Synergy 5050 Stereo Rack Power Amp

[Jerry Overstreet]

clickhere

Anybody use one of these? 4 6L6, 2 for ea. stereo side for 50W ea. or bridgeable to 100W.

Wondering if that's enough power for all pedal steel gigs?

Steven Fryette design for use with Synergy dock and pre modules but should work with any preamp we commonly use for steel.

At $1200 out of my budget but you never know, things happen.

Just curious, looking for any input.

[Dave Diehl]

Those amps are everything they say it is Jerry. Don't quite have the punch that the Fryette 2/90/2 does but also not as heavy but has plenty of power. Right now I'm testing it with a Synergy SYN2 with the TDLX and BMAN preamps. Very promising.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Great. Thanks for coming in on this Dave. It looks very impressive and manageable at #20.

Are you using it just for guitar with those modules or have you tried them with pedal steel also?

I'm pretty much a hack guitar player but I do play it and sometimes like to switch between guitar and steel, so kind of interested in something that would work with both.

Not particularly crazy about the single volume control as I mix speakers and like to have mix control but.....

Not really considering the dock and modules at the moment, as I'm using my GP100 or some of my other analog preamps with a power amp.

Thx. JO.

[Dave Diehl]

Just experimenting with the Pre Amps on Pedal Steel. The TDXL was good right from the start. It is essentially the Pre Amp from the Fender Twin. The BMAN is the Pre Amp from the Fender Bassman amp. It was a little on the distorted side until I changed the 12AX7 tube to a 12AY7. Sounds good now. Not sure what unit you're referring to on the "Single Volume Control". The 5050 has Stereo capability with separate volume controls for each channel.

[Jerry Overstreet]

Thanks Dave. You are correct. Yeah, I probably got that volume control thing confused with one of the actual Fryette branded LXII models as I was looking at those too.

Anyway, thanks for the info.

[Dave Grafe]

Speaker sensitivity, i.e. SPL per watt, is the essential factor when working with lower power amplification. The sensitivity of major brand guitar speakers ranges between 91dB and 105dB, with the majority measuring in the mid 90's and VERY few greater than 100dB. Understanding that this is a logarithmic scale, for every added 6 dB the volume doubles, thus JBL's D130F and K130 (103dB) and E130 (105dB) will deliver as much as four times the volume per watt of many popular guitar speakers. For context, both the Altec 421 and Peavey's popular 15" BW measure just under 97dB, Fender's "Custom Design by Eminence" manages 100dB and EV's 4-ohm Neo TT15 lists a sensitivity of 101dB. However, each of these sounds distinctively different as well, which brings us to...

The frequency response curve of a speaker has a great deal to do with the joy factor when operating at limited power levels. The closest to the JBL sensitivity-wise is the EV Neo line (99-101dB) but the EV's all lose their highs drastically above 3kHz, which is superior to most but a full octave below the top end of the JBL's. Where this applies to your question is how much of your power will be expended in boosting high (or low) frequencies to audible levels, thus finding a speaker that requires the least eq boost to get the sound you seek is also important. Some steel pickers swear by their favorite, albeit less efficient, BW or EV speakers for this very reason.

I have been gigging for years with 45 watt Fender amps, driving JBL 15" speakers with a pair of 6L6's, and rarely have had any trouble being loud enough. I have tried all of the other speakers mentioned here and more, but always come back to the JBL in a hurry.

YMMV