Members Guttermouth Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 i'm relatively new to the rackmount amp setup(been using tube heads for years) and im looking for a warm sounding solid state poweramp more than 250 watts per side. i'm using a mesa studio pre with a crown 402 and i know the terms "warm " and "solid state" arent usually used in the same sentence but i cant seem to find a tube poweramp that is gonna be loud enough or a solid state poweramp that is warm enough. am i just dreaming or is there an amp out there that i dont know about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members srommes Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 Check out the Rocktron Velocity 300. Best solid state poweramp for guitar made. I found it to be very warm sounding. The resonance knobs on it really ad to the warm and fullness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Slave 2 the Axe Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 Originally posted by garfight more than 250 watts per side. i'm using a mesa studio pre with a crown 402 and i know the terms "warm " and "solid state" arent usually used in the same sentence but i cant seem to find a tube poweramp that is gonna be loud enough or a solid state poweramp that is warm enough. I'm sorry, but a tube power amp...even 50 watts per side, is more volume than ANYONE needs. I'm using a Mesa 2:90 (90 watt per side) and if I were to put it past the halfway point my ears would bleed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kherman Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 Originally posted by Slave 2 the Axe I'm sorry, but a tube power amp...even 50 watts per side, is more volume than ANYONE needs. I'm using a Mesa 2:90 (90 watt per side) and if I were to put it past the halfway point my ears would bleed... Agreed.If you can't get loud enough with 50w a side than your hooking something up wrong or setting something wrong, and your not getting the full wattage. Same with SS. 100w a side should be plenty. I currently use a Peavey 50/50 tube power amp. It's plenty loud.I'm going up against a bass, key, vocals, and drums. I have no problems hearing myself. I use it with a Rocktron Piranha preamp My fav SS power amp was the Crate SPA200. 100w a side.Designed for guitar.Has a dampening switch that gives you a looser tube type tone.Used it for years with my Rocktron progap preamp. Used it with the same band. Plenty, plenty loud. If your going to go SS, you want a power amp that is geared towards a guitar rig. That's if your using a guitar preamp and guitar cabs. Unless your using a modeling preamp like a Line 6 pod pro, and going through reference cabs rather than guitar cabs. Then the PA or monitor style power amp is better. Wont color the signal.Thus, allows the modeling preamp to do it's job of emulating other amps. kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jimfowler Posted October 20, 2003 Members Share Posted October 20, 2003 i like my crest ca6...pa style power amp. it can be as "warm" or as "sterile" as you like...all depends on what you put before it. personally, i prefer a dry, hi-fi, ecm-style sound... -jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members redneckmetalhead Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 rocktron velocity 500, if you can find one, its really loud! but i think thats good for ss because i dont think you should push them hard, i run mine into a 16 ohm cab mono wich makes the amp about 300 watts (its 500 watts mono into 8 ohm) and i only have to turn it up about a quarter of the way when jamming with a drummer when there is no p.a., it has the reactance control just like the 300 which makes it sound good but from what i've been told the 300 sounds better i.e warmer.i have found the 500's hard to find online and here in australia because they never brought any in to australia, but they are probably easy to find in america or europe.the only reason i might sell mine is if i can find a mesa boogie mark IIc+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted October 21, 2003 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 thanks for all the input guys- the poweramp im using now just seems to clip out really early(about halfway up) is there any tricks to getting more headroom out of one or when they clip out is that pretty much it? also i forgot to mention that im using guitar cabs as opposed to pa cabs. thanks again for all the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RobV Posted October 21, 2003 Members Share Posted October 21, 2003 Yea I'd have to say the Rocktron 150 or 300. I just got a Velocity 150 and I was really impressed with the sound. The Resonance control makes ALL the difference. If it wasn't for that I wouldn't have kept the power amp. I'm pretty much a tube guy when it comes to amps, but this power amp worked very well with my rig. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Banzini Posted October 22, 2003 Members Share Posted October 22, 2003 Originally posted by garfight thanks for all the input guys- the poweramp im using now just seems to clip out really early(about halfway up) is there any tricks to getting more headroom out of one or when they clip out is that pretty much it? also i forgot to mention that im using guitar cabs as opposed to pa cabs. thanks again for all the help just get yourself a tube power amp w/ more wattage. the mesa boogie strategy 500 has 200+w per side, giving it loads of headroom. i have one and think its the warmest sounding amp, period. theyre on ebay every so often and run about $6-800. dont know if thats in your price range or not, but check it out. the pa amp will work w/ guitar cabs. kurt cobain ran his crest into a {censored}load of marshall cabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fatang Posted October 23, 2003 Members Share Posted October 23, 2003 If you really want to go SS, check out the Tube Works (now made by Genz Benz). There were one and two space units before, now I think they're all two space. Minimum is around 40watts per side into 8ohms if I remember right. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted October 24, 2003 Author Members Share Posted October 24, 2003 well i dont really like solid state stuff but the prospect of replacing 12- 16 power tubes twice a year is equally as scary.but, that strategy 500 is sweet. heard some soundclips of a mesa studio preamp with one and was blown away by it you guys have been really helpful - thanks alot for all the ideas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ProfaneOath Posted October 24, 2003 Members Share Posted October 24, 2003 warm solid state power amp.... MOSVALVE! the 1160 (same as 962) model is 80/80 watts, but the watts rate out more like tube watts than typical solid state watts. I used a peavey 120/120 solid state power amp as a backup once, and it didn't have nearly the headroom and volume of the mosvalve. It was louder on the same volume setting when I A/B'd it with a Mesa 295, honestly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Banzini Posted October 24, 2003 Members Share Posted October 24, 2003 Originally posted by garfight well i dont really like solid state stuff but the prospect of replacing 12- 16 power tubes twice a year is equally as scary. ive had mine about a year and have only replaced the tubes when i bought it. the previous tubes had been in there since 1992. to replace all 12 it was around $300, but that was also because i had one side modded to accept el-34s instead of the 6l6s. mesa gives the tube life on it 2-3 yrs, at least. chances are that you wont be using both sides at full power all the time so tube life should be considerable. if youre going through that many power tubes in a year, something is wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kherman Posted October 25, 2003 Members Share Posted October 25, 2003 Originally posted by garfight thanks for all the input guys- the poweramp im using now just seems to clip out really early(about halfway up) is there any tricks to getting more headroom out of one or when they clip out is that pretty much it? also i forgot to mention that im using guitar cabs as opposed to pa cabs. thanks again for all the help sounds like you may be running your preamp out signal to hot into the power amp in. If you can back off the preamp out level.Then raise the volume level of the power amp. Another thing to make sure is that your not running the power amp into too small of a speaker load. Example: Running 16 ohms out into a 8 ohm cab. Could cause serious damage. You want to try and match your ohms. 8 ohms to 8 ohms. Running to a higher ohms is ok too.8 ohm amp into 16 ohms cab. But, you do loose some volume. also, make sure your using correct cables. Speaker cables from amp to cab. Instrument cables from preamp to power amp.Switching them can cause clipping and damage as well. kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ska_o_Matic Posted October 30, 2003 Members Share Posted October 30, 2003 haha...... Warm SS. I wouldn't know man sorry, I'm one of them tube guys. But I hear good things about the Rocktrons, but I've never tried any non tube power amps. But there's gotta be some nice ones out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted October 30, 2003 Author Members Share Posted October 30, 2003 well i just happened to run across a mosvalve 982 and would have to say im damn impressed.if it wasnt for profane's mosvalve comment i would have walked right by it. and to boot the dude at the store let me bring it home and try it before i payed for it. he actually said " aah take it home and try it out - theres not many people looking for rackmount guitar stuff these days. just come back next week after you play it at practice". so looks like im getting a sweet deal on it. anyone have another they want to part with??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bretman Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have owned a Rocktron Velocity 150 for 11 years now, and I would not want any other power amp. I've used it to power a Peavey Rock Master tube preamp for years and it sounds FANTASTIC, and currently it powers a POD 2.0, into 2 custom made 2X12 cabs with Eminence Texas Heat speakers. Every time I play I have other guitarists asking me how I get my tone. I show them the POD and the Velocity power amp, and they're like "NO WAY!" The Velocity amp provides plenty of power, though at 8 ohms per side I think it's only pushing about 50 watts to the cabs, but that's still plenty. At 4 ohms it pushes 75 watts. You can bridge the amp as well, at 8 ohms only, and get 150 watts that way. Back when I was using a Peavey 4X12 8 ohm cab I did that, and it was more than plenty of power. The tone out of the Velocity is warm and responsive, it damn near sounds like power amp tubes pushing back at you. This is due to the "Reactance" knobs on the front of the amp. When using smaller cabs, I crank those knobs all the way up. On a 4X12 I keep it about 12 o'clock, or it actually gives too much resonance for me. Unfortunately one side of the amp has decided to crap out on me, (after 11 years of hard use I guess I can't complain too much), but until I get that fixed I'm fine using the other side by itself, though I do miss playing in stereo. I'm looking for another Velocity 150 or 300. Rocktron now makes a Velocity 100, 50 watts per side at 4 ohms, but it doesn't have the adjustable "reactance" knobs like the old generation did, nor is it bridge-able. I would VERY HIGHLY recommend the older Velocity series for anyone wanting a SS power amp with warm sound. But save one for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Keebz Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 Wow...bumping an old thread for a 1st post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitaraddicted Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 this is kinda helpful im either going mosvalve or rocktron 300 which one ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members -Juggernaut- Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Mosvalve, I had a couple and they were GREAT, I got a friend whose gone through 2 of the Rocktrons, and they kept breaking on him, he finally got smart and bought a Mesa 395. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.