cheap power amps?

[CJ]

i'm thinking about a power amp to go with my engl E530. i'd be hoping i can get something for around $300 or under, used. right now i've got the 530 running through my marshall 3203 and i've also got an extra cab laying around that i can't use now, so if i get a power amp i could run two setups. i'm not sure how many options i would have for this price range, but i'm looking for something that would obviously match the engl well... so something on the heavy metal side.

thanks

[silentrage]

I'd like to know this as well as I'm going rack. :)

Someone recommended the peavey rockmaster to me over on ss.org, I read some reviews and they're all positive, not a bad thing said about it, and it's pretty cheap used.

[Denim n Leather]

The Behringer Alesis clone will cover you for now -- it's 500wpc.

The 530 is a terrific preamp and you can ultimately couple it with a much better power amplifier, and you will only get that much more in terms of tone, resolution, and transparency. However, for starters, look into the Behringer.

Hope this helps.

[CJ]

are both of those power amps solid state? i didn't find anything about tubes or anything when searching for them. as far as the alesis amps go... are the ra100's any good? the 150's and up appear to be the newer ones, and the ra100's are very very cheap. also, the lower the wattage, the better.

[Denim n Leather]

More wattage = more headroom, but a 100W should be enough for at-home practice. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar enough with the line to advise further.

[CJ]

More wattage = more headroom, but a 100W should be enough for at-home practice. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar enough with the line to advise further.

ok, i figured i'd want low wattage so i could drive the amp harder, but i guess more wattage will help my cleans.

is there a difference between power amps to power pre amp and power amps to power like monitors and drums and stuff? i'm trying to look for reviews and stuff and most seem to be reviews for that type stuff.

[Denim n Leather]

Generally speaking, an amplifier that's going to be powering studio monitors is going to be very clean, and probably won't sound very good playing an instrument through. A PA amplifier is in the middle, it's neither too coloured nor too clean, unless you have a MIDAS/Meyers rig, which I don't think is the case here, so nothing to worry about. ;)

You want to be sure that the amp can handle a wide range of loads, however, because even though a guitar preamp's signal may be constant, the impedance will drop considerably depending on your cabinet and what frequencies you are playing.

[Oli]

If it's a solid state power amp, you don't want to be driving it; when they start to clip at the input, it sounds horrible, and clipping at the output will sound horrible too, and can also damage the speaker too.

[CJ]

If it's a solid state power amp, you don't want to be driving it; when they start to clip at the input, it sounds horrible, and clipping at the output will sound horrible too, and can also damage the speaker too.

ok, wasn't aware of that. so when dealing with solid state's, i do want a lot of wattage even though i don't necessarily need it?

denim... how can i tell the difference between guitar power amps and other types of power amps? in searching for power amps it seems like usually there's nothing in the descriptions about what they're used for.

[Oli]

Yea, you want to have a high-power amp to get a nice amount of clean headroom; you'll also want to check the THD (total harmonic distortion) rating too, the lower the better. Generally, i think poweramps are designed for PA  use, i haven't really seen any that are designed specifically for guitar. There's a couple of solid state Marshall amps, but I don't have any experience with them. See if you can get the Peavey Classic power amp (it's valve, and very good), you should be able to pick one up used in your budget.

[CJ]

are any of these cheaper power amps going to be a step up from just using the power stage of my marshall 3203 artist head? the marshall's power stage is tube.

[hunter]

why don't you save up a bit and get a used Marshall EL84? They are light and I heard good things about that DEEP button.

[CJ]

i will look into it. i found one on ebay that i'm watching.

thing is, i've got $300 left over from christmas, and i'm deciding if getting a power amp this cheap will be worth it, or if i should just wait until i actually need the power amp and then get a nice one later on down the road.