wildebassman

On 03/06/2020 at 01:36, chris_b said:

If you like the D800 and want "more" I'd suggest the D800+.

I briefly owned a D800, which I liked a lot, but the Aguilar AG700 won out in the end.

Played the ag700 too, liked it best compaired to the TH amps, but I also use my amp at home and those fans were freaking noisy. Otherwise great sounding amp.

Leaning towards the D800+. 

Andy, one of the engineers of tthe Mesa 800 amps told me that the D800+ is a bit clearer and less dark sounding than the D800, that and the extra options makes me even more curious to give that amp a try.

3 hours ago, DiMarco said:

Eich amps, Warwick LWA, Bergantino, Aguilar... They all sound too polite and neat. Total lack of any heft.
I am having my old tube and hybrid Trace Elliots repaired. No more modern amps for me.

Maybe you should check out a nice Ashdown ABM.

 

I think it's in the class D power amps and the neo speakers. My qsc was class D too but had 1600 watts on tap and the cabinet was old fashioned ceramic speakers. A friend of mine bought the epi ul310 and that cab didn't have the same heft in the lows, it was quicker but missed the foundation.

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

This will be a massive can of worms now, everyone will give you what works for them and as good as whatever they say things are, it’s good for them, not necessarily you.

If there is a pre-amp rack or pedal you like, why not have that as the basis of your sound and think of the amp as a power amp.

You can then either run it clean, or with a bit of flavour, or even just get a clean power amp like a Demeter Minnie, Joules M700, QSC, even a cheaper Peavey max etc.

In the days gone when we all had the heavy "proper" gear I had an Alembic f1x pre-amp, QSC 1602 power amp and an Epifani New York 310 cab... This rig couldn't be beat.. but the cabinet only weighed about 40 kilos.. now I have my 112 Vanderkley, a twenty year older back, nobody wants you to show with a 2000 peak set up any more, and yes it's all opinions. Still it's nice to get some sensible input.

59 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

I find the Marcus Miller versions to have a more sensible EQ.

Some say it's a darker sounding amp in comparison to the LM.

I once owned and played a MB LMlll, which was the newest kid on the block then... I moved on and so did the amp market. 

How do my bass brothers and sisters rate the amp today?

Is it still relevant and keeping up with the competition?

Received one today, will try it out tomorrow on my 112ext Vanderkley. I have a 60 day return policy on this amp, if it doesn't match with the cab and my ears I can just return it for a full refund. I will post my findings tomorrow.

Edit: I returned it to the shop, I want more clarity in an amp.

Played the Reidmar 750 yesterday.

Unacceptable noise floor and sterile sounding amp. Loud but didn't do it for me tone wise.

My 2 cents.

Thanks for all the input. I decided to buy a 112ext Vanderkley cabinet as it is front ported, lighter and absolutely brilliant.....only downside...the price..in comparison to the aguilar. Now next is another amp..leaning towards an EBS Reidmar 750...

I had a TC electronic combo, the TC112 250 and I didn't like it at all... no power, no character nothing stood out..sold it after a week. Remember TC is cheap, what you pay is what you get..and they're a Behringer brand now. But all in all to me it sounded and felt cheap. I moved on to MB.

44 minutes ago, pete.young said:

I wouldn't change the head. The head in these combos is a LMII head which is a class A/B , and gives a much better sound (IMO) than the newer Class D variants. Sell it and buy a newer combo.

I had the "old", italian made LM lll, and the head in my combo is exactly the same, only a different name, "combo head ll", also italian made and still class a/b. The newer indonesian LMlll and combo heads are all class D now, some people say the newer ones lack warmth.. personally I have no experience with those because I have only had, and have, the older italian stuff. Maybe I should only start with an extra cab. I am leaning to the standard line 112hr.

On 25/04/2020 at 17:18, mcnach said:

 

Not that much difference with the 800W amp, if my experience between the LMIII and the LMT800 is anything similar. That's if you used the heads with a suitably large cab. Through the built-in speaker in the combo? None whatsoever, it'll only be louder (and probably less than you think) once you add an external cab.

I'd leave it as it is. The CMD121P is a pretty nice little combo. Use an external cab for extra volume. 

I think I will go along that road and maybe get me a little marcus 500 head to put in the combo.

11 hours ago, franzbassist said:

The D2 is the new big brother to the NY121.  I understand that it has a superior tweeter.  It's quite a lot bigger though, so if matching cab sizes is important to you it may not be the one.

You could also consider the TRV112, which has the same footprint as the combo if you set it up in "portrait" mode.

I would still say that the Marcus head is far more versatile than the LM, so if you can upgrade that as well at some point that would be cool.

 

Yeah, true it's quite a lot taller but still same foot print.

5 hours ago, Mattbass97 said:

Certainly get a second cab (NY121) before considering changing the amp. It totally changes everything with that extension.

Okay, most people lean on getting a second cab. There are three options I am considering, New York 121, New york 121 D2 or Standard 121HR. The new york 121 is the best match in terms of size etc  but I have heard that the other two have a better tweeter and bottom end, input please.

2 hours ago, franzbassist said:

The Marcus is a fantastic amp that would only made a good combo better.

500 or 800 watts model if it were up to you?

On 20/04/2020 at 14:03, BassBunny said:

 

It's a Class A/B. Probably one of the very last ones before they switched to the Class D power section.

Thanks for the information!

Still no real clue, at least it's an older design with bigger heat sinks.

I know this an old thread but..just pulled the amp out off my CMD 121P, made in march 2012 and found the double heatsink etc. is this the older modell, AB output amp?