Small, yet high power Class D amp choice??

Hiro Keitora · From: New York, New York

Folks, any suggestion for a small and lite, yet very powerful( good headroom, clean) Class D power amp for various pre-amp?( Sarno pre-amp for example,)

Smaller and liter the better, of course.

Any in-put??

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Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I'm not sure what class "D" means, but I have several Acoustic Image amps that are extremely lightweight and sound really good. For steel, I use a 12" or 15" Eminence Neo speaker, and the whole package weighs only about 25 lbs, and puts out lots of power. The older one's sound better in my opinion, but I do have a Series III that I use quite often. The SL-R in the pictures will put out 350 watts into 2 ohms, and weighs about 4 lbs.

I also have a small Eden bass amp head that sounds great for steel. It puts out about 200 watts into 4 ohms, and weighs about 6 lbs.

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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Lynn Oliver · From: Redmond, Washington USA * R.I.P.

Class D amps are switching amps. They are very high efficiency which gets rid of large heat sinks and transformers, so they are relatively light in weight.

You might want to look at a SPLIT powered speaker from TC Furlong.

Jonathan Cullifer · From: Gallatin, TN

There are several European companies making class D modules and the appropriate power supplies. Coldamp comes to mind. They might be useful if you are looking to power a speaker cabinet.

Cartwright Thompson · Posted 13 Nov 2008 2:30 am

Darvin,
Which do you like better for steel, the eden or the Clarus?

Jay Ganz · From: Out Behind The Barn

Actually, the "Power Bloc" amps that Crate used to make were also Class D.
3.5 lbs. 150 watts rms. They were only $99 when they were still available.
There's one sitting on the bottom of this old Fender cabinet with a Jensen Neo. Total weight 20 lbs.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

Cart, it's a pretty close race in my opinion, but the Eden seems to have a little better tonal range. The Acoustic Image amp has built in digital reverb, which sounds really good - on the older AI's, but not as good on the newer series III. The Eden, being a bass amp, has only a compressor built in, which I don't use, but the Holy Grail, or Boss RV-3 works well in the effects loop.
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Cartwright Thompson · Posted 13 Nov 2008 9:22 am

That's kind of what I expected you to say. Years ago, when they first came out, I bought a Clarus. It was ok but it had hardly any range on the eq and I didn't keep it.

Walter Killam · From: Nebraska, USA

WTX-260 just by itself is pretty cool, in combination with a pod it gets even cooler. I have used mine for Bass, Steel, Guitar, and even used it as a small PA Power Amp once. They're kind of pricey, but I haven't had any reason to regret the investment yet.

Looks like they may be releasing the WTX-500 soon also, so it might be worth holding out for the higher power model.

While I am not a world traveler, the have auto sensing power supplies, so if you take one out of 120 VAC land, all you need is the appropriate power cable or adapter and you're in business.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Is this something like you're talking about?

Cartwright Thompson · Posted 13 Nov 2008 4:07 pm

I think you get what you pay for. I bought a Power Block when they were practically giving them away. I thought it sounded terrible. I'm looking for an emergency back up for my sometimes temperamental tube amps. I think one of the Eden super compact units might be just the ticket.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

The customer service for both Acoustic Image and Eden is very good. When I first got the Eden, the cooling fan was noisy. I emailed them and I had a new fan in just a few days, It took me about 10 minutes to install it. The new one is much quieter and is working fine. The first time I tried to use the direct out, I couldn't get a signal, so I emailed and set up a factory repair. It took about a week and a half to get it back. There was no charge.

I emailed AI on a Saturday about an input jack problem I was having on one of the older units. The owner of the company, Rick Jones, emailed me back on Sunday telling me to try cleaning the jack and he told me how to do it, which worked fine. There's not many companies that give this kind of service.
_________________
Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

OOPS, once is enough.
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Darvin Willhoite
MSA Millennium, Legend, and Studio Pro, Reese's restored Universal Direction guitar, a restored MSA Classic SS, several amps, new and old, and a Kemper Powerhead that I am really liking. Also a Zum D10, a Mullen RP, and a restored Rose S10, named the "Blue Bird". Also, I have acquired and restored the plexiglass D10 MSA Classic that was built as a demo in the early '70s. I also have a '74 lacquer P/P, with wood necks, and a showroom condition Sho-Bud Super Pro.

David Mason · From: Cambridge, MD, USA

I have a Crate that is what it is, surprisingly I've found it's quieter to go in the front end rather than the effect loop... I use it for mobile guitar lessons with a little monitor, I'm not trying to sound awesome, just get the notes out. I just bought a Stewart PA110B, for which I have high hopes, used in conjunction with a modeler:
http://www.nextgener.com/ngm/stewart/pa50-100.htm

All the Stewart amps get rave reviews.

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