NAD: Hartke LH1000

Will Kelly · #1 03-23-2011, 11:03 PM

Well, I needed something to power my two Acme Low B 2's, and this seemed to fit the bill. Bought it new in box from Sam Ash.

It became apparent to me I needed an amp with a real transformer in it as opposed to a class D power supply. The Acme's do not seem to like those amps much.

The Hartke sounds great. Tons of headroom, nice tube tone, very simple and basic.

I immediately noticed once the volume got past seven there was quite a bit of noise, so I started experimenting with tubes. This also gave me a chance to check out the innards and see how it was put together.

Construction of the amp is awesome. Everything is very tidy, and well laid out inside.

Mine came with a Sovtek 12AX7 tube. It sounded good, but like I said, once past seven on the master volume it was making tons of noise. So I put in an RCA blackplate. It sounded better but was far noisier when at high volume. Found a couple of my old "NOS" tubes were microphonic during this experiment.

I ended up trying a GE 12AU7, and found the keeper. The tone is awesome, the tube is lower gain so I can crank the amp all the way up and it's still silent. The Acme's like the full power, the tone just blooms and is quite musical sounding.

I am quite pleased!

knappymer · #2 03-23-2011, 11:19 PM

Thanks man. You actually covered a lot of the topics I've been debating: what tube to try next in my LH, if Acme cabs would be worth trying out and if the LH1000/Kilo would be enough to drive them.

Thanks duder.

JimmyM · #3 03-24-2011, 12:33 AM

lol! only in today's world would 1000w be questioned for its cab driving abilities! 1000w will drive a pair of pretty much anything on the market.

interesting how responsive it was to tube rolling. you usually don't expect that out of single tube preamps in the more inexpensive heads out there. that's cool.

BillyIVbass · #4 03-24-2011, 01:00 AM

Congrats, definitely a cool amp. I had an LH500 and now have the LH1000. Both had EH tubes that were very noisy. All I could get locally was Groove Tubes Gold Series 12AX7R. What an improvement! The amp is quieter and there is a slight added roundness to the sound.

knappymer · #5 03-24-2011, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

lol! only in today's world would 1000w be questioned for its cab driving abilities! 1000w will drive a pair of pretty much anything on the market.

Heh I know I actually feel quite silly for my excitement there. It's funny the gobs of power we throw out these days.