stevie

[quote name='thinman' timestamp='1336763617' post='1650836'] Out of fairness to what I know Bill FItzmaurice has said, it is not that mixing drivers is guaranteed to be bad , it's that the results are [u]unpredictable[/u], [/quote] Bill Fitzmaurice is wrong. The results are perfectly predictable. They are quite easy to calculate, easy to measure (if you have the gear) and easy to predict if you have enough experience. Compared with calculating the performance of a modern stadium line array system, calculating the performance of a 1x15 and a 1x 12, or whatever combination of bass cabs you may care to mention, is child's play.

I've used other free antivirus software but the Microsoft one is excellent, although it occasionally hogs the system when you open My Documents. Like Ped, I've experienced AVG missing viruses. I've also tried a number of firewalls including Zonealarm, which in one of its incarnations forced me to reinstall the operating system!. The best one, in my opinion, because it's very easy to use, has virtually no overhead, and is very reliable, is the Ashampoo firewall. Nobody has ever heard of it but it's fantastic. Trust me. Vorsprung and all that. Just my two penn'orth. (I earn a living on my PC).

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1336726014' post='1649925'] There is a section which is separate to the manual containing the corrected info (2.66R minimum load (that's 2.67 ohm)) but I don't think it's unreasonable, after a year or so, to expect them to have corrected the online manual. [/quote] I found that I could drive my Classic 450 into 2 ohms no problem, and I'm not alone in that either. Your mileage may very though, as they say.

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1336664204' post='1649169'] Strange post. [/quote] Not really.

Saw them live in the UK and they sounded *exactly* like on the record. Funnily enough, there were no harmonizers or pitch correctors then.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' timestamp='1336566772' post='1647572'] The Midget's 330cc displacement is equivalent to three average tens. [/quote] Displacement is only the part of the story, of course.

[quote name='stewblack' timestamp='1336470234' post='1645931'] Nostalgia for HH is one thing ... [/quote] We could do with a bit less of the nostalgia actually. I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong, but this is purely a branding exercise, with a respected brand stuck onto some Chinese products. There's nothing wrong with that, and they look really good, but let's not get carried away here.

If you list the driver specs (rather than the subwoofer specs) I'm sure somebody will tell you whether it's worth rehousing them or not. You really need the Thiele Small parameters for the drivers though, and you may not have those. You're right that plastic boxes do not make very good bass cabinets and a properly constructed wooden box made of 18mm birch ply would certainly sound better. If you are happy to build your own cabs, you can construct a 15" reflex cab for not very much money using speakers like the Fane Sovereign. The speaker manufacturers have lots of free designs you could check out also. Have a look at the B&C site, for example.

I agree - a 4-ohm 10" cab is pointless, but it could be a misprint. The new vinyl covering on the MiBass combos looks really swish, at least on the YouTube video.

You can't really compare the MiBass 550 with the small MarkBass amp because the Ashdown has twice the power. The MiBass 220 is probably closer to the LM 250 as far as output is concerned. They both have B&O power amps and power supplies - so the only difference will be in the preamps and features. The killer feature of the MiBass IMO is the tone-shaping section, which is semi-parametric with variable turnover frequencies. You should be able to dial in your perfect sound with a bit of trial and error. The MiBass also has dual Speakon outputs, a neat auxiliary input with level control for an MP3 player or even another instrument, and an extruded aluminium case. The MarkBass doesn't have any ot these features but does have a mute button, a balanced input and a level control for the Line out. Although it's not perfect, the MiBass tone controls and higher output make it a much better choice in my opinion.

[quote name='3below' timestamp='1334601465' post='1618389'] Barefaced Dubster, 4 ohms, Peavey Tour 700 700W @ 4 ohms, large school hall, and yes the concrete floor can be made to vibrate [/quote] And how much of this energy is coming from the bottom of the cabinet, pray tell?

It depends what you call "flat". I'd bet a large sum of money that all these amps would sound identical if you were to set them to a flat response. The MiBass is pretty flat, I'd say. It could have a slightly rolled off top end, but without measuring I couldn't swear to it. Doesn't the MarkBass have some built-in contour? The tone controls of the MiBass are really versatile. They're parametric with infinitely variable frequencies - similar to the Rebelhead 450. I'd be surprised if you couldn't dial in the MarkBass tone. I've compared the MiBass flat sound to the TC Electronics Classic 450 and prefer the former.

I think the LIttleMark 250 is probably the equivalent of the MiBass 220. The power amp / power supply on many of these amps is identical. Don't quote me, but the Markbass and Gallien Krueger 450/500 watt mini-amps (and the Genz Benz equivalent and more that I can't think of at the moment) all use the same B&O power amp and power supply. The only difference is in the preamps and cases. I can confirm from experience that the MiBass preamp is faultless, if you ignore the stupid Deep switch. It also has a very good tone control section, but no buit-in bells and whistles or valves.

Mark bought my TC Electronics head last week. The money was in my account as quick as a flash and communication was great throughout the transaction. He's relatively new here, but my experience shows he's a reliable trading partner.

Bought a pedal from Nick and it arrived quickly and was just the job. Good man!

1. Yes, Ultralites make a big difference to neck dive - and to the overall weight of the bass. They are also very good tuners, irrespective of their weight. 2. I believe Schaller have a similar product, but installing lightweight tuners is the best way of solving neck dive IMO. 3. Yes, you will be left with some holes showing - but who cares? If you plan to sell the bass at any time, just put the original machineheads back and they will hide the hole you need to drill for the Ultralites. I'd never consider a bass without lightweight tuners again. They should be fitted as a standard to everything.

I'm experimenting with a Behringer parametric equalizer and an Ashdown MiBass. I can plug it into the input, like an effects pedal, and it works fine. I can also put it in the effects loop (which is between the pre and power) and it works there too.

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1334315717' post='1614310'] But if you were head of Marketing, and you were consistently hopeless at it, it would be justified :-) [/quote] For this kind of semi-impromptu sales pitch, a good salesman would normally do fine. You don't have to be a BBC presenter. These interviews have become de rigeur at trade shows and there's no excuse for not rehearsing your pitch. Nobody can be good at everything and sometimes it makes sense to get a professional in. Otherwise you risk looking like a tit.

I'm with Mr Foxen on this.

[quote name='DirkThrust' timestamp='1334263183' post='1613590'] Those Mibass combos look very interesting. The 550 with a 15" extension cab would make a cracking portable rig. [/quote] Agreed. I think they have a really good product there. The styling is well done and I love the stripy vinyl, although I can't find a lot on the specs yet. And they are considering building them in the UK (hooray!). I'm generally very positive about these. I actually bought a MiBass head despite the crappy marketing, and I don't regret it.

The new Ashdown MiBass combos might be worth waiting for. They seem to be very well designed and the MiBass amp itself is pretty good with some interesting features. http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2012/04/09/ashdown-introduces-mibass-combo-amps/. I haven't seen any prices yet though.