Gallien-Krueger MB210 vs Ashdown Mag300 evoII 210 combo

[GBassNorth]

I did something stupid some time ago (actually lots of times since then as well) and ended up tearing the rotator cuff in my shoulder. Problem now is that it's getting very painfull schlepping my newly aquired Ashdown MAG300 EvoII 2x10 combo around (this thing is heavy for a 2x10 SS combo).
I'm looking at replacing it with a Gallien-Krueger MB210 500watt combo (weighing a total of 33 pounds!). Tried one in the store and liked it but haven't tried one side by side with the Ashdown. Anyone out there have experience with the two combos and an opinion of each. I like the deep lows of the Ashdown but I don't like not being able to defeat the tweeter (which I can do on the GK). I also don't like the side handles on the Ashdown (heavy and difficult getting it thru narrow doors and down halls without banging things) vs the top handle on the GK.
Your thoughts on the two combo amps?
Additional background - music played = classic rock thru grunge, no slap, no pick, mostly backline foundation and groove vs fancy solo. 5 string and 4 string player. Active, Passive and Acoustic/Electric player. Tastes tend to lean towards Ampeg SVT type sounds. Already have monster rig for big stuff (SVT-VR/Berg610) looking for something that will work for everything from practice to medium size indoor venues.

[packhowitzer]

You can only get the GK MB210 amp to make 500 watts if you are also using an 8ohm extension cab. Otherwise it makes 350 watts.

I find the tweeter in my MB 115 to be very noisy, so I keep it off all the time.

I can't speak for the ashdown, but my GK is a wonderful amp. It's hard to get a bad sound out of it and very loud for what it is. Not to mention mine is only rated at 200 watts with 15" of speaker real estate and the the one you want is 350 watts with 20" of speaker.

I'm sorry about your shoulder. The GK will DEFINITELY take some the stress out of moving gear around. My MB115 is light as a feather. Good Luck!

[Slackerprince]

Run a VT Bass pedal into it and you're golden.
Good luck with the recuperation.

S

[GBassNorth]

thanks to all for the well wishes, not looking forward to going under the knife.

I do have a VT pedal so that's a great heads up, thx. I also figured as much on the wattage claim - similar to the Ashdown, it's only full wattage when an extension cab is used. The Ashdown is only 110watts without an extension which is borderline for what I need to do.

I also by default find myself turning off the tweeter on all my bass amps anyway so the GK tweeter defeat is a plus that the Ashdown does not have.

I've been reading up alot about the GK - a number of reviews claim the combo "farts" out at anything over 50% volume. That would be a bad thing if true. Anyone experience this with the 2x10 500watt combo? If so, were you able to compensate for the issue (i.e. back off on input signal, backoff on amp bass tone control, add compression, etc.). Or is this just a "red herring".