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I saw this page this morning .....which led to this..... ....which led to this.... I hope people on here like overhang. The people in PMT seemed absolutely amazed at how much it was selling for. Initial thoughts tailored to this audience of basschatters: The fans are silent. I mean they're not quiet, they are literally silent. I cannot hear them. It sounds great through this 6.5" speaker, which is my only cabinet. The car picture above is for teh lulz. I actually walked there and back and was able to carry it 0.6 miles without too much difficulty.

Well, there's the EVO IV 1200W which is cheaper than the EVO-V, and can go down (or is that up?) to 2x4Ω cabinets. Considerably heavier mind you. If you bear in mind that the valve in the ABM is preamp rather than power amp, you can achieve a similar effect by putting the valve in your pedalboard, then running the output into a return of any old head. Sticking with the Ashdown brand the Original Valve Pre-DI into an RM-800 would be similar price and effect (although let's not go down the class D vs A/B route here). Speaking personally (and this is not an issue I have solely with music gear) I feel there is too much emphasis on performance, features and price, whereas reliability and repairability aren't given their due importance. I mean, how could they? People want to see the reviews of new products, not ones that took 10 years to write because they were testing the reliability. I don't know what the solution is, but for me the reputation of Ashdown is enough for me to compare its product very favourably with its competitors'. That's not to knock the EVO V in any way in terms of what it is. I haven't played through one but it probably will sound amazing.

There's some similarity with headphone amplifiers and hiss. Hiss is such a distraction, particularly when listening to classical music, at least for me. However there are other people who only notice it when I point it out, and really don't understand why anyone would find it such a big deal. I'm in an unusual position that I don't own an amp with a fan. Maybe I wouldn't care about a little whirr in the background but I certainly appreciate the fact they've at least addressed it. Certainly doesn't seem like there's a major downside, particularly if servicing in the UK is so easy (I read that silent fans tend to have a shorter lifespan).

On the one hand that's fantastic for those that want a cheaper ABM, but it does leave fewer reasons to splash the cash on the EVO V UK made New DI 150W Black fascia Extra VU meter Of those probably only the UK build would interest me.

For those counting the pennies, the price of this amp has been reduced from £1545 to £1399 on Ashdown's own website.

It was the "natural sound" point that made me think of the Fishman. For that it's superb

Probably why Fishman discontinued it. Their replacement is quite the looker, and over your budget, probably even when bought second hand.

I own a Fishman Pro EQ Platinum Bass (the older one), Great DI out -> ☑ superb live and recorded Great natural sound-> ☑ I use it mainly for upright but it's really good for electric too Good tone controls-> ☑ Yes, really good Compressor-> ☑ Yes, really good Drive/distortion-> ☒ Nope, not at all. Fishman don't make it any more but they pop up second hand every so often here and they're usually well within your budget. One benefit that @rmorris alludes to is that the Fishman takes phantom power, so is one less plug/battery to deal with. One downside for you is that there is no send/return for your distortion. They're built like tanks as well. I fear for the ground's safety whenever I drop mine.

Yes, different shape so even more reason to go with what you've played and liked. I've never played a new one so cannot say which one I prefer, but the old one I own is fantastic.

One thing that springs to mind as to why it's so expensive is the lead time on buying a new Sandberg direct from them: you'll be waiting months. The cost might reflect that as soon as you buy it the bass is in your hands ready to play (so to speak). Saying that, there's one in stock at Thomann, at a price a whisker cheaper than when bought direct: https://www.thomann.de/gb/sandberg_california_ii_tt4_rw_orm_hca.htm . If it were me I'd choose the one from Bass Gallery as it's cheaper in absolute terms and you know you like it. When I bought my California I narrowed the choice down to two instruments, and they were both "identical" according to specs. They sounded different enough that I could pick them out with my eyes shut, wife too. Perhaps things are more uniform now everything's CNC?

So as not to scare people off, I own an older model, and I don't even notice its weight when gigging, probably because it balances so well.

To me that looks like the old shape California. I don't know when they changed production but other basschatters may have a better idea. I tried to recreate the thing in Sandberg's configurator, and the best I could come back had an MSRP of 2323 euros. (code CANT4-TT:D-N-4S-34-HCA-VW-ALD-NOT-PFF-F-NOI-NOM-ANIH-CLT-2EQ-PP-X-RH). The ageing looks halfway between soft and hardcore. Guess it's up to you if you think it's worth it. I paid £1500 for a new Sandberg last year at PMT.

Perhaps, or maybe the sound would be drowned out by the jet engine noise coming from the fans at the rear. At least you'd think that given the complaints I've seen about them. Heck even the Andertons video mentions the fan noise.

And here's the demo. Sounds good to me, but I suspected it would

While I'm on this thread "not getting" things, here's another one for my list. The reason amps don't usually go down to 2Ω is because the current draw would be too great when the amp is going hell for leather and you risk overheating the amp. What the GK Fusion does is have a switch so that when you're running 2Ω it limits the voltage swing so that this cannot happen. I imagine you could achieve similar results with judicious use of a volume knob. So, getting back to my question, is that for something seemingly so simple and obvious, why doesn't every amp have this feature? I cannot imagine it would add significantly to the cost and would make a number of people happy with the increased versatility.

This has two outputs on the front, a line level (which I understand) and a 'full range', which I don't. I can understand the days when you'd have LP and HP outputs for tops and subs, with an accompanying full range output of those two summed, but this one is on its own. What's going on here? The output isn't even listed on the specs. Update: there is a Tuner output in the specs which could be a mislabelling of this Full Range.

Someone at Ashdown is clearly reading your mind:

Hmm, looking at the Tuff Bag, they don't appear to have rucksack straps. Is that correct?

Thanks @Bloopdad1. I'm struggling to find places that sell the tuff-bag to the UK. There is the String emporium which lists it as $435 + $135. Add the VAT on top and you get fairly close to the SW price. Marking as a gift would obviously be lovely and I'm surprised that anyone would do that as you open your business up to prosecution. You say the TB is lighter which I don't dispute, but it's very hard to get a weight of the thing online for a direct comparison. I need to go home to see how much my current one weighs but my intuition tells me that the SW would be similar weight if not lighter at 5.7kg (as said on Thomann's website).

Yeah, I've seen those. I've heard unsubstantiated rumours that even with the pneumatic tyres they can be a bit dicey as you're putting loads and sending shocks through your endpin. The bass buggy looks safer as it disperses the weight around the case. On that subject, SW actually offer their own version of the bass buggy, the Soundwear Trolley. There is almost no information on t'internet about these, except they attach via velcro to the case. Would make for a simpler system than the Bass Buggy, but has anyone got experience with the SW Trolley? I'm guessing they're good quality but nobody seems to have written anything about them.

Hi @Bloopdad1, thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed response. You seem to have covered most of the bases (badum-tish). I'm based in the UK, which to me means that the two cases of Soundwear [SW] and Tuff-bag [TB] would be similar prices once customs and taxes are taken care of. The fewer handles doesn't concern me as my current case has many handles I don't use (the ones I do are on the SW). Given the SW is heavier, would it be safe to assume it offers superior protection? Thank you for relaying the story of your friend and her case. I was thinking about retro-fitting rucksack straps onto my current case but can now see it is a very bad idea indeed!

I have a double bass case[1] that I don't like very much to put it mildly: Rips fairly easily Zips get stuck One zip has fallen out and the accessories pouch is flapping in the breeze because of it Shoulder strap very awkward to carry for long distances. It's fine for walking 100 yards from your car to the stage, but that's it. My previous case was much much nicer, but unfortunately it didn't fit my current bass and I didn't know any better what to look out for. One killer feature was that it had rucksack straps so I could walk with it for much greater distances. So, hive mind, what case should I buy, money no object? In particular: Wheels at the bottom of the bass case (e.g. this discontinued Jaeger bag) : gimmick or not? Bass is 7/8. Assume this requires a 4/4 case but anyone experienced different? Anyone walking large distances with their db and really like their case? For me rucksack straps are a must, but if anyone can convince me they're not needed I'll certainly entertain the idea. Any advice appreciated. The bass case I currently own wasn't exactly cheap so I'm guessing I'll have to spend big bucks to get something noticeably better. [1] I don't know what it is, but I think it's this one, or at least a predecessor of it.

The photo on the website says "Made in England". You're probably right that it may go to China in the near future.