MarkBass Little Mark IV and MB58R 102 Energy cabs

[BassAdder60]

Hey folks I’m interested in anyone who is familiar with or using / have used the MarkBass LM IV amp and MB58R 102 Energy cab ? 
 

Do they match well and would they handle jam sessions / gigs ? with a single guitarist and drummer ? 

I had years back the LM III and the Traveller 102 cab and they sounded nice.

I like how light they are in the MBR 102 Energy series and compact 

 

Edited July 16 by BassAdder60

[simonlittle]

I use one of the MB58R heads (basically the same thing) with a MB58R 102 Energy cab (8ohm) for most of my gigs. Always sounds great with electric or upright bass. Loads of volume and sounds fantastic. Have used it with big bands and barely turned it up halfway. 
I do have a second cab (a 104 Energy) in case I need a bigger setup but I’ve never actually needed it so far. 
It’s a really good combination and ridiculously lightweight…

Edited July 13 by simonlittle

[BassAdder60]

Yeah I had thought if I lacked volume in the future a second cab would be a good plan 

For now for convenience a one small cab is all I need 

[simonlittle]

I think you’ll be absolutely fine with that head and cab for all the live situations you described. It’ll have plenty of volume 👍

[LennyP]

23 hours ago, simonlittle said:

I use one of the MB58R heads (basically the same thing) with a MB58R 102 Energy cab (8ohm) for most of my gigs. Always sounds great with electric or upright bass. Loads of volume and sounds fantastic. Have used it with big bands and barely turned it up halfway. 
I do have a second cab (a 104 Energy) in case I need a bigger setup but I’ve never actually needed it so far. 
It’s a really good combination and ridiculously lightweight…

How do these compare to the Traveler 102p do you know? That was a smaller cab and I found it a bit honky. Always thought that the Traveler cab was too small for the drivers. The MB58R energy cab looks bigger: does it go lower / sound more open? Appreciate any comparison. 

[simonlittle]

Just now, LennyP said:

How do these compare to the Traveler 102p do you know? That was a smaller cab and I found it a bit honky. Always thought that the Traveler cab was too small for the drivers. The MB58R energy cab looks bigger: does it go lower / sound more open? Appreciate any comparison. 

I never had a Traveler 102P. Before this setup I mainly used a CMD121P combo plus a NY112 extension cab. I much prefer the sound of the single 102 Energy cab to the old rig; feels a bit more open and round. The combo with the extension cab was plenty loud but could sometimes feel a bit oppressive at higher volumes. Plus the CMD121P had that annoying Markbass piezo horn hiss that you can’t unhear. No idea whether the MB102P cab has that issue (you’d hope not), but I went for the Energy one just in case and couldn’t be happier with it. 
The MB58R cabs are all very deep (front to back deep) so they do take up more room if space is a problem. They definitely don’t sound honky though. 

[LennyP]

20 hours ago, simonlittle said:

I never had a Traveler 102P. Before this setup I mainly used a CMD121P combo plus a NY112 extension cab. I much prefer the sound of the single 102 Energy cab to the old rig; feels a bit more open and round. The combo with the extension cab was plenty loud but could sometimes feel a bit oppressive at higher volumes. Plus the CMD121P had that annoying Markbass piezo horn hiss that you can’t unhear. No idea whether the MB102P cab has that issue (you’d hope not), but I went for the Energy one just in case and couldn’t be happier with it. 
The MB58R cabs are all very deep (front to back deep) so they do take up more room if space is a problem. They definitely don’t sound honky though. 

Cheers. Thanks for the info. That sounds great. 

[BassAdder60]

I will soon be the proud owner of the MB58R 102 Energy instead of the P variant ! 
400w rated instead of 300w 

[fretmeister]

I've got the Energy 2x10 and use it mostly with a MB AG1000 head.

I love it. It's plenty loud enough, goes deep enough, and it sounds like the tone in my head.

 

Very happy with it.

[Raslee]

I'm mostly using the 2x10 Pure, 4ohm, with a TE Elf amp for the majority of the gigs I'm doing with a loud ska band. Its  Super loud and super light. Sounds great too. 

Edited July 16 by Raslee

[BassAdder60]

My MB58R 102 Energy arrived and my first reaction was wow how light it is 

 

one hand lift of a 2x10 cabinet is possible !

 

Its nicely built and more robust than I thought ( some reviews say it’s not tough enough but I disagree it’s robust if you take care of your gear  ) 

 

Looks very smart too and I like the size of it, narrow, very deep and tall enough. 
 

400w RMS rated which is good for a single cab 

 

Patiently waiting for my amp to arrive before I can try it out 

 

 

Edited July 17 by BassAdder60

[Rewbass]

The Markbass IV is a very good combo, but I'm afraid the new model MB58R got worse. The mids sound too boxy to my ears.

Markbass did something wrong with these new CMD combos. It might be some plastic pieces inside.