A few words about the BOSS Katana 210 Combo

[PL92106]

I keep a main rig with various heads and cabs, but i’ve always liked having combos also. I’ve spent some time with this Katana that I picked up a month ago, and am mind boggled about how LOUD this thing can get for a “165W” combo. The last 210 combo that I owned was the Fender Stage 800, and this “165W” combo TO ME seems just as loud. There seem to be a lot of these on the market as “open box” and “mint”, which means that people are returning them or just not keeping them. The first couple days that I had it, I thought it sounded like S@&t, which is probably why there are so many for sale. There is a GAIN, a VOLUME, and a master VOLUME. I didn’t understand the relationship between the 3 knobs. Then I figured it out. The left side where the GAIN and VOLUME are close together… you need to DIME the volume, and then use the gain to adjust the tone and input from your bass. Most of my passive basses sound best with that gain at 11 o’clock. Then for breaking windows, or pissing off neighbors blocks away outdoors you turn up the VOLUME on the far right to taste. It is LOUD and stays clean as far as speaker farting when you crank it… AS LONG AS YOUR GAIN KNOB IS SET RIGHT. Anyway, aside from it weighing near 50lbs, it’s a pretty damn good value on the used market if you need volume.

 

[AlBass]

That is very useful info, thank you. So you reckon in these reviews where the guys are complaining that the speakers fart out easily, they have just set the volumes wrong?
Also, when you say it's loud, is that with a good amount of low end?

 

[PL92106]

That is very useful info, thank you. So you reckon in these reviews where the guys are complaining that the speakers fart out easily, they have just set the volumes wrong?
Also, when you say it's loud, is that with a good amount of low end?

I don’t think it’s the speakers farting out, I think it’s people using the gain incorrectly… distorting the signal, not the speakers.

 

[AlBass]

... and does it handle low end well?

 

[PL92106]

... and does it handle low end well?

I play with a pick mostly, and drop D tune a lot playing hard rock etc…. the response is snappy, and it hits the low end that I need, but in a DUB situation… I don’t know, I would probably rather use one or two of my 12” Schroeder cabinets.

 

[BruceG68]

I bought a Katana 210B combo right after they came on the market about 3 years ago.The speakers are probably a weak link.I had a minor problem with my combo a few months back where the wires inside the cabinet wouldn't send power to the speakers but the extension/external speaker jack would.So I ran a wire from the external to the speakers in the amp and it works fine.Pulling the grill off and removing one of the speakers shows they are nothing special by any means.They have 60 watts stamped right on them when the amp puts 300 watts peak which is far more than the speakers can handle.They do sound surprisingly good for what they are.But when I plugged mine into a pair of 210 cabs wow did it come to life.What a difference.Also realize that when you plug an extension cab in the internal speakers are shut off

 

[AlBass]

I play with a pick mostly, and drop D tune a lot playing hard rock etc…. the response is snappy, and it hits the low end that I need, but in a DUB situation… I don't know, I would probably rather use one or two of my 12" Schroeder cabinets.

Super helpful, thank you for this

 

[AlBass]

I bought a Katana 210B combo right after they came on the market about 3 years ago.The speakers are probably a weak link.I had a minor problem with my combo a few months back where the wires inside the cabinet wouldn't send power to the speakers but the extension/external speaker jack would.So I ran a wire from the external to the speakers in the amp and it works fine.Pulling the grill off and removing one of the speakers shows they are nothing special by any means.They have 60 watts stamped right on them when the amp puts 300 watts peak which is far more than the speakers can handle.They do sound surprisingly good for what they are.But when I plugged mine into a pair of 210 cabs wow did it come to life.What a difference.Also realize that when you plug an extension cab in the internal speakers are shut off

Thanks for sharing your experience here. It's really helpful to making a decision whether to go ahead with a used one I've seen advertised

 

[AlBass]

I bought a Katana 210B combo right after they came on the market about 3 years ago.The speakers are probably a weak link.I had a minor problem with my combo a few months back where the wires inside the cabinet wouldn't send power to the speakers but the extension/external speaker jack would.So I ran a wire from the external to the speakers in the amp and it works fine.Pulling the grill off and removing one of the speakers shows they are nothing special by any means.They have 60 watts stamped right on them when the amp puts 300 watts peak which is far more than the speakers can handle.They do sound surprisingly good for what they are.But when I plugged mine into a pair of 210 cabs wow did it come to life.What a difference.Also realize that when you plug an extension cab in the internal speakers are shut off

Did you happen to see what impedance the speakers were?
I have a couple of Hartke drivers hanging around which are only 100w each but pretty decent sounding. Maybe I could swap them out

 

[Redbrangus]

Maybe I could swap them out

 

[BruceG68]

They are 8 ohm.Wired in parallel for a 4 ohm load to the amp.Without knowing the parameters of the Hartke drivers putting them in your Katana would be a guess because the cabinet is ported to the speakers in it now not the drivers you want to put in.It may sound better or worse.It might be louder or not as loud.I guess you can try and see.

 

[agedhorse]

I bought a Katana 210B combo right after they came on the market about 3 years ago.The speakers are probably a weak link.I had a minor problem with my combo a few months back where the wires inside the cabinet wouldn't send power to the speakers but the extension/external speaker jack would.So I ran a wire from the external to the speakers in the amp and it works fine.Pulling the grill off and removing one of the speakers shows they are nothing special by any means.They have 60 watts stamped right on them when the amp puts 300 watts peak which is far more than the speakers can handle.They do sound surprisingly good for what they are.But when I plugged mine into a pair of 210 cabs wow did it come to life.What a difference.Also realize that when you plug an extension cab in the internal speakers are shut off

300 watts peak is a meaningless number. It’s 160 watts RMS with additional dynamics management. Therefore the amp and speakers are quite adequately matched.

 

[NeilJazz]

I keep a main rig with various heads and cabs, but i've always liked having combos also. I've spent some time with this Katana that I picked up a month ago, and am mind boggled about how LOUD this thing can get for a "165W" combo. The last 210 combo that I owned was the Fender Stage 800, and this "165W" combo TO ME seems just as loud. There seem to be a lot of these on the market as "open box" and "mint", which means that people are returning them or just not keeping them. The first couple days that I had it, I thought it sounded like S@&t, which is probably why there are so many for sale. There is a GAIN, a VOLUME, and a master VOLUME. I didn't understand the relationship between the 3 knobs. Then I figured it out. The left side where the GAIN and VOLUME are close together… you need to DIME the volume, and then use the gain to adjust the tone and input from your bass. Most of my passive basses sound best with that gain at 11 o'clock. Then for breaking windows, or pissing off neighbors blocks away outdoors you turn up the VOLUME on the far right to taste. It is LOUD and stays clean as far as speaker farting when you crank it… AS LONG AS YOUR GAIN KNOB IS SET RIGHT. Anyway, aside from it weighing near 50lbs, it's a pretty damn good value on the used market if you need volume.

Thank you for the information! I have the same combo which I got for a very good deal and has served me quite well as a Power amp/monitor on gigs(I have an HX stomp pedalboard) and as a practice amp (1 amp mode) where I plug directly. I have never thought of diming the gain stage volume and I'm pretty excited to try it out!

 

[BruceG68]

300 watts peak is a meaningless number. It's 160 watts RMS with additional dynamics management. Therefore the amp and speakers are quite adequately matched.

Thank You for that.I stand corrected.On that point I suppose the stock speakers are no worse than most 210 combos in that price range.There was a post on Talk Bass a while back were someone that had a Katana 110 combo took the stock speaker out and put in an Eminence bass 10 and said there was quite difference for the better.I know when I plug my pair of 210 cabs into my Katana 210B there is some difference as well for the better.However I think replacing the stock speakers with something else would be taking a chance on whether you would gain anything or not for a fair amount of time and money involved.If you already have a pair of 10s lying around that's one thing but but to go out and spend $250 to $500 on speakers probably not.

 

[NeilJazz]

Thank You for that.I stand corrected.On that point I suppose the stock speakers are no worse than most 210 combos in that price range.There was a post on Talk Bass a while back were someone that had a Katana 110 combo took the stock speaker out and put in an Eminence bass 10 and said there was quite difference for the better.I know when I plug my pair of 210 cabs into my Katana 210B there is some difference as well for the better.However I think replacing the stock speakers with something else would be taking a chance on whether you would gain anything or not for a fair amount of time and money involved.If you already have a pair of 10s lying around that's one thing but but to go out and spend $250 to $500 on speakers probably not.

Would be interesting how much lighter it would be if the speakers are replaced with ones that have neodymium magnets.

 

[agedhorse]

Thank You for that.I stand corrected.On that point I suppose the stock speakers are no worse than most 210 combos in that price range.There was a post on Talk Bass a while back were someone that had a Katana 110 combo took the stock speaker out and put in an Eminence bass 10 and said there was quite difference for the better.I know when I plug my pair of 210 cabs into my Katana 210B there is some difference as well for the better.However I think replacing the stock speakers with something else would be taking a chance on whether you would gain anything or not for a fair amount of time and money involved.If you already have a pair of 10s lying around that's one thing but but to go out and spend $250 to $500 on speakers probably not.

Depends entirely on the combo.

Replacing the stock speakers could also make the combo sound worse.

Would be interesting how much lighter it would be if the speakers are replaced with ones that have neodymium magnets.

Not much, the stock speakers aren't much heavier.

 

[Mrmatt1972]

I’m revisiting this old thread because I have one of these combos. And I agree that surprisingly loud and half decent sounding for the price and size I would not hesitate to take this on a gig, especially with PA support.

But surprisingly loud doesn’t mean it’s loud enough to keep up with like a metal drummer or anything like that

And I really wish you could run the internal speakers with an external speaker, but obviously they’ve got it at four ohms and they don’t want to run it at two ohms or anything like that so that’s that.

For the record the footswitch makes all the difference as far as usability. I have never once gone on the computer side and tried to mess around with the effects, but I know you can, but the basic effects are pretty good Boss standards that don’t need any tweaking.