About Peavy LA 400 Series

[Ray Montee]

When Peavy amps first hit the market, the BIGGER was the BETTER or so it seemed.

Since those earlier days, how many of you, if any, have gone to one of the rich sounding 12 inchers?

What's your opinion of the smaller amp?

[James Wolf]

Funny you say this. While it doesn't really answer what you are asking my Dad and I were just having the same conversation about home stereo. He was saying how back in the 70's bigger was better and you had to really put some power through it to get it sounding good. Nowadays we are able to get a very good sound quality out of MUCH smaller stuff.

[Jack Aldrich]

My Peavey Vegas 400, my workhorse amp in the 80's and 90's, sits in my music room and doesn't leave it. I still play my pedal steels with it, but it is too damn heavy to tote around. I use my Peavey Classic 30 on gigs - a tube amp with a great sound. It I'm playing keyboards, too, I have an Acoustic amp, a twin with ample power. Both are a lot lighter than the Vegas 400. IMHO, what happened to make audio equipment lighter was the introduction of samarium cobalt magnets (the key to the Sony Walkman)Attributes:
- Extremely resistant to demagnetization
- Good temperature stability (maximum use temperatures between 250 °C (523 K) and 550 °C (823 K); Curie temperatures from 700 °C (973 K) to 800 °C (1,070 K)
- Expensive and subject to price fluctuations (cobalt is market price sensitive),
and Neodymium Iron Boron magnets, even lighter. That, and the introduction of integrated circuits, considerably lightened audio equipment with no loss in response.

[Jay Fitch]

I have 3 Peavey Session's and played them all for about 25 years. They all sounded great but the older I got and after hearing Jeff Newman play through 2 Nashville 112 E's I knew I had to get me some...lol . It's taken me a few years but I found the 112 E cab in a music store in Spokane,WA and I just bought a LA 400 a few weeks ago. So now I can use the LA 400 hundred on it's own and then with my digital power amp and w/the 112 E cab.....I love them all....it is definitely the sound I've looking for.....and all with 12" BW's.

[John Cadeau]

I've been using a Nashville 112 for several years now, and it is the best amp I've ever used. I have used other Peavey amps, including a session 400 which I really liked, but the weight of it made me go to the 112. A great amp.

[Mark Kuban]

My Peavey Vegas 400, my workhorse amp in the 80's and 90's, sits in my music room and doesn't leave it. I still play my pedal steels with it, but it is too damn heavy to tote around. I use my Peavey Classic 30 on gigs - a tube amp with a great sound. It I'm playing keyboards, too, I have an Acoustic amp, a twin with ample power. Both are a lot lighter than the Vegas 400. IMHO, what happened to make audio equipment lighter was the introduction of samarium cobalt magnets (the key to the Sony Walkman)Attributes:
- Extremely resistant to demagnetization
- Good temperature stability (maximum use temperatures between 250 °C (523 K) and 550 °C (823 K); Curie temperatures from 700 °C (973 K) to 800 °C (1,070 K)
- Expensive and subject to price fluctuations (cobalt is market price sensitive),
and Neodymium Iron Boron magnets, even lighter. That, and the introduction of integrated circuits, considerably lightened audio equipment with no loss in response.

What tubes/speaker are you using with that Classic 30? I have one, sounds nice with steel, but struggle with headroom issues.