crate powerblock - any good alternatives

[captain easychord]

I've got a crate powerblock that I love, it's portable, simple, flexible, loud, and sounds great through my cab, a custom made with 15" speaker. I'm still not sure why they stopped making them because as far as I can tell there's nothing else quite like it on the market, and I've read lots of other praise for them.

I would really love to see something similar available, maybe with similar features but higher build quality. Does anyone know if any companies manufacture anything like this? I have read rumours of Crate building a powerblock II, but I've not idea if there's any truth to this at all!

[J M Fahey]

Great amp, sounds *very* good, don´t understand why they stopped selling it. I guess perhaps it´s "somebody else´s" product, maybe only distributed by SLM.  In that case, if the contract was not very good for the real manufacturer, they might have not renewed it. The product itself is very good. By the way, I´m curious about it, don´t you have the schematic? I wonder about the "Class D" amp. Thanks.

[markleehunter]

+1 on the Powerblock.  I actually have two, because when I got into my first one and saw they were discontinuing them I thought, oh no.  Aside from the size and weight, the connectors on this device are wonderful.  I run a Zoom G2 or B2 into the aux in stereo jacks, use the input for a mic.  A pocket PA.  I recently began using two old AIWA hifi speakers with the amp, and they sound fine with it. 

[Jack1962]

I may be wrong I"ll have to check , but isn't the Oranfe Amps Tiny Terror about the same amp?

                                               Rock On

[ToneGrail]

The Acoustic Image Clarus is a great amp.  It's just a little heavier and bigger, but it's still shoulder-strappable and comes with it's own soft case, like the Powerblock.  It costs a lot more though.  However, it has a lot more clean headroom.