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NAD - Peavey MiniMAX™ 500 Watt Bass Amplifier Head *Review*


discreet
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[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1466239938' post='3074315']
I had a Peavey TNT150 many moons ago and loved the sound but due to the sheer weight, and this was when I was 18, I ended up trading it for a Trace 7210 combo and never really went back to try Peavey again.
[/quote]

Blimey I remember my TNT 150 being quite weighty, but I'm sure my Trace 210 combo weighed the same as a small car!

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  • 5 months later...
  • 9 months later...
  • 3 years later...

Rather than starting a new NAD thread I thought it best to resurrect this fine thread of @discreet.

I purchased my MiniMax from a fellow Basschatter for my Basschat Easy Build 10ins speaker cab/combo, which has resulted in a great sounding,13kgs, easy carry, loud combo.

 

20210401_163621.thumb.jpg.86fb4b006758675992169eaa3255e169.jpg

I previously used my Fender Rumble 500 head to compare the BCEB 10 to my BF One10 as I was familiar with my tone settings on that amp and I was very pleased with the outcome of my handiwork.

The merits of MiniMax have been previously been detailed so I just wished to add my personal comments.

The tone control frequency settings offer a huge range of tone shaping variation which allowed me to craft a tone which compared favourably with the Fender + BF One10 and the MiniMax + BFOne10.

Many are familiar with the pleasing colour baked into the BF One10 but the Celestion Neo BN-10-300X had a much more cleaner tonal offering. After a number of hours playing with the MiniMax pre I was able to home in on precisely the same tone as the Fender+BFOne10 AND the MiniMax +BFOne10.

Gain     9 o’clock

Punch   IN = +6dB @ 100Hz

Bass     2 o’clock

Mid Shift           IN = 250Hz

Mid       2 o’clock

Bright   IN = +10dB @1K Hz

Treble   9 o’clock

These settings warmed up the BN-10-300X considerably to deliver the same colour and heft as the BF One10.

I noted that others on the thread found that the “Fancy Buttons” did not appeal to them but I have to say that they add a great level of flexibility for tone crafting.

The amp is built inline with the Peavey heritage and I suspect it will be reliable as the build quality is first rate.

The only downside is the noisy cooling fan. I have tamed the noise slightly by housing it in the combo cab with plenty of side vents in the cab side walls but it is still noticeable at home output levels. I am sure that no one would notice it down the Dog & Duck on a jam night which is what the design brief set out to deliver.

If anyone has replaced the cooling fan I would appreciate any guidance on your experiences. I wonder if the new version has had this issued fixed, if so I would be happy to hear from anyone who has recently purchased the new version.

All in all these MiniMax amps are really, really good and I would recommend them to anyone seeking a flexible, loud power house for very reasonable money.        

Edited by JohnDaBass
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I'd back up everything John has said. I bought my Minimax as a backup for my MB Tube and it has immediately displaced it. the fan is really noisy for home use but you won't notice it at a gig. The sounds aren't neutral and I was snotty about them before I tried them but they are all usable, even the one with the silly name and the basic sound out of the box with everything set flat is good too. The whole thing sounds like it has more h**t than the MB. 

the only problem i can see is that this model is discontinued and I can't see anyone who is supplying the new version over here in the UK yet. The new one has different knobs and is advertised as being 600w RMS into 4 ohms. Whether that is real, advertising hype, a beefier power supply or a brand new amp remains to be seen.

Gear4music is advertising the old one but has none in stock, it says you can order but I didn't try to see if it would accept an order.

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  • 3 weeks later...
21 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

@Dood where is your review of the MiniMega? Ta!

I cant find it! Hmm, I hope it's not one of the reviews that got lost in an IT issue that the magazine hosting suffered a while back. 

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