Just got my Shuttlemax 6.0 and XB3 410 in the mail. Since we just got hit with a big snowstorm here last nite, I probably wont be venturing out to the rehearsal space to grab a bass until later, so this morning's review will focus on my obsessive need to completely disassemble everything I own before using it!
Now I should say that I have been an SMPS skeptic, if not a class D skeptic for a long time. Several years ago I switched from integrated heads to components due to most heads on the market not delivering anywhere near their rated power. Later, I broke down and bought a featherweight head that was getting quite a bit of hype at the time and, while I loved the sound, was not impressed with it's construction and willingness to get pulled, knocked or vibrated right off the top of the speaker cabinet.
After having tried Jim Bergantino's IP series, I began to believe that Class D amps with SMPS were truly on thier way to competing with big iron trannies and rows upon rows of soda can capacitors in terms of audio performance and plain 'ole seat of the pants oommph...
ShuttleMax 6.0:
Much has been said about this unit already, and it's all true. Extremely high quality potentiometers up front. The push-buttons are of the medium grade spring loaded type and have cosmetic polished metal tips, which were firmly attached. The superluxe knobs are not of the set-screw type, but nonetheless seem to be very sturdy. The pots and jacks front and back all have steel nuts securing them to the faceplates, however the jacks have ABS plastic housings. Make no mistake, many... in fact most.... amplifiers in the $500 - $1000 price range use all ABS plastic for thier exterior fastenings, and the steel is nice to see. Under the hood I was surprised to see Link Removed integrated power amplifier / power supply board. This is a brand new release from B&O, and is one of the first to list musical instrument amplifiers as one of the intended applications.
All wiring is neatly bundled, and the two PCB preamp boards are secured tightly to the faceplate, with the lower board having 3 support legs attached to the bottom of the case, and the top board being supported in 2 places by the bottom. This is a good example of redundancy in furtherance of reliability. The whole amp weighs less than 6lbs. If you held this unit above your head and dropped it I doubt you could rattle the PCBs without the additional support... but its there anyway... nice.
All in all its very well constructed, and displays many thoughtful construction appointments that were lacking in the one other featherweight amp Ive owned in the past. My only disappointment was not seeing a transformer for the DI..
XB3 410:
Not alot has been said about this new line so far, with the lighter Uber cabs getting most of the spotlight, and I cant wait to hear how this sounds. When the cabinet arrived the plastic "Genz Benz" piece on the top center had come partially unglued, but was quickly set back into place. The grille is an extremely sturdy stamped metal job secured directly to non-carpeted bracing. One of my biggest beefs with lesser cabinets is that the grilles, and often the speakers themselves, are attached to carpeted areas. This leads to all type of problems, especially with the drivers. Not so here. The speaker baffle, and the port shelf interior, is sprayed with tough, EAW-type coating. True to their design statements, the main front support spine edges are radiused at the shelf port.
The cabinet came supplied with 4 small slide-in type casters. These have sturdy frames and took some effort to pop in (which is good, as they wont accidentally pop out). I do however wish they had opted for slightly larger wheels, as these are the little 4" jobbers. I will probably be looking into larger replacements.
I suspected that I would likely not be a fan of the upper edge-mounted handles, and I was right..... somewhat. If you're carrying this unit by yourself, your basically banging into the cab with your legs when you walk, as one is unable to lift it high enough to get the bottom of the cab to one's waist as side handles would allow. However, when moving the cab around on the casters, the handle placement is perfect since one doesn't have to bend all the way down. Carrying the cab with a friend on the other side is also a breeze using this placement so I guess it's a mixed blessing.
Popping the rear L-pad off reveals a high-quality rotary pot for tweeter level control, and a beefy looking, custom crossover. Wiring was neat and heavy, insulated wire is used. ( you wouldn't believe how many cabinets Ive popped open to find stringy, car audio wire heaped inside!) At first glance, interior construction is impressive. The speaker baffle is made of dense MDF, and the rest of the box is of 3/4" plywood that seems of a very high grade. The front "Spine" of the cabinet runs from the bottom of the shelf port all the way up, and is both nailed and glued heavily. The MDF speaker baffle has plywood edge supports on three side, all nailed and glued, and the shelf port is also reinforced (however this is not radiused as is the support). Two thick,wide, front-to-back plywood braces are situated horizontally between the speakers. Every interior surface with the exception of the speaker baffle and front-to-back braces is covered with acoustic foam. Not the super high quality Auralex stuff, but the medium-high grade acoustic damping foam. This is nice to see, as Ive seen more than one $1,000+ ported cabinet with no acoustic batting or insulation whatsoever, and still more with this 1/4" stuff that looks like carpet padding and probably is. The last thing one notices is that the drivers are secured with large, oversized T-nuts.... something rarely seen anymore and quite welcome. Very sturdy cabinet.
The speakers are Genz-spec'd Eminence stamped frame, and are of the oversized magnet, vented pole piece variety.
Sooo that's it for what my eyes tell me..... I will be back tomorrow with an exhaustive and boring review of what my ears tell me later tonite!
Now I should say that I have been an SMPS skeptic, if not a class D skeptic for a long time. Several years ago I switched from integrated heads to components due to most heads on the market not delivering anywhere near their rated power. Later, I broke down and bought a featherweight head that was getting quite a bit of hype at the time and, while I loved the sound, was not impressed with it's construction and willingness to get pulled, knocked or vibrated right off the top of the speaker cabinet.
After having tried Jim Bergantino's IP series, I began to believe that Class D amps with SMPS were truly on thier way to competing with big iron trannies and rows upon rows of soda can capacitors in terms of audio performance and plain 'ole seat of the pants oommph...
ShuttleMax 6.0:
Much has been said about this unit already, and it's all true. Extremely high quality potentiometers up front. The push-buttons are of the medium grade spring loaded type and have cosmetic polished metal tips, which were firmly attached. The superluxe knobs are not of the set-screw type, but nonetheless seem to be very sturdy. The pots and jacks front and back all have steel nuts securing them to the faceplates, however the jacks have ABS plastic housings. Make no mistake, many... in fact most.... amplifiers in the $500 - $1000 price range use all ABS plastic for thier exterior fastenings, and the steel is nice to see. Under the hood I was surprised to see Link Removed integrated power amplifier / power supply board. This is a brand new release from B&O, and is one of the first to list musical instrument amplifiers as one of the intended applications.
All wiring is neatly bundled, and the two PCB preamp boards are secured tightly to the faceplate, with the lower board having 3 support legs attached to the bottom of the case, and the top board being supported in 2 places by the bottom. This is a good example of redundancy in furtherance of reliability. The whole amp weighs less than 6lbs. If you held this unit above your head and dropped it I doubt you could rattle the PCBs without the additional support... but its there anyway... nice.
All in all its very well constructed, and displays many thoughtful construction appointments that were lacking in the one other featherweight amp Ive owned in the past. My only disappointment was not seeing a transformer for the DI..
XB3 410:
Not alot has been said about this new line so far, with the lighter Uber cabs getting most of the spotlight, and I cant wait to hear how this sounds. When the cabinet arrived the plastic "Genz Benz" piece on the top center had come partially unglued, but was quickly set back into place. The grille is an extremely sturdy stamped metal job secured directly to non-carpeted bracing. One of my biggest beefs with lesser cabinets is that the grilles, and often the speakers themselves, are attached to carpeted areas. This leads to all type of problems, especially with the drivers. Not so here. The speaker baffle, and the port shelf interior, is sprayed with tough, EAW-type coating. True to their design statements, the main front support spine edges are radiused at the shelf port.
The cabinet came supplied with 4 small slide-in type casters. These have sturdy frames and took some effort to pop in (which is good, as they wont accidentally pop out). I do however wish they had opted for slightly larger wheels, as these are the little 4" jobbers. I will probably be looking into larger replacements.
I suspected that I would likely not be a fan of the upper edge-mounted handles, and I was right..... somewhat. If you're carrying this unit by yourself, your basically banging into the cab with your legs when you walk, as one is unable to lift it high enough to get the bottom of the cab to one's waist as side handles would allow. However, when moving the cab around on the casters, the handle placement is perfect since one doesn't have to bend all the way down. Carrying the cab with a friend on the other side is also a breeze using this placement so I guess it's a mixed blessing.
Popping the rear L-pad off reveals a high-quality rotary pot for tweeter level control, and a beefy looking, custom crossover. Wiring was neat and heavy, insulated wire is used. ( you wouldn't believe how many cabinets Ive popped open to find stringy, car audio wire heaped inside!) At first glance, interior construction is impressive. The speaker baffle is made of dense MDF, and the rest of the box is of 3/4" plywood that seems of a very high grade. The front "Spine" of the cabinet runs from the bottom of the shelf port all the way up, and is both nailed and glued heavily. The MDF speaker baffle has plywood edge supports on three side, all nailed and glued, and the shelf port is also reinforced (however this is not radiused as is the support). Two thick,wide, front-to-back plywood braces are situated horizontally between the speakers. Every interior surface with the exception of the speaker baffle and front-to-back braces is covered with acoustic foam. Not the super high quality Auralex stuff, but the medium-high grade acoustic damping foam. This is nice to see, as Ive seen more than one $1,000+ ported cabinet with no acoustic batting or insulation whatsoever, and still more with this 1/4" stuff that looks like carpet padding and probably is. The last thing one notices is that the drivers are secured with large, oversized T-nuts.... something rarely seen anymore and quite welcome. Very sturdy cabinet.
The speakers are Genz-spec'd Eminence stamped frame, and are of the oversized magnet, vented pole piece variety.
Sooo that's it for what my eyes tell me..... I will be back tomorrow with an exhaustive and boring review of what my ears tell me later tonite!
The other reason has to do with isolating ground paths internal to the amp. There are two seperate grounding paths and a complete RF grounding and isolation system designed into it. That's why you don't hear complaints of RFI (radio interference) with any of our products. 
I have to talk to somebody about that. 
