Double Bass Amp for Crazy8 + Crazy88 Stack

[Jazzdogg]

I am extremely pleased with the sound I'm getting from these cabs; thanks to Mike Arnopol for doing such a great job of building these lightweight wonders!

The cabs are slightly more than 10" wide; the combined impedance of the pair is 2.67 Ohms.

As much as I like the sound, power, and EQ of my iAmp800 with these cabs, my quest for a compact, lightweight, head that will perform well with DB and electric continues. Power-wise, whatever it takes to get the most out of this stack without feeling like I'm running out of steam/headroom; I'm guessing a mono amp with 600-900 Watts @ 2.67 Ohms, or dual mono with 300-500 Watts per side into 4-Ohms.

So far, the prime contenders are the EA Doubler and AI Clarus 2 series 4. Both are two-channel heads with 1/4" TS and XLR inputs, and doubling features like HPF, notch filter, and phase reversal; nominal power ratings are 600 Watts into 4 Ohms. To my years, the Doubler has a baked-in brightness that I wasn't able to tame using on-board EQ; I was underwhelmed by its power relative to the claimed Wattage.

The Carvin BX1500 and Genz-Benz Shuttlemax 12.2 are both promising, but physically too wide. Walter Woods amps get rave reviews, but they're very expensive and lack practical features conveniently provided by EA and AI. I wouldn't be averse to using 1/3 or 1/2 rack-width components if I could find a comparably sized power amp.


Are there other bass heads or components I should be considering?

Thanks!

 

[Nathan Levine]

My Focus SA sits nicely on top of the 88.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Go ahead, Nathan; rub salt in the wounds!

 

[Ric Vice]

Go ahead, Nathan; rub salt in the wounds!

Nathan,
Ouch, there evidently weren't that many Focus SA's built. We're all hunting for one of those. I hope you know how lucky you are to have bagged that power amp.

Ricn

 

[kittyboy]

Is there a difference between using an SA vs. using a different AI head with the pre bypassed?

 

[geoffbassist]

I love my Clarus and have been using it exclusively for both bass guitar and double bass for the last 6 years. Great amp.

I would love to try it with a crazy 8.

 

[Jazzdogg]

I love my Clarus and have been using it exclusively for both bass guitar and double bass for the last 6 years. Great amp.

I would love to try it with a crazy 8.

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

If you're a doubler, how does it sound with electric bass?

 

[Jazzdogg]

Do any of you believe it's worthwhile to look for an 800 Watt Clarus+ or Focus instead of the current iteration of the Clarus?

 

[singlemalt]

I'd vote the AI. I've tried it with various cabs, including the fEarfuls, and it works fine for electric. I don't play acoustic, so I can't speak to that side of things.

 

[geoffbassist]

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

If you're a doubler, how does it sound with electric bass?

Not as good and if I only played EB I would look elsewhere. That said its still very loud, clean and the sound is pretty good. IMO Its also a lot better with an active bass guitar than passive.

I just love it with double bass and with electric its good enough.

 

[geoffbassist]

Do any of you believe it's worthwhile to look for an 800 Watt Clarus+ or Focus instead of the current iteration of the Clarus?

No mine is the series 3 400 watt and it's REALLY loud for DB and BG. I also love that it goes down to 2 ohms so I can use my 2x 4ohm wizzy 12s.

 

[kittyboy]

I love my Clarus+ for DB and electric, including passive electric.

If you're not crazy about the electric tone you can always put a pre in front...

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I have owned three AI heads: series III Focus, series III Clarus and now a series II Clarus.
They are all good choices for DB but I prefer the EQ on the older ones and they seem to be a bit simpler to operate. Although the power rating of my older amp is quite a bit lower than the new offerings, it drives my Crazy 8 cleanly. The speaker just won't take any more power. Last weekend I used it with both the 8 and my 4 ohm Acme B1. It drove them very well.
It works fine for electric bass but takes some drastic EQ. Not the best choice but it's not bad at all.

 

[Jazzdogg]

I love my Clarus+ for DB and electric, including passive electric.

If you're not crazy about the electric tone you can always put a pre in front...

Thanks, Kittyboy. I have a rack-mount Aguilar Agro, and a Presonus TubePre and EQ3B I could try with electric bass.

I have owned three AI heads: series III Focus, series III Clarus and now a series II Clarus.
They are all good choices for DB but I prefer the EQ on the older ones and they seem to be a bit simpler to operate. Although the power rating of my older amp is quite a bit lower than the new offerings, it drives my Crazy 8 cleanly. The speaker just won't take any more power. Last weekend I used it with both the 8 and my 4 ohm Acme B1. It drove them very well.
It works fine for electric bass but takes some drastic EQ. Not the best choice but it's not bad at all.

Thanks, Greg, Mike Arnopol tells me he is able to drive an 8 and 88 as loud as he'd ever want to push them with a Doubler; I infer from your remarks that the new Clarus would probably also be able to push my mini-stack to max output.

 

[Nathan Levine]

Nathan,
Ouch, there evidently weren't that many Focus SA's built. We're all hunting for one of those. I hope you know how lucky you are to have bagged that power amp.

Ricn

I just waited and watched the amp section of the classifieds on the other side of TB. I missed one by a hair that had apparently been fried and thus had a Brand new amp installed in the chassis. The one I ended up getting has a burnt out power light which until now has not warranted sending in for replacement, but with my Coda R about to be sold, it is something I'll have to get on.

It's too bad that there was such little interest when they were in production. I think I was told that 60 or so of them were made. The SA box is a little clunky looking IMHO. How cool would it be if AI did a limited production run of them with a slightly sportier chassis ala the Series 4 amps? I'd buy one surely! As would a number of others I imagine.

 

[tyb507]

I'm loving my Aguilar TH500 for upright, and can't wait to try it with my Crazy8 when it arrives! Right now I'm playing through a JBL keyboard monitor with an 8", 10" and a horn and I'm kind of blown away by how good it sounds (I also got the cab for a song)!

I don't play slab, so I can't speak to that, but it seems like a popular choice.

I'll report back when my C8 arrives!

 

[Jazzdogg]

I'm loving my Aguilar TH500 for upright, and can't wait to try it with my Crazy8 when it arrives! Right now I'm playing through a JBL keyboard monitor with an 8", 10" and a horn and I'm kind of blown away by how good it sounds (I also got the cab for a song)!

I don't play slab, so I can't speak to that, but it seems like a popular choice.

I'll report back when my C8 arrives!

I have read so many positive reviews of that amp that I wish it weren't limited to 4-Ohms so I could try with my mini-stack of doom.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Have any of you tried a Mesa Walkabout with your Crazy cabs?

 

[Jazzdogg]

I'm loving my Aguilar TH500 for upright, and can't wait to try it with my Crazy8 when it arrives! Right now I'm playing through a JBL keyboard monitor with an 8", 10" and a horn and I'm kind of blown away by how good it sounds (I also got the cab for a song)!

I don't play slab, so I can't speak to that, but it seems like a popular choice.

I'll report back when my C8 arrives!

Has your Crazy8 arrived?

 

[Norre]

A 2.67 ohms load is weird. Why not make the Crazy88 an 8 ohm cab so we can use 2 of them and have a normal 4 ohm load? ... or is that impossible to do?