PSA: New Harley Benton GPA-100

monquixote

clarkefan said:

monquixote said:

It's minus infinity.

It's a scale relative to peak power.

Can I ask what this means? Why is "no sound" minus infinity, and "effing loud" is "0db"?  Why not 1 - 10 or something sensible?

Dbs are a logarithmic scale expressing a ratio and they have to be relative to something.

In this instance they are relative to the peak power output of the unit.

0 means there is no difference between the current output level and peak power. In other words the unit is running at full volume. 

Minus infinity seems a bit weird on the surface, but consider we are talking about ratios. If I said to you how many times bigger is 1 than 0?

You can't come up with a number to fulfill  0 x ? = 1. So the ratio is infinite.

So - infinity is saying the ratio between the output level at this setting and peak power is effectively infinite. i.e. the unit is producing no sound at all.

This makes a bit more sense if you  have a dial which has more than just 0 and - infinity on it because those dB levels -3, -6 etc tell you how much you need to turn the knob to halve or double the output which an arbitrary 0 - 10 scale does not.

This is important in pro audio applications where you want to maintain a certain amount of headroom to avoid clipping etc.

Well that just goes to show all of those years of broadcast engineering training weren't wasted

digitalscream

You know what? Massive props to Harley Benton for actually rating their amp at an impedance that real guitarists use. I'm sick to the back teeth of people releasing solid state amps rated for 50W, with "...at 4 ohms" buried in the fine print, thus taking it from having giggable headroom to being a practice amp at 8 ohms.

I wonder if they fixed the design problem of the Powerstage 170 (it's blatantly a knockoff), where they put the cap on the wrong side of the switch, thus giving you a nasty shock if you unplug it from the mains and accidentally get your fingers too close to the pins.

On the bright side, if it is a direct knockoff of the PS170, then I can attest to the fact that it'll be totally giggable at 8 ohms with a 2x12", to the point where you have to be careful 'cos it gets offensively loud.

clarkefan

monquixote said:

clarkefan said:

monquixote said:

It's minus infinity.

It's a scale relative to peak power.

Can I ask what this means? Why is "no sound" minus infinity, and "effing loud" is "0db"?  Why not 1 - 10 or something sensible?

Dbs are a logarithmic scale expressing a ratio and they have to be relative to something.

In this instance they are relative to the peak power output of the unit.

0 means there is no difference between the current output level and peak power. In other words the unit is running at full volume. 

Minus infinity seems a bit weird on the surface, but consider we are talking about ratios. If I said to you how many times bigger is 1 than 0?

You can't come up with a number to fulfill  0 x ? = 1. So the ratio is infinite.

So - infinity is saying the ratio between the output level at this setting and peak power is effectively infinite. i.e. the unit is producing no sound at all.

This makes a bit more sense if you  have a dial which has more than just 0 and - infinity on it because those dB levels -3, -6 etc tell you how much you need to turn the knob to halve or double the output which an arbitrary 0 - 10 scale does not.

This is important in pro audio applications where you want to maintain a certain amount of headroom to avoid clipping etc.

Well that just goes to show all of those years of broadcast engineering training weren't wasted

Thank you for taking the time to explain this, I learned something new

NelsonP

If you upgrade the caps in this will it be better than a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170?

Jetfire

Soo... Any update?

Daiganzen

I too am curious as somebody who wants to go kinda ampless

digitalscream

NelsonP said:

If you upgrade the caps in this will it be better than a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170?

For what it's worth...there's no evidence that you'd need to. I mean...there's no evidence to suggest that the PS170 wasn't built just as cheaply as the GPA-100, and the price was set based on the fact that there's no real competitor in the market rather than being relative to the build cost.

Best to wait until we've seen one, which most likely won't be for a long time - since the expected stock date is in nearly three months' time, which puts it squarely in "Brexit pain time". Or, to put it another way, if you order one when they're in stock, it'll probably end up sitting in a lorry park in Kent until April.

BintyTwanger77

Sorry, educate a Luddite: if I picked up one of these along with a Strymon Iridium, I could use a passive FRFR speaker, right?

monquixote

BintyTwanger77 said:

Sorry, educate a Luddite: if I picked up one of these along with a Strymon Iridium, I could use a passive FRFR speaker, right?

Yep, or even better a real speaker which will sound much better.

paulphoenix

Jetfire said:

Soo... Any update?

I have pre-ordered.... but I am still waiting for a confirmed delivery date. At one point my order was due within 1-2 weeks before going out to as much as 8 weeks.

As of today my order states that delivery is still another 4-5 weeks away - my guess is by Christmas.

 
I'm not too bothered at the minute as there are no gigs or rehearsals - and it gives me time to build a 112 cab to play it through. 

NickB

I have just received one that I use with an open backed 2x10 cab with a WGS G10C/S and a Celestion Gold 10. It sounds great with my HX Stomp using the AC30 model, the 1959 SLP model and the Twin model. In all cases I used the full amp models as opposed to using preamps. It has a flat response with the tone controls at noon. In terms of dynamics it has a linear response and lacks the punch of a real valve amp. Is it worth the money? Yes. Would I buy another if it went south? Yes. For the money you can’t go wrong! 

digitalscream

NickB said:

I have just received one that I use with an open backed 2x10 cab with a WGS G10C/S and a Celestion Gold 10. It sounds great with my HX Stomp using the AC30 model, the 1959 SLP model and the Twin model. In all cases I used the full amp models as opposed to using preamps. It has a flat response with the tone controls at noon. In terms of dynamics it has a linear response and lacks the punch of a real valve amp. Is it worth the money? Yes. Would I buy another if it went south? Yes. For the money you can’t go wrong! 

Interestingly, I'll be trying mine in a more classic way - I'll be using it between an ADA MP-2 preamp and a Matrix NL212 cab.

I just need to find some where I can wind it up a little bit without breaking lockdown rules.

Have you figured out whether it's got active EQ like the Powerstage 170 yet?

NickB

I haven’t used a Powerstage 170 so I can’t compare eq but I should imagine it fairly effective for fine tuning to the room. 

John_A

Discontinued!  Pah!

sgosden

John_A said:

Discontinued!  Pah!

Already ?!?!

digitalscream

Does that mean I've got a collectors' item?

Gotta wonder if Seymour Duncan had something to do with it...

John_A

digitalscream said:

Does that mean I've got a collectors' item?

Gotta wonder if Seymour Duncan had something to do with it...

Probably had a design fault, I'll give you £40 for yours

Daiganzen

Just Checked Thomann does not exists Bit weird.

PolarityMan

Oh pants, I was planning on eventually selling my spare valve amps and using one of these with helix as my backup solution

Daiganzen

I mean they barely existed in the first place and now Thomann has decided they don't exist at all