Eden Nav + Crown vs. Genz Benz 9.0....

[sawzalot]

Ok, give me a little help with a dilemma I'm having if you can:

I've got an Eden Navigator--it's an OLD Nav, I bought it new in 1996 back before the company was sold--powered by a Crown XTi power amp. I'm running them into an Avatar B212Neo cab.

As I'm getting older I'm getting less patient with hauling the Eden + Crown rack around and I'm considering trading it for one of the newer class D heads BUT....

I've always been of the opinion that for bass, it's better to leave the power section to the people who know how to build power amps, i.e. a separate pre- and power amp. Plus, I also believe that a bass player needs to show up with enough juice to compete with the loudest guitarist and/or drummer. But so many people are loving the Genz 9.0 (which is what I'm probably going to get if I get something)...what do you guys think? Has anyone got experience with comparing a Nav + power amp with the Genz 9.0, and what do you think about how bulletproof the genz is vs. the crown?

Thanks for any opinions,

Tom

[VroomVroom]

I've not run your exact setup, although for years I used an Alembic FX-1 into a Crown Power Base 2 power amp. (Boy did I love that combo.) Since late December I've been using the Shuttle 9.0 exclusively - mostly small room/combo gigs, but a few pretty loud ones too. I love the thing! Not once have I been concerned about horsepower or headroom. Many of my gigs run long - four sets of dance music, for example - and the rig sounds as good after five hours as it does during the opening set. So, I don't have real long-term experience to offer, but I can say that I'm very happy with the amp from a performance standpoint, and I giggle like a schoolgirl every time I pack it up and do the load-in/load-out thing.

[Groovin]

There IS a trade off with these class D amps. I'm not a fanboy but I'm not a hater.

They're not the be all end all that some people will lead you to believe. I went Class D and I'm back to traditional "lead sled" b/c IMO, IME, nothing sounds or hits like the sleds. They can still be VERY loud but there is some nuance missing to my ear. I'm not an amp guru but I know what I hear and like.

Will it give you 80% of the tone/ feel? Maybe, and for some I guess the weight savings are enough to justify it.

If you like the sound you have, why not go a bit lighter to a Eden WT800?