Novel eq design wharfedale

[la bam]

Evening all 

 

Just looking around at different amps and set ups - as you do....

 

I came across an older wharfedale 300w solid state head. Had a host of features on it, but one that took my eye. Instead of the usual 3 band eq, it had 6 dials. On closer inspection they were bass, mid, hi, but next to each one was a completely adjustable parametric eq dial for that frequency area.

 

I think that's a great idea, so you know what you are boosting or cutting and not reliant on more determined eq centre points.

 

Anyone else ever come across this on an amp?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I've seen it before, though I can't recall on what.

[warwickhunt]

[Downunderwonder]

Far from unique. SWR were doing parametric in the 90's. Ashdown might be the only surviving major bass amp maker that was doing it but there's a few fancy modern digital modeling amps and preamps these days with parametric up the wazoo.

 

[3below]

Peavey bass combos, also heads e.g. Centurion, Standard of the early 1980s had a parametric mid. 

[la bam]

1 hour ago, Downunderwonder said:

Far from unique. SWR were doing parametric in the 90's. Ashdown might be the only surviving major bass amp maker that was doing it but there's a few fancy modern digital modeling amps and preamps these days with parametric up the wazoo.

 

 

57 minutes ago, 3below said:

Peavey bass combos, also heads e.g. Centurion, Standard of the early 1980s had a parametric mid. 

 

Yes, lots with parametric mids, but never seen a parametric for each of bass, mid, high. In theory it should really open up an amp.

[la bam]

2 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Now that looks quality!

[Tdw]

 

Eden wt amps also have a 3 band parametric eq , its a great feature to have IMO.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Tdw

[warwickhunt]

Pedant Alert... These amps are all 'semi' parametric, none have a Q control but I concede we refer to them as parametric EQ. 

 

[Velarian]

11 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

Pedant Alert... These amps are all 'semi' parametric, none have a Q control but I concede we refer to them as parametric EQ. 

 

My Peavy head in the early 80s had a fully parametric mid with a Q control. I’m not sure I made much use of it though. 

[warwickhunt]

13 minutes ago, Velarian said:

My Peavy head in the early 80s had a fully parametric mid with a Q control. I’m not sure I made much use of it though. 

Indeed, I think a few companies dabbled with a set of controls inc Q for the mids and fixed broader centres for the lows and highs but they weren't well received.  A few companies then moved to Notch Filters for taming troublesome frequencies, most useful if using acoustic instruments.

[itu]

Amplified Music Products (AMP) brought semi-parametric amplifiers (BH-260 and -420 + preamp + combo) to the markets in the 1980's. SWR looks a lot like AMP. This is because the former Acoustic designer Russ Allee has been involved with AMP, SWR, and Eden.

[warwickhunt]

45 minutes ago, itu said:

Amplified Music Products (AMP) brought semi-parametric amplifiers (BH-260 and -420 + preamp + combo) to the markets in the 1980's. SWR looks a lot like AMP. This is because the former Acoustic designer Russ Allee has been involved with AMP, SWR, and Eden.

 

What is the link between Dave Funk and Russ Allee?  I was always under the impression that DF was the link between Gibson/AMP/SWR.  

[Chienmortbb]

8 hours ago, warwickhunt said:

Pedant Alert... These amps are all 'semi' parametric, none have a Q control but I concede we refer to them as parametric EQ. 

 

Thanks you, I was about to jump in there.

[Lozz196]

I had a Hartke HA4000 with parametric, had frequency and Q controls for both low and high mids.

[gjones]

I owned an Ashdown MiBass which had the same kind of EQ system. When I owned it I had no idea it had a parametric EQ (as I got it secondhand and I didn't get any manual). It sounded fine with everything centered, so I didn't fiddle about with the EQ much. Supposedly it didn't catch on, as the controls were a bit too complicated for our simple, bassist, brains. https://ashdownmusic.com/products/mibass-550

 

[la bam]

As others have said previously hartke really missed the boat class d wise. Their classic preamp, valve/as mix and eq and graphic, alongside a class d power section would be awesome.

[krispn]

Skip to about 2:50 for audio

[la bam]

25 minutes ago, krispn said:

Skip to about 2:50 for audio

 

Looks lovely. 

 

Isnt that just mids that are adjustable though? (Quite difficult to see on my phone).

 

The wharfedale had bass, miss and high adjustable frequencies.

Edited October 4, 2022 by la bam

[krispn]

Aye it’s just not a terribly new concept. Just not widely done on modern amps

[Muzz]

There's been a (semi)parametric on the Walkabout, and the M-Pulses (it even says 'Semi-Parametric' on those) for decades, and the newish WD800 too...I've always liked it, especially as dialling back the bass one with both knobs on the Walkabout (-15db at 30Hz) gives a rather useful HPF-like effect...

Edited October 4, 2022 by Muzz

[la bam]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

There's been a (semi)parametric on the Walkabout, and the M-Pulses (it even says 'Semi-Parametric' on those) for decades, and the newish WD800 too...I've always liked it, especially as dialling back the bass one with both knobs on the Walkabout (-15db at 30Hz) gives a rather useful HPF-like effect...

 

Is that a dial on all of the 3 - Bass, treble, and mids? It's the ability to shift the bass frequency I like the idea of. I'll have a look if so.

[Muzz]

 

Yep, there's three, though it has a Bass, Mid and Treble control as well - I leave the other Parametrics pretty much flat, but that left hand one is the 'HPF' one...

[la bam]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

 

Yep, there's three, though it has a Bass, Mid and Treble control as well - I leave the other Parametrics pretty much flat, but that left hand one is the 'HPF' one...

 

Nice! I like that.

 

[krispn]

The mid control is passive too I think on these