Thoughts on buying a new amp please.

[walshy]

9 minutes ago, Raslee said:

 

 

I’m getting intrigued about these so will do some more research. I take it these aren’t class D? Are they heavy to carry? Just wondering how it would go with my Markbass cabs. 

They aren’t heavy and an easy one hand lift. They are class, someone close to you must have one you could try? To be honest you’d not regret just buying one

[Lozz196]

There’s a depth & weight to the sound from these amps that just isn’t there on Class D amps. On big stages that depth remains in contrast with Class D which I’ve found that although the volume stays the sound “thins”.

At 12.5kg easy one hand lift.
There’s some good top-end available too, 5kHz & 7kHz which would be good with the Markbass cabs, which I’ve found do have a hi-end roll-off. 

[Raslee]

2 hours ago, walshy said:

They aren’t heavy and an easy one hand lift. They are class, someone close to you must have one you could try? To be honest you’d not regret just buying one

 

2 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

There’s a depth & weight to the sound from these amps that just isn’t there on Class D amps. On big stages that depth remains in contrast with Class D which I’ve found that although the volume stays the sound “thins”.

At 12.5kg easy one hand lift.
There’s some good top-end available too, 5kHz & 7kHz which would be good with the Markbass cabs, which I’ve found do have a hi-end roll-off. 

Could quite consider this. When I think of depth and weight to my past sounds it always been a non class D amps (Eden WT800/550’s I’ve had spring to mind). With my budget I could potentially save a few more pennies and still get the Blackstar and an ABM - think I’d look to get a used ABM first - cheaper the better…if it’s love I can put the Blackstar on the back burner. Hmmm, hunt for an ABM is looking keen  

[Downunderwonder]

GenzBenz did proper double blind playing trials with a class D power stage against their previous A/B? heavy as a couple of ducks power stage with the same power output and same new preamp. Result, statistically proven, nobody had a friggen clue which was which.

[Dan Dare]

It's become a bit of a cliché that old school = weight/depth of sound and class D = thin, etc. I had an interesting experience recently when I used an old school Ampeg rig. It was at a gig where the other bassist already had his gear set up and he suggested I used it to save dragging things around during the changeover. Decent of him. I thanked him and thought "Great. Looking forward to this". To tell the truth, I was a bit underwhelmed. Sure, it sounded big, but no matter what I did, it was soft and unfocussed, compared to my PJB cabs and AG700. How much of the belief that old school = depth, etc is due to nostalgia, I wonder?

[Boodang]

How much do you rely on the amp for tone control? I've ended up getting all my tone and eq from my pedalboard so instead of a bass amp I use a small PA setup for backline. 

If you don't need an amp with integrated eq but don't want to go down the PA route then the Toft designed Bassic A900 looks interesting.

[Lozz196]

I can only go by direct comparison with my own gear that I’ve had and which I’ve got. My Ashdown RM500 is the weightiest sounding Class D amp that I’ve had, and I’ve had a good few to say the least. In comparison with my Ashdown ABM600 in pub sized venues in all honesty there’s not much difference to the sound, but put them on big stages and the difference is there, the weight & depth to the ABM is easy to hear. If it wasn’t I wouldn’t keep the ABM as the RM is a lot easier to carry around.

[BassmanPaul]

Nowadays all my power amps are Class D. I found no difference in 'feel' between them and the Mackie AB units they replaced.

[bigjimmyc]

There is a lovely-looking Ashdown 12-band 600 in the classifieds.....

[Raslee]

I opted for, and received, the Blackstar Unity 700 yesterday so am putting it through its paces before a NAD post, however initial impressions are very, very good albeit it’s bigger/heavier than anticipated-but then I never checked the sizing specs - tone really is superb though, dare I say a class D with heft and lots of versatility. 
I do also have plans to potentially get a ABM 300 next month in a trade with a mate as still quite keen to try the ABMS.