NAD Tech21 VT500

[fretmeister]

My little Tonehenge

 

 

I got the VT500 in the Thomann blow out. £159 + vat and courier charge. Amazing price.

 

Only had a 5 minute play to see if it all worked ok and it does.

It's very different to the Darkglass and the Markbass.

It actually has higher OD gain levels than the DG - gets a bit noisy when cranked fully and with the Character all the way to the right (and with a compressor in front) but it's a great sound.

The thing that really surprised me though was the almost complete lack of noise when using a clean or lower gain sound. No hum, no fan noise (reactive fan control! at last!), just quiet. Perfect for playing with woodwind instruments. I used to do that a lot before the plague.

Input gain appears to be very high so even on a loud passive instrument it's better with the Pad engaged.

 

I'm looking forward to going through the Sample Settings in the manual later on. Also hoping that my big band manages to start up again in September!

[uk_lefty]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

My little Tonehenge

Awesome! 

[Lozz196]

Tonehendge, love it!

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 14, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Skybone]

Tonehenge - class

Missing out on a great deal on an amp head that promises to be awesome. Gutted.

Good catch.

[Cuzzie]

Good little amps then, liked mine when I had it

[fretmeister]

It has loads more low end than the Darkglass.

Very impressive.

[Reggaebass]

Nice tonehenge fretmeister , I nearly bought one of those a while ago, I really don’t like fan noise, does it just come on when it needs to 

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

Nice tonehenge fretmeister , I nearly bought one of those a while ago, I really don’t like fan noise, does it just come on when it needs to 

So far it's been silent - the manual says it only comes on when it needs to and I've had a good 30 minute thrash in the house until my teenagers got upset!

 

I don't like fan noise either.

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

It has loads more low end than the Darkglass.

Very impressive.

That DG M900's days are defo numbered!! 

But tbf they've been numbered for a quite a number of days but somehow stayed in the henge? I guess it provides quite good support to the amps above it in the stack and is not too shabby on the eye?

[Cuzzie]

4 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

So far it's been silent - the manual says it only comes on when it needs to and I've had a good 30 minute thrash in the house until my teenagers got upset!

 

I don't like fan noise either.

It’s a whole heap of fun and easy to stack pedals into - the DP3X into that got very gnarly and cool

[Al Krow]

It seems to me that VT 500 is a 500W power amp (I presume into 4 ohms) with a VTDI pre amp, from the control set. Do you know what the bass EQ on the amp is centred at? I'm intrigued that it is has a bigger low end than the DG, given that the DG's bass EQ is centred at 80Hz but the bass EQ centre on my VTDI pedal is at 125 Hz.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Al Krow
typos

[fretmeister]

30 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

It seems to me that VT 500 is a 500W power amp (I presume into 4 ohms) with a VTDI pre amp, from the control set. Do you know what the bass EQ on the amp is centred at? I'm intrigued that it is has a bigger low end than the DG, given that the DG's bass EQ is centred at 80Hz but the bass EQ centre on my VTDI pedal is at 125 Hz.

Low is at 55Hz.

 

[Al Krow]

Just now, fretmeister said:

Low is at 55Hz.

Ah that would explain it! 

[fretmeister]

34 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

That DG M900's days are defo numbered!! 

But tbf they've been numbered for a quite a number of days but somehow stayed in the henge? I guess it provides quite good support to the amps above it in the stack and is not too shabby on the eye?

I really like the M900 but I can't really keep 3 (marital harmony and all that) and these days I'm playing more and more clean-ish sound stuff.

Far more Duck Dunn than Billy Sheehan now!

[cetera]

Congrats! Mine should be here in a couple of days too....

 

[fretmeister]

I am loving this amp. Proper punchy and a nice grit if I want.

 

[jonno1981]

Congrats. I had one for a bit! The controls are VERY reactive and influential on the others. I loved the character around 11 and blend around 2. Staggering value for money. 

[cetera]

Mine from Thomann has just arrived. Only played it through headphones so far.... but it sounds awesome! Love it.... particularly for a bit of grind with 'authority'

 

Edited August 30 by cetera

[BillyBass]

On 21/05/2021 at 10:55, fretmeister said:

My little Tonehenge

 

 

I got the VT500 in the Thomann blow out. £159 + vat and courier charge. Amazing price.

 

Only had a 5 minute play to see if it all worked ok and it does.

It's very different to the Darkglass and the Markbass.

It actually has higher OD gain levels than the DG - gets a bit noisy when cranked fully and with the Character all the way to the right (and with a compressor in front) but it's a great sound.

The thing that really surprised me though was the almost complete lack of noise when using a clean or lower gain sound. No hum, no fan noise (reactive fan control! at last!), just quiet. Perfect for playing with woodwind instruments. I used to do that a lot before the plague.

Input gain appears to be very high so even on a loud passive instrument it's better with the Pad engaged.

 

I'm looking forward to going through the Sample Settings in the manual later on. Also hoping that my big band manages to start up again in September!

As someone who owns the 500W version of the MarkBass amp you have, I'd be intrigued to read your thoughts on the three heads and a comparison.  

Thanks in advance!

[fretmeister]

On 02/06/2021 at 06:33, BillyBass said:

As someone who owns the 500W version of the MarkBass amp you have, I'd be intrigued to read your thoughts on the three heads and a comparison.  

Thanks in advance!

I will do that when I get a mo. They are quite different.

 

What I might also do... in September my big band is hopefully getting back together. I might do the first 3 rehearsals with a different amp and see what happens. Same bass / compressor etc so just the amp is changed. I'll see if I can get permission to stick a room mic up (have to ask as kids are involved) and get some recorded.

[fretmeister]

oh man...

P bass with TI Flats, and there is that Pino tone. I cannot wait to get playing with the band again.

[4000]

On 21/05/2021 at 10:55, fretmeister said:

My little Tonehenge

 

 

I got the VT500 in the Thomann blow out. £159 + vat and courier charge. Amazing price.

 

Only had a 5 minute play to see if it all worked ok and it does.

It's very different to the Darkglass and the Markbass.

It actually has higher OD gain levels than the DG - gets a bit noisy when cranked fully and with the Character all the way to the right (and with a compressor in front) but it's a great sound.

The thing that really surprised me though was the almost complete lack of noise when using a clean or lower gain sound. No hum, no fan noise (reactive fan control! at last!), just quiet. Perfect for playing with woodwind instruments. I used to do that a lot before the plague.

Input gain appears to be very high so even on a loud passive instrument it's better with the Pad engaged.

 

I'm looking forward to going through the Sample Settings in the manual later on. Also hoping that my big band manages to start up again in September!

£159? 😳 Good grief! 

I’ve got two. And a pedal. They’re fab. I compared them to most of the other kit available and they were far more up my street.