After gigging with all 4 of these lightweight “micro” heads, I have formed my own opinions on each one and perhaps I can help anyone who is considering any of these amps for themselves. I play a variety of rock, roots, blues, soul, funk and reggae in 2 different bands that each gig several times/month (well, until the virus happened of course). I should also mention I have used all of these heads with the same basses (my main gigging P and Jazz basses) and the same cabs (a pair of Aguilar SL112s), so the variables in the sound as far as the speakers or instruments go are as minimized as much as I can.
My favorite of all is actually the Peavey MiniMax 500. It’s easily the most powerful and loudest of the 4, and it gives me a heft and weight to my notes more than any of the others (and any other class D I’ve ever tried). I had trouble finding a volume balance between the lower and higher notes at first, but found if I engage the “punch”, “mid shift” and “bright” buttons, my upper and lower registers are balanced nicely, and I get absolutely everything that I need out of this amp - from heavy fat lows to crispy cutting highs and everything in between. It’s also very reliable and built well. The only thing I don’t like about it is the push buttons on the face can easily get pushed in/out without realizing while moving and handling the amp to gigs, so I usually just double check each button to make sure they are off or on as I like them before each gig starts. Not a big deal since it takes only a few seconds (and it’s a small price to pay for the best sound I have been able to get out of a class D). People complain a lot about the loud fan, but personally it has never actually bothered me at all. I don’t record in the studio with it, or practice in a bedroom with it, so in a music venue or bar, indoors or outdoors, it has never been an issue for me ever. It’s also very inexpensive for an amp that delivers 500W (and peaks at 1000W). I got mine used here on TB for $200 and it’s the best $200 I think I ever spent on anything!
EDIT: As another member pointed out (and I forgot to mention this originally), the DI totally sucks on the Minimax. It’s loud and buzzy. So much so that I don’t know why they even bothered installing it, it’s so useless. For me though, it’s another small price to pay for how wonderful the amp sounds, but it is something that needs to me mentioned. I now carry my own DI box and run a 1/4” from the FX send on the back of the amp to the input of the DI, so I still get the awesome preamp tone of the Minimax to the soundboard (as opposed to running my bass dry into the DI).
My next favorite is the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500. This amp has served me very well too, and I’ve found it’s really versatile, built very well and ultra reliable. It sounds fantastic, lots of power (and at $750 new, it better)! But it’s well worth the money IMO for what it can do. I can’t really give any negatives about this amp, I can only compare it to the MiniMax... and the MiniMax just beats the Aggie for me for the sheer fatness of the notes alone. I do however, think I can dial in more usable tones with the TH500 though (but then again, I’m more of a “once I get the tone I like, I leave it there“ kinda guy... especially when it comes to my live sound). In the studio, I would probably go for the Aggie over everything else on this list, and it’s still a very good live amp.
3rd on the list is the Markbass LMIII. It’s a nice amp and it will do the job just fine. Plenty of power, also very reliable IME (although I have heard Markbass amps are sometimes difficult to get repaired here in the US). I have never needed to fix one, so I can’t really comment on that personally. I can get the LMIII to sound pretty fat, but not as fat as the Peavey. And it’s pretty versatile too, but not as much as the Aggie IMO. It’s built well, it sounds good. It’s also great for the money.
The Ampeg PF-500 ranks last on my list (and I’m an Ampeg guy traditionally). I LOVE old SVTs and the V4-B I used to have (but ultimately I got rid of those for the hassle to load in/out for gigging - although I still record thru an SVT 99% of the time, but it’s the studio’s, not mine). The PF-500 is closest to the traditional Ampeg tone by far, compared to any of the others on my list, but I feel the PF-500 doesn’t quite get me there, and it doesn’t really do much else IMO (i.e. I do not find it to be very versatile personally). It’s close to the Ampeg sound, but “no cigar” when you are used to the Ampeg all-tube tone. It’s still absolutely a useable amp, but just not the greatest for me. I find it noticeably lacks power compared to the other 3 on my list (which are all 500 watt heads). I don’t know why, but I found I always had to turn the volume and gain up much higher than any of the others to compete with the rest of the band. Although I did not have any issues with it, I have read many PF-500s have reliability issues (particularly the earlier ones as far as I have read). For the money, it’s still decent, but I feel there are better options out there. Of course, these are all just my own opinions. I know there are some people that love things that I don’t and vise-versa. So if you love your PF-500, please don’t be offended by my words, as they are only my words and my personal preferences. Whatever works for you is the only thing that’s important. But I hope my experience with these amps might help others out there. Peace.
My favorite of all is actually the Peavey MiniMax 500. It’s easily the most powerful and loudest of the 4, and it gives me a heft and weight to my notes more than any of the others (and any other class D I’ve ever tried). I had trouble finding a volume balance between the lower and higher notes at first, but found if I engage the “punch”, “mid shift” and “bright” buttons, my upper and lower registers are balanced nicely, and I get absolutely everything that I need out of this amp - from heavy fat lows to crispy cutting highs and everything in between. It’s also very reliable and built well. The only thing I don’t like about it is the push buttons on the face can easily get pushed in/out without realizing while moving and handling the amp to gigs, so I usually just double check each button to make sure they are off or on as I like them before each gig starts. Not a big deal since it takes only a few seconds (and it’s a small price to pay for the best sound I have been able to get out of a class D). People complain a lot about the loud fan, but personally it has never actually bothered me at all. I don’t record in the studio with it, or practice in a bedroom with it, so in a music venue or bar, indoors or outdoors, it has never been an issue for me ever. It’s also very inexpensive for an amp that delivers 500W (and peaks at 1000W). I got mine used here on TB for $200 and it’s the best $200 I think I ever spent on anything!
EDIT: As another member pointed out (and I forgot to mention this originally), the DI totally sucks on the Minimax. It’s loud and buzzy. So much so that I don’t know why they even bothered installing it, it’s so useless. For me though, it’s another small price to pay for how wonderful the amp sounds, but it is something that needs to me mentioned. I now carry my own DI box and run a 1/4” from the FX send on the back of the amp to the input of the DI, so I still get the awesome preamp tone of the Minimax to the soundboard (as opposed to running my bass dry into the DI).
My next favorite is the Aguilar Tone Hammer 500. This amp has served me very well too, and I’ve found it’s really versatile, built very well and ultra reliable. It sounds fantastic, lots of power (and at $750 new, it better)! But it’s well worth the money IMO for what it can do. I can’t really give any negatives about this amp, I can only compare it to the MiniMax... and the MiniMax just beats the Aggie for me for the sheer fatness of the notes alone. I do however, think I can dial in more usable tones with the TH500 though (but then again, I’m more of a “once I get the tone I like, I leave it there“ kinda guy... especially when it comes to my live sound). In the studio, I would probably go for the Aggie over everything else on this list, and it’s still a very good live amp.
3rd on the list is the Markbass LMIII. It’s a nice amp and it will do the job just fine. Plenty of power, also very reliable IME (although I have heard Markbass amps are sometimes difficult to get repaired here in the US). I have never needed to fix one, so I can’t really comment on that personally. I can get the LMIII to sound pretty fat, but not as fat as the Peavey. And it’s pretty versatile too, but not as much as the Aggie IMO. It’s built well, it sounds good. It’s also great for the money.
The Ampeg PF-500 ranks last on my list (and I’m an Ampeg guy traditionally). I LOVE old SVTs and the V4-B I used to have (but ultimately I got rid of those for the hassle to load in/out for gigging - although I still record thru an SVT 99% of the time, but it’s the studio’s, not mine). The PF-500 is closest to the traditional Ampeg tone by far, compared to any of the others on my list, but I feel the PF-500 doesn’t quite get me there, and it doesn’t really do much else IMO (i.e. I do not find it to be very versatile personally). It’s close to the Ampeg sound, but “no cigar” when you are used to the Ampeg all-tube tone. It’s still absolutely a useable amp, but just not the greatest for me. I find it noticeably lacks power compared to the other 3 on my list (which are all 500 watt heads). I don’t know why, but I found I always had to turn the volume and gain up much higher than any of the others to compete with the rest of the band. Although I did not have any issues with it, I have read many PF-500s have reliability issues (particularly the earlier ones as far as I have read). For the money, it’s still decent, but I feel there are better options out there. Of course, these are all just my own opinions. I know there are some people that love things that I don’t and vise-versa. So if you love your PF-500, please don’t be offended by my words, as they are only my words and my personal preferences. Whatever works for you is the only thing that’s important. But I hope my experience with these amps might help others out there. Peace.
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