New Amp Day. Ashdown 550 spyder. Definately broken.

[AttitudeCastle]

Sorry to de-rail a little, but as anyone here A/B'd the Spyder and the ABM?

Very interested in these beasts!

[deanovw]

Me, I preferred the Spyder. It didn't sound like an Ashdown.

That is not a criticism.

The Spyder just felt more lively to me.

[franzbassist]

I owned both in quick succession, and much preferred the Spyder's core tone.

[geddeeee]

I'm using a 550 Touring combo, which is basically the Spyder head and 15 inch cab.
Very nice amp!!!!

[Mornats]

I demoed a few combos and heads when I was buying a combo (all Ashdown). I tried an EB-180 12" and 15", a MAG 500 head and the 220 Touring 12" and the 330 Touring 15" and ended up buying the 220 Touring 12". Compared to the touring series (which has the same preamp as the Spyder) the MAG and EB range, whilst sounding great, just lacked that warmth and grind and that something special that the Touring had.

[AttitudeCastle]

What would you describe the core sounds of the ABM and Spyder to be, and thusly the key differences?

I've used an ABM once at a gear share gig, but didn't get long to play with it will have to make a road trip to try these guys out I think!

It seems the Spyder has a surprisingly pleasant amount fo clarity and warmth from what I've heard

[franzbassist]

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1345111065' post='1773575']
It seems the Spyder has a surprisingly pleasant amount fo clarity and warmth from what I've heard
[/quote]

Yep that's it. Clean, yet warmer than the ABM I used. Also, to my ears, it just had more presence in the live mix. Band preferred it too.