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Hartke Advice


Tenty
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Hi all,

I've got a HA3500 head through 410TP & 115TP cabs.
I am TOTAL equipment spaz, and I want to upgrade my head. With the cabs that I've got, what heads, pref Hartke, would be suitable? and not likely to blow the cabs into oblivion.

Ta in advance!

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[quote name='Badass' post='1217744' date='May 2 2011, 04:59 PM']I'd upgrade the speakers with a head like that. They would seem to be the weak point IMHO, but that's not what you asked. So, to stay with hartke maybe the LH500 would be good choice.[/quote]

So, possibly it's the speakers you would say? In really am THAT ignorant where kit is concerned LOL

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The amp is a good amp, but there are new heads out from Hartke. So it is your choice.

The speakers are the bottom of the range from Hartke, and I believe no longer available (could be wrong on that point) except on the used market. They to me would be the weakest link. So I would probably change those first. The new Hydrive cabs are awesome, and would handle the heads easily.

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I think with the funds I have available, I may have to go back to one cab.....are these Hydrive cabs youre on about good enough for that?

I think the HA3500 is a 300W, is that correct? So does that mean the cab would have to be a minimum of 300w also?

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The 3500 is 350 Watts into 4 Ohms, and 240 Watts into 8 Ohms.

A single 4 x 10 Hydrive would be fine..1000 Watts at 8 Ohms. There are also 1 x 15 Hydrives and a new 1 x 12 @ either 4 or 8 Ohms. Check the website form more details.

Maybe wait a while and see what other users have to say. I sure there will be more suggestions posted here in the next day or two. :)

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The XL cabs from Hartke are awesome. They`re heavy, but sound great. I had the 210 & 115 together, and they really worked well. As a stand-alone option, there`s the 4.5.

Retail wise, they are very good value new:

210 - £199
115 - £199
410 - £279
4.5 (4 x 10" and a 5") - £299

They are all 8 ohm cabs.

If making a choice through sound, the 4.5. If making a choice on what I can carry, the 210 & 115.

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[quote name='Badass' post='1217788' date='May 2 2011, 05:27 PM']The 3500 is 350 Watts into 4 Ohms, and 240 Watts into 8 Ohms.

A single 4 x 10 Hydrive would be fine..1000 Watts at 8 Ohms. There are also 1 x 15 Hydrives and a new 1 x 12 @ either 4 or 8 Ohms. Check the website form more details.

Maybe wait a while and see what other users have to say. I sure there will be more suggestions posted here in the next day or two. :)[/quote]

My Hydrive 410 is absolutely brilliant, handles anything I can throw at it (including 5 string basses through octavers and synth pedals). Not too heavy either. Loads of headroom and detail for the money.

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+1 on all of the above. The XL range is so much cheaper now that they have been discontinued, so a really great time to grab a bargain. My first 4.5XL, when they first came out I believe was nearer 700 quid! You can still pick them up from outlets and they are one of my all time favourite cabinets. The Hydrive range are brilliant too and I agree with the comments above - the 3500 is an all round winner - I'd say upgrade from the transporter range and reap the benefits of the 3500!

D000000000d

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[quote name='Tenty' post='1217925' date='May 2 2011, 07:11 PM']Would the 210XL be okay with my 115TP in the short term? Until I can upgrade the TP to an XL!

Would I notice much difference in sound replacing my 410TP with the 210XL?[/quote]

The speakers and cabinet design of the 210XL will give you a far better performance - however - the 410 has double the amount of speakers and can therefore move more air. I think the 210 will give you a better bigger sound, but I don't know how it will stump up against double the amount of speakers volume-wise. If it were the 2.5XL however, I reckon it'd chuck out more low end in comparison.

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[quote name='Lozz196' post='1217855' date='May 2 2011, 06:08 PM']The XL cabs from Hartke are awesome. They`re heavy, but sound great. I had the 210 & 115 together, and they really worked well. As a stand-alone option, there`s the 4.5.

Retail wise, they are very good value new:

210 - £199
115 - £199
410 - £279
4.5 (4 x 10" and a 5") - £299

They are all 8 ohm cabs.

If making a choice through sound, the 4.5. If making a choice on what I can carry, the 210 & 115.[/quote]


I run a HA3500 with the XL210.5 and 1x15XL and they are brilliant. I have run this rig for about 4 years now and it's never failed to deliver.

I used to have the transporter cabs at first but when I upgraded to the XL cabs the sound became a whole lot clearer and tighter.

My advice would be to upgrade to the XL's one at a time if funds don't allow you to go straight out and buy a pair. Keep the HA3500, it's plenty powerful enough to play anywhere.

For what it's worth I change basses all the time, but I can never see me swapping the Hartke rig, it's that good. Whatever bass I've ever plugged into it it's always given a superb sound.

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The most practical cab for the 3500 is the 410XL IMO. The Transporters ARE your weakest point. I still have my old 3500 but part ex'd my 410 XL and 115XL and still miss them. I often just gigged with the 115XL because it was lighter than the 410, but if your strong enough the 410XL is better and plenty powerful for most situations IMO.

The Hydrive 410 is great, but as it is a sealed cabinet is a bit more power hungry to get the deep lows.

Edited by Sparky Mark
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I've had a Hartke HA3500 for about 7 years now (it was 2nd hand when I bought it) and I've never been unhappy with the sound it produces. Definitely punches well above it's station. I pair it with a Hartke PRO2200 (haven't been in production for years but are a brilliant 2x12") or more often recently my home-built BFM Omni10. Definitely give it a good cab or two and you'll realise it's a great sounding amp.

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i had its big brother (HA5500) and ran it thru an Ashdown MAG 410 and MAG 115, amazing sound. I played at the Ruby Lounge in Manchester and every one of our support bands had brought their own amps but ended up using my rig due to its sound. Only reason i reluctently disbanded that rig was major valve GAS

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  • 1 year later...

OK Im gonna resurrect this as Ive been offline a while!

Still got the 3500 and looking at getting rid of both TP cabs, to replace them with ONE 4.5 XL cab (i cant afford more than one cab)!!!

Thoughts? Good idea or bad?

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Hi Tenty

I used to have the HA3500 with the 2.5XL (a 2x10 with a 5"tweeter) and 115XL cabs. It was an excellent rig and I really regret moving it on.
Looking back on all the heads I've gone through since, I'd definitely rate the HA3500 as a great head, it's really loud and powerful even compared to heads with higher wattage ratings.

I've now got a pair of the Hydrive 4x10 cabs which I think are excellent cabs. Plus they're propably the most manageable 4x10's I've ever come across.

In answer to your question, yes I'd definitely keep the head over the cabs. The 4.5XL would be a really great choice, but I'd prefer the Hydrive 4x10, and if you shop around there probably isn't much difference in price between the two cabs.
Plus looking at the bigger picture, a few years down the line you may wanna swap the head for one of the Hartke LH models, which is all more recent gear than the HA heads or XL cabs.

Either way, if you went for a 4.5XL or a Hydrive 410, it will be a great rig with your head.
Also check out [url="http://www.thomann.de"]www.thomann.de[/url] they usually have pretty good prices on Hartke gear with free delivery. I got my Hydrive cabs from them for quite a bit cheaper than online stores over here were doing them for.

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Another thumbs-up for the HA3500. Used one for a few years with an 8ohm Ashdown ABM410T and then moved to a 4ohm Zoot ZB410. Excellent results with both, but the Zoot is slightly over half the weight of the Ashdown ;)

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