both amps into the same dummy load, monitor the outpout on an oscilloscope and measure the voltage at the point where the signal starts to clip. That would give you a comparison of output power. Any other differences are down to settings and internal levels in the two amps being different.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
originalfunster Posted October 29, 2007 Author Share Posted October 29, 2007 HI Ob, So would the ashly pre-amp give any benefit being attached to the Ampeg, or am I better off just sticking with the Ampeg on it own? Cheers Gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 [quote name='originalfunster' post='80717' date='Oct 29 2007, 10:55 AM']HI Ob, So would the ashly pre-amp give any benefit being attached to the Ampeg, or am I better off just sticking with the Ampeg on it own? Cheers Gary[/quote] Never having used either I'm not in a position to comment but my gut feeling is to go with the Ampeg. Perhaps someone more familiar with the equipment could comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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