rocktron velocity.. racks, questions

Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 4860 Location: Pennsylvania

hey guys. its been a while. just joined my first band, looks like its gonna be pretty serious as well. I've had my engl e530 for years but never had a power amp for it. i'm thinking im gonna buy a rocktron velocity 100 for it. one is on ebay now for 110.. looks like they can be had for a great price. we also use a nice pa setup so i'm assuming 100W is good.

also I've never used a rack before. I'm assuming I just need a 2 space rack for the pre and power amp? I don't NEED a power conditioner or anything else at this point do I? and can you guys recommend a rack? i'm hoping to spend very little money at this point. we won't be gigging too often initially

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Go on your local CL and grab a 4 or 6 space used rack from SKB or Gator. Don't buy new if you're going to be gigging because it's just going to get tossed around and messed up... So save yourself some money.

The Velocity is awesome. A guitarist I live-tech for has one powering his ADA MP-1. He was using a Mesa 90/90 but started recently using the Velocity 300. I think he prefers it over the Mesa power amp. It's light, efficient, inexpensive and it sounds good.

Power conditioner... YES, if you can afford a decent one. If you're not going to get an actual conditioner instead of one of those glorified rack mounted power bars then just get a good power bar from Home Depot and velcro it in the back of the rack case you buy. A real power conditioner that actually has safe power for pro-audio equipment is going to start at the $400-$500 mark. The $99 Furmans are a waste of cash in my opinion if you're gigging on a budget. They look cool and are convenient but a quality bar mounted with velcro in the back of your case will be just as good.

Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 4860 Location: Pennsylvania

thanks. any big difference between a skb rack and a cheapo one on ebay? I could care less what it looks like, as long as it holds my racks in place.

and is a 100w power amp equivalent to a 100W amp head?

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

cgibsong002 wrote:

thanks. any big difference between a skb rack and a cheapo one on ebay? I could care less what it looks like, as long as it holds my racks in place.

and is a 100w power amp equivalent to a 100W amp head?

100 watts is 100 watts no matter what the device. Where you run into differences is in efficiency and clean output vs hard clipping in solid state etc. Also, speaker efficiency has a lot to do with it. You'll find a 12" speaker that may have 97db output and you may find one that puts out 104db (not sure of actual specs but you catch my drift here)... So 100watts is 100watts is 100watts.... Try to not get hung up on wattage Vs. volume. Just look at the output ratings at different speaker loads. With SS that can change depending on the Ω rating of your cabinet. You'll see on the backs of some SS amp that it will say 300watts at 4Ω, 210watts at 8Ω and 80watts at 16Ω (again, not exact by any means but similar to what you'll see). That's more about efficiency but it can effect overal perceived volume. The Velocity is plenty loud to gig with and is efficient and most of all sounds good.

As far as rack cases? Just find a used one. Cheap ones you find online are fine, it's all the same crap to me. Cases are meant to get beat up so if you can help it don't buy new. Craigslist is the way to go for that but your local store may have something too. Find a rental place and see if they will sell any of their older cases. It beats buying new and then messing it up your first time out Laughing

I'm sure some more techy guys will chime in about the power amp stuff and they will have more solid specs and mad science about it all. I try to overanalyze it all so take my recommendations with a grain of salt... But yes, that's a good power amp.

Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 4860 Location: Pennsylvania

stupid question... are there racks, and then cases for the racks? or is it the same thing?

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:26 am

cgibsong002 wrote:

hey guys. its been a while. just joined my first band, looks like its gonna be pretty serious as well. I've had my engl e530 for years but never had a power amp for it. i'm thinking im gonna buy a rocktron velocity 100 for it. one is on ebay now for 110.. looks like they can be had for a great price. we also use a nice pa setup so i'm assuming 100W is good.

also I've never used a rack before. I'm assuming I just need a 2 space rack for the pre and power amp? I don't NEED a power conditioner or anything else at this point do I? and can you guys recommend a rack? i'm hoping to spend very little money at this point. we won't be gigging too often initially

I have a 300, and it's great. I could have went for the lower wattage one, but I wanted to drive 4 cabinets. And the 300 can do that. Plus the price between the 100 and 300 is only about $100 difference on MF.

Joined: 30 Nov 2009 Posts: 4

I use the Velocity 300 with my modeling rig and it works great. At first I considered a Mesa 50/50 but didn't want the added expense, weight and tube maintenance. This is supposed to be a good backup, low maintenance rig.

As for racks, there are differences you should be aware of in case you find you want those options. Some of the rack cases have flimsy latches which break or don't hold well over time. SKB's have given me problems in the past with their latches. Some racks have rails in the back as well as the front. This is handy for attaching cables, power supplies and other rack gear that isn't very deep or that you need to access during a gig. There are also different depths, mainly for power amps, very deep, and effect racks, more shallow. If you don't need the depth I suggest one made for rack effects. If you don't intend on checking the rack on an airplane then you don't need ATA 300 rating. They're great, very solid and very heavy. I have a 4 space ATA300 that weighs about 30 lbs. Unless you have no interest in modifying your rig down the road I would get a case larger than you think you need. You can always fill the empty spaces with blanks. If you are a rack hound you will buy more rack gear.