Hi Jack
Good to hear from you & Happy New Year! To try and answer your questions...
The Crunch Master I have doesn't have rack ears with it. TBH, I'm not sure whether they can be added or if they made them for these models originally? Have a look on the H&K website - there is some info about them I think?
Soundwise, I've used it in lots of ways; all good! So for example, my bass plugged directly into it and then out of it into the Ampeg power amp I'm selling. I've also tried that same configuration into the 'power amp in' on my old Peavey head and in both cases, it works really well. It has a simple 3 band e.q. which is more than enough, espcially if you have an active bass..
Because my Roscoe Beck V is a passive bass with quite a low output, I've also used it as a pre-amp boost into the Hughes & Kettner head I have now and did the same with the Eden Metro ; again, it works really well. Allows you to drive the input stage on your amp properly IMO.
It has it's own sound and depending on whether you use the 'tube out' or the 'mix out', it does different things...
The best sound it has though is the 'speaker out' direct into a very good speaker (like my Triad).. It's only a 10 watt amp but it's a gorgeous sound!!
As you can probably tell, I really like this piece of kit! The only reason I am putting it up for sale now is because I'm into this '2 bass rigs' thing now (one for my bass and one for my FXs) and I just won't be using it in gig situations because there's too much to carry as it is!
Hope that helps - any more questions, just get back to me..
Nik