Acoustic Image Corus+ with a Sansamp pramp - any thoughts?

oldane · #1 11-15-2011, 06:52 AM

My 15 years old trusty Evans Amp is not trusty anymore. The preamp is noisy and drops out from time to time, and at present I use it with a Sansamp Para Driver DI (as preamp) into the FX return, but the power amp is viggling too. I find the Para Driver to be a very flexible tool which can create a lot of different tones.

So .... it's about time to get new amp to use with a solid body partscaster and a Painter P-350. I have tried the Sansamp plugged into a small powered PA speaker, and despite the seemingly obvious, it actually works passable though the sound is somewhat "tin can" like with the tiny 5" speaker an general cheap characteristic (it's a Behringer).

A safe shot would be a Henriksen, but it's more or less a one trick pony (jazz guitar trick, that is), and the Henriksen has only one input and no effects loop.

Due to it's immense versatilty as compared to a Henriksen, I have thought about an Acoustic Image Corus+ paired with the Sansamp (the latter to give it a more true "electric" tone). The AI corus+ has a detachable semi built in Clarus2R amp, which can do a lot of things, both with its dedicated speaker and with other speakers and with various types of input. The AI is a little more expensive than a Henriksen 10 but with all its extra options, it seems to me that there are more utility value and bang for the buck with the AI - of course provided I can still get a good, classic jazz tone with that setup.

Has anybody here had experiences with the very clean and PA like AI in combination with a Sansamp or other preamps / multieffects units?

Tom Karol · #2 11-15-2011, 07:34 AM

This may not be of much help, but couldn't you look into getting the Evans fixed? It seems a shame to give up on such a great amp!

oldane · #3 11-15-2011, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Karol

This may not be of much help, but couldn't you look into getting the Evans fixed? It seems a shame to give up on such a great amp!

I have looked into that, but here in Denmark where I live, nobody knows old Evans Amps which are somewhat different from the present ones. They have only been sold here in the last couple of years. When I bought it 15 years ago, I imported it myself directly from Evans. One technician would be willing to look at it if I could get him a scematic, but Evans say they can't provide schematics anymore for these old amps which is now out of production, and they won't repair it either. Besides, it would be very expensive shipping it back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean with UPS - around $500 to which must be added 25% VAT on the repair costs and shipping when the amp returns. The total cost may well be more than a new Henriksen.

medblues · #4 11-15-2011, 12:20 PM

A (used) JBL or Mackie self-powered PA speaker is what you could use if you want to stay with your Sansamp preamp. Lots of clean, quiet, uncolored power for a lot cheaper than what you have mentioned.

eg: MACKIE THUMP TH-12A - Thomann UK Cyberstore

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldane

My 15 years old trusty Evans Amp is not trusty anymore. The preamp is noisy and drops out from time to time, and at present I use it with a Sansamp Para Driver DI (as preamp) into the FX return, but the power amp is viggling too. I find the Para Driver to be a very flexible tool which can create a lot of different tones.

So .... it's about time to get new amp to use with a solid body partscaster and a Painter P-350. I have tried the Sansamp plugged into a small powered PA speaker, and despite the seemingly obvious, it actually works passable though the sound is somewhat "tin can" like with the tiny 5" speaker an general cheap characteristic (it's a Behringer).

A safe shot would be a Henriksen, but it's more or less a one trick pony (jazz guitar trick, that is), and the Henriksen has only one input and no effects loop.

Due to it's immense versatilty as compared to a Henriksen, I have thought about an Acoustic Image Corus+ paired with the Sansamp (the latter to give it a more true "electric" tone). The AI corus+ has a detachable semi built in Clarus2R amp, which can do a lot of things, both with its dedicated speaker and with other speakers and with various types of input. The AI is a little more expensive than a Henriksen 10 but with all its extra options, it seems to me that there are more utility value and bang for the buck with the AI - of course provided I can still get a good, classic jazz tone with that setup.

Has anybody here had experiences with the very clean and PA like AI in combination with a Sansamp or other preamps / multieffects units?

John Link · #5 11-16-2011, 06:32 AM

I been using an AI Corus for about 5 years and it's been absolutely great. I recently bought the AI TenTwo extension cabinet to use in larger rooms with the Corus and the combination is terrific. I would highly recommend either the Corus or the Tentwo Combo amp.
There are some players that say that the frequency crossovers in the Corus are not well suited for jazz guitar. So I set up my Corus and my Fender Deluxe Reverb side by side and did a comparison for tonality. The Corus won hands down.

Steve Z · #6 11-16-2011, 07:14 AM

Benedetto guitars uses a Sans Amp Paradriver as part of their gear when recording audio samples on their website.

-- Also another Sansamp thread that you may find interesting... http://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...adrive-di.html

Quote from Benedetto Guitar's FaceBook page some time ago...

Quote:

We get lots of questions about the new audio links on our website. While we don't specifically endorse any one company (there are too many great options for different gigs), on these clips we use: BUSCARINO CHAMELEON CABINET; ACOUSTIC IMAGE CLARUS 2R AMP; SANSAMP PARA DRIVER DI preamp.

Cheers,
Steve

http://benedettoguitars.com/wp-conte...y-st-full1.jpg

oldane · #7 11-16-2011, 02:01 PM

Thanks everyone for your input. Thanks to that, I have now pulled the trigger and ordered the Corus+ from Thomann. It's not available where I live, so I have to buy it untried - luckily Thomann offers a one month return policy. But it sounds like something I cand bend to my will.

Benedetto seems to use the same Sansamp - AI amp head combo as I intend to (the amp head in the Corus+ is identical to the Clarus 2R). One small but for me not insignificant advantage of the AI is the phantom power in the AI which can feed the Sansamp so that an (for me at least) annoying wall wart can be omitted. And as the the amp head takes speaker impedance as low as 2 Ohm, it can be also be used with numerous other speakers. The adjustable low cut filter seems to be a handy option to cut boominess in smaller rooms.