la bam

I'd forget the compressor and go straight bass to amp. I'd then find out what setting flat or off is for the VLE and VLF - I had a lm3 years ago and I remember it's not where you think. Then try and eq a great sound without them. I had the same issue on my lm3 - sounded dull. It was just that I wasnt using those correctly. Once you have a great sound without them, only use them to make slight adjustments.

Sounds like the vt was set wrong to me. Prob far too much drive. They are valve emulators so go from clean to real full on break up pretty quickly.

I gave up on markbass a few years back. All I wanted to do was to BUY some rack ears from them. Went through them, their official email, official facebook, etc etc. Didnt even get a reply. Result - goodbye markbass. Ashdown on the other hand - superb.

Hi, link is above, thanks

Just spoke to Dave Green. Very helpful. Got everything I needed answering. @walshy I know you are due a ctm300 too, so this may be of use. 1. Biasing is fine as long as everything is under 0 and out of the red. The valves will take a while to settle in (100 hours) so as long as everything is under 0 you'll be fine. 2. To bias - make sure theres no signal in the chain. And as always make sure you have a speaker connected. 3. Turning on - pre heat ON, leave for a minute or two, the Main ON. 4. Turning off - this was interesting: Turn MAIN OFF then keep playing a note until you dont hear anything - this takes the charge away, so theres no charge stored for weeks etc - then pre heat OFF. Oh, and only use the valves designed for the amp. Hope this helps.

Our PA is up for sale - suitable for any event. HK audio rig (4 cabs containing x2 horns, x4 12s, x4 15s in total). And matrix amps and crossover.

Did a bit of experimenting - turning off the main ht first keeps the fans on, which may help with cooling until you turn the preheat off as well? Although will that mean its pre heating and cooling at the same time? Confused!

After a day of quiet testing, so far: It's the sound I've been after for years, but i could never reproduce what was in my head. Lovely and warm and has that growl. It's the third harmonics that I love. Makes it more musical, rather than just sounding like a bass. Eqs I think are good. Like some have said on the ctm100 issues the buttons make a big difference, and they do. The mellow and mid shift are awesome. It's definitely a keeper, but just one issue again - when it arrived the vu light for audio worked. On firing it up for only its second play it isnt working. It's really not worth having it couriered back and forward again, risking damage at the moment though. The main issue apart from aesthetics is theres now no visible indicator that it is on or off from the front panel. Also, are the vu meters different on these to ABMs? I had an ABM previously and if I remember correctly, you could set the input firstly so you registered in the vu hit spot before adding any output. There is no "input" dial to set the input level - is this done in a different way, or does it not matter as much?

I was really impressed with mine. I thought it had a good tone and it is like you say, smaller than you think. Takes up no room, and you can just throw it in with your bass case or bag. Good purchase!

Also, does anyone know the correct proceedure for switching off? I'm guessing for turning on its: Pre heat ON (leave to pre heat) Main ON. is OFF the above in reverse? Main OFF then pre heat OFF or pre heat OFF then Main OFF? Thanks.

Ok, so replacement arrived today (wasnt expected until Monday). It's a slightly different model (handles on top instead of on the side). The guy at pmt said hed been told this was in very good condition, the odd mark (theres a few dinks as it had been demo model, and the tech at manchester branch had told him it may need re biasing when I get it? - dont know why - shouldnt it be biased in preparation? Anywho, can anyone and maybe @Ashdown Engineering advice on where to bias? The manual says 12 o'clock, which would be approx 3.5 on the vu meter. The amp itself says bias to the start of red 0 which the manual says dont go close to? Majority are currently at 12 o'clock (valves 1,3,4,5) with 2 of the valves (2,6) being right on the start of the red. Any help appreciated, thanks again!

The online enquiry got no response when I enquired. But orders sailed through easy enough.

Thank you @Ashdown Engineering yes, I think it had had a drop in all probability, and wasnt packaged great. New unit is due out on Monday, so hopefully I wont need you to get involved at these awkward times. Thanks for the offer of having a look at it. If it helps, one of the main reasons I've gone back to ashdown is the customer service, and you proved it straight away. Oh, and although mine was slightly defective ..... what an amp!!

To be honest I really didnt even think about it. I wouldnt have said they're noisy. Or more correctly annoyingly noisy. More like when you stop playing and think everything is quiet and normal and then you turn it off, and real peace and quiet comes back. They're definitely needed though - they get pretty hot.

PMT have been really good and our sending me out another unit.

Yeh, if social distancing is still to be adhered to for the rest of the year, the last thing it needs is loads of alcohol in small confined spaces thrown in the mix. Itd be impossible. It would cause absolutely loads of trouble.

Yeh, worse things happen though. I'll sort a replacement tomorrow hopefully. It's definitely the amp for me. You'll love it when you fire yours up.

Disappointingly the post di is now crackling in and out - exact same note played over can be smoothly or crackle driven. Hmmm, maybe couriers dropped it.

It's an absolutely awesome sound. Really is. I've also tried the di. The fact it is through the tubes is awesome - you can really break up the tubes for di send too! Sounds fantastic. However, mine seems to be getting pulses or spikes when di into the desk every so often - ive changed xlrs too - so this amp may need a replacement. I'll see what ashdown say.

With the lockdown is virtually impossible to get hold of PMT. But I've emailed them. I can live with tolex issues, but if @Ashdown Engineering could help on how to look at the valve, and vu meter and light (it works fine on bias, just not audio) that would be appreciated - although I appreciate they may be on lockdown too.

Just received this from PMT. A quick review, as theres only so much you can do when all your neighbours are at home.... and i need to ask some advice. Firstly the item was clearance, but presumably new - as it didnt say anything else. The box was obviously an opened box, re taped, but well packed. On inspection theres a few Mark's on the tolex, the vu doesnt light up yellow, and a valve looks to be askew - can any advise if this is acceptable? They're only small things, but a bit of a disappointment when you spend a fortune. The sound though is absolutely fantastic! Gees - that's real warmth and response. Just what I wanted. The eq section seems to do a lot too (contrary to reports). Fairly easy to lift due to the strong side handles and not that heavy. I'll carry on testing!

Yeh! We'll get back out there soon ....

My standard ctm300 arrives tomorrow too! Cant wait for it!