What would you use with an 810?
Moderators: rickenbrother, ajish4
Ampeg has not made an original SVT preamp since the mid 80's, if then. The original preamps had different tubes and much more gain and grit and it wasn't only the different tubes that made the difference, the circuitry was different also. SVT heads have not been made since the mid 80's and really 1979. All the subsequent SVT heads have all had letters after their name, even my 87 reissue skunkworks head was called an SVT-HD. Don't be fooled by hype. If you want the best sounding head ever made buy Tom's. I also agree about the cabs and their unique sound because of the 4 separate sealed chambers which makes them sound much tighter than comparable 8 x 10's. If anyone here has had a farting sounding 8 x 10 cab, it had a problem or the amp driving it had a problem. Mine are clear as bells and will knock over a wall with a 300 watt SVT head, much punchier than 15's of which I also have and use in small rooms.
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soundmasterg
- RRF Consultant
- Posts: 1923
- Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:06 pm
SS has a reputation as being reliable, and usually they are. They do have thermal problems however and that is usually the cause of failure in them. Well designed SS amps will run just about forever, but most are built to a price point and thermal concerns are not always addressed. Some of the SS SVT heads had thermal issues.
The tube SVT heads with the original circuit (1969 to ~1981) are very reliable and perform and sound very nice indeed. Tube stuff is from the era where they built things to last instead of the throwaway stuff everything is now. With periodic maintainence, tube stuff will outlast you. With any old amp, electrolytic caps will have to be replaced before use, but once you've done that, they're good for another 20 years or so before you should replace them again. The tubes do wear out, but it isn't like you are replacing them every month or anything. My SVT had the original tubes in it when I got it in 1995, and it was made in 1981. An old 1967 Sunn 200S I sold to get the SVT had original tubes in it until I got it and changed them in 1992. Both had seen heavy use over the years too. An all tube SVT is expensive to retube....probably around $300 to $400 or so if you have to replace every tube, but often it is only the power tubes and phase inverter tubes that need replacement. This is more like $200 to $300, and if you only do it every 5 to 10 years, then it isn't so bad.
The very early Linden, NJ amps used 6146 tubes and were made around '69 and '70. Then Magnavox ran the company and made SVT's with 6550 power tubes and they were made until '79 or so. In 1980 a company called MTI bought Ampeg and had the amps made in Japan after a delay in production for around a year. The very early ones used the exact same transformers and circuit, but used Japanese resistors and caps. Sometime in the 1981 model year, they changed to Japanese transformers which put out about 5% less power. Sometime in the next model year, they changed the circuit and tubes and got rid of the 12DW7's because they were out of production. These can be changed over to the older circuit easily and sound better for it. There are still lots of NOS 12DW7's around, and modern compaines like JJ still make one. The MTI amps up to 1985 all sound quite good, and sound very close to the Magnavox era SVT's if the caps and resistors are changed to good quality modern stuff. They will have slightly less power but at 300 watts give or take, you don't really hear it. The very early MTI amps like mine use the same transformers as the Magnavox ones, so once you change the caps and resistors over, you've got a Magnavox-era Ampeg for all intensive purposes. After 1985, St. Louis Music bought Ampeg and except for a special issue model they made in '87, they were never very close to the vintage SVT in circuit or tube complement, and like Bob said, they have letters after their name.
The SVT cabs roll off around 100 Hz and because of this, they are punchy with even volume for all of the bass strings. A ported cab with 15's like the old Sunn cabs roll off around 40 Hz, but they can be boomy and don't develop the sound and volume until you're 20 feet away. The SVT cabinet is loud right in front of it and far away. They also sound great with just about any amp.
The tube SVT heads with the original circuit (1969 to ~1981) are very reliable and perform and sound very nice indeed. Tube stuff is from the era where they built things to last instead of the throwaway stuff everything is now. With periodic maintainence, tube stuff will outlast you. With any old amp, electrolytic caps will have to be replaced before use, but once you've done that, they're good for another 20 years or so before you should replace them again. The tubes do wear out, but it isn't like you are replacing them every month or anything. My SVT had the original tubes in it when I got it in 1995, and it was made in 1981. An old 1967 Sunn 200S I sold to get the SVT had original tubes in it until I got it and changed them in 1992. Both had seen heavy use over the years too. An all tube SVT is expensive to retube....probably around $300 to $400 or so if you have to replace every tube, but often it is only the power tubes and phase inverter tubes that need replacement. This is more like $200 to $300, and if you only do it every 5 to 10 years, then it isn't so bad.
The very early Linden, NJ amps used 6146 tubes and were made around '69 and '70. Then Magnavox ran the company and made SVT's with 6550 power tubes and they were made until '79 or so. In 1980 a company called MTI bought Ampeg and had the amps made in Japan after a delay in production for around a year. The very early ones used the exact same transformers and circuit, but used Japanese resistors and caps. Sometime in the 1981 model year, they changed to Japanese transformers which put out about 5% less power. Sometime in the next model year, they changed the circuit and tubes and got rid of the 12DW7's because they were out of production. These can be changed over to the older circuit easily and sound better for it. There are still lots of NOS 12DW7's around, and modern compaines like JJ still make one. The MTI amps up to 1985 all sound quite good, and sound very close to the Magnavox era SVT's if the caps and resistors are changed to good quality modern stuff. They will have slightly less power but at 300 watts give or take, you don't really hear it. The very early MTI amps like mine use the same transformers as the Magnavox ones, so once you change the caps and resistors over, you've got a Magnavox-era Ampeg for all intensive purposes. After 1985, St. Louis Music bought Ampeg and except for a special issue model they made in '87, they were never very close to the vintage SVT in circuit or tube complement, and like Bob said, they have letters after their name.
The SVT cabs roll off around 100 Hz and because of this, they are punchy with even volume for all of the bass strings. A ported cab with 15's like the old Sunn cabs roll off around 40 Hz, but they can be boomy and don't develop the sound and volume until you're 20 feet away. The SVT cabinet is loud right in front of it and far away. They also sound great with just about any amp.
