FIGHT!! 
yes yes y'all... joker here with another mondo comparison of GAS'ed lovin'. after 3 months of spending time at rehearsal after rehearsal, a handful of small gigs, and too many sunday morning worship gigs to count, i think i have a handle on these big boyz, and its time to share the info with all y'alls. bottom line, is this too much tube power for one man to have?
hell no!
the hookup
- Sadowsky VJ-5
- Avalon U5
- Acme B-2
- Epifani UL310
- Alessandro cabling
- Canare speaker wire
turn and cough!
at first blush, the Aguilar is definitely heavier. beefy transformers make this suckatash a very bad dog to carry. supposedly the same weight as my DB359, but dont believe the hype. nearly pulled something on a 2 am loadout! the handles? they do nothing. the Demeter on the hand was surprisingly easy to haul around. sure, it has transformers from hell, but on a late night load out, i was actually quite surprised.
build wise, the aguilar looks and feels like it could withstanding a megaton blast. feels about as stocky as michael chiklis, not that i've ever touched the man... but, the Demeter on the other hand has a flimsy steel cage that doesnt do nothing to protect the power tubes. also, while the cage is perforated for maximum cooling, pretty much open season for an errant beer bottle to kill the whole unit ASAP.
fan wise, i like the fact that the aguilar has a nice two speed fan for optional use. the Demeter is one speed. both are kinda loud for recording, but fine for live even the quiet intimate stuff. the Demeter supposedly has factory tech only option of being able to turn the fan off, but i highly doubt i'd take that risk.
FYI, after buying my aguilar used from a regional sales rep, i had it scrubbed down by the good gents at Aguilar. even got a free T-Shirt, too.
the Demeter, i rebiased myself as per the manual. once when i first got it, and a second time two weeks later once the tubes settled in. 300-305mV each power tube. which is an interesting point. The Demeter was a breeze to bias, and tinker around with. besides the pentode/triode switch and the nifty "feedback" trim pot, the Dem just seems that much more versatile. the aguilar just seems rather boring and workman like.
I/O wise, both amps share a single 1/4" unbalanced jack for the input. but the output was another story. my particular 728 had two 1/4" taps for two cabs to run with the 728. also, the Aguilar can hit as low as 2 ohms. nice for when i finally talk myself into that second UL310. on the other hand, the Demeter only has technically "one" output. the Demeter uses banana clips in Invalid Link Removed, where the middle black/positive tap is in the middle, and depending on 4 or 8 ohm operation, you would plug in the red/negative lead in either the left or right side of the center tap. but this just means, its a "one cab" power amp.
brown note?
getting right to it, the Aguilar is all about muscle. like WWF wrestler muscle. fat, burly, "kick you where it really hurts" muscle. ampeg on steriods? sure, but with a side of creatine, and BALCO's victor conte as your man servant. no doubt, if you like to rock, the Aguilar will salute, than kick the crap out of you. no matter the preamp, cab, whathaveyou, the aguilar seem to have this furry, burly feel to the mids.
the Demeter has muscle too, but more like lean, trim Bruce Lee style. more refined, hifi, and in some ways a bit more articulate and faster feeling. more than just a bass tube power amp, its also billed as a "audiophile" power amp to use with other gear. and heck, had i had the money i'd get a second for some stereo l/r lovin'! overall, the Dem imparts a halo of glossy sweetness that covered whatever was used with it.
also, the triode / pentode switch made the power amp turn from a nice Dr. Jekyll to a most riotious Mr. Hyde. Pentode gives you that smooth glassy midrange, and big pillowy low end. but hit it into the triode mode, and the midrange becomes all squishy and almost aggressive like the aguilar! tho, there's a slight loss in bottom end, and not nearly as loud in this mode, was VERY fun to use.
also, the feedback trim pot added another dimensionality turning one way made for a looser feel, which really heightened the tube aspect. like bathing in a pool of corn syrup. great for some diggin' pickstyle action. while the other way made for a tighter stiffer, jabbing feel in the upper mids that almost made the sound woody and throaty. nice for my usuall fingerstyle stuff, and any jaco impersonations i may feel up to at the moment.
also, interestingly, with the volume all the up on the Dem and Aggie, the Dem wasnt nearly as loud no matter what i did. didnt know 100 watts could make that much of a difference, but it was there.
when i first started gigging, i found that the Aguilar seems to be "voiced" in a certain way down in the middle lows. that low end burly attitude that in some venues made for a very boomy sound. thus with my DB680, had to be dialed out. whereas with the Dem, i didnt really have to do much. but overall, it seemed like the all tube power sections werent as tight as i usually get with my SS power amps. more on that later.
preamp wise, dem on dem, aguilar on aguilar sounded best to me, and they complemented one another nicely. my Kern preamp was just too muddy, tho it did sound pretty darn good with the Demeter. the gloss of the dem seem to ride atop the kern's midrange fatness, and actually lend a touch of hifiness to the tone. quite fun. had the EQ section been parametric, the Kern just might have ousted my HBP-1.
a third contender crashes the ring?!: Kern / Stewart!
now, all this might seem rather obtuse for those who have never experienced the all tube party, so i also did some comparisons with my Kern IP777 / Stewart World 1.2 setup.
overally, the stewart made for a punchier sound. crazy 1200 watts nonwithstanding, there was even more refinement and hifi air that the stewart had. also, that rig seemed a bit more articulate. faster runs seem almost blurry on the all tube rigs compared to the stew. there was a nice dalloup of tubieness that the Kern lent the Stewart's proceedings, but its tube flavor wasnt as rich complex or as rich as what the power tube sections can do to a bassist's rig.
and while, going from the all tube world to harsh reality of SS world was nothing short of taking a bite out of a moist caramel laden brownie then having a waverly cracker shoved into your mouth, the sound of an all tube power amp does seem rather messy and almost boomy compared to the tighter more regimented feel of an SS power section.
fin
there you have it. while, its pretty ridiculous to have two power amps, i think in this case, its not such a bad idea. the powerful, beefy feel of the aguilar is a nice ying to the yang of the hifi sweetness of the demeter. also, the aguilar seems to be made for the road and gigging bassist. and while the Demeter has much more going for it in terms of versatility, a few more minor basscentric touches would make it unstoppable.
yes yes y'all... joker here with another mondo comparison of GAS'ed lovin'. after 3 months of spending time at rehearsal after rehearsal, a handful of small gigs, and too many sunday morning worship gigs to count, i think i have a handle on these big boyz, and its time to share the info with all y'alls. bottom line, is this too much tube power for one man to have?
hell no!
the hookup
- Sadowsky VJ-5
- Avalon U5
- Acme B-2
- Epifani UL310
- Alessandro cabling
- Canare speaker wire
turn and cough!
at first blush, the Aguilar is definitely heavier. beefy transformers make this suckatash a very bad dog to carry. supposedly the same weight as my DB359, but dont believe the hype. nearly pulled something on a 2 am loadout! the handles? they do nothing. the Demeter on the hand was surprisingly easy to haul around. sure, it has transformers from hell, but on a late night load out, i was actually quite surprised.
build wise, the aguilar looks and feels like it could withstanding a megaton blast. feels about as stocky as michael chiklis, not that i've ever touched the man... but, the Demeter on the other hand has a flimsy steel cage that doesnt do nothing to protect the power tubes. also, while the cage is perforated for maximum cooling, pretty much open season for an errant beer bottle to kill the whole unit ASAP.
fan wise, i like the fact that the aguilar has a nice two speed fan for optional use. the Demeter is one speed. both are kinda loud for recording, but fine for live even the quiet intimate stuff. the Demeter supposedly has factory tech only option of being able to turn the fan off, but i highly doubt i'd take that risk.
FYI, after buying my aguilar used from a regional sales rep, i had it scrubbed down by the good gents at Aguilar. even got a free T-Shirt, too.
the Demeter, i rebiased myself as per the manual. once when i first got it, and a second time two weeks later once the tubes settled in. 300-305mV each power tube. which is an interesting point. The Demeter was a breeze to bias, and tinker around with. besides the pentode/triode switch and the nifty "feedback" trim pot, the Dem just seems that much more versatile. the aguilar just seems rather boring and workman like.I/O wise, both amps share a single 1/4" unbalanced jack for the input. but the output was another story. my particular 728 had two 1/4" taps for two cabs to run with the 728. also, the Aguilar can hit as low as 2 ohms. nice for when i finally talk myself into that second UL310.
on the other hand, the Demeter only has technically "one" output. the Demeter uses banana clips in Invalid Link Removed, where the middle black/positive tap is in the middle, and depending on 4 or 8 ohm operation, you would plug in the red/negative lead in either the left or right side of the center tap. but this just means, its a "one cab" power amp.brown note?
getting right to it, the Aguilar is all about muscle. like WWF wrestler muscle. fat, burly, "kick you where it really hurts" muscle. ampeg on steriods? sure, but with a side of creatine, and BALCO's victor conte as your man servant. no doubt, if you like to rock, the Aguilar will salute, than kick the crap out of you. no matter the preamp, cab, whathaveyou, the aguilar seem to have this furry, burly feel to the mids.
the Demeter has muscle too, but more like lean, trim Bruce Lee style. more refined, hifi, and in some ways a bit more articulate and faster feeling. more than just a bass tube power amp, its also billed as a "audiophile" power amp to use with other gear. and heck, had i had the money i'd get a second for some stereo l/r lovin'! overall, the Dem imparts a halo of glossy sweetness that covered whatever was used with it.
also, the triode / pentode switch made the power amp turn from a nice Dr. Jekyll to a most riotious Mr. Hyde. Pentode gives you that smooth glassy midrange, and big pillowy low end. but hit it into the triode mode, and the midrange becomes all squishy and almost aggressive like the aguilar! tho, there's a slight loss in bottom end, and not nearly as loud in this mode, was VERY fun to use.
also, the feedback trim pot added another dimensionality turning one way made for a looser feel, which really heightened the tube aspect. like bathing in a pool of corn syrup. great for some diggin' pickstyle action. while the other way made for a tighter stiffer, jabbing feel in the upper mids that almost made the sound woody and throaty. nice for my usuall fingerstyle stuff, and any jaco impersonations i may feel up to at the moment.
also, interestingly, with the volume all the up on the Dem and Aggie, the Dem wasnt nearly as loud no matter what i did. didnt know 100 watts could make that much of a difference, but it was there.
when i first started gigging, i found that the Aguilar seems to be "voiced" in a certain way down in the middle lows. that low end burly attitude that in some venues made for a very boomy sound. thus with my DB680, had to be dialed out. whereas with the Dem, i didnt really have to do much. but overall, it seemed like the all tube power sections werent as tight as i usually get with my SS power amps. more on that later.
preamp wise, dem on dem, aguilar on aguilar sounded best to me, and they complemented one another nicely. my Kern preamp was just too muddy, tho it did sound pretty darn good with the Demeter. the gloss of the dem seem to ride atop the kern's midrange fatness, and actually lend a touch of hifiness to the tone. quite fun. had the EQ section been parametric, the Kern just might have ousted my HBP-1.
a third contender crashes the ring?!: Kern / Stewart!
now, all this might seem rather obtuse for those who have never experienced the all tube party, so i also did some comparisons with my Kern IP777 / Stewart World 1.2 setup.
overally, the stewart made for a punchier sound. crazy 1200 watts nonwithstanding, there was even more refinement and hifi air that the stewart had. also, that rig seemed a bit more articulate. faster runs seem almost blurry on the all tube rigs compared to the stew. there was a nice dalloup of tubieness that the Kern lent the Stewart's proceedings, but its tube flavor wasnt as rich complex or as rich as what the power tube sections can do to a bassist's rig.
and while, going from the all tube world to harsh reality of SS world was nothing short of taking a bite out of a moist caramel laden brownie then having a waverly cracker shoved into your mouth, the sound of an all tube power amp does seem rather messy and almost boomy compared to the tighter more regimented feel of an SS power section.
fin
there you have it. while, its pretty ridiculous to have two power amps, i think in this case, its not such a bad idea. the powerful, beefy feel of the aguilar is a nice ying to the yang of the hifi sweetness of the demeter. also, the aguilar seems to be made for the road and gigging bassist. and while the Demeter has much more going for it in terms of versatility, a few more minor basscentric touches would make it unstoppable.
I tried a bunch of preamps with the 300M, and in addition to the 201s, the only other pre that exhibited similar behavior was my F-1X. I think I'm just going to retube the 300M (which I bought used from Dan Lakin) and see where that gets me.
