whats a power amplifier

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by Sumanovo razor, Jan 18, 2012.

  1. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    are power amplifier and tube amplifier the same thing...

    strangeraudio.org/newproduct.html

    check this link..i've found music amplifier and power amplifiers ...totally confused
     
  2. ayu135

    ayu135 New Member

    An amplifier consists of two parts the pre amp section and the power amp section. All the amps even solid state ones have these two parts. The basic amplification works like this:

    Pickups=>Raw signal=>Pre amp=>Power Amp=>Speakers

    The pre-amp processes the raw signal and gives it characteristics like the bass, mids, the highs, the gain. The power amp simply increases the power of the signal ie makes it louder and then this signal drives the speakers.

    wait until tomorrow wikipedia has a good explanation.

    Power Amplifier Fundamental this is is very detailed, but it is not about guitar amplifiers but amplifiers in general but you may get an idea. Dont bother with the entire article it is full of technical details.
     
  3. wylder

    wylder Member

    Sound amplification is generally done in 2 stages:
    Pre-amp stage after which signal is strong enough for processing
    Power-amp where the final processed signal is amplified and sent to speakers

    The instrument/mic level signals are really weak and get attenuated when carried for long. So we pre-amp them and bring it to line-level. After this, you can mix your channels, add effects etc using your mixing console. The output from the mixer now goes into the power amp and then to the speaker cabs. Typical voltages for instrument/mic level is like 1 to 100 mV, Line level 0.2V to 2V and speaker voltages like 20 to 100V.

    Tubes and transistors(aka solid state) are different technologies used to amplify sound. Nothing to do with the stages of an amp.
     
  4. wylder

    wylder Member

    The stuff they have listed for music amps are meant for amping guitars and keys. These have preamp, power amp and speaker in a single unit.

    The power amp is meant for PA systems. For this, you plug your mics into the mixer's channels equipped with mic preamps. A raw guitar will have to go through a DI box into another channel. Now the signals can be mixed and the output is fed to the power amp. Power amp output goes to speaker cabs.
     
  5. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    A guitar tube amp has 2 stages of amplification to it
    1) Pre-amp - Here the low / weak signal from the guitar is further amplified, just enough for the power amplifier stage can pick up the signal.
    2) Power-amp - Here the signal from the preamp output is further amplified, so the signal can drive the speakers.

    There may be a few circuits between the preamp and the power amp section in a guitar amp, such as Effects Loop, Tone circuit.....
     
  6. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    preamp section and power section...so power amplifiers are one which sends the sound signals to the speaker...btw sorry for my ignorance ...whats the full form of PA...so a power amplifier is an amplifier without preamp section?
     
  7. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    hey arya can you make tube amplifiers ?...are tubes fitted in both speaker and amplifiers..i've seen people telling about amps with both solid and tube functionality is this true..
     
  8. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    will there be any damage if one plays electric guitar with a bass amplifier..
     
  9. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    No.
    But it may not sound as per your likings ...
     
  10. ayu135

    ayu135 New Member

    No, the tubes are only present in the amplifier section. The speaker cabinet only has the speaker cone and an input jack. Yes, there are hybrid amps which have a solid state pre amp and tube power amp or vice versa. An example is the Vox VT+ series.


    And also as alpha1 said yes you can play but the frequency response of a bass speaker is only only for the low end of the spectrum and so the guitar wont sound good
     
  11. wylder

    wylder Member

    Unless you are playing through a Fender Bassman...

    The speakers are one of the reasons but in reality, there is more to an amp than just volume. Its something you will appreciate when you play through a few different ones for a while. Some amps give a very spongy bass that is awesome for overdriven tones but can sound mushy and unclear on cleans. Bass amps are generally very tight bottomed to allow clear and distinctly audible bass. So bass amps tend to be better for clean guitars than overdriven.

    Also, if you play bass, you would know that when you EQ a bass, you usually avoid boosting the guitar-ish mid frequencies. Emphasis is given to the low range and a bit of top end (to keep some shimmer and the percussive nature of the bass). This applies to the bass amp too and hence the EQ-ing controls on the bass amp might be lacking for a guitar.
     
  12. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    No, I haven't built tube amps yet, but will be, hopefully soon.....I have built a couple of speaker cabinets...
     
  13. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    why dont you make a tutorial for building speaker cabs
     
  14. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    hmmm so playing lead guitar with bass amp means...it will have more of bass response than treble and mids...i read in some other threads that playing bass guitar with a lead amp is not advisable ...coz lead amp wont have as much bass frequency as required for a bass guitar and thereby it harms the speaker...wouldnt it be the same for lead guitar with bass amp also...coz the the bass amp wont have higher range of treble frequencies as is needed for a lead guitar...?
     
  15. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    I will do that when i start my next build........anyone wants me to make a cab for them? :D
     
  16. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    Make me one...
     
  17. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    bass amplifier have different speaker cabinets or both lead as well as bass amplifier have the same type of speaker cabinet
     
  18. Sumanovo razor

    Sumanovo razor New Member

    and yeah can i separate my amp head from the combo amplifier...???
     

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