Ashdown Superfly 500

[Davy]

I've got an ashdown superfly 500 which i love but, as a lot of users know, it's just not loud enough! I'm thinking of buying a power amp to use with it and would appreciate any suggestions. I have an 8 ohm speaker cab with a max. Power rating of 800 watts and i'd like to push the cab at full power with the power amp.

[lemmywinks]

If you only have one 8ohm speaker then you'll be getting 160w.

Each output can give a maximum of 250w @ 4ohms and 160w @ 8ohms.


Although they are a bit underpowered i think adding another cab would be the best option. Some people drive the preamp section as it's known to be a bit weak

[Davy]

[quote name='lemmywinks' post='765505' date='Mar 5 2010, 07:16 PM']If you only have one 8ohm speaker then you'll be getting 160w.

Each output can give a maximum of 250w @ 4ohms and 160w @ 8ohms.


Although they are a bit underpowered i think adding another cab would be the best option. Some people drive the preamp section as it's known to be a bit weak[/quote]
I'd rather not get another cab as i've no room in the car for it. One of my options was to sell my 4x10 cab and buy 2 4ohm 2x10 cabs which would allow the amp to put out it's max power into both output sections. Another option i have is to rewire my cab so that it splits the 4x10 into 2 pairs of 4ohm 2x10s with two separate inputs on the cab. That would work but it'll affect the resale price of the cab. The idea with the power amp would be to get the max amount of power out of the cab, i.e. 800 watts. That should give me plenty of head room at gigs.

[lemmywinks]

What's the rear panel like on the cab? If you didn't want to compromise the resale value you could make up a different rear panel with 2 Speakons, keeping the other one in case you need to rewire and sell it.

That's what i'd do, cheapskate that i am!

That's the problem with Superflys, by the time you get full power out of the amp it's no longer a light and compact rig! I use mine with a little 4ohm 1x10 cab (soon to be joined by another) and it's loud enough. I hated the amp when i first got it but i'm actually liking it now, has been ultra-reliable since i took the outer casing off


Other options would be to look at a sensitive 4ohm cab, there's a Schroeder 1212l for £300 in the FS section, that'll do the trick.
You could always look at the LG1000, they can be had for £219 from soundslive. You'll probably get £100 to £120 for the Superfly

[Davy]

The cab actually has two inputs on the back, one jack and one speakon. I guess i could keep the original rear panel and do all the mods inside the cab.

I agree about the power and size issues. I bought mine because it was cheap and had good features. I bought mine from sounds live but i actually paid for the 1000 watt version and it was only after some checking that i realised they'd given me a 500 watt version. They offered me a full refund but they didn't have any more 1000 watt versions so i took a partial refund and kept it.

If i decide against rewiring the cab i'll probably sell it and go for 2 smaller 4ohm cabs. I'll definately hang onto the superfly though as i'm really happy with it and i've only had a blown fuse so far.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

If you've got an 8 ohm 4x10 that's probably 8 ohm drivers wired as series/parallel pairs. Open it up, add another speakon and wire each parallel pair to its own speakon, that's two 4 ohm loads, drive each with one of the Superfly power amps. Pay attention to polarity.

[Davy]

Thanks for the technical explanation, that's what i was planning on doing. I wonder if any other basschat members have done something similar and did they find a big difference in volume from the superfly?

[guybrush threepwood]

I'd definitely either rewire the cab (a mod that is completly reversable and will cost £15 at most), or buy 2 4ohn 2x10s; a bit more costly but you have the option of taking a single cab to smaller gigs, and for bigger gigs you could stack them on their ends with the Superfly on top - you'd hear yourself really well on stage and it would look sweet! Like a 'size zero' stack!

I'd be against buying a power amp to drive the cab, as you'd need a 400 watt stereo amp which is bridgable to get the full 800 watts in 8ohm format. This would add another 15kg to you setup for sure, unless you found a class D amp.

Lastly, I know watts aren't everything when it comes to the subjective pursuit of loudness, but there'll be a big difference between 160 and 500 watts. You'll laugh when you realise how much headroom you've got!

[tauzero]

[quote name='Davy' post='765708' date='Mar 6 2010, 12:08 AM']Thanks for the technical explanation, that's what i was planning on doing. I wonder if any other basschat members have done something similar and did they find a big difference in volume from the superfly?[/quote]
I built a 2x10 cab and wired it up to allow it to be used either as a 2x10 in parallel at 4 ohms or two 1x10s at 8 ohms (which gives 175WPC = 350W). If you use a jack socket with switching contacts, you can have it as a 4x10 when used on the speakon and 2 2x10s when the jack is plugged in as well. Note - if you do it that way, using it with the jack socket alone will only run two speakers.

[Prime_BASS]

Sell cab buy a good 4 ohm one? Or re wire your current cab which wouldn't take to LNG there are probably some reside kit or an easy to do guide some where. I have an old guitr cab which 4ohm at 150w either side and 300 at 8 ohm with a flick of a switch