Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

In my ongoing quest for the perfect small bass rig I have found the Sansamp RPM which I am very happy with. I have however been thinking of unloading my QSC RMX 1450 power amp which is just to big and heavy for my liking.

What do you folks think of something like this? Would it be practical in a bass rig? You just dont here about single space power amps very much..

http://www.stewartaudio.com/world_1_2.php

I used to have two of them. They are very nice amps but they do get quite warm so leave adequate room for ventilation.

Yeah, no room for a fan....I was afraid of that. I really want to make the Sansamp RPM work in my rig though. Its really a great preamp, I highly recommend them, much better than the RBI. I just need to find a good poweramp thats not so freaking big and heavy.

Maybe I oughta give Markbass another looksee. ........

nah,, then I'd be caving to the masses.

"THE QUEST CONTINUES"!!!!!!

There's always Walter Woods!

That many AB watts in a one rack unit package is asking for trouble, IMHO. Heat kills.

The new Shuttle series bass amps and cabinets are very compact and light weight. I've seen them in person at the NAMM show, but I did not hear them. The amp goes into a sleeve mounted on top of the cab when in use.

The Shuttle heads replaced the Neo-Pak heads.

so whatcha gonna do with that 1450?

Not sure yet Sean. I'll keep you in mind though.

phlemmy wrote:so whatcha gonna do with that 1450?

I knew I shouldn't have hesitated 24 hours to pop that question.

It is actually possible to blow a non-bass power amp with a bass. I've done it before by using a bass eq before the power amp and boosting the bass frequencies.

If you have a trebly bass sound and low level on the input and output to the amp it probably won't blow, but you might get more noise and it won't be too practical for live.

Not sure I follow you on that. I've used QSC power amps for some time now with no issues or anything close to an issue. I use a pretty hot output from a SansAmp RBI, don't boost the lows much, if at all, don't get a trebly sound, and get more than enough volume without even making the power amp work up a sweat. If these same power amps can handle bass frequencies in a p.a. setting, why not so well as a power amp for a bass rig?

Just trying to understand how a general power amp is not necessarily as suitable as a dedicated bass power amp.

Anyway,,, I gave up on the single space amp idea. I sold my QSC to Bruce and picked up one of the Carvin DCM 1500's. Bridged its 1500 watts into 4ohms or 1000 watts into 8ohms. 10.5" deep and only 26lbs.

I've always had good experiences with Carvin gear, and so far the amp is kickin'. I am looking for a "boutique" cab though.

cheyenne wrote:10.5" deep and only 26lbs.

Now I'm jealous!

What steered you away from the single space idea?

Lack of reviews. I never buy anything without extensive research. I really like to read gear reviews.