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Transparent amp / cab combo


Guest MoJo
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Guest MoJo

I'm looking for a transparent amp / cab combo that will faithfully reproduce the patches on my Zoom B3. I play off backline with two 'half-stack' equipped guitarists so it needs to be fairly loud.

I currently run a Hughes and Kettner Quantum 600 which has quite an aggressive tone into a Schroeder 21015 which abounds with low mids.

Any recommendations?

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[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1370250876' post='2097989']
I'm looking for a transparent amp / cab combo that will faithfully reproduce the patches on my Zoom B3. I play off backline with two 'half-stack' equipped guitarists so it needs to be fairly loud.

I currently run a Hughes and Kettner Quantum 600 which has quite an aggressive tone into a Schroeder 21015 which abounds with low mids.

Any recommendations?
[/quote]

Power amp and a barefaced probably.

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[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1370252035' post='2098000']
My vote for transparent cabs would be Barefaced. I think amp-wise, on all-flat settings, the most transparent amps I`ve used were the TC Classic 450, or Markbass LMII.
[/quote]

See I wouldn't put the TC's in the transparent category. With that 6k knock off I thought it was pretty coloured. Markbass I would probably agree with

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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='MoJo' timestamp='1370250876' post='2097989']
I'm looking for a transparent amp / cab combo that will faithfully reproduce the patches on my Zoom B3. I play off backline with two 'half-stack' equipped guitarists so it needs to be fairly loud.

I currently run a Hughes and Kettner Quantum 600 which has quite an aggressive tone into a Schroeder 21015 which abounds with low mids.

Any recommendations?
[/quote]

If you really need a very high degree of transparency then you need a 3-way driver system e.g. barefaced "big" series, ACME, Accugroove (which are all from a design viewpoint essentially PA speakers with an extended bass response) ideally driven by a quality 1k+ "PA" amp E.G QSC, Crown.

Edited by bassman7755
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One more for the PA route, and they are, or should be, designed for low frequencies. Active cabs usually have low level inputs/2 channel mixing so you can DI your bass too. They also come with built in speaker protection and are cheaper than bass gear of similar quality. It's easy to try too as you can just play straight into the PA to see if you really like transparency.

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I've got the Line 6 Bass Pod XT pro, coupled to a Crown XLS1500 and a Barefaced Big Twin T. It's effectively a bass orientated PA system it's loud enough for anywhere and competes with silly guitarist volume and big hitting drummers with ease.

A good power amp will always work, but the key is the quality of the Barefaced cab. Any tone I care to dial into the Pod is faithfully reproduced at any volume.

Can't recommend them enough.

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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='Phil Starr' timestamp='1370429412' post='2100612']
One more for the PA route, and they are, or should be, designed for low frequencies. Active cabs usually have low level inputs/2 channel mixing so you can DI your bass too. They also come with built in speaker protection and are cheaper than bass gear of similar quality. It's easy to try too as you can just play straight into the PA to see if you really like transparency.
[/quote]

Personally I would stick with full range systems designed specifically for bass, like the ones I mentioned. Your going to struggle to get close to the low end response / size / weight as say a BF big baby, even with high end generic PA gear like FBT. Budget and mid range PA gear is not even in the game.

Edited by bassman7755
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[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1370510646' post='2101921'] Personally I would stick with full range systems designed specifically for bass, like the ones I mentioned. Your going to struggle to get close to the low end response / size / weight as say a BF big baby, even with high end generic PA gear like FBT. Budget and mid range PA gear is not even in the game. [/quote]

Ok I'm sure the Baby is a competent speaker and I love the design philosophy alex uses but you are talking about a £750 speaker that still needs an amp. Even mid-range PA is pretty competent at bass, They are designed to handle bass and potentially keys which can have even more bass energy than our stringy things.

Take something like the yamaha DXR12, it is £200 cheaper and has a 700W RMS amp built in The frequency response is 10dB down at 52 Hz so the baby goes lower at 30Hz but sensitivity and maximum out put is a lot higher 130dB plays 121. Bass excursion may be a limit though the higher fs will compensate a bit. In any case the speaker is protected by a signal processor so this speaker isn't going to fart out. the speaker weighs in at 6lbs more than the Baby, but that includes the amp. There's loads of others to choose from too.

I'm sure your system sounds great, why wouldn't it? But it isn't really the only solution.

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There is probably a difference between a sound engineer's 'mid-priced' PA and what people who don't do sound count as 'mid-priced' :) Among the former, I'd say the QSC K12 would be worth a look. There are big advantages to an active speaker of that quality - the inherent gains in volume and distortion of bi-amping, but also the DSP correction/bass management which means they can push the woofer harder without causing overexcursion. A passive system just can't match that without a lot of extra outboard.

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