NAD - Ashdown CTM30.

[bartelby]

A few weeks back I bought this off @fuzzylogic. As I'm in south Wales he very generously delivered it to my parents in Coventry. Today was the first chance I had to come and get it. Rather than a round trip in a day I brought a bass and cab with me. I also got a new badge for the amp from Ashdown.
 

This sounds so bloody good. Now my CTM300 has a Mini Me. 

I can't wait to get back home on Monday,.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Enjoy!

[Clarky]

Nice. Is that a Cliff Burton-era Aria Black n Gold bass too? Yum

[bartelby]

49 minutes ago, BassmanPaul said:

Enjoy!

 

I am!

 

 

17 minutes ago, Clarky said:

Nice. Is that a Cliff Burton-era Aria Black n Gold bass too? Yum

 

It is. It's a 1984. I've told the family I want to be buried with it.

[Reggaebass]

 Very nice mr b 👍, I’ve still got my LB30 which I think is similar , really nice sound 

[bartelby]

13 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

 Very nice mr b 👍, I’ve still got my LB30 which I think is similar , really nice sound 

 

 

I think the guts are the same in both.

[bartelby]

Back home now and since Saturday I’ve managed to acquire an Ashdown 1x15 deep cab too. So whilst the Aria and 4x8 cab sounded good. This sounds awesome!

I think I need to swap the 1x15 mini for another deep cab.

[Twincam]

Fantastic bass, on both counts. Fantastic amp

Very cool. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Twincam

[BassAdder60]

Just need to add the CTM100 to the collection lol 😂 

[bartelby]

21 minutes ago, BassAdder60 said:

Just need to add the CTM100 to the collection lol 😂 

 

I laugh, but if one came up in the right place at the right price. I'd probably not be able to resist...

And fortunately the CTM-200R doesn't match the look of the others.

[BassAdder60]

2 hours ago, bartelby said:

 

I laugh, but if one came up in the right place at the right price. I'd probably not be able to resist...

And fortunately the CTM-200R doesn't match the look of the others.

Mines for sale on here but it’s the new look version so more like the 200R 

 

New last year direct from Ashdown 

[Joebethell]

Used to have a LB30 and recently sold my CTM100 as I cant see me having the need for a powerful valve amp for a while but manged to find a CTM30 at a really good price in a shop so couldn't resist(I have assumed they may be discontinuing them for the CTM30-n2 as I contacted Ashdown and very out of character had no response when I asked about the custom shop listed on the website).

Hoping its as good as the LB30 or the CTM100 if its anywhere close I will be more than happy.

 

Just need my small cab to show up now.

 

 

 

[bartelby]

1 minute ago, Joebethell said:

 

Hoping its as good as the LB30 or the CTM100 if its anywhere close I will be more than happy.

 

Just need my small cab to show up now.

 

 

 

The CTM30 and LB30 are pretty much the same amp, so you should be ok.

[BassAdder60]

I believe the CTM100 and CTM300 have the same EQ and sound similar but the CTM30 has different EQ / preamp 

[bartelby]

Just now, BassAdder60 said:

I believe the CTM100 and CTM300 have the same EQ and sound similar but the CTM30 has different EQ / preamp 

 

 

I'm hoping to get time, this weekend, to do some proper analysis to compare my CTM300 and CTM30, EQ wise.

[BassAdder60]

Is the CTM30 passive EQ ? 

[bartelby]

1 minute ago, BassAdder60 said:

Is the CTM30 passive EQ ? 

 

 

Yep, reacts in a very similar manor to the CTM300. The mid and high shifts seem different though.

[bartelby]

So I've done some messing about today. Comparing the CTM300 and the CTM30. Running white noise into them and then taking a signal from the DI on each.
So this is with the Bass, Middle and Treble controls at 50% and all the buttons on the CTM300 out and the switches on the CTM30 up.

Nothing changed, setup wise, when I swapped the amps over. RTA set at 1/3 octave smoothing and 4 averages.

 

I have about 30 more charts for each of the amps. So I might post more

[bartelby]

This CTM30 preamp is a bit weird.

With the Mid at 100%, the Treble at 50% and all the switches up the Bass control behaves like a Tilt:

 

Flick the Bass switch down, with the rest of the settings staying the same as before, and you get:

 

Sticking the Bass switch back up and putting the Mid switch down gets you:

 

and both Bass and Mid switches down:

 

Remember these are from the DI, running through 2 15" cabs you obviously lose below around 40Hz and about 4KHz...

 

Putting the Treble over about 60% and the highs start to dominate, engaging the Bright switch is way too top end for me.

Edited April 17, 2023 by bartelby

[bartelby]

So I had few mins free this morning and went and did some more messing around, but with the CTM300.

Can anyone explain this?
All the buttons out, bass and mid set to 100% then setting the treble to 0%, 50% and 100%.

At 50% there's less treble than at 0%. Then at 100% it tilts the curve.