Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

[TSSVA1]

Hi all. I have a question regarding the Seymour Duncan PowerStage 170 Power Amp. Does any one know if there is any reason I cannot utilize the headphone out jack on my Yamaha THR10 to feed the PowerStage 170? I have had good results using the headphone jack into a Peavey Bandit's effects return. The problem is, my friend is reclaiming said Bandit. I figured it may be a chance to reduce the weight of my rig by 40-50lbs. if I can use the THR with my pedalboard feeding the PowerStage 170 into a Marshall 2 x 12 that is already part of my "rig". I am little concerned about how many real world watts I can expect from the PowerStage 170. If it can meet the equivalent of a 40-50 watt tube amp then I should be able to hold the drummer at bay lol.
I appreciate any feedback/experiences you folks might have.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

you can run the headphone out to the powerstage not sure how it will sound though but if it worked into the bandit, you should be fine. as far as power, whats the impedance of your cab? 4 ohms? youre fine. 8 ohms, you should be fine. 16 ohms? dunno

 

[devastone]

Re: Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

Yes it will work fine, it's one of many choices of power amps that are made just for this now days.

1 inch = 1 inch, 1 watt = 1 watt. The Powerstage 170 will give you 170 watts (peak I'm assuming, SD isn't very forthcoming with that info, at least not on the product page) into 4 ohms. On a tube amp you would change the impedance selector to change where it taps the output transformer to maintain the load on the tubes which also keeps the output pretty much the same across different loads. With a solid state amp, you design for maximum output at the smallest load impedance you can handle, and the output roughly gets cut in half everytime the speaker impedance doubles.

So, if your cab is 8 ohms, you can expect about 85 - 90 watts out of the Powerstage, if it is 16 ohms, around 45 watts. If you were playing through a Bandit before and keeping up with the drummer, yes, the Powerstage should be fine, especially if you are using a 4 or 8 ohm cabinet, with a 16 ohm cabinet, it honestly might be running at the edge.

FWIW, where most of this SS watts vs tube watts are different thing started was years ago, specs for tube amps were usually fairly conservative design specs, and usually RMS ratings (which is usually ~.7 of peak), and ss amp makers were generally using the peak output as their spec (and still do FWIW). Also tubes compress very musically when you push them to their limits, ss does not sound good when run at it's limits, it doesn't compress, it just clips the top of the waveforms (yes, like a distortion pedal, except this is not a good place for that kind of clipping). So people would put a 150W@4 ohm ss amp up against a 50 watt "M" tube amp into a 16 0hm cab and the SS amp was putting out ~40W running flat out and sounding bad because it was at it's limit, and the tube amp was putting out ~70W and sounding better as it got louder.

So, if you are using a SS amp, it is best to get one with an output rating way higher than you think you might need, where with a tube amp, running at the edge is probably the best place to be.

Here are the specs for the similarly rated ISP Stealth Ultra Lite amp rated at 180W, so you can see when running into a 16 ohm cab, the output is significantly lower, is it still enough, maybe, 30W is still loud and there is more distortion in the power amp:
Output Power:
4Ω @isptechnologies.com 10% THD = 180WPEAK = 90WRMS
4Ω @isptechnologies.com 1% THD = 160WPEAK = 80WRMS
8Ω @isptechnologies.com 10% THD = 120WPEAK = 60WRMS
8Ω @isptechnologies.com 1% THD = 100WPEAK= 50WRMS
16Ω @isptechnologies.com 10% THD = 62PEAK = 31WRMS

 

[TSSVA1]

Re: Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

The cabinet is 8 ohms.

 

[TSSVA1]

Re: Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

Yes it will work fine, it's one of many choices of power amps that are made just for this now days.

1 inch = 1 inch, 1 watt = 1 watt. The Powerstage 170 will give you 170 watts (peak I'm assuming, SD isn't very forthcoming with that info, at least not on the product page) into 4 ohms. On a tube amp you would change the impedance selector to change where it taps the output transformer to maintain the load on the tubes which also keeps the output pretty much the same across different loads. With a solid state amp, you design for maximum output at the smallest load impedance you can handle, and the output roughly gets cut in half everytime the speaker impedance doubles.

So, if your cab is 8 ohms, you can expect about 85 - 90 watts out of the Powerstage, if it is 16 ohms, around 45 watts. If you were playing through a Bandit before and keeping up with the drummer, yes, the Powerstage should be fine, especially if you are using a 4 or 8 ohm cabinet, with a 16 ohm cabinet, it honestly might be running at the edge.

FWIW, where most of this SS watts vs tube watts are different thing started was years ago, specs for tube amps were usually fairly conservative design specs, and usually RMS ratings (which is usually ~.7 of peak), and ss amp makers were generally using the peak output as their spec (and still do FWIW). Also tubes compress very musically when you push them to their limits, ss does not sound good when run at it's limits, it doesn't compress, it just clips the top of the waveforms (yes, like a distortion pedal, except this is not a good place for that kind of clipping). So people would put a 150W@4 ohm ss amp up against a 50 watt "M" tube amp into a 16 0hm cab and the SS amp was putting out ~40W running flat out and sounding bad because it was at it's limit, and the tube amp was putting out ~70W and sounding better as it got louder.

So, if you are using a SS amp, it is best to get one with an output rating way higher than you think you might need, where with a tube amp, running at the edge is probably the best place to be.

Here are the specs for the similarly rated ISP Stealth Ultra Lite amp rated at 180W, so you can see when running into a 16 ohm cab, the output is significantly lower, is it still enough, maybe, 30W is still loud and there is more distortion in the power amp:
Output Power:
4Ω @isptechnologies.com 10% THD = 180WPEAK = 90WRMS
4Ω @isptechnologies.com 1% THD = 160WPEAK = 80WRMS
8Ω @isptechnologies.com 10% THD = 120WPEAK = 60WRMS
8Ω @isptechnologies.com 1% THD = 100WPEAK= 50WRMS
16Ω @isptechnologies.com 10% THD = 62PEAK = 31WRMS

I appreciate the info. Looks like my 8 ohm cab should be fine then. So far the 80/100 watt Bandit w/1 x 12" and the 2 x 12" Marshall have been more than enough. Thanks again. Now if I can just find a deal on one lol!

 

[Aceman]

Re: Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

I say go buy a used Bandit! Way cheaper.

 

[TSSVA1]

Re: Seymour Duncan Powerstage 170

I say go buy a used Bandit! Way cheaper.

Ended up snagging a Transtube Supreme 100 head for a couple of bills yesterday. Should fill the void coupled with the Marshall 2 x 12". Basically a Bandit head. I also have the THR100H head unit that I need to give some more time so I have pulled it off of Craig's List for the time being. I had hoped the models in the head unit would suffice but I am really into the tones of the Brown I and Brown II settings on the THR10X. Here's hoping I can get one or the other dialed in. Really getting tired of throwing $ at this hunt....