Let’s not forget one thing here:
Arithmetically, the difference between 200 and 300 watts is massive, but in reality, not so much. If you have two amps that are identical except for their power output, one being 200 Watt, and one being 300 Watt, the difference between the two in terms of perceived loudness is marginal.
To come up with +3dB of noise, you need to double the output power.
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Happy to help and bring peace to the home!
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Someone needs to champion amp heads and cabs! I mean, they’re the final link in the chain of what we get to actually hear. Yeah, I love basses and pedals, but in the end, they are nothing without a great amp head and cab, or a combo, right??
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Not to confuse the matter further but there are combo amps that compete power wise with stacks. My combo stack does 1kw. They are GK. But you may want to take a minute and really drill down to what you want because it can potentially get very expensive otherwise. Volume isn’t everything. Consider another music nerd term “presence”. I’m not a scientist or anything but I’ve spent some money on my passion over the years and if I can save you money that would be considered a good day,yes? This thread hasn’t seen much action in the last couple weeks but if ya’ll want to benefit from my trial and error (and expense) then post on this and we’ll get a good idea of what you need. Again, I’m not a scientist or a music genius. I just encountered issues with sound, tone, etc. and found solutions (so far)
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I moved the idea to its own thread. Gear/ How do I cut through the mix
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All right cool, will check it out. Thanks
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Ampeg BA210
I just looked up that amp. It appears to be comparable to the Rumble 500 for a lot less money. Do you know how it compares to the Rumble series? (other than being heavier)
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My completely subjective opinion…
- Rumble 500 is 350 watts as is and 500 watts if you add a second speaker cabinet.
- Ampeg BA210 is 280 watts as is and 450 watts if you add a second speaker cabinet.
- Both come with 2 10" speakers and a horn. Horn can be disabled on both.
- Both have headphone, aux, DI, effects loop, and 4 band EQ.
- Ampeg BA210 doesn’t have a ground lift on the DI.
- Headphone out on the Rumble was significantly better.
- Ampeg Scrambler distortion is overly harsh and unusably bad.
- Rumble distortion sounds like an irrelevant afterthought.
- Rumble sounds clean and smooth.
- Ampeg sounds significantly warmer.
- Ampeg - 48 lbs., Rumble - 36.5 lbs.
I compared these two extensively and I finally went with the Rumble 500. It’s not that one is inherently better than the other. It all depends on what your looking for.
I liked the warm tone of the Ampeg better but I decided I could get that (or close enough) using a pedal with the Rumble. I had read where someone was using the Ampeg SCR-DI pedal with a Rumble 500 and felt like he was getting the best of both worlds.
Other than that, the poor headphone connection, DI with no ground lift (why?), and the cheap feeling of the buttons started to make me wonder what else had been sacrificed to keep the price down. Then I started finding more and more complaints about build quality in Ampeg’s lower end equipment. When @terb echoed this same opinion about Ampeg’s recent build quality, with everything else I had put together, I decided to rule it out.
I really liked the sound of the Ampeg. If I was going to put it in my music room and leave it there, I very likely would have gotten it instead. Knowing the amp is going to have to travel quite a bit this summer and still be ready for headphone practice in my apartment, I didn’t want to take any chances.
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Thank you for that comparison.
Also I’m very glad that this didn’t make me question my decision for the Rumble 100!
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Yeah, I am happy with my Rumble 100 for now, but still have the Rumble 500 on my wish list.
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This was actually a big consideration for me too, it doesn’t sound like too much on the surface, just 12lbs heavier, but, if you’re going to be moving the amp around for any reason - it makes a big difference. The 36lbs is just right to be able to carry with the handle, with even one arm if absolutely needed, and, easily with two arms, one underneath it to hoist it up and still be able to walk somewhat normally. And not get too worn out if there are stairs, or turns, or other fun stuff to maneuver around. At 48lbs, all this just gets harder, and you begin to think “is it worth it to lug this thing around?”
I know it should be more about the actual sound for most people, but, I also think weight is worth considering - even if you’re just moving it from one room to another at home repeatedly.
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As much as I love the classic Ampeg tone, it’s a really good observation that unless you own an actual SVT, you can get a lot of the classic warm gullied Ampeg sound on their amps with a preamp in front of another amp. I can even simulate it with my Darkglass 
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Do you get the same effect when using an amp sim on a Zoom multieffects pedal?
Use an Ampeg amp sim at the end of the chain on the Zoom to get that warmth like you would if using an Ampeg SCR-DI pedal?
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Yep for sure, one reason amp (and cab) sims are so useful - they work both for recording AND with real amps. The SVT and B15 sims on the Zoom sound like generic Ampegs to me.
The BDI-21/SansAmp BDDI preamps also add similar coloring (though not the same style as an Ampeg). Lots of preamps will, lots won’t - which is why it pays to shop around. TC, for example, provides almost no tone coloring on the SpectraDrive at all; it’s basically transparent. The Battalion is pretty transparent too.
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Both are good amps in my opinion. Personally I’m an Ampeg fan. I’m not sure in a Side by side comparison which would be better. With my bias, I would pay more for a comparable Ampeg every time.
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Cool. Thank you.
Part of the reason I asked is because @PamPurrs has talked about getting a new amp.
If someone gets a Zoom B3n and goes through the amp and cab sims that would go a long way toward figuring out what’s going to give you the core sound you’re looking for.
Also, at that point, is there any point in even getting the “real” thing? I had read awhile back that the latest generation of amp and cab sims are supposed to be nearly indistinguishable from the real thing.
There are amp sims that I really like. I found a VST from Excite amps that I love at the moment and use it in Reaper.
Cab sims are another story. I think the current Impulse/Response sims are very good at modeling the inefficiencies and flaws added by speaker cabs (which comes out as sounding less flat and more natural.) I think they are pretty critical for getting good recorded sound from a DAI. However I do not know how accurately they actually model the cabs themselves.
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also don’t forget that the quality is very different from one IR to another, because those things are made with an actual record of the hardware so it’s very dependant of the recording quality. and recording a cab is not easy at all.
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