How much does the Poweramp effect the tone?

[Counterstriker]

Ahh gotchya.. So I decided I'm going with a Alesis Nanoverb instead of a lexicon.. But back to topic, Would the QSC GX3 be able to do what I want?

[strumminsix]

Ahh gotchya.. So I decided I'm going with a Alesis Nanoverb instead of a lexicon.. But back to topic, Would the QSC GX3 be able to do what I want?

The QSC GX series are GREAT for PAs! It'll do BIG CLEAN UNALTERED power!

[Counterstriker]

awesome thank you, I'll end up getting this one then. I asked JK about poweramps and he told me to get one with a low THD and the highest damping factor. He also told me he has used a Crate Powerblock for a few DSO shows when his main amp didn't work.

[JonnyBoy]

awesome thank you, I'll end up getting this one then. I asked JK about poweramps and he told me to get one with a low THD and the highest damping factor. He also told me he has used a Crate Powerblock for a few DSO shows when his main amp didn't work.

The new QSC class D amps are very nice. I will only use QSC from now on. I think you will like it, they're light as hell to.

[Counterstriker]

As far as Class H amps go, are they any good for what I'm going for?

[unnbrokenchain]

I was considering a Crown XTi, until I found a used Legion 75 power amp in my local pawn shop for fifty bucks. The amp works great and is 100% quite. My Sarno preamp will be coming in the mail any day now so I am very excited. My setup will be Vintage 1980 MXR Microamp Booster(best clean boost pedal I have ever used. I just got it off ebay and love it. Once I get Brads preamp, I'll test it in front and after the preamp)>Brads preamp>Legion power amp>2x12 JBl E120's. I had to sell my 72' Fender Bandmaster for all this and I am so sad now. I really loved it. But, I know my new setup will kick ass and is something I always wanted.

[unnbrokenchain]

http://www.crownaudio.com/amp_htm/xti2.htm#specs


I think once the new xti's come out, I'll pick one up. They look pretty cool!

[strumminsix]

I was considering a Crown XTi, until I found a used Legion 75 power amp in my local pawn shop for fifty bucks. The amp works great and is 100% quite. My Sarno preamp will be coming in the mail any day now so I am very excited. My setup will be Vintage 1980 MXR Microamp Booster(best clean boost pedal I have ever used. I just got it off ebay and love it. Once I get Brads preamp, I'll test it in front and after the preamp)>Brads preamp>Legion power amp>2x12 JBl E120's. I had to sell my 72' Fender Bandmaster for all this and I am so sad now. I really loved it. But, I know my new setup will kick ass and is something I always wanted.

Congrats and don't worry about selling the 70s BMR, they go for sale all the time! But you'll likely never think about it again!

[JonnyBoy]

yup, you now have a brand new blackface twin with all the best toppings. If you think about it like that, its a no brainer.

[SarnoMusicSolutions]

It seems that no matter how hard we try to emulate something or try to create the sound entirely before the power amp, the power amp itself will always be a contributor to the sound. It seems that whatever the speaker wires are connected to, whatever is actually generating the power and directly pumps that power thru the wires and moves the speakers is vital and central. You can't model that stuff. It's yet another critical stage where the "rubber meets the road".

And a word of advice to anyone with a new power amp... NO electronic device sounds correct when it's brand new. Many electronic audio components need time to break in. And even a well broken in device doesn't sound its best when you first fire it up cold. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes for everything to warm up and stabilize. You just can't power up an amp and judge it, even a Mac. It'll sound good, but it'll sound better a few minutes later. Brand new stuff can sound relatively stiff, harsh, and bright and lacking in warmth and "bloom" and dimension.

I think that new electronics like 50 to 100 hours of run-time for the capacitors and other parts to settle in. If audio is being pumped thru the gear, the break-in period is that much more effective. Tube devices sound best after 10 to 20 minutes of being on and running.

And I won't even get into the metaphysics of having lots of good music played thru electronic devices and having a positive effect on the sound quality.

And I have to agree, there's something to the Mac's output autoformers (an autoformer is half of a transformer). There's no way that they DON'T contribute to the sound of those amps.

Brad

[eric]

There's been alot of discussion on this already , but.....

I just got my minty H&K Bluesmaster and thought I'd share some thoughts of my own along with some things i've gathered form other posters and kind of sum things up a bit. Please correct me if you feel any of this is wrong....

I'm by no means a pro, just my observations on the Blues Master/ SS Power Amp setup:

Jk isn't just using it as a strait pre-amp.
He is using the "cabinetulator " output on the back.
He has his signal routed through the real power tube in the unit.(there is a "tube output" knob on the back of the unit, that when correctly routed can go to the cabinetulator )
So therefore he is getting his pre-amp "light clipping" and "power tube saturation" all in the Blues Master.
(He can control both pre amp gain and power tube sat)

A non-coloring SS power amp would then make the most sense (IMHO), because all your "tube dynamics needs" have already been met before the signal meets an external power amp .

Ran it strait to the board last week ( and for the next couple weeks before this side of my rig is FINALLY finished) with great results for direct.

Just picked up a CROWN XLS 1000 for it

I'll now be running H&K Blues Master > Lexicon MX300> Crown XLS 1000> Custom 2x12 Cab > speakers yet to be determined

[Counterstriker]

Yeah, he told me about the cabnetulator mix out a while back when i asked him. there are small switches inside the chassis that he said he played around with when he got it, but he doesnt remember exactly. I have another topic in this forum somewhere where i put some audio samples of me using my H&K right into a recorder. Gets a real good tone with my Carvin with stock P/U

[eric]

your vids sealed the deal for me and are what made me finally pull the trigger on one of these ( though i'd been trying to find one for about 4-5 months) ... love it ....thanks man!!! It seems like the rocktron would stack a power tube on top of the one you are already using... It was between the GX3 or the XLS, but the XLS has some pretty sweet features.....

and i'm really diggin your tone and playing

[Counterstriker]

thanks dude! I love this little amp, It's a great little amp that's awesome for traveling and gigging. I bought mine off craigslist from a guy in new mexico, I kinda took a gamble and asked him to send it to me, turned out he was a real nice guy, even gave me a free 10" celestion and small cab and back up tubes for only 160$.
I never bought the poweramp though.. I just bought a car and ive been using all my money for car stuff etc.. Hopefully soon I'll have a nice portable jerry rig. but for now the H&K>Alesis nanoverb> soundboard with a stage monitor works just as well!

[hippieguy1954]

All this information about power amps is very interesting, however, don't forget that Jerry sounded great using just a twin!
Peace