Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with amplifier

New stereo amp to replace my broken one.

misterpatrick — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:28:05 -0800

My amplifier/receiver died. I need something inexpensive (~$200) but powerful to replace it. I am not an audiophile but like my music to sound good. Should I get a simple amplifier and an HD radio tuner or troll eBay for a used receiver? I have two sets of speakers plus woofer and need about 100W per channel. Need three or four inputs. Don't need fancy 5.1 or anything. Recommendations? The receiver I am replacing is a Sony STR-DE525. Worked fine for me but our radio reception isn't great here and the stations we listen to broadcast in HD, so one reason to just get an amp and an HD receiver. My other inputs are the computer (iTunes), cable, DVD player and turntable.

Speaker Output of Amp A to RCA Input of Amp B

forallmankind — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:35:06 -0800

Is there any way I can take the speaker output from underpowered combo CD/ amp A and run it into the RCA input of power amp B? If not, what is the difference between what is running out of a speaker output vs what is running out of an RCA output?

Time vs money - buy in Canada?

dorgla — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:46:00 -0800

Seattle resident (US Citizen) wants to buy a $900 keyboard amp of Canadian manufacture from Vancouver B.C. music store. How much it would REALLY cost after taxes and customs duties? Store couldn't tell me; getting busy signal from Border Information Service 800 number. GST - about 5%? Additional provincial tax for BC, and if so, how much? Additional customs duties? Would drive up from Seattle and buy in person. Is this insane, or should I just special-order via Seattle music store and save money (but not time?)

Buying a keyboard amplifier

Tlogmer — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:55:37 -0800

I'm looking for a keyboard amplifier for use in a rock band. Is the roland kc-150 (65W) going to be loud enough or should I spring for the KC-350 (120W)? Or should I look for a bass amp?

Bass Amplification by Simulated Emission of Reverberation

shoebox — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:55:15 -0800

What exactly is the difference between a guitar and bass amp? If I were to get the latter, could I plug in the former instrument and still get similar bitchin' sounds out of my rig? I am interested in learning to play the electric bass and am set to get a beginner model + practice amp. The problem is, I have a (really) shitty guitar from a while back that i can hack out a few tunes on, and would like to amplify it as well. I would much rather not invest in a separate amp for each instrument.

My readings tell me that putting a bass into a guitar amp is not the best idea because it might explode. But how about a guitar plugged into a bass amp? wouldn't that suffice? (research doesn't turn up much) would there even be any difference in sound or anything? If so, what cheap solution can I use to compensate?

Also, past ask threads have been very useful in helping me pick out models, but if any of you have recommendations for certain brands/products, please feel free to shout across the room/

Headphone amp for Airport Express?

hydrophobic — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:11:00 -0800

I buckled and bought a set of AKG k701 cans. They're currently hooked up directly to my Airport Express and sounding great, just lacking the final couple of decibels. Can anyone offer any advice on choosing a suitable headphone amplifier or, even better, suggest a recommendation (sub $500)?

How high and or low can you go?

tylerfulltilt — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:23:01 -0800

Help me set up my bass rig. I've got a nemesis 2x10 combo and a peavey 1x15. I'd let to set these up in some kind of configuration so that only highs get sent to the 2x10 and lows get sent to the 1x15.

But I've never messed with anything like this before.

Where should I start?

Recommend an inexpensive headphone amp/surround processor?

hades — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 20:16:28 -0800

Can you recommend a decent low-cost headphone amplifier and surround sound processor? I used to have a Sennheiser DSP which did Dolby Pro-Logic decoding and headphone simulation, and am looking for something like that, but for Dolby Digital. I'd like to be able to play games and watch DVDs on the Xbox 360 without disturbing my wife too much by using the TV speakers. I have a nice set of Sennheiser headphones that I'd like to use, but there's no receiver in that room--the Xbox is hooked straight up to the TV via HDMI, and while the TV has digital and analog audio passthrough outputs, it doesn't have a headphone jack. I do have a portable headphone amp I can use, but it doesn't do any sort of surround decoding/emulation, which would be nice for movies and I understand would make some of my gaming experience much better.

I don't care about in-game headset functionality; I'm not playing multiplayer games much.

Some products I've been able to find that look like they might fit the bill are:

+ JVC SU-DH1
+ A40 MixAmp
+ Sony MDR-DS1000

These also look promising, but I can't find any for sale, even on eBay:

+ Thrustmaster T510
+ LTB MG-AC3FX

While I'm mostly interested in something I can use with my existing headphones, I'm open to the possibility of using headphones with multiple drivers per ear, such as the Tritton AX Pro or AX360. I'm not too interested in wireless sets--these won't ever be used outside of normal corded range. But it does look like most everything on the market right now is wireless, so if there are any suggestions there, that's cool. The Pioneer SE-DIR800C looks good, but at $250-$300 is about twice what I was hoping to spend.

So, has anyone used any of these? Or something better? Any recommendations? Thanks!

Where can I find repair manuals and exploded diagrams for valve amplifiers?

stackhaus23 — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:59:16 -0800

Where can I find repair manuals and exploded diagrams for valve amplifiers online? A while ago, I needed to find a repair manual for a vintage Twin Lens Reflex camera... then come across a website that had PDF after PDF of scans of exploded diagrams of cameras of all ages. Since I knew exactly what I was looking for it wasn't too hard to find.

However, I now need to find similar diagrams for valve amplifiers. I just need to see what they look like inside but since I know nothing about them... I don't really know what I'm looking for.

Ideally I'd be looking for guitar amplifiers but anything that has big glass valves that glow and make things louder would be suitable.

playing with myself

jak68 — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:44:50 -0800

need recommendation for headphone amplifier for an electric guitar... I need a tiny headphone amp (rockman style) but I havent played in a while and dont know what sounds good out there. Mostly I'm playing rock and blues (blues to REM to black sabbath). I was looking at "Dean Stack in a box" and the rockman (whats the difference between 'guitar ace' and 'metal ace'?). Of course I'd like something that can at least approximate tube amp punch. Anyway so any recommendations? The Dean stack is only 30 bucks (cheaper the better!) at amazon, does anyone know how it compares to rockman? Are there any other brands out there that I need to consider?

Thanks!!

What's the best way to mic my guitar amp for recording in a studio/practice room?

andruwjones26 — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 19:41:07 -0800

What's the best way to mic my guitar amp for recording in a studio/practice room? Hello everyone-

I'm trying to figure out the best way to record my guitar amp based upon the current gear I have. I've looked many places and still can't find the information I'm looking for, so I wonder if anyone has any suggestions how to do this. I have a Line 6 Spider Valve 112, which packs a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. So far I've been pushing up an SM57 against the grill and tried some other mic arrangements, but the sound isn't working for me. (I'm recording onto protools with an mbox2 so I know I'm capable of getting good quality). The sound I'm going for is just a very generic full and solid rock sound, cranking the tube amp and trying to get the best tone. I've tried some other mic arrangements, its in a large practice room and I've probably got about 3-4 feet in front of the amp to position mics and play with. Here are the current mics I own, most are vocal but would some of these work on the amp, possibly back a couple ft?

EV ND967 Dynamic Mic
Audix 0M2 Dynamic Mic
Shure Beta 57A Dynamic
Shure SM57 Dynamic
Shure PG 81 Condenser Mic
M Audio Nova Condenser Mic (kinda junky but came with the mbox bundle)

I'm definitely interested in adding another good quality condenser mic, what do you recommend? I was looking at the AKG Perception 220, lots of ppl seem to like it and the cost is right. Basically I'm open to any suggestions on which mics I should add/use, how to position them, and any other additional info. Also, what would be a good way to isolate the noise from the rest of the room? I don't know much about plexi-glass sound screens, but could that do the trick? I was hoping that would maybe preserve some of the sound too as far as recording. Sorry for all the information, I'm just very interested in the best way to do this. I know there's a thousand different ways but I was hoping more experienced persons than myself would have some valuable light to shed on this topic. Thank you!

Cheap amp with great clean tone for stereo effects

relucent — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:42:18 -0800

Amplifilter: Looking for a cheap SS guitar amp to complement my Fender Deluxe 90 so I can use my effects pedals' stereo features. I have three Boss effects pedals that have stereo-out features that I would like to use (DD-7 delay, CE-5 chorus and BF-3 flanger). The idea is that I would have two amps, each driving the speaker on the right or left of the stage. So when the effects are off, it sends the signal to both equally, but when they are on, the stereo effects kick in (ping-pong for delay, spaciness for chorus, panning for the flanger).

Right now I play an American Deluxe Strat through a Fender Deluxe 90 solid-state amp. I don't care much for the amp's built-in effects or its distortion, but I love the clean channel. I would like to get another amp very cheap (probably used), and all I need is for it to have a similar-sounding clean channel - I won't use the dirty channel or any other built-in effects. Ideally it would be a Fender amp just because that stands the best chance of delivering a similar sound, but I am open to anything as long as it can be obtained for less than $150 used (or new). I am also completely open to discontinued models that are a few years old.

Any ideas? I was considering a 25W Fender Frontman, but I don't know if that will match up to my 90-watt. And the 65W Frontman amp is a little out my price range.

Amp to run 3 pairs of speakers simultaneously.

forallmankind — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:13:35 -0800

I want to wire my house for sound - have 3 pairs of speakers running off the same source. I have the speakers, I have the source, I have the cables, but I need the amp - what good amp can I buy (used or new) that'll allow me to run 3 sets of speakers simultaneously? I want to run a pair of Castle Harlechs in my living room, a pair of Castle Durham 300s in my bedroom, and then I have a crappy pair that'll be 1 for the kitchen, 1 for the bathroom. The source is a Sony Pro CDP-2700 which has analogue and digital outputs.

I know Yamaha did a nice M-series range of amps, some of which had 2, others had 3 stereo outputs, but I read somewhere that these do not support simultaneous output - you can only select one pair of speakers at a time. I'm not 100% sure about this though.

I'm open to suggestions - I've been to Best Buy and the like and they just have multi-channel home theater amps. Obviously I like nice audio equipment, but I'm not going to get all audiophile bent out of shape about the amp - $300 new or used sounds a good limit. That said, I'd rather not drop 3 hundy on some crappy Sony amp that's going to make my nice Castles sound like a boom-box.

Where can I get a small, no-frills amplifier?

helios — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:32:23 -0800

Is it possible to buy a small (preferably brick-sized or smaller) home amplifier that does nothing but accept RCA inputs and output 2 channels at ~30 watts/channel? If so, where should I look? I live in a small studio, and I have an iPod, laptop, and a nice set of speakers (paradigm atom, 8 ohm, 15-70W recommended).

The only thing I'm missing to connect them all is an amp. But I don't really have the space for a huge component-sized amp, and plus I don't need a radio or DTS or anything like that. I just want decent-quality stereo sound. The only option I need is volume (bass/treble adjustment would be nice but not required).

But I haven't found a solution. I could buy a micro system and discard the speakers, but even those systems are bigger than what I'm looking for, and that seems like a waste of money.

Any ideas? Does a very simple brick-sized amp exist?

Dead Marshall Amp

hutta — Mon, 19 May 2008 00:56:00 -0800

Guitar amp problem: Marshall MG100DFX won't turn on. I stuck this (solid-state) amp in the corner and neglected it for a while, and when I came back to it, it refused to turn on. When I give it power and flip the switch, it acts exactly as if it's unplugged. The power LED does not come on, the fan doesn't spin, and it definitely doesn't amplify a guitar.

It worked fine the last time I used it, but I was switching between two amps, so it's very possible that I left it on the last time I touched it, which would have been weeks ago. It was also plugged in to the wall directly, so I suppose a power surge might be possible. It was bought second-hand, and Marshall's FAQ says the warranty isn't transferable.

I'm guessing (read: hoping) it's a fuse, but I'd like to know whether this is something I can service myself. I've been searching with Google and on the documentation on Marshall's website, trying to find information about what kind of fuse is in there, or some sort of information about where to find it when I open the thing up.

Traynor amps in Toronto/Montreal

jules1651 — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 16:12:15 -0800

Does anyone know of a good place to shop for/ try out vintage Traynor amps in Toronto or Montreal? Much obliged.

like a prayer i want to take you there

yonation — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:44:41 -0800

i'm sick of blowing out my audio system. please help me pick out an affordable but good sounding system. i am looking for something quite basic: two front speakers and a receiver. i play dvd movies, ipods, etc out of the receiver and i don't really care about surround sound, dolby decoding, etc. i just want something that sounds good, will go pretty loud without too much distortion, and really have no frills i don't need. i'm certainly no audiophile but i listen to a huge range of music, from cumbia remixes to classical.

if anyone can help me wade through the oceans of reviews on different companies (ie which are overhyped, bose, etc and perhaps underrated (teac?)) i just want to order something and start listening to music again!

Help me identify my HiFi equipment!

sliderjc — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:37:55 -0800

I need help identifying my vintage(ish) HiFi equipment, Especially the amplifier. If anybody has any information on them, it would be appreciated, or does anybody know any useful websites for this sort of thing? (Photos inside) I have taken some photographs of the items,

Homemade guitar amp filter

Grundlebug — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:13:45 -0800

I built this mini guitar amp based on this circuit. But I used a 4 watt speaker rather than the 8 watts specified. What are the consequences of that change? I'm trying to understand the concepts of the circuit, not just how to assemble it. I know Ohm's law, P=IV, series vs. parallel, etc. But I have no idea how to apply it practically.

So I used a lower resistance speaker. Will this increase my current through the whole circuit? Does that change the power output of the amp? Will that drain the 9V battery quicker? Is it louder than the 8 ohm speaker would be? Does it clip the sound signal at lower volume?

Bonus Question 1: And how about all those capacitors? I understand they are low and high-pass filters, but that's it. Will fiddling with those change the quality of the sound produced by the amp?

I've read a bunch of websites on speaker impedance, but they're generally geared toward home audiophile types and aren't answering this low level questions. And websites dealing with the low level concepts don't seem to step up a level to practical applications.

So any tips on resources for hobbyist level electronics, especially sound related, are also appreciated.

Where can I find an inexpensive turntable and amplifier?

punchdrunkhistory — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 19:07:12 -0800

Help my family find a decent turntable + amp in the $100-$300 range. We just want to listen to records! We have a good set of speakers, but an amplifier and turntable that date back to the 1970s and desperately need replacing. Given our small budget, is it possible to buy a new turntable with a built-in amp (that would connect directly to the speakers) or a turntable AND amp that would fall within the price range? Price is the biggest issue - we're certainly not hardcore audiophiles. It would be nice to have a USB output or similar CD-converting options, but those aren't necessary.

(I've seen this question, which was helpful, but didn't specifically answer my amplifier question.)

Which is the best speaker for my bass amp?

IZ — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:32:13 -0800

Bass Amp Filter: 2 x 10 or 1 x 15? Hi,

For live performances, I'm thinking or purchasing the new Ampeg BA600 combo amp which comes in both a 2 x 10" speaker version and a 1 x 15" speaker version.

My main experience has been with a high end 4 x 10" speaker and separate amp, which I love, but for me in the end it's all about the deep low end. I play sixties and seventies style funk and soul music and I really dig that traditional fat sound. I know, I know, I should buy a vintage tube amp. But if you forget about that for a moment, which speaker should I choose in my new combo amp?

(and, yes, although I should probably try it out first, I still appreciate your advice).

Thanks!

Double-amping with two amplifiers -- will it work?

humblepigeon — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:44:34 -0800

Double-amping fun with Class-T amps: Can it be done? I'm continuing my experiments with the Sonic Impact Class-T amps, as detailed last week.

They arrived but one was faulty, so had to be returned. I'm expecting the replacement this week.

It turns out that they don't go very loud on my speakers, and if the dial goes past half-way, distortion creeps in, especially on the high notes.

My CD player has no less than three line outputs, so what I'm thinking of doing is what I call (perhaps incorrectly) double-amping -- one line out to one amp, another to the second amp, and connecting both in parallel to the speakers. NOT bi-amping. Both high and low inputs on the speakers get 2x amplifier voltages.

Is this going to damage anything? I'm thinking more about the output from one amp going into the second amp if it isn't turned on, for example.

Looking for a simple circuit to amplify both line and microphone inputs

baggers — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 17:17:21 -0800

I'm looking for the simplest circuit possible that can do two things: 1.Take a line output from a PC sound card and drive a small speaker, and 2.take the input from a microphone and amplify this to a line input level. What's the simplest circuit out there for this? Bonus points on offer if it can amplify up to 4 of each channel. So I'm building a new system to test cell phones, which involves simulating a phone conversation. We play back speech over the speaker (which is placed near the cell phone microphone), and record the output from the speaker of the phone using the microphone. I'm looking to expand the system we use currently to test the phones by adding the ability to test multiple phones. I have a multiple channel sound card, but it only produces line outputs and can only record line inputs. So, I'm looking for the simplest possible circuit that can take 4 of these outputs and drive a small speaker on each, and take the microphone signal and amplify it enough to be picked up by the line input of the sound card.

I've had a look around, but haven't found any simple solutions that can handle this. Has anyone else?

Things to remember:

- Audio quality is not critical. As long as it can produce reasonable speech on the speaker and amplify the microphone sufficiently, that's enough.

- I'm looking to test a maximum of 4 phones at a time, so there would be 4 line>speaker channels and 4 microphone>line channels.

Home Audio 101

10ch — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:49:09 -0800

What components do I need to buy to have a solid stereo system for my home? I know nothing about home audio and I want to buy a quality turntable for playing records (including 78s) as a gift for my one and only.

I took a look at other mefi questions about turntables and found some good resources, but I quickly realized that there's a lot of vocabulary and hip-bone-connected-to-the-assumptions going on that leave me clueless. I need someone that isn't trying to sell me something to help me figure out what I need.

Fer'instance... am I better going with separate parts (and if so, what are those parts specifically) or with a "home system" (I want to avoid crappy parts just to get the 78 feature, for example).

Here are the things I'd like the system to do, in priority:

- Cost around $500
- Sound good
- Play records (78s, 33s and 45s)
- Play cds
- Play cassettes
- Play FM/AM radio
- BONUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED: Record across the above (ideally on CD)
- BONUS, BUT NOT REQUIRED: Be aesthetically pleasing

Speak jargon as long as you provide clarification (parenthetically). Links and specific make/model recommendations are appreciated. I'll be happy to converse in thread if I'm leaving details out. Thanks for your help.

I need an amp for my violin

sully75 — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:15:57 -0800

What kind of cheap but good amp should I get for my electric violin? Ok so I have a relatively long history as a musician but have been playing acoustic (Irish) music on the violin for most of the last 10 years. I haven't dealt with amps for quite a while, and only upright bass amps (i.e. I don't really know anything about guitar amps).

I just got an electric violin. It is very sweet. Perhaps the sweetest thing ever. It sounds very good. Currently I'm playing it through the massive glory of a Marshall Stack. The kind with the 9 volt battery.

It is not loud enough.

I would like to start playing with other people with this violin, perhaps some paying gigs in small to medium sized clubs. I need to buy an amp. The other problem: I'm quite poor at the moment, having moved to a new city recently.

I don't really know what I'm looking for but basically something that sounds generally warm. The option to distort or overdrive a bit would be nice but definitely not essential. Something that's very cheap initially but is useable would be great, and perhaps a suggestion for something to get down the line a little further, once all the electric violin dollars start rolling in.

Ok so cheap=<$200
Down the line=$~800?

I was thinking a Fender Twin down the line, something like that. But really I need something cheap and now.

Oh and I'm happy to hunt around on ebay if there is something good to look for used. My friend has a Roland Cube (it's orange, that's all I know) I might be able to get him to sell me.