Sparky Mark

[quote name='Ed_S' timestamp='1418895198' post='2634472'] I guess I could take the LM2 and F1 along and try to ascertain, side by side, whether the CH2 is anything I don't already have in the other heads. Sounds like a plan... [/quote] Trouble is in the time it takes to swap leads over it's very difficult to do a true A to B to C comparison of similar sounding heads, which these are.

[quote name='Ed_S' timestamp='1418894347' post='2634455'] Makes me wonder what I should do with my Big Bang powered Combo Head 2. It's currently a standalone head wearing the top-panel and feet from the LM800 that I put in the combo and I was torn between keeping it in the cupboard to swap back in the event that I wanted to sell the combo, and offering it up for sale on here to get some of my money back. Now I wonder if I should actually take it to a rehearsal and have a listen to it. [/quote] Definately give it a proper run out, it's a great sounding amp. You might even prefer it and the power difference is negligible.

Markbass literature used to describe the sonic differences between their analogue and class d power amplifiers, so I think it is fair to say that the new class d LM3 will sound different to the previous analogue version. This is also the opinion of Bass Gear Magazine's tombowlus who compared the Big Bang with the LM2. I think it's interesting that Markbass introduced this change to their flagship head seemingly without any publicity (perfectly within their rights of course ) as if they understood it might be perceived as making the LM3 a different amplifier. Looking at the two versions the analogue would almost certainly be more expensive to manufacture and now that the class d power section is used in almost all of Markbass 500 watt heads and combos the economies of scale are obvious.

Greg bought a Badass bridge from me. Nice smooth transaction with prompt payment and good communications throughout.

H sold me his Reggie Hamilton jazz bass. He was happy to meet half way and threw a set of strings in, in case I don't get on with the TI flats fitted. Great communications throughout and a really good guy to deal with.

You're welcome Pete. When I asked about the speakers I was wondering what size and how many? If the design of the speakers has also been 'refined ' then that might explain why you hear a difference.

Mine are in CMD121P and CMD121H combos. Both use the same 4 bolt fixing. Definitely not a job to do just before or at a gig though. I gig my 121P with a NY121 cab and they sound great. Have a good one tonight. P.S, If you play quite loud with both input and output at noon, the analogue head gets pretty warm whilst the class D stays much cooler.

There are plenty of clues within this thread including the photo at the top. If you like the way it sounds then it really doesn't matter one way or the other. If you are simply curious you can undo 4 bolts and slip the head out and compare with my photo. It's likely that both versions were made in 2013.

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1418483097' post='2630578'] Really? Just tested mine (01-13) ... just under 2 seconds. [/quote] Are you sure that yours is class d?

What speakers did the combo you tried before have?

I have noticed that the new head takes 8 seconds for the output relay to 'click' after switching the amp on. This is much longer than the original design and may be an easier way of telling which version you have.

Riccardo has confirmed that the power amp section of the current LM3 is the same as that in the Big Bang head. Mystery solved.

I agree that markbass are a great company and I personally own many of their products. However the LM2/3 is such a good perhaps classic design that a fundamental change like this got me wondering. We could all probably remember products whose later models weren't as good as the original.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1418309835' post='2629026'] Has anyone heard of any problems with the 2013 model in the year that has passed since? That would be the bottom line really. [/quote] I had to re solder one of the internal wires on the 1/4 inch speaker output socket which was causing an intermittent fault ie no output. Been fine ever since.

I guess I was hoping that we might have a few technical BCers who would be aware of amplifier developments that would allow such a reduction in heatsinking whilst maintaining 500w at 4ohms. I hope that the headroom hasn't been reduced as well.

[size=5][font=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][sub]I have received a reply from Riccardo:-[/sub] [sub]Hi Mark,[/sub] [sub]thanks for writing and for choosing Markbass.[/sub] [sub]During the years we always work on our products development, improving them with some new components with advanced tech specs to offer the best quality as we want only the best for our customers!!![/sub] [sub]Thank you once again.[/sub] [sub]Riccardo[/sub][/font][/size]

The real point of my original post was to try to understand whether the newer design is the equal of the former. To quote an old saying "Everything can be made a bit cheaper. .......and a bit worse". If there is also a question over the country of manufacture marking that's another thing.

The CMD121P is the newer one, but the serial number label on the back of the head says made in Italy. I wonder whether the guts are made in Indonesia but the combos are assembled in Italy and Markbass are still claiming the 'made in Italy' bit?

Unfortunately I don't do Bookface but feel free to use my photo. I should say that both these heads are Combo Head 2s (which are LM3s)

Good idea, I will email [email="[email protected]"][email protected][/email] and report back here.

Both Italian. At first I thought that they were using the power amp from the big bang which has a smaller footprint but that is a class d and the lm3 is still supposed to be analogue.

Agreed, but the lm3 is supposed to have an analogue power amp? Could this be reduced in size this much and retain the character the lm3 is known for?