Question about Rackmount amps!

[Blueminerva]

Hi guys! This place seems to be a fountain of endless knowledge and google's a bit hard to use in the old "how to" area, so I wondered if you guys could help explain something to me!

What's the deal with rackmount amps? Do you need a preamp and a poweramp to make the thing work? What's the benefit of rackmount amps over a normal valve head/cab?

Cheers guys, just trying to expand my knowledge a little bit!!

[Oli]

I assume you're talking about a rack setup (although you can get some amp heads rack mounted- some of the Mesa amps have rack ears that can be attatched, and quite a lot of bass amps do too).

Pro's:
-Cooler :)
-More customizable tone due to it being modular
-Easily expanded
-'Easily' maintained (just replace a certain unit rather than the whole thing)

Con's:
-Harder to find 'the' tone due to more options
-Can get more expensive
-Bit of a pain to lug around

The most basic of rack setups would be:

Preamp (example: ADA MP-1)
Poweramp (example: Mesa 20/20)

Rack tube poweramps are pretty expensive, but if you choose wisely, you can have a true stereo setup, and have one cab on each side of the stage(or each side of the bedroom/lounge), for really nice chorus sounds and ping-pong delays :)

Personally, i keep switching from my rack setup (a little complicated) to my JCM900 setup (guitar > overdrive > amp), i find both to be great, but i don't fancy dragging the rack stuff to a gig :)

[opprobrium_9]

i am quite a novice when it comes to guitar terminology and all the know-how etc. about the instrument - this includes the gear.  I have been wondering for a while what the specific function of a poweramp is.   Also, generally i would equate preamps to micing options and such, and i know they come through the guitar/bass world somewhat as well; what would their functionality be guitar-wise?  And for further reference would anybody know of some good tube poweramps to look into?

[Blueminerva]

I was interested in the Marshall 50/50 EL34 power amp, but I know fack all about preamps. I'm assuming 50/50 means it's true stereo like you mentioned? (i.e. 50 watts through each cabinet?)

[TwilightOdyssey]

The 50/50 means that the amp has a dual mono design. Each 50W side will power two cabs ... so, that's two 50W full stacks!

I used to have the EL34 100/100 power amp with an Engl preamp; however, I think that heads sound better than rack units so I now run a 100W stack.

[Mr Ed]

Sorry, I can resist no more:

"I like to mount her rack!"

Had to be done.