Ampeg and Acoustic micro stacks....

[jwalin]

Anybody seen these and tried them out? I'm talking about the Ampeg Micro VR and the Acoustic 260.

 

The Ampeg is a 200W head with a 2-10 sealed cabinet styled after the 70's SVT. The cabinet is 8 ohms, and the head will put 150W into it, but only 200W into a 4 ohm load. Head weighs 9lbs and the cabinet is 26.

 

The Acoustic is a 100W 1-10 styled after the Acoustic 360/301 I believe. I don't have any details on it yet.

 

seems they would be great for home use, and recording.

 

I have played the Ampeg, and was shocked at the sound it will put out.....it wasn't bad at all...I expected a toy, but it was just as usable as my old '62 B-15n was in a band. Had plenty of power for a practice situation, as long as you did not have a 'rock star' guitarist with a Marshall stack.

 

I will play the Acoustic soon.

[jwalin]

I played the Acoustic today.

 

100W into 4 ohm min. impedance, 1-10 cabinet is 4 ohms so no extension cabinet. Both the head and the cabinet are heavier than the Ampeg, but it is about the same size, slightly smaller.

 

Tone is heavy in lower mids, like the classic Acoustic rock sound. I had the chance to switch between them side by side, and compare. I used a MIM 2009 Fender Standard Precision.

 

I set tone controls to flat, and adjusted the gain on the Ampeg to where I could just light the light. The set the Volume at 9 o'clock on both. The Acoustic was louder at this setting. This shows that it has a much higher gain staging, but there is much more left in the Ampeg. I brought its volume up to match, and there was no comparison in sound...the Ampeg is much cleaner and crisper. Sounds twice as expensive, as it is! The Acoustic started clipping at high noon on the volume, I think it was the head, not the speaker. Maybe a little dirty overdrive sound built in.....I wonder what a more efficient speaker can do in the cabinet. Something like a Weber Michigan 10, or an EV. Or maybe a JBL.

 

I couldn't get the Ampeg to clip, as this drew the attention of the GC staff! That little thing is LOUD for what it is. It is much more versatile, you can get everything from clean SVT to overdriven SVT, to B-15 tone, and a nice clean 'modern' sound with a little Ampeg thrown in. This thing has alot of possibilities, being that it is so small and light. $600 will get you the head and one cabinet, another cab is $300. If you like the sound, and wanted the SVT effect, then $1800 would get you 400W, 8-10's, and you could carry it in a Miata. And you would have the ability to use whatever pieces you wanted for smaller gigs or practice. An SVT 8-10 is $900 alone, and a 300W SVT head is $1700. It ain't fitting in a Miata. Maybe on a Miata. This thing is a winner in my book....I want one...

 

As far as the Acoustic....I like it too.....it is only $300. It will serve my living room audience (my dog) just fine, and won't bother my wife too much. $1200 would get you four of them, and you would look like a GIANT in front of your classic Acoustic backline. I'm sure that would be enough sound for most gigs, but you would need to mic them. I don't believe they had a direct out.......but the Ampeg did.

 

Both had CD inputs, and headphone outputs. The Ampeg had an effects loop.

 

I like them!