New SVT-7 Pro - with free pyrotechnics included

[Aussie Mark]

I bought a SVT-7 Pro this week to see what they're like. 1000w of SVT tone with a tube preamp in a 15lb head? Call me curious.

Got a nice price from a store here, it arrived by courier the next day, I got it home and everything was totally virgin sealed up like the day it left the factory in Qingdao or Dalian or wherever Ampeg farm these things out to.

I checked that the voltage selector was on 230v, not 115v, plugged it in, switched it on, and sat back to wait the 5 seconds it supposedly takes for these heads to start up. Well, the loud pop that accompanied me throwing the on switch made me think "that was a little louder than I expected", and then the black smoke pouring out of the unit 1 second later had me moving fast to pull the plug at the wall outlet. This thing cooked itself in a manner of seconds, so it would appear that one of the guys at the factory may have been drinking a bit too much of that nice Qingdao lager.

The dealer got onto it straight away and sent me a replacement that arrived at work today. I'm not overly excited about taking this one out of the carton and plugging it in, but hopefully I can put the first one down to experience and this one will run just fine. The dealer did say that this time they unpacked it and ran it for 3 hours in the store before they sent it to me, so maybe Wroker B was having a better day than Wroker A did at the factory.

[Aussie Mark]

All good with the replacement SVT-7 Pro.  This one didn't explode when I switched it on.  Further review once I've given it a solid workout for a few weeks.

[dadagoboi]

Looking forward to your review.  My current rig is a Demeter  VTBP-201 and an Ampeg SVP 1500.  About 40 lbs for the pair.  15 is very enticing!

[Highlander]

I had a Sound City 120 that blew a transformer in a shower of sparks - not a lot of fun but the rest of the guys had hysterics...

anyway - since when were you guys in HM outfits...?

[exiledarchangel]

Once I blew a bass combo, but it wasn't mine, so no biggie. On the other hand, the owner seemed to me kinda upset.

[luve2fli]

Cool - curious to hear how these stack up to the original all-tubes and the hybrids .... can't wait for your review, Mark!

[Highlander]

I once remember watching a band that we supported  - the bassist was using a P and I'd used my RD, then with the full circuitry... he loved the sound I got with my rig (the Hiwatt with 2 SoundCity 4x12 columns) and asked if he could use it... I had no issues with that... anyway, he'd split the signal and no matter how hard I tried to signal to the guy, he'd left the amp in standby for the whole gig...

Thanked me afterwards - said it was a great sound...

I just didn't have the heart to say...

[Aussie Mark]

Ok, with 2 gigs under the belt I can now report in more detail on the SVT-7 Pro.

On Friday night I ran it into a mini stack of two SWR Goliath Jr 210 cabs at a tiny little pub gig. I didn't need a lot of volume in this room (vocal PA only), however the SVT-7 had that nice reassuring Ampeg fatness happening, with some noticeable inherent compression even with the onboard compression dialled off. The tube preamp in this head is warm and sounds very natural and tubey at gig volume. I'm not convinced that the claimed 1000 watts output is any louder than my 800w Markbass LM800, based on where I had the master volume on the Ampeg compared to where I would have the master on the LM800.

On Saturday night we played a medium sized club auditorium, although again we only went with vocals (and keyboards) into the PA. I brought the Markbass CL152 sealed 2x15 cab this time. Wow, this is a match made in heaven! Into the 215 cab the SVT-7 Pro sounded lovely and creamy, just like all my favourite rock albums from the 1970s. Again, even without PA support the SVT-7 had more than enough in reserve, I had the gain around 9 o'clock, and the master just past 12 o'clock, so it was just cruising along nicely.

Originally I was going to make a decision and sell either the LM800 or the SVT-7 Pro once I'd worked out which one I prefer, however I think I'm going to keep both of these. Why? Because the Ampeg is not as portable as the LM800. It's not much heavier really, at 12lb vs 6lb, but it is physically larger, and without the rack ears and front handles fitted the Ampeg feels a bit like picking up a wet cake of soap, so it's not as simple to pull out of a bag and sit on top of your cab/s as the Markbass or other lunch box amps are. I'll keep the Markbass for blues gigs and rehearsals etc when I want to travel *very* light, and I've already racked the Ampeg into a brand new 2RU case.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Glad it worked out for you. Much as I detest Loud, I didn't like hearing that an amp you paid for was DOA.

[Freuds_Cat]

The 7 Pro is kind of what I was trying for whern I put together my rig. I run an SVP-Pro into Peavey digital power amps (short story). Only thing I've done to the Pre is to fill it up with Telefunken tubes. I love the sound of it.