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Ashdown RM500 EVO II thoughts please


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I`ve got the original version and until you get to pushing volumes very high on much bigger stages there isn`t much difference between the RM500 and my ABM600. At that point the ABM keeps going whereas the RM starts to sound less "hefty" for want of a better word. But we are talking very big stages where you would have FOH anyway, so you`d expect some bass through monitors anyway. I`d thoroughly recommend the RM series, def the best Class D amp I`ve had by a mile.

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3 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

I`ve got the original version and until you get to pushing volumes very high on much bigger stages there isn`t much difference between the RM500 and my ABM600. At that point the ABM keeps going whereas the RM starts to sound less "hefty" for want of a better word. But we are talking very big stages where you would have FOH anyway, so you`d expect some bass through monitors anyway. I`d thoroughly recommend the RM series, def the best Class D amp I`ve had by a mile.

sounds great to me Lozz. Is it ampeggy, if you know what I mean

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With the drive control you can make it sound quite Ampeg-like I think.

With respect to making it sound like an ABM, I find the RM power stage has much more bite and transient stack, the ABM feels more “soft” lines valve amp, if that makes sense? The RM preamp easily has enough in it to make an ABM noise :)

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I've got one. I think it's about the fifth lightweight head I've had and I like it  better than any of the others (all well known brands). It has more clarity and punch, and the feature set - particularly the tone controls - is ace. The compressor is very usable, although I have no use for the subharmonics generator and have found - although it might just be me - that cutting 240Hz a bit improves the overall sound.

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I've had one as my main gigging amp for about a year. In our rehearsal space we have the ABM heads and I personally prefer the RM. The ABMs are excellent for playing harder and rougher sounding, great with a pick, but I haven't played with them enough to get a good "polite" fingerstyle sound. I like simplicity in my amps, so the RM works for me. The EQ is very useable, I never use the "shape" button, but you can disable the EQ if you run a pre amp pedal you like. I invested in a two button Ashdown footswitch for mine so I can engage/ disable either the drive or sub and that gets lots of use on gigs. I play a real variety of covers through mine and it handles it all well, fretted, fretless, jazz, p... The best cab combination for it I felt was 2x15" RM cabs. The 2x10 sounds good on its own and as a 2x10 + 1x15 which I currently run.

Overall, you can't go wrong. 

 

IMG_20180721_215902.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got round to using my RM-500 EVO at a gig yesterday as we were doing a travelling light gig. Connected up to an old Laney 2x15, the amount of power from the RM was amazing - input gain at midday, no eq as I get all mine from my Para Driver, the volume was barely on, 2 maybe 3 clicks max for a good but not overly loud stage volume. I love my ABM600 but the RM is much easier to gig with through portability, and as long as it`s connected up to a good cab/cabs it doesn`t have to be pushed at all. Hmmm, have some thinking to do............

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I tried an RM500 with matching 410 last week at a new rehearsal studio in town... and I was well impressed. If I wasn't already happy with my Mesa D800+, the RM500 (or maybe the 800?) would likely be at the top of my list, when looking for a nice and compact amplifier. 

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1 hour ago, Chienmortbb said:

Has anyone actually played the Evo II yet. They only arrived in June and most of the pics I have seen are of the Evo model. The newer Evo II has a satin finished front rather than the gloss.

I refer you again to my first post in this topic ;)

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5 minutes ago, stevie said:

The new one seems to be over 2kg lighter but they don't actually say how they've done that.

I think the EVO ii is lighter because they’ve removed the metal screening inside which screened the power module. The original 800 certainly had that and the 500 EVO ii certainly doesn’t. I wonder if the front panel change is lighter as well. Quite how that adds up to 2kg is beyond me still though hehe

Edited by Merton
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