Well, I've always wanted an SVT…
But I am getting on a bit now and they're frighteningly heavy and awkward to lift even for someone who spends his working day moving amps around, not to mention costing a fortune to re-valve.
So I bought this!
A Micro VR
. Just under 10lbs… or a whole 77lbs lighter than an original SVT
.
Just the head - it didn't come with the very cool matching 2x10" that looks like a tiny 8x10" - although sadly, doesn't sound as good as one. I may yet get one though - or possibly, decide that this is the time I should really do it properly and buy a Barefaced, since it's not the most powerful amp in the world and it needs a maximum-sensitivity cab.
This little thing is still 200W - or more likely somewhere around 120 with a bit of a fudge factor on top, since the power consumption is given as 150W… ho hum. It's actually a traditional Class AB output not Class D, and is so small and light because it has a switch-mode power supply.
But still - just - loud enough. I tried it at band practice and it could keep up with the band even when we played a bit louder than usual, although it was flat-out and the limiter was very obviously working. Not sure why they even fit a switch for it since you need it on all the time if you don't want the overload protection to cut in and the amp to briefly mute itself.
The good: it sounds fantastic. Really quite like a small SVT, with that famous Ampeg depth and punch, and despite the lower power it could almost hold its own for low-end against my 500W Peavey - although admittedly that's only running at 350W into the 4-ohm cab (the 500 is at 2 ohms which the VR won't handle, so I couldn't compare that). It's also very well made - even the cabinet appears to be ply not MDF.
The bad: the fan is very noisy. It has three speeds… annoying, more annoying, and siren. To be fair at a band practice it wasn't really an issue since it only kicks into siren when you thrash the living daylights out of it, at which point it's totally masked by the volume from the speaker, but unfortunately even the slowest setting makes it unusable at home in the evening - which is slightly ironic given that it looks more like a toy to use at home rather than a gigging amp. So I may have to see if it can be safely turned off entirely for low-volume use.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Comments
LOL at the power rating thing.
Trust me, I'm going to measure it .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Will be peachy keen with an Ampeg-cloth-grilled One10/Two10/two One10s...
Admittedly this isn't super accurate because I don't have a means of measuring THD, and my dummy load set-up isn't exactly 4 ohms, but I got just over the claimed power output 200W with a 1KHz sine wave at the point of clipping.
How? Because the power draw is *way* more than the stated 150W… 288W, and that is fairly accurate since it's with a true-RMS meter on the mains current draw at a measured 240V.
Which is a bit naughty, but at least they're not exaggerating the output power!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm looking at the CL model atm, I wish they sold it as a head only, the cab isn't very good by all reports but the head would make a good pairing with the VR's 2 x 10.
I had a look at the fan in the VR and I reluctantly have to come to the conclusion that it's neither safe to disconnect it or easy to reduce the speed in the slowest setting - it cools the power supply as well as the output section, so it does need to run even when the amp isn't producing any significant output power. The last thing you want to do is risk frying a switch-mode power supply - they tend not to be easily repairable. It's controlled by a fairly complex sensing circuit and without the schematic it's not a simple matter to work out what could be changed even to slow it down a bit.
I don't know why they would claim a lower than correct input power either!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'm throughly enjoying the luggability of my Class D Mark Bass combo at the moment.
Still, I'd quite like one of these one day:
Studio: https://www.voltperoctave.com
Music: https://www.euclideancircuits.com
Me: https://www.jamesrichmond.com
Football is rubbish.
http://static.findix.com/data/clpix/picture_L/mesa---boogie-1516-road-ready-31697.jpg
1x15" (EV), 1x10", 2x6" and horn.
It sounded fantastic and was extremely loud, but it weighed 135lbs - exactly the same as I did at the time - had the world's most uncomfortable, wrist-breaking side handles, and it left the house twice... once when I took it to a band practice, and once when I got rid of it.
Without roadies, no amount of tone and projection was worth the difficulty of moving it anywhere.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Cool amp - so is it possible that some of the other 'under-rated' amps are doing this or did you test that already?
That will definitely be on the to-do list when I get access to one of them!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'd love another one of these:
As far as I'm aware, the heaviest and most unwieldy of MarkBass combos (though I could carry it on my own it was easier with help), but it made a glorious racket without ever needing to go beyond half-way on either Gain or Master, despite only having 400w available due to the three 10" speakers.
Thanks for the heads-up
Generally with a bass amp you don't need over-rated speakers like you do with a guitar amp, since you won't usually be running the amp overdriven.
That said I do use a fuzz pedal .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I chose this one:
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/axial-fans/3246681/
Not cheap, but it's not that easy to get the exact spec it needs with very low noise. They do actually do an even lower-noise one (16dB rather than 19dB for this one) which is also about a pound cheaper, but the airflow is 20% less as well, and I suspect that might matter given how hard it works when the amp is running hot, so I went on the side of caution.
Changing it is straightforward - you need to remove the three rear jack PCBs and then it can be slid out sideways without taking the power module out of the chassis, although there's a caged nut which is in the way which I thought I might have to remove, but just managed to fiddle it around - apart from crimping the wires into the PCB connector.
Result... the *loudest* of the three speeds is now about as loud as the *quietest* one was before, and the quietest is almost inaudible - easily quiet enough for practicing in the evening at home. It appears to move enough air too, if it's been on the fastest speed and you stop playing, it only takes a couple of minutes to drop back down, so it must be shifting enough air.
It's made a slightly frustrating oversized toy into a genuinely good home practice amp, basically - well worth the cost.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Apparently the PF series heads are similar but the SCR-DI sounds more SVT-like.