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Ashdown B Social - really?


Muppet
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[quote name='Ashdown Engineering' timestamp='1422873964' post='2677678']
Comments like this are always interesting. There are many so called 'boutique'/'premium' brands we look and we just think really? Cabinets that consist of off the shelf drivers in an average box with cheap backplates but sell for £1k... Amps that have no bass below 80hz? Amps that claim one power but actually produce way less. Amps that say they're built in one place but in fact they are actually pre assembled in another country all together... Etc Etc. But hey it would be wrong for us to start talking about all that.

All of our amps have a 5 year warranty and our new ABM Foundation cabinets actually have a lifetime warranty for the original owner meaning if you blow a speaker in 15 years time we will replace it no questions asked. How many 'premium' brands offer this? This is how confident we are in our products today.[/quote]

That's all fair comment. I stand by mine, though.

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[quote name='Ashdown Engineering' timestamp='1422873964' post='2677678']
Comments like this are always interesting.
[/quote]


I find it strange that Ashdown are thought of as premium in America and Ampeg are thought of as premium here but in their own countries they aren't, the Atlantic must do something to the sound.

I'm no longer an Ashdown user but I have had nothing but positives experiences with Ashdown, I just find the heads aren't to my taste it's just in my opinion (and obviously I'm no expert) is that this one product would have been better if you used lower cost components to open it up to more people rather than having it as a premium product that few will be able to justify.

Also bring back the Perfect 10 mini rig.

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[quote name='waynepunkdude' timestamp='1422874632' post='2677691']
I find it strange that Ashdown are thought of as premium in America and Ampeg are thought of as premium here but in their own countries they aren't, the Atlantic must do something to the sound.
[/quote]

The quickest cab I ever moved on was an Ampeg 610HLF. You could hear the chip board tone.

Edited by Billy Apple
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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1422889883' post='2677920']
Which amp doesn't go below 80hz?
[/quote]

I don't know about amps, but quite a few cabs roll off steeply below around 80Hz. It's a compromise you have to make if you want something that's both small and efficient. I've had cabs with a similar roll-off and never really perceived them to be short of bass, I guess because the second harmonic of the low E is still well supported.

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[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1422902716' post='2678164']
I am fishing for the answer because if it's the one I'm expecting it's not correct, been covered on here a few times and has never has been the case. ;)
[/quote]

I'm going to guess you mean the TC RH450? IIRC the Bass Gear Magazine bench tests confirmed that they do have a steep highpass filter at 80Hz which can't be defeated.

Edited by Beer of the Bass
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[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1422904730' post='2678198']
I'm going to guess you mean the TC RH450? IIRC the Bass Gear Magazine bench tests confirmed that they do have a steep highpass filter at 80Hz which can't be defeated.
[/quote]

I'm fairly sure it's around 40Hz on the RH450...?

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Did any last long enough to be tested?

I am trying to think of a company that puts built in **** but isnt? I know most put "designed in the UK" or "USA" yet it says in small somewhere "assembled in PRC" or "Taiwan" etc too including 'Best of British' Ashdown themselves.

Edited by stingrayPete1977
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[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]It seems a shame that we get topics like this. Posted negatively from the start.[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Claiming it's not worth the asking price without any experience of the product is a poor viewpoint. I work in the HiFi industry where there has ben a move to sort of parallel type product.[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The Naim Muso for example. A single box stereo, digital streaming player selling for £895.[/font][/color]

[url="http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/naim-muso-wireless-speaker-system?gclid=COytg7SZxMMCFe_JtAodUxIAiQ"]http://www.audioaffa...CFe_JtAodUxIAiQ[/url]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Can't plug a bass guitar into it. I suspect posting this will get howls of derision about it. Yet some of the distractors have paid what I would consider well over the odds for their bass.[/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Good luck to Ashdown, for £295 less than the muso you may have a decent home music player that you can use as a practise amp as well. [/font][/color]

Edited by gelfin
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[quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1422914623' post='2678427']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]It seems a shame that we get topics like this. Posted negatively from the start.[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Claiming it's not worth the asking price without any experience of the product is a poor viewpoint.[/font][/color]
[/quote]

I was not claiming anything. I was stating MY opinion (it is an internet forum after all) that I think it is expensive for the advertised features. Other have disagreed, that's their opinion and the world is a wonderful place for it. It's a newly released product and attracted my interest. I wish Ashdown no ill feeling at all and I hope it is a success. I am more than happy to be proven wrong - maybe it will go on to be a defining product, who knows.

[quote]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]I work in the HiFi industry where there has been a move to sort of parallel type product.[/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][/quote] [/font][/color]

I work for a car manufacturer. In this industry people spend tens of thousands on products they have never tried but that they have an opinion on. Others refuse to go anywhere near a product, again, based solely on an opinion. I would never say that theirs is a poor viewpoint.

As a forum moderator, please feel free to let me know in future which of my 'viewpoints' are poor and I will adjust them to comply.

Steve

Edited by Muppet
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Interesting product, massively overpriced IMO.
However...
[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1422293207' post='2670792']
Just imagine how expensive it would be if it was sporting an apple logo :P
[/quote]
I shudder to think. And people would be falling over themselves to buy it too :lol:
And it'd be white.

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[quote name='UglyDog' timestamp='1422957145' post='2678717']
Interesting product, massively overpriced IMO.
However...

I shudder to think. And people would be falling over themselves to buy it too :lol:
And it'd be white.
[/quote]

....and subsequent updates to the firmware would render it pretty much useless ;-)

Cheers Apple!
James (iPhone 4s owner)

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Dear Ashdown man,

While I wouldn't suggest that any company ignore the views of it's customers/potential customers, I suggest that you do not pay too much attention to those who haven't actually tried them! Basschat has many good things going for it, but some members seem to have no problem slagging stuff off that they haven't tried or heard (it's not just Ashdown).

When you add up the features the £600 doesn't seem so unreasonable (cheapest wireless system I can see on the net is £60 on its own), however it is an amount that not many people are in a position to spend on a whim, so you need to get these out there where people can try them and then make a decision based on having tried one. If I saw one in a shop I'd certainly try one out.

The only valid (IMHO) concern expressed, which you can judge from a photo, is the lack of protection for the speaker cones. If it performs as well as you say then, at 75 Watts, this could end up being used for small/acoustic gigs, and those cones look a bit vulnerable for that (to me).

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[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1422648158' post='2675225']
I honestly still think 4 speakers 2 bass and 2 full range would of been more practical (probably would work better too), cheaper because you could of then used off the shelf speakers!. Less development time (2 years developing the speaker).
[/quote]

So where would you put the two extra speakers?

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Ok probably best just to call a halt to this now and wait until we can try it. Then we can offer informed opinions on whether a. it's any good and b. it's worth the current retail price.

If Ashdown haven't given up reading this then I'm more than prepared to go to Chelmsford and try this out and I'll even bring £600 in cash to show I'm serious!

Steve

Edited by Muppet
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[quote name='Muppet' timestamp='1422919726' post='2678519']
I was not claiming anything. I was stating MY opinion (it is an internet forum after all) that I think it is expensive for the advertised features. Other have disagreed, that's their opinion and the world is a wonderful place for it. It's a newly released product and attracted my interest. I wish Ashdown no ill feeling at all and I hope it is a success. I am more than happy to be proven wrong - maybe it will go on to be a defining product, who knows.

[/font][/color]

I work for a car manufacturer. In this industry people spend tens of thousands on products they have never tried but that they have an opinion on. Others refuse to go anywhere near a product, again, based solely on an opinion. I would never say that theirs is a poor viewpoint.

As a forum moderator, please feel free to let me know in future which of my 'viewpoints' are poor and I will adjust them to comply.

Steve
[/quote]

I could see nothing positive or middle ground in the first thirteen post's.
When I used the word claim I meant in general over these first posts not the first. I was not posting as a mod, just my feelings about negativity.

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I've not seen anyone launching into similar diatribes against GK for selling their MB150 combo for £550. It's not as if they're still absorbing the development costs, it's been around for 30+ years. Although one point that Ashdown may wish to consider is that as well as the premium-priced MB150, GK do a second range which are half the price.

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[quote name='Ashdown Engineering' timestamp='1422873964' post='2677678']
Nate Mendel and his tech spent a week with every bass rig they could get hold of a few weeks before Christmas to test and naturally we were a little concerned, thankfully for us he still preferred his Ashdown set up at the end of it so it starts to grate a little when people start saying things like 'he only uses the gear because he's endorsed' as it is totally untrue.
[/quote]

Honest question here mate, and I have no beef with Ashdown, they arent for me, but at the same time, my gear isn't for everyone...

I've only seen Nate Mendel using a Verellen Meatsmoke head on an Ampeg cab these days, and very recently, and is quoted as saying -

[i]"I’ve been looking for something like this for a long time. It’s so nice to be able to plug in your amp and know that it will be loud and clear, and that I don’t have to struggle with an amp that is…struggling"[/i]

http://www.verellenamplifiers.com/verellennewsite/customers-2/

So does that mean he is talking about Ashdown gear?

The B-Social for me, as everyone else has said, is overpriced, but I am very impressed with the idea if it performs well, and if you are at all interested in genuine feedback, which I am sure you are or else you wouldn't have 80+ posts on a bass forum, I wouldn't buy it for the price, but also the aesthetics and design, again, it's a personal thing, but I can't stand the look of Ashdown gear no matter how it sounds.

I genuinely hope it sells well and we all eat our hat, as if you progress this side of the bass gear world, hopefully more products will arrive, and we will have more choice.

Edited by Wooks79
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