Figured I should start a dedicated thread about using these modules as it seems a number of people here are experimenting with them (or thinking about it) and having bits and pieces of info sprinkled throughout the Interesting Gear Developments thread seems inefficient.


ANYWAY.....i've had one of the 200W modules in a cart for a week now just trying to think out any issues before I make a move. Is it disappointing to anyone that the full power on these is achieved at 4Ω and at 8Ω they're half power? Just looking at Sweetwater for reference, like 3/4 of the bass cabs they sell are wired for 8Ω and the others are 4Ω.

Isn't that generally the case with most solid state amps? Lower speaker load, more watts?

mdc wrote: Fri Sep 26, 2025 1:56 pm Isn't that generally the case with most solid state amps? Lower speaker load, more watts?

I thought they were class D? 200w seems like enough for a guitar, even at 4ohms and 8ohms.

Whats disappointing is for bass amplification, this is not enough.

mdc wrote: Fri Sep 26, 2025 1:56 pm Isn't that generally the case with most solid state amps? Lower speaker load, more watts?

I believe so but not fully versed, tbh.

cakes wrote: Fri Sep 26, 2025 2:08 pm

mdc wrote: Fri Sep 26, 2025 1:56 pm Isn't that generally the case with most solid state amps? Lower speaker load, more watts?

I thought they were class D? 200w seems like enough for a guitar, even at 4ohms and 8ohms.

Whats disappointing is for bass amplification, this is not enough.

Class D *is* solid state. And I agree and dont agree at the same time. I play bass out of a 100W tube head all the time and its perfectly loud enough for bass. Watts are watts but perceived volume is a different thing all together. A 100W guitar amp can feel much louder than a classic transistor 100W solid state amp. The tricky thing here is knowing where the benchmark is for "enough power" with one of these Class D modules, an then figuring out if you want to be able to hit it at 4Ω AND 8Ω loads.

It's semantics, but we don't always differentiate between classes when we say solid state here, but there's been a lot of talk on class D. Regardless, I never found 200w ss for bass to ever be sufficient in a rock band.

cakes wrote: Sat Sep 27, 2025 9:00 am Regardless, I never found 200w ss for bass to ever be sufficient in a rock band.

Vern Rumsey would disagree.

Dr Tony Balls wrote: Sat Sep 27, 2025 11:14 am

cakes wrote: Sat Sep 27, 2025 9:00 am Regardless, I never found 200w ss for bass to ever be sufficient in a rock band.

Vern Rumsey would disagree.

I thought he played a sunn? Anyway, doing my research on class D power amps for bass, the two that I could find that were 200w, almost every review on them was that it was good enough for lower volume practices or stage monitoring, but not great to keep up with a rock band. Class D bass amps that seem to manage that jump to 700w. It's, either 200w slightly underpowered or 700w more than enough power, but a wide gap between. Not many power amps at 200w and 700w, though. Plenty of them with preamp sections. The 700w seemed more equivalent to around 300w @ 8ohm, which seems mathematically correct.

cakes wrote: Sat Sep 27, 2025 9:00 am Regardless, I never found 200w ss for bass to ever be sufficient in a rock band.

Nothing makes sense. My old style Hartke kickback 15" combo is loud as fuck, and its HA 1200 amp section (which is supposedly the same module as in the 10" and 12" versions) is allegedly just 120W. Sure the kickback design, speaker type, porting and geometry all play roles, but the sheer fucking force of the thing rivals the 600W tri-amped Carvin combo I had in 2003 (though I knew diddly about amps back then and might have been using it wrong). The best thing is to just try everything out, ignore the marketing and the discourse and go home with whatever is the most audible and sonorous to your own ears.

ChudFusk wrote: Sun Sep 28, 2025 2:37 pm

cakes wrote: Sat Sep 27, 2025 9:00 am Regardless, I never found 200w ss for bass to ever be sufficient in a rock band.

Nothing makes sense. My old style Hartke kickback 15" combo is loud as fuck, and its HA 1200 amp section (which is supposedly the same module as in the 10" and 12" versions) is allegedly just 120W. Sure the kickback design, speaker type, porting and geometry all play roles, but the sheer fucking force of the thing rivals the 600W tri-amped Carvin combo I had in 2003 (though I knew diddly about amps back then and might have been using it wrong). The best thing is to just try everything out, ignore the marketing and the discourse and go home with whatever is the most audible and sonorous to your own ears.

There's some truth to this. A cabinet can really make or break an amp. The biggest factor would be speaker. It's terrifying to consider what speaker to use. I just pick one and go for it. Like bass, I only ever use a Eminence Delta 15a. It worked for me. I tried replacing it once with 4x10s, but it was a disaster. The cab was super dark in comparison and not as aggressive or loud. Forgot what the 10s were.

I've plugged so many different 2x12s into my YBA3 and YRM, some had a lot of power, some couldn't cut through no matter how hard I tried.

cakes wrote: Fri Sep 26, 2025 2:08 pm

mdc wrote: Fri Sep 26, 2025 1:56 pm Isn't that generally the case with most solid state amps? Lower speaker load, more watts?

I thought they were class D? 200w seems like enough for a guitar, even at 4ohms and 8ohms.

Whats disappointing is for bass amplification, this is not enough.

I have a TC Electronics BAM 200 that is Class D 200 watts and I use it through a single 15" cab. Plenty loud always... for me, lately I've been playing almost only through my Ampeg SB12 and I think it is like 20 watts. Also plenty loud for me 90% of the time, but I'm not playing on a stage. But if I were I'd just have the dude mic it and maybe take a di. seems like it would be fine maybe 90% of the time.

People play too loud. Get old!