Reissueplayer

I do use and love my AER Compact for guitar. I would trust them to make really good stuff for bass as well, but the power rating seems a bit on the low side. I got hold of the Berg AE212 and went to rehearse with it today. I got it cheap, but it is in condition as new. With identical settings it was punchier and had more low mids than my other cab. It felt fast and gave a sound that was easy to control with the hands. Never boomy, always present

I used to have a pair of the Berg ERs and they sounded really good, but were far from the ip. The DSP is likely a big part of it, and I see your point. They are probably the key to evenness at louder volumes and a low end that never seems to fail and crap out. In my search, I also acquired an XS2104 from Unicornbass (http://unicornbass.se/site/bass-speakers/xs2104/). It delivers room filling and fast low end, which is great. It goes a really long way and can take all the power you want to throw at it. It can be had in an active version as well. If you like the flat response, I couldn't imagine anything better. But it's not as punchy and mid present as the Berg, which is what I'm going for this time. If you play five string, this may be the bees knees. On my way now to pick up an AE212 which was for sale locally. We'll see what it does.

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1412632813' post='2570708'] Don't buy one 'blind' - IMHO they aren't in the same league as a Berg IP cab for either quality of tone or fit & finish. BF is one of the most 'marmite' cab ranges out there, I've never seen a cab get so much love & hate as they do. To my ears they are way too mid-focussed and get harsh and nasally when jacked up loud whereas the IP just keeps on going and sounding great at high volume - wish Jim Bergantino had kept making these! [/quote] Thank you for offering a different point of view. Things that go nasal probably have the frequency emphasis too high for me. But I don't buy the "uncolored", "studio monitor" argument either. To me that seems wrong. Maybe I should pick up another Berg solution. But a stack of 1x12 ERs didn't do it and the sound of the 6x10 didn't appeal to me. There is an AE212 around for sale in my town though.

I'll keep an eye out for midgets then. What about Schroeder? I read somewhere they cut through the band noise quite well. They don't seem to get much attention anymore though

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1412533362' post='2569692'] I doubt there's much better out there.... that's not much help is it?! I'm intrigued what improvement on the Berg IP you're looking for - one of the lightweight cab makers will be lighter (barefaced for example) - the ip would be my holy grail of bass amp! [/quote] You may well be right about that. It has stood up well against everything I have challenged it with. TC Electronic, Tecamp 410, Ampeg 410, Berg ER 112s, TKS 1126 have all failed to come close. I did have a small PJB stack that sounded really good, but didn't hold up in a band situation. I am not replacing the Berg ip. I just want two amp setups.

I'm looking to get something close to what my Berg ip stack produces. It has a sound I can feel in the chest, really fast and isn't at all boomy. I play four string basses, often turn down the low bass register for definition and like the emphasis to be around 250-400hz. A small footprint and decent weight are important, as is a fast response (transients). What would you suggest, based on your experiences from live performances?

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I got an mb800 from the US quite early on. I managed to switch to the european voltage on my own. But there were no mids in it. I was hoping for some serious punch, but it just wasn't there. I like high power, fast response and clean sounds. The GK was a disppointment, soundwise, but a+ for portability. I just couldn't see me wanting to carry it to a gig.