> Isn't the B-100R a solid state 100 watt Ampeg self contained amp with a 15" speaker in it?
That's it, exactly. It's an incredible amp, regarding to its size and price. Warm and damn loud. In the combo range, probably one of the best buys.
All the best,
JL
Would anybody be looking for a "Wings" bass amp...
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rickengrowl
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Bass player for Next (FR)
Nobody seemed to mention if the boomy SVT had bass reflex or acoustic suspension cabs. Ampeg builds both kinds. Most bass reflex cabs are built so that port response boosts the speakers' bass response down to the cutoff frequency, then the speaker output drops almost straight down at 24dB/octave. Properly designed acoustic suspension systems drop at 12dB/octave below the box resonance frequency. The sooner but gentler rolloff of the acoustic suspension design counters the room boost to prevent boominess while also providing a lower useful cutoff frequency. The increased efficiency of the bass reflex design is mostly BS in my book, as it tends to result in boomy, wooly sound in the lowest reproduced ocatve. Passive radiator designs seem to do better, of which the Vandersteen is a highly refined and patented variety. If a properly designed acoustic suspension speaker booms in a room, then any other speaker will probably boom worse. My cheap Fisher acoustic suspension speakers would outdo far more expensive and efficient JBL L100 monitors on deep bass material like the intro to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album. They could rattle the doors, where the JBL's started to fall on their face at about 45 Hz. I became a believer in acoustic suspension for deep bass. The bass reflex design would work better outdoors where there is no room boost and the flatter anechoic chamber response would be more closely approximated. Many big speaker cabs were designed for outdoor concert sound reinforcement. I would probably use the acoustic suspension Ampeg cabs if I were playing indoors mostly, and the bass reflex cabs if playing outdoors mostly and if they seemed fairly free of boominess. If I wanted anything that big that is, but I don't. Maintaining fairly flat frequency response below 100 Hz is always a problem in small rooms. Most rooms have wildly different bass response depending on where you are positioned.
SVT's are acoustic suspension, there are 4 separate sealed chambers, each with a pair of tens, it is like having 4 2X10 cabs in one, as a matter of fact that is where the idea came from, and this was a radical idea in it's day (1969), 99% of bass amps were 15"s back then, The Fender Dual Showman was king (85 WRMS, with 2 15" JBLS)before this.
I almost always put the mid selector switch to the 220 position (low mid) and boost those frequencies to 3 or 4 o'clock, especially with Rics, that is where you get the punch from an SVT. They take a little getting used to, the controls go a long way with little movement, I forgot how many DB the they cut/boost but it is a lot. If you experiment with the pre-amp you can get just about any sound with these. They are not inherantly boomy, but take a little finess in setting the tones. The best way to get used to them is to start with everything flat, and go from there, after a while you'll be able to skip that step and dial in your sound in 30 seconds, the bigger the room the less bottom you should use, I think that goes for any amp though. And these sound great outside Phil, they really open up. When these first came out they used to have a little card board cut out that fit right over the knobs, with pre-amp positions to imitate all the amps of the day: Fender, Marshall, etc.
Jeff, if you use one again, try these settings: treble switch on, treble knob up all the way, mid selector set to 220 (left) mid knob on 3 to 4, and bass switch either on normal or ultra low (is not muddy, boost the low mids even more) and the bass knob close to full. Run your treble pickup all the way open, and cut your bass pickup a little, the secret is the low mid boost on the head.
And Jean, my B-15T's are almost the same (identical?) as your B-100R, the only difference is that my heads are separate from the cabs and look different. I think they are great little amps, I use them often and am going to bring them with me to Perú next month.
I almost always put the mid selector switch to the 220 position (low mid) and boost those frequencies to 3 or 4 o'clock, especially with Rics, that is where you get the punch from an SVT. They take a little getting used to, the controls go a long way with little movement, I forgot how many DB the they cut/boost but it is a lot. If you experiment with the pre-amp you can get just about any sound with these. They are not inherantly boomy, but take a little finess in setting the tones. The best way to get used to them is to start with everything flat, and go from there, after a while you'll be able to skip that step and dial in your sound in 30 seconds, the bigger the room the less bottom you should use, I think that goes for any amp though. And these sound great outside Phil, they really open up. When these first came out they used to have a little card board cut out that fit right over the knobs, with pre-amp positions to imitate all the amps of the day: Fender, Marshall, etc.
Jeff, if you use one again, try these settings: treble switch on, treble knob up all the way, mid selector set to 220 (left) mid knob on 3 to 4, and bass switch either on normal or ultra low (is not muddy, boost the low mids even more) and the bass knob close to full. Run your treble pickup all the way open, and cut your bass pickup a little, the secret is the low mid boost on the head.
And Jean, my B-15T's are almost the same (identical?) as your B-100R, the only difference is that my heads are separate from the cabs and look different. I think they are great little amps, I use them often and am going to bring them with me to Perú next month.