Ashdown Mag C210 T300 Combo

[lowhand_mike]

I thought after having this for about 6 months now i would give it a review as it has been through it's paces now and it also gave a good amount of time to check it's reliability due to there being alot of problems with ashdown kit over the last few years.

I had been using a peavey Max115 combo for gigging and practices and wanted something more. I got to try the Mag 115 combo at soundcontrol in the basement of the Virgin Megastore on Oxfordstreet and was suitably impressed and decided to go for the 210 combo purely cos it fitted the extension cab sizes better ready for upgrade later (though that did prove to be a fairly pointless decisions more on that later)

Once delivered from Soundslive (at a very good price i might add) i was presented with one very heavy combo, it's not overly huge but fits the 'standard' dimentions of extension cabs but it is certainly sturdily built and solid. the carpet covering very neatly wrapped the combo and the overall fit and finish was top notch, good start.

So first things first was to get it upstairs to where i practice at home, which turned out to be a bit of a slog, the list weight is 28kg but it certainly feels more than that and the delivery ticket said 38kg! It's certainly easier with 2 people. Another little niggle i had was the positioning of the handles, they could be a bit higher to help balance it out but due to the amp in the top they are pretty much as high as they can go so no chance of that but they certainly could go towards the front of the box as the bulk of the weight is at the front of the amp/speakers/grill. A little niggle but if you are moving it around alot it gets to be a pain, though the handles themselves are pretty comfy and have plenty of room around them for big hands and are fitted snugly into the body.

The First thing you notice when you start this thing up is the fan, in a quiet practice room it sounds bloody loud though when you start playing you can't hear it however, at least you know its working.

Now i had read alot of people saying that Ashdowns sound wooly and muddy (and if you EQ it right they certainly can ) and my first impression when i turned this on was "oh no what have i done it sounds pants" but then i realised you need to turn on the EQ with the EQ pushy button doh! once on though the amp comes to life and is bright, punchy and tight even set flat. And it didn't take me too long to find the tone i was looking for, guess i'm lucky there. The front also has 2 push buttons for Deep and Bright which add depth and bite respectively. You also have your standard Bass Mid and treble with a mid bass and mid treble dials too too add punch and attack. All the dials are kinda like old cooker dials and have a smooth movement to them but i like em and they are not easily knocked out of place. Turning up the EQ controls does increase the input level so you have to watch that and balance the input dial along with your EQ settings so you don't overload it.
The we have the sub harmonics dial. Now to be honest i haven't noticed too much difference with this and only use a little bit but maybe its something you hear more out front or with a 115 extension cab, though it does seem to add a little something to the sound. The Amp could just do with a little more low end but that may be down to the depth of the cab itself.
The input level meter does work but it's something i don't purely rely on as i'll use my ears to tell me if its clipping too but it is a good thing to check when playing with the whole band.

Now back to what i was saying about buying the 210 due to wanting to expand with a 115 cab later, yes as the combo is presented it fits nicely on top of the extension but after a recommendation from Alex Clabber to turn 210's on their side to get better projection, and it certainly works but now it doesn't match the width of the extension cabs, minor cometic problem but the sound certainly benefits from the speaker configuration this way and my drummer is alot happier, also this combo doesn't like being parted with the floor (on a crate etc)as you loose ALOT of low end when you do.

Now down to reliability.

Like i said i have had this amp for about 6 months now and have had no problems, the first couple of uses the speakers weren't too happy about going up loud but as it got use it got louder and punchier, seems the speakers just needed a bit of breaking in. Other than that it has worked every practice and thats a 2.5hour practice at full volume every week and home practice plus about 4 gigs. Nothing has come loose inside, the grill has stayed put as have the handles and the carpet looks as good as new though i'm sure that won't last.
The only ting that i think this would benefit from is the addition of the extension cab to get both the full power out of the amp and to give you that little bit extra head room so you don't have to push the amp as hard, though to be honest i haven't had to have it near full yet anyway, it's more than loud enough.

So apart from a few design and weight issues i can't fault this, it's not perfect by any means but it certainly does the job and hopefully ashdowns reliability issues have been addressed. And if they stacked the 210's and made the cab a bit deeper to add some more low end it would be peachy.

Its not up there with the £1000 combos but for the money i don't think you can beat it.

Should add marks for each section really

Build - [b]8[/b]. (i would give it a 9 but it's only chipboard, but it is very solidly made)

Features - [b]8[/b] (everything you need is there except maybe a compressor which was due to be added)

Sound Quality - [b]7[/b] but thats a good 7 and i only give it that cos at the end of the day it not a mega exensive rig so don't expect that sound quality, that said though i think its the nuts. (might not be to everyones taste but then thats the same for any amp.)

Customer Support - [b]10[/b] (so far) only had a few dealings with ashdown but every time i emailed them i got a very promt response with no bull, there was a delay with the shipping of my amp but that was all sorted out very quickly by both ashdown and Soundslive.

Reliability - [b]6[/b] as i've only had it six months but it certainly doesn't seem to have any problems

Overall - [b]9[/b] For the money and the sound it can't be beat in my opinion good rocky tone through to mellow then funky, they are all there. If you are in the market for a low to mid range combo take a look.


[size=1]edited to add scores[/size]

Edited September 18, 2007 by lowhand_mike

[Machines]

Good review !

I have an EB180-12 running into a MAG210 cab which isn't far off the MAG combo really - the head is identical bar it's output rating and colour. The cab is indeed front heavy and is a major pain up and down my narrow stairs - but it's not really any heavier than other amps in the same range.

I use the VU meter more for getting the right signal into the DI (since the XLR socket is post EQ). Having it clip at no more than 0dB helps the soundman a fair bit. I generally have the EQ flat, maybe a slight 220Hz boost depending on the room.

[elom]

Good thorough review - well done.

I too have one of these, plus a 115 extension cab. Though to be honest I think that I have used the extension cab about twice. The MAG300 is more than enough for the pub gigs that I play and when in a slightly larger venue I just DI too.

It's not a budget buy, nor is it pro kit and that is a profile that works for a lot of 'weekend warriors' out there! Good value for money, especially if you can pick one up 2nd hand. I do sometimes wish it was lighter but that's probably just old age catching up with me...

[bassboy115]

Great review!

I have one and an extension cab! 99% of the time i use the extension cab but i only use it because it gives it a bit more low end! i just keep the volume down a bit more. However, i have used just the combo at a couple of shows and i always use it for practises and it kicks it out enough for them!

I agree with the handles needing to be moved. Even on my 115 i find there crap as the way they are placed makes it fall to the side when 2 people are carrying it and with the 210 it kills your knees.

It is very heavy and im only 15 so elom its not just old age!

But all in all i think its a fantastic amp!

[spinynorman]

I have a MAG 300H with MAG 210T cab. Amounts to the same thing as the combo, except the separate cabs are deeper. But it solves the weight issue, as I can carry the cab by myself easily. Later added a used MAG 115, which turned out to be the older "not deep" model, which is about 1/2" smaller and doesn't stack that well.

When I bought mine they had a 2-year warranty (think it's down to 1 year now?). 6 months after warranty expired I started to get intermittent problems with the head. Switched on ok, but just got a farting noise out of it. Then next time it would be ok, then it would fail again. Sent it back to Soundslive, who told me it needed a new mains transformer. Queried that, turned out they'd just phoned Ashdown support and told them it was blowing fuses, which it wasn't. So they sent it back to Ashdown. After a few weeks it came back via Soundslive "repaired" with a £68 charge from Ashdown, but no paperwork. Emailed Ashdown to find out what they'd done, turns out they'd bench tested it for 10 hours, found nothing wrong and sent it back. The test report mysteriously disappeared "somewhere" on the way back to me.

So, my experience is Soundslive are good for low prices, but their technical department isn't up to much. I've always had good service from Ashdown in the past, but in this case I think they could have phoned or emailed me to check what the problem was, in case their testing was missing something. I use a Hartke 3500 now, with the Ashdown cabs, and like it a lot.

Edited December 13, 2007 by spinynorman

[lowhand_mike]

Thought i would add an update to this bit of kit what with it being over a year old now (has it really been this long already?)

First things first, its still going with no strange noises coming out of it, the magic smoke has stayed inside. And to be honest i have no complaints at all with regard to performance and durability. But i am still at a loss as to exactly what the sub harmonic generator does. As to me wether it is on or off the combo sounds the same. But apart from that its still going strong and still sounding great

[fekalizatorius]

Great review. I`m thinking on buying the 4x10" version together with a 2x15" extension cabinet somewhere around September.

[aceuggy]

That's a great review. I intend to buy one very soon, two things concern me, first how loud is the fan? I will only playing this initially anyway at home with the volume down, unless the wife goes out! Would I hear the fan above low volume playing, that could be a bit distracting. And second the weight of the beast. I won't be shifting it about too much, but will I be able to get the bliddy thing up the stairs on my own?

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='181976' date='Apr 21 2008, 04:46 PM']But i am still at a loss as to exactly what the sub harmonic generator does. As to me wether it is on or off the combo sounds the same.[/quote]

That's strange, I have an EB12-180 and I can definitely hear the difference when the sub-harmonic is switched on. If you can't hear any difference when you switch it on and turn it up to maximum, then it must be broken. It basically adds an additional note(s) an octave below what you are playing. When the dial is turned up to maximum, that sub-harmonic note should be more-or-less as loud as the source.

S.P.

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='aceuggy' post='256076' date='Aug 6 2008, 11:02 AM']That's a great review. I intend to buy one very soon, two things concern me, first how loud is the fan? I will only playing this initially anyway at home with the volume down, unless the wife goes out! Would I hear the fan above low volume playing, that could be a bit distracting.[/quote]

I've got the EB12-180 and I assume that the fan is of a similar volume. Yes, it's quite loud, but I don't find it to be distracting when playing at low volume. The best advice that I can give you is to try one out and decide for yourself.

S.P.

[Machines]

[quote name='stylonpilson' post='256083' date='Aug 6 2008, 11:11 AM']That's strange, I have an EB12-180 and I can definitely hear the difference when the sub-harmonic is switched on. If you can't hear any difference when you switch it on and turn it up to maximum, then it must be broken. It basically adds an additional note(s) an octave below what you are playing. When the dial is turned up to maximum, that sub-harmonic note should be more-or-less as loud as the source.[/quote]
It doesn't track well below the A string - and isn't really as good as just getting an octave pedal, I never use mine.

[quote name='aceuggy' post='256076' date='Aug 6 2008, 11:02 AM']That's a great review. I intend to buy one very soon, two things concern me, first how loud is the fan? I will only playing this initially anyway at home with the volume down, unless the wife goes out! Would I hear the fan above low volume playing, that could be a bit distracting. And second the weight of the beast. I won't be shifting it about too much, but will I be able to get the bliddy thing up the stairs on my own?[/quote]
I have an ABM300 head and MAG210 cab so maybe able to draw comparisons. The fan is an 80mm (like in many PCs) and low RPM, if you were playing the bass with the amp switched on but bass not plugged in, just the acoustic volume of the bass unamplified will be enough to override the background fan noise. Turned up you certainly won't hear a thing..

Regarding weight - I let gravity do the work coming down, I stand in front of it on the lower side of the stairs, and let it gently bump down. Going back up of course - this is no use. If the weight may be an issue for you I would suggest the EB180-15 may be better (although only 6kgs lighter @ 29kgs), getting someone to help you is ALWAYS the best method if available. If you have narrow stairs it can be a pain to lift it via the handles, I generally carry it vertically.

[philsimmonds]

I have magc20 t300 combo, and i would agree, this amp is great... especially for the price..

no regrets in using... or buying. at all

[aceuggy]

[quote name='aceuggy' post='256076' date='Aug 6 2008, 11:02 AM']That's a great review. I intend to buy one very soon, two things concern me, first how loud is the fan? I will only playing this initially anyway at home with the volume down, unless the wife goes out! Would I hear the fan above low volume playing, that could be a bit distracting. And second the weight of the beast. I won't be shifting it about too much, but will I be able to get the bliddy thing up the stairs on my own?[/quote]

Took delivery of my Ashdown today and my concerns were unfounded, the fan is not [b]that[/b] loud and it's not [b]that[/b] heavy either. Managed to lift it upstairs no probs. Will be trying it out this evening!

Edited August 8, 2008 by aceuggy

[Machines]

Let us know what you think .

[aceuggy]

[quote name='Machines' post='258456' date='Aug 8 2008, 08:05 PM']Let us know what you think .[/quote]

Played it last night and my first reaction was how nice it sounded. It made made my cheap as chips Affinity bass sound good! I've been used to playing through a 15W Fender Rumble and difference is amazing. The Ashdown was as smooth as silk and, at last I've got some [b]volume[/b] . It will take a bit of fiddling with the dials before I come up with my sound, whatever that may be, but I am very pleased with it. Just have to get a nice Jazz to go with it now!!

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='aceuggy' post='258686' date='Aug 9 2008, 09:15 AM']Played it last night and my first reaction was how nice it sounded. It made made my cheap as chips Affinity bass sound good![/quote]

Correction: your Fender Rumble 15 was making your perfectly adequate Squier bass sound rubbish.

I remember when I got my first real bass amp (Peavey Nitrobass into a 1x15), after playing through a Stagg 20W amp (8" speaker) for years. Suddenly, bass playing was so much more enjoyable.

S.P.

Edited August 9, 2008 by stylonpilson

[deaver]

I bought the same combo off Soundslive last week and all seems fine. Haven't taken it to rehearsals yet so I can't comment on it's performance anywhere near top whack.

I made the same mistake with the EQ and didn't realise it had to be switched on - the last combo I owned was a Wem Dominator, things were much simpler back then.

Wife and 9 year old son inquired as to why I hadn't read the manual first but what do they know.

[fekalizatorius]

[quote name='deaver' post='259164' date='Aug 10 2008, 01:07 PM']Wife and 9 year old son inquired as to why I hadn't read the manual first but what do they know.[/quote]
That`s the manly way to handle the setting up of anything electronic Glad someone stumbled onto this mistake before I got a chance

[citymariner]

I have this combo too.

My first impression was not great as I thought it was very muddy however, tweaking the EQ soon sorted it out. I've added a MAG 115 extension cab and it does as the doctor ordered - moves more air!

For the price I paid I can not complain at all.

The only thing I found is that I got a funny rattle from the tweater - took it out only to find it was in bits the magnet had fallen off the back of the cone!
Put it back together and it has not been a problem since so I take it just wasn't tightened in the factory.

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='deaver' post='259164' date='Aug 10 2008, 10:07 AM']I bought the same combo off Soundslive last week and all seems fine.[/quote]
... and I subsequently bought it off Deaver. A perfectly nice little combo, now stuck on top of a 4x10 and sounding adequately chunky.

EQ on / off switch muddled me too.

[Panos_Athens]

Though of sharing my review of this cute combo, off from HarmonyCentral. Cheers!
[url="http://www.harmonycentral.com/reviews/345766"]Ashdown MAG C210T-300 review.[/url]

Btw, here's the pup, silly cloth on top (just for cakes) and my chinese Spector in the background.
[attachment=71580:kristo.jpg]

[WurzelHedghog]

I've been using one of these combos along with a 115 cab for a couple of years since I picked it up second hand on ebay. Initially I was using it in a metal band playing a mixture of Metallica & Motorhead songs which it handled well with my sound being sat in the mix. In the current band which plays with more of a Green Day, Wildhearts and Sublime type of vibe my bass is a bit more prominent and again this amp does what it's supposed to.

With regards to the sub harmonic feature, I don't notice much of a difference other than comments from some of the guys in the band praising the sound when it is engaged but not noticing when it isn't. Make of that what you will.