Ampeg VL-502

[aman74]

Hi there,

Are any of you familiar with this amp?

I'm looking for opinion's on it's low volume ability, but even moreso on it's quality. I've heard the quality may be poor, but that they sound great.

I also heard that most issues are with the 100 watter.

Thanks!

[aman74]

Anyone?

I ended up getting one and it was damaged in shipping.

It's going in for repair so while it's there I'd like to have anything else done to it that people would recommend as I heard there are a couple issues and improvements that can be done.

Thanks

[Enzo]

I know nothing if it having undue problems. I have no reason to think it would be any more or less reliable than any of the other SLM Ampegs of the era. It is made on the same lines with the same parts as their other products.

Beware Harmony Central assessments. A guy has a problem with one, and he decides all of them are crap.

I would expect the higher power versions of a paerticular amp model to have more problems - they are usually played harder.

[aman74]

I wasn't speaking of HC.

It was my understanding that there is at least one bias supply issue.

Are you speaking from great experience with this model? I've researched it for quite a bit.

[Enzo]

I just used HC as an example.

NO, I have not worked on a lot of VL-502s specifically. I am speaking as someone who has been an SLM authorized service center for over 20 years and have worked on many many of their products including some VL series amps.

What is the bias supply issue? I would be interested to know. I have no service bulletins regarding this amp. The bias is switchable between 6550 and EL34 levels, with of course an adjustable level within those settings.