Ashdown Rootmaster RM owners club

[police squad]

On 27/09/2024 at 10:31, FJ1200 said:

I've looked at those and the 600W 4ohm one, looks good to me, is it loud enough at 8 Ohms  - so on an RM500 I guess you'd get 250W - or do you need to pair it with say, a 1x15 and get the full 500W?

sorry missed this comment. It's defo loud enough thru the 4x10 on it's own

[FJ1200]

Went for this in the end....  however the amp is going back for repair in the next few days   so have a cheap fleaBay Warwick 500W spare coming this week. 
 

Edited December 3 by FJ1200

[russ.c]

3 hours ago, FJ1200 said:

Went for this in the end....  however the amp is going back for repair in the next few days   so have a cheap fleaBay Warwick 500W spare coming this week.

 

What went wrong with it, just out of interest?

Edited December 3 by russ.c

[FJ1200]

Its a B-stock item so should be ok, but the intermittent noise levels make it unusable.  Sounds like fan motor interference or something, and the crackle on normal use is too loud.  Spoken to Dave Green, he's going to look at it.  Says it'll either be the ICs or a resistor gone somewhere.   It's on the DI and speaker.  The Warwick arrived yesterday, it's ok, has a few issues - but none of the noise problems the RM has.  Cranked it a bit over lunch today - Man! that BF cab can shift some low-frequency air!

[russ.c]

On 03/12/2024 at 22:28, russ.c said:

No doubt Dave will fix it. Glad you like your BF. I can't justify the cost at the moment. Maybe one day...

Edited December 6 by russ.c
Dunno how my text ended up in a quote box. Oh well.

[Ander87]

Hey hey hey gang...!

 

As you may/may not know, I've recently been endorsed by Blackstar - they do good and super local to me in Northampton. I may be too snobbish about Blackstar, they're good but feels a bit too general consumer and even if they've been super nice and loaned me stuff, the power amps I used with my ADAM had a horrible shelving noise in the background - not sure if this is loaners fault or quality issues, but maybe rather not commit and find out the worst way...

 

Now, enter a new player...! I've managed to usher and blag an sponsorship offer/artist pricing for Ashdown, and I feel a 'now we're talking' moment. I've had an ABM 600 evo IV in the past and really liked it - god, it was with the Barefaced 610 and that was epic tbh.

 

At 40% discount with a brand I do like I think I will go for it... I was torn between the ABM EVO V 750 and the RM800/500 MKIII.

 

For £800 I could go for the ABM but again, 750w may be overkill, and the lightweight cabs they offer are mostly 300w/8ohm or 600w/4ohm so not enough for the ABM 750 - and I don't want the 30kg+ stuff... 

 

Think I'll do the RM500 (same features as the 800w) with either:

 

a) 2x10 + 1x15 - modularity to do each cab at 250w and a mini/reasonable stack (100cmx50cm both cabs together) in case I want to front a little or use the full 500w... 15kg each cab

 

b) kill it in one shot and get the 4ohm 4x10 (21 or 25kg depending on sites) and have 500w on tap always in one cab

 

My questions:

 

a) Assuming the ABM EVO V does not work well with the RM cabs (750w, most RM cabs 300w/8ohm or 600w/4ohm). Any combination that would bring the ABM in the options?

b) RM500 with 2x10+1x15 OR 4x10?

c) can anyone confirm the 21kg vs 25kg specification from the 4x10? 

 

Thanks!

 

Ander

 

[Lozz196]

Firstly congrats on the sponsorships/endorsements @Ander87that’s great.

 

Amp wise I think I’d be looking at the RM500 v3, as the DI has cab emulation. From there I’d just look at 2 of the same cab as the emulation covers either 10” or 15” speakers, but not a combination of both, so choose your fave then your on-stage sound gets to FOH pretty accurately.

Re the cabs I’d look at their ABM PRO NEO cabs, better sound imo but also metal grills so more hard wearing for life on the road.

[Ander87]

9 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Firstly congrats on the sponsorships/endorsements @Ander87that’s great.

 

Amp wise I think I’d be looking at the RM500 v3, as the DI has cab emulation. From there I’d just look at 2 of the same cab as the emulation covers either 10” or 15” speakers, but not a combination of both, so choose your fave then your on-stage sound gets to FOH pretty accurately.

Re the cabs I’d look at their ABM PRO NEO cabs, better sound imo but also metal grills so more hard wearing for life on the road.

 

Ah thank you so much! I appreciate it 😊 

 

I am indeed getting the RM500 v3, dispatched soon!

 

I'll be getting the 2x10 RM v3 cab too - I am not sure that they've been changed but for the money and the weight it made sense. The 1x15t v3 cab is out of stock right at the moment via Ashdown, so I'm happy to wait until the next batch if I still want it.

 

The ABM line sure looks more solid but pricier and defo heavier, so I rather travel light. Anything over 25kg has my biceps clamping onto whenever we have some 100m and over from van to venue 😂 

 

Any inclination as to why should I choose 2x of the same cab? Would you/anyone say the 1x15+2x10 isn't a good marriage? Aware of the cab sim limitation to choose either, but I was hoping to have one of each physical cabs to switch it up. ie. I may take a single 1x15 or 2x10 depending what works better for a particular gig or situation, but both in most of them anyway.

 

I am very used to 2x10 cabs so that's one on the way for sure...

 

Will share pictures and details but yeah I'm excited! 

 

Best,

 

Ander.

[Merton]

There is so much on here about why mixing cabs of different driver sizes isn’t really a good idea. But some people still do it and swear by it - it’s a crap shoot though and you won’t know if it works til you try it. Personally, I haven’t mixed cabs of different driver sizes since about 2007 and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone

[Ander87]

Hmmmm I will do some digging in about that indeed!!!

 

3 minutes ago, Merton said:

There is so much on here about why mixing cabs of different driver sizes isn’t really a good idea. But some people still do it and swear by it - it’s a crap shoot though and you won’t know if it works til you try it. Personally, I haven’t mixed cabs of different driver sizes since about 2007 and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone

 

[Lozz196]

I’ve always had good results when pairing a 210 with a 115, but I’ve then never been able to get that sound if only using one of the cabs, irrespective of which, each bring something different to the overall sound.

 

As well as the cab sim aspect two of the same just means same eq with one or both cabs so less messing about.

 

The ABM Pro Neo range are lighter & smaller than the regular ABMs, my 210s are 13kg each, they aren’t as full sounding as the regular ABMs but do have the same sound characteristics.

[Ander87]

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I’ve always had good results when pairing a 210 with a 115, but I’ve then never been able to get that sound if only using one of the cabs, irrespective of which, each bring something different to the overall sound.

 

As well as the cab sim aspect two of the same just means same eq with one or both cabs so less messing about.

 

The ABM Pro Neo range are lighter & smaller than the regular ABMs, my 210s are 13kg each, they aren’t as full sounding as the regular ABMs but do have the same sound characteristics.

 

Hm I was thinking the same way, ie. have one of each, send the cab sim I like most to PA and then use on stage whichever I prefer more for oomph and monitoring/requirements depending on stage size etc. They are both 300w/8ohm either way so I was hoping the power distribution would be even...!

 

Thanks for the tip on the Pro Neo range mate, I was convinced the ABM cabs were 25kg and over, but those Pro Neos at 14kg... I may have to do a quick exchange depending!

Defo more money but probably longer lasting too as you said...

 

Plus the all black rig with blue cones may just do it 😀

 

Best,

 

Ander.