Aguilar - Official 'Tone Hammer 500' 3.8lbs 500w Thread #3

[Mulebagger]

Originally Posted by gkbass13

Just ordered a TH350 as a backup/smaller gig option to my DB750. Can't wait for it to get here!

You'll love it! I picked up the TH500 last summer for when my DB750 needed to stay at home. Still get my sound.

[StrangerDanger]

Thanks for the tips. I'm going to try these felt stick on wedges that I have and put them on the cab and box in the head and see how that works.

[tbone0813]

Originally Posted by KJung

Given the massive sub bass that the MTD puts out, the big low end of the TH500, and the rather tight voicing of the AE112's, that should be quite useful with that rig. My guess is, a setting around 9 o'clock will result in very little tonal difference besides a very slight tightening of the low end, but a noticable reduction in cone pistoning/wasted power.
Let us know!

So I ended up with my HPF on 10 so you were really close with your estimate Ken.

I am not sure exactly how the HPF works or the technical details or any of that. What I do know is this thing blows me away. Francis should, but probably won't, make a bazillion dollars with this thing. When I compare the low end coming out of this setup before the HPF and after really astonishes me. The low end actually seems extended. Not as loose. It is definitely a lot more focused. I have always tried to stay away from the B string and lower notes just because I couldn't get them completely out of the mud. Even with my current setup I was getting a warble in the really low end. It's gone. It's heavenly.



Mi Familia:

[willsellout]

Man,every time a TH500 goes up for sale it's gone within minutes it seems.

[husky123]

Originally Posted by willsellout

Man,every time a TH500 goes up for sale it's gone within minutes it seems.

Yeah, makes me think the TH800 is at NAMM or something.

[sincity]

Originally Posted by willsellout

Man,every time a TH500 goes up for sale it's gone within minutes it seems.

Funny, every time a TH500 goes up for sale or any of the other micro heads for that matter (there have been a lot lately) it makes me think that the bloom is off the rose and that these heads are not delivering the goods for many.

That being said, I am looking to cut some weight and power from my current rig and the micro heads definately have peaked my interest based on some very positive reviews.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by sincity

Funny, every time a TH500 goes up for sale or any of the other micro heads for that matter (there have been a lot lately) it makes me think that the bloom is off the rose and that these heads are not delivering the goods for many.

That being said, I am looking to cut some weight and power from my current rig and the micro heads definately have peaked my interest based on some very positive reviews.

Nope, just a zillion of them being sold, and new, more powerful stuff coming out all the time.

WAY more DB750's for sale, for example, versus the numbers sold IMO.

[GregC]

Originally Posted by sincity

Funny, every time a TH500 goes up for sale or any of the other micro heads for that matter (there have been a lot lately) it makes me think that the bloom is off the rose and that these heads are not delivering the goods for many.

Nah, that just demonstrates to me that TB's army of gear flippers are once again chasing the newest thing.

[sincity]

Originally Posted by KJung

Nope, just a zillion of them being sold, and new, more powerful stuff coming out all the time.

WAY more DB750's for sale, for example, versus the numbers sold IMO.

Maybe you are right. I can count a handful of the Aguilars, GB ST900 or GKMB heads in the TB Classifieds at any given time. I think GAS has taken hold for many, including myself and not new product coming to market. Lots of options, but which one has "The" tone?

Also, not alot of these heads are being offered in the big box stores, so that may be why is a lot of trading of these heads going around.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by sincity

Maybe you are right. I can count a handful of the Aguilars, GB ST900 or GKMB heads in the TB Classifieds at any given time. I think GAS has taken hold for many, including myself and not new product coming to market. Lots of options, but which one has "The" tone?

Also, not alot of these heads are being offered in the big box stores, so that may be why is a lot of trading of these heads going around.

Lots of options, relatively low price for most of these, easy to ship!

And +1, like everything else in the bass category, hard to 'try before buy' due to the mom and pop's and most big box brick and mortar stores being out of business, and Guitar Center typically having horribly limited bass sections in most stores.

And again, this class of amps has been around for a long, long time. I've been gigging class D and or SMPS micro's for 20 years or so (starting with the old GK models like the MB150 and 1200, and moving quickly on the Walter Woods).

How with even the top brands like Aguilar, Glockenklang, TecAmp, etc. having multiple lightweight SMPS options, the market is moving from 'growing' to 'exploding'.

Genz... one 'heavy' head, multiple SMPS models
Aguilar... one 'heavy' head (I believe they discontinued the AG500, and even that was class D I believe), two SMPS models
Markbass... all SMPS... dozen+ options
TecAmp... all SMPS, multiple options
GK.... about an equal number of SMPS and traditional models
Ampeg... well, a couple micro's that don't work, and lots of heavy stuff

Time they are a changin'.

[sincity]

Originally Posted by GregC

Nah, that just demonstrates to me that TB's army of gear flippers are once again chasing the newest thing.

Yep!!

[Jim C]

Originally Posted by GregC

Nah, that just demonstrates to me that TB's army of gear flippers are once again chasing the newest thing.

And I'm glad they are!
I bought a TH500 off the theTB classifieds yesterday and the seller needed the cash to buy an Aguilar 4x10; not a big deal as he still has 1 TH500 left.

[craig.p]

Also some folks might be confounded by the tone control scheme. I know if I hadn't had Eublet's graphs that explain what the drive control does, I'd probably still be trying to figure a way around the mud adder. I mean the bass control.

Actually I'm being a bit unfair. The bass control does work ok for smaller (on a per-driver basis) sealed cabs. Just not for larger reflex cabs imo.

As an alternative to using the drive control to cut non-useful low end, I tried a 40 Hz high pass in the effects loop. But it seemed to take all the immediacy away from the amp, no matter how I set the relative levels.

For reflex cabs, one of my favorite settings is mids flat, bass at 1-2 o'clock, and drive at full to chop off the lows that the cab isn't tuned to handle safely. Sometimes in a hot room I'll run a bit of mid cut with the frequency at about 11 o'clock. Gets rid of the gank.

Nice amp, imo. I think it's a keeper. And the long warranty gives me confidence that the thing's going to run every time I hit the power switch.

My only question at this point is around the Icepower power amp. The model they use, according to the Icepower spec, can approach the TH's claimed 4 ohm power only when run in stereo mode. (When run in mono, the minimum load is 8 ohms). So I'm wondering, when using 8 ohm cabs, if the proper way to connect them is one cab to each of the TH's Speakons, rather than daisy-chained off one output. Or, maybe Icepower made a special run of mono 4-ohm-capable amps for the TH? I could pull the cover and get the answer, but I never daisy-chain, so the issue is only an academic one to me.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by craig.p

Also some folks might be confounded by the tone control scheme. I know if I hadn't had Eublet's graphs that explain what the drive control does, I'd probably still be trying to figure a way around the mud adder. I mean the bass control.

Actually I'm being a bit unfair. The bass control does work ok for smaller (on a per-driver basis) sealed cabs. Just not for larger reflex cabs imo.

As an alternative to using the drive control to cut non-useful low end, I tried a 40 Hz high pass in the effects loop. But it seemed to take all the immediacy away from the amp, no matter how I set the relative levels.

For reflex cabs, one of my favorite settings is mids flat, bass at 1-2 o'clock, and drive at full to chop off the lows that the cab isn't tuned to handle safely. Sometimes in a hot room I'll run a bit of mid cut with the frequency at about 11 o'clock. Gets rid of the gank.

Nice amp, imo. I think it's a keeper. And the long warranty gives me confidence that the thing's going to run every time I hit the power switch.

My only question at this point is around the Icepower power amp. The model they use, according to the Icepower spec, can approach the TH's claimed 4 ohm power only when run in stereo mode. (When run in mono, the minimum load is 8 ohms). So I'm wondering, when using 8 ohm cabs, if the proper way to connect them is one cab to each of the TH's Speakons, rather than daisy-chained off one output. Or, maybe Icepower made a special run of mono 4-ohm-capable amps for the TH? I could pull the cover and get the answer, but I never daisy-chain, so the issue is only an academic one to me.

Don't worry about the power module. It can run at 4 ohms all day. Doesn't even get warm after pounding at 4 ohms for hours. Lots of ways for a designer to make various modules work. It is SOLID at 4 ohms

Edit; daisy chaining and running two cabs from the amp's parallel outputs is the same thing

[craig.p]

Thanks, KJ. I didn't know the Icepowers were open to mods (or off-label configurations) by their OEM customers. Good stuff.

[NWB]

Originally Posted by craig.p

Thanks, KJ. I didn't know the Icepowers were open to mods (or off-label configurations) by their OEM customers. Good stuff.

I seem recall reading somewhere from the Aguilar guy that they use two of the modules. That may explain it.

[sunbeast]

I'm pretty sure they bridge the two stereo sides of the power amp and design power management/limiting/cooling to ensure that it doesn't overheat when run that way all the time. Keep in mind that the Genz-Benz "900 watt" micros use the identical power amp module!

[rodl2005]

I'm on my ph & this app won't search in a thread...
Could someone please tell me (approx) post no. of Eublet's graphs for the eq:thumbup:

[StrangerDanger]

Originally Posted by craig.p

Also some folks might be confounded by the tone control scheme. I know if I hadn't had Eublet's graphs that explain what the drive control does, I'd probably still be trying to figure a way around the mud adder. I mean the bass control.

Actually I'm being a bit unfair. The bass control does work ok for smaller (on a per-driver basis) sealed cabs. Just not for larger reflex cabs imo.

As an alternative to using the drive control to cut non-useful low end, I tried a 40 Hz high pass in the effects loop. But it seemed to take all the immediacy away from the amp, no matter how I set the relative levels.

For reflex cabs, one of my favorite settings is mids flat, bass at 1-2 o'clock, and drive at full to chop off the lows that the cab isn't tuned to handle safely. Sometimes in a hot room I'll run a bit of mid cut with the frequency at about 11 o'clock. Gets rid of the gank.

Nice amp, imo. I think it's a keeper. And the long warranty gives me confidence that the thing's going to run every time I hit the power switch.

My only question at this point is around the Icepower power amp. The model they use, according to the Icepower spec, can approach the TH's claimed 4 ohm power only when run in stereo mode. (When run in mono, the minimum load is 8 ohms). So I'm wondering, when using 8 ohm cabs, if the proper way to connect them is one cab to each of the TH's Speakons, rather than daisy-chained off one output. Or, maybe Icepower made a special run of mono 4-ohm-capable amps for the TH? I could pull the cover and get the answer, but I never daisy-chain, so the issue is only an academic one to me.

Where might one get a look at those graphs you speak of?

[craig.p]

Here ya go, pal!

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