Speaker efficiency > amp watts

If you’ve ever had the chance to drown out a much bigger rig with a 30 watt AC30 . They haven’t figured out a way to measure intention yet

400W min for a lil ICEPower/class D bass amp, i think.

I play through either one or two that are 700-800 watts.

700W icepower is about like an SVT (300 ampeg tube watts).

I play through a ~100w 2x6550 bass amp through an EV15L and an EV15B, relatively clean and I have to turn down at %100 of any show I play.

TylerDeadPine wrote: Wed Oct 01, 2025 7:55 pm I play through a ~100w 2x6550 bass amp through an EV15L and an EV15B, relatively clean and I have to turn down at %100 of any show I play.

I'm playing an amp with the same power section. I've only needed to bring it out to one show, I think, but it was more than ample and every band used it.

Anyway.....for experimentation purposes I think i'm just gonna try one pf these modules on the lower power end (300W maybe?) and see what it turns out when run through an 8Ω cab at 150W. I'd like to know where the acceptable floor is.

I don't think any of the Class D stuff I own has ICEpower modules, but they both seem pretty damn loud for bass applications. First is a Quilter Bass Block, 800 watts into 4 ohms, and a Crown XLS 1502 power amp that's 1550 watts in 4 ohm bridged. Quilter has been more than loud enough even at 8 ohms to keep up with the rest of Maple Stave who are definitely not quiet. Don't think I've ever run either of these into clipping or shutdown, but they're also more back-up or "I don't want to carry a heavy ass tube amp to this show" situations.

A watt rating barely tells you anything about an amp's perceived loudness/volume anymore. It's kind of a bummer even though we all kinda know it. SVT is 300 watts, Traynor YBA-3a is well into 200 watts and both can brown note an audience into oblivion.

Our venue hosts a shoegaze fest every year and this year my 800rb was backlined w/ a TL606 loaded w/ an Eminence Kappa. I usually have folks use it w/ one speaker in the 300 watt channel, but for fun (and knowing the room) I used the 100-watt channel and it was PLENTY of clean gas for this room. Worth noting that this space seems to be a giant folded horn tuned to 100 Hz. Pretty much the only good-sounding bass guitar in here is when it's run direct from a pedal board and almost every bass amp ends up being the loudest thing on stage.

What's the lesson here? Hecked if I know, it's just frustrating because we've all had these wildly different experiences that are based around what we want to sound like, what we want to FEEL, the rooms we're playing in, and the people we are playing with. I'd say get the loudest thing you can afford. I don't think solid state amps sound great when they're struggling so yeah the 700 watt version is probably the way to go here.

Also, Vern I think mostly used a Colliseum 300 I think & those are mighty; Concert Bass before that which I can attest is much less mighty, but still rad w/ that distortion circuit.

tallchris wrote: Thu Oct 02, 2025 11:02 am I don't think any of the Class D stuff I own has ICEpower modules, but they both seem pretty damn loud for bass applications. First is a Quilter Bass Block, 800 watts into 4 ohms, and a Crown XLS 1502 power amp that's 1550 watts in 4 ohm bridged. Quilter has been more than loud enough even at 8 ohms to keep up with the rest of Maple Stave who are definitely not quiet. Don't think I've ever run either of these into clipping or shutdown, but they're also more back-up or "I don't want to carry a heavy ass tube amp to this show" situations.

When I saw you guys, the stage sound mixed quite nicely with that set up. And that material has rather dense instrumentation that managed to all come out pretty distinct.

So how about them ICEpowers eh man

My main input here is that you'll need a little preamp to get the instrument level signal up substantially.

The input is really low impedance, and my "preamp" pedal won't drive it sufficiently on its own. Sounded dull and not very loud initially.

Very simple little amplifier board got the volume up and now it has power for days.

I need to stress-test it in a full practice, though. I have a feeling I might need a little burlier fan (the one the kit came with is low noise and kind of wimpy).