Choosing a Class D head with more than 500W at 4 ohms and no more than £700

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1342001929' post='1727657']My other contender for tone that i have reviewed most recently is the EBS Reidmar. Sounds great, but i'm not sure how it would get on powering the ACME though. EBS believe it can match a 500w in terms of volume output, but i was unable to compare at the time of review. The Acme requiring a little more juice to get it fired up may mean the Reidmar would struggle to be heard.
[/quote]

I have a feeling - and I'd love to be proved wrong - that many / most of manufacturers of class D brands have been a little fanciful with the truth when it comes to wattages, i.e. it's not just TC who have an excessively creative marketing department.

If that's the case, then EBS are to be applauded for keepin' it real.

[Jack]

My GK Fusion is easily as loud as my old 1001-II, I believe the rating.

[chrismuzz]

As Dood mentioned breifly above,the Markbass F1 is very very loud! I dread to think how loud his GK is if it's even louder 500w should be more than enough. With the EQ flat and filter off it's very transparent. Cold and sterile if you like but it gives your sound a great starting point and it IS capable of a big round warm vintage tone (albiet a very clean one )

Edited July 11, 2012 by chrismuzz

[Musicman20]

Specs are a strange one, but weren't Mesa on the bad end of this with the stupidly heavy and expensive 400+ ?

[Dood]

Speaking of amplifier ratings, i'm a big fan of Bass Gear Magazine who set up a special testing area to do real world ratings of amp heads compared to the manufacturers specs. Some very interesting results so far. I believe it was they who uncovered the odd output ratings of the RH450?

My faves so far in terms of surprises being the Orange Terror 500 kicking out peaks easily of up to 900W and the Hartke LH1000 that should probably be renamed 1100 (Watts RMS)

I'm such a geek, but i do like to know what figures are actually being produced. Tells you a little bit about a companies marketing department!

[Dood]

I haven't had a chance to get my mits on the GB kit yet, so I can't comment on those. The Streamliner looks dead sexy though! One of the nicest looking heads out at the moment i think.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1342003309' post='1727711']
Specs are a strange one, but weren't Mesa on the bad end of this with the stupidly heavy and expensive 400+ ?
[/quote]

Apparently so.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1342005651' post='1727788']


Apparently so.
[/quote]

All manufacturers need to be more upfront I agree.

[buff]

i'd recommend the MB500 as well, compared to the PF500 it replaced its easily a third louder. Carry it to every gig being only 4lb's in my lead/pedal box, weigh's less than my DHA vt1 pedal

[Jack]

I hate being lied to, and encourage all manufacturers to be more upfront. Having said that,both my GK Fusion and the Streamliner 900 that I briefly owned were both sufficient.

[JPJ]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1342003694' post='1727714']

My faves so far in terms of surprises being the Orange Terror 500 kicking out peaks easily of up to 900W

[/quote]

The Terror Bass is really loud, and has that neat little 4/8 ohm switch so it doesn't really mind what load you hang off the back of it, it still goes VROOOM!

Just had to sell mine due to a change in circumstances but honestly I'd have kept her if I could have, tone a plenty and enough girth/volume to kill most guitarists in a toaster sized box.

[goblin]

I like the bass terror too. AD200 front end with a class D rear - lurvely

[fretmeister]

This thread is giving me gas!

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1342001929' post='1727657']
Just checking in. I've been really pleased with the GK having done two gigs with it already. I've been suffering back problems again and my usual monster head has had to stay home. It makes for a great back up amp too. Just throw it in a gig bag and bring it shows as a spare. Mainly, in my iGuitar Mag video review, i was really impressed with it's low end punch, something i have found missing, or a lack of in other D Class heads. Annnnnd it's bloomin loud! Noticeably more so than my MarkBass F1 i've just sold, which in itself was no slouch.

My other contender for tone that i have reviewed most recently is the EBS Reidmar. Sounds great, but i'm not sure how it would get on powering the ACME though. EBS believe it can match a 500w in terms of volume output, but i was unable to compare at the time of review. The Acme requiring a little more juice to get it fired up may mean the Reidmar would struggle to be heard.

TC RH750 gets a thumbs up in terms of tonal options and is loud, but I felt i needed some deeper girth from it personally. It seems to favour a highe EQ centre even on the lowest bass setting. I'd love to see a Stacatto 750 in production as i think that might fill the gap that i feel the RH750 could do with being able to cover in tonal options.
[/quote] Interested in your opinions- you tried the Puma 1000 or 500 (or I guess 900 now) what you think of them? It's got a bit more bottom that most the other class D's I've heard- back when kjung had his videos on youtube you could even hear that through the youtube compression!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1341997888' post='1727545']
OK, think I will give this a try as I do have an sfx Micro Red Dragon DI pedal. The only slight hassle is swapping the AI head out of my AI Ten2 combo each time I move from one to t'other (before anyone asks, the Ten2 cab is not as loud as the Acme despite being a 2x10 and is better suited to DB than EB)
[/quote] out of interest... hows it working out?

[Dood]

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1343072211' post='1744870']
Interested in your opinions- you tried the Puma 1000 or 500 (or I guess 900 now) what you think of them?
[/quote]

Sadly and it pains me, i've not had an opportunity to try out any of the Pumas myself, so I'm unable to answer! I understand that models *did* and maybe still do? Use Powersoft amp modules. I've owned a Powersoft power amplifier and it was fantastic. I'm not sure what it is that makes an amplifier deliver that weight or girth in sound. The ability to deliver high current? Driving a speaker with balls? Not sure, but the powersoft delivered lots of weighty punch.

I wonder if the Puma does the same?

[lozbass]

Clarky, I don't know if you've had a look at the Epifani range - possibly the first mover in world of lightweight, very high-end bass gear? Currently, Epifani have the ul501 - Class A/B - and Piccolo (D) - I'm not too sure about prices but probably just about in range (especially if you can find a used one). I have a ul502 and it's a very lovely amp indeed - it does the hifi thing but has some real warmth and presence - it's also a twin channel unit. At 16lbs it may be too heavy, however, they're sometimes found on here and Talkbass at around £600-700. I tried mine up against a LM (2?) and whilst the latter was very nice, the two amps were really in different classes (IMO).

Edited July 24, 2012 by lozbass

[4000]

Loz, I once bought a UL expecting it to be lightweight and put my back out carrying it to the train! Although on paper it's half the weight of my ABM500, in practice it didn't feel much different. Although I did have a footswitch in the bag too...

What really surprised me that when put up gainst the ABM, although it sounded slightly more compressed / polished, it didn't have anything like the presence or punch through the same cab.