Ampeg SVT-210AV vs Markbass New York 121

[Eltote]

I'm choosing between these 2 cabs. Which one gets louder? What are the differences in sound?
I plan to use the cab with a PF-50T or PF-350, depending on the room size (home practice, rehearsals, small-medium gigs).
Currently I'm using an Ampeg PF-115HE. I love the Ampeg sound but I'm also looking for convenience, size, weight and home space improvements. I don't care for tweeters, no use for me.
I practice at ultra low volume at home (dial at the minimum audible, my pf115 is too boomy, I would be ok with less lows).
Any opinion is welcome! Thank you guys!

 

[Aloe]

an svt210 is indeed less boomy than a 115, but much more detailed in mids. one or two of them is a nice match with a pf-350.

the ny might be a bit muddy with the tweeter completely off, it rolls of at 3.5kHz, while the 210 goes up to around 5kHz. it's one of the most characteristic markbass cabs with focused hi mids that make that signature markbass sound.

I'd go with the 210, considering it's vertical (less space) and sealed (less tricky to placement).
the ny121 might be more road-worthy tho (like more sturdy on the road).

 

[Timmah]

The 210AV is a fantastic home practice cab and serviceable for rehearsals or small gigs depending on your situation. I used (and abused) one for years on blues gigs in small bars and for the most part it kept up, but adding a second one made it a much more legitimate option with a larger band. I really loved that vertical stack- sealed 8x10 vibes, great monitoring because of the increased height, and tight, controlled low end, which can be a huge plus in some rooms.

Some caveats: it rolls off pretty heavily towards like 40hz, so if you like 5-string basses or big wide lows, it's not for you. It's also pretty light duty for even a 210, so don't expect epic volume.

 

[shoot-r]

+1 with Aloe and Timmah.

Between the two cabinets your considering, and what your wanting to do with it, I'd say the Ampeg 210AV would come the closest to giving you what your ears are wanting to hear.

As mentioned in the other posts, the 210AV is one of the smallest and easy to transport 210's available, but it's a moderate duty cabinet. If your playing with a moderate hitting drummer and anything above a moderately volume guitar player your probably going to need two 210AV cabs.

Something else you might consider trying with your existing head and PF-115HE cabinet is a Broughton "Always On", HPF pedal.
Cutting boom and mud at any volume level from your sound is exactly what the HPF is for, they're very small, around $100.00 new, (I bought mine used and in mint cond. from the T.B. Classifieds for $50.00.)

 

[Rickles]

I don't know about the Markbass, but I use my two 210AV's with my Mesa Walkabout and it sounds great. I prefer a sealed cab.

 

[sloppy_phil]

I've had both cabs for years. The Ampeg cannot come CLOSE to keeping up with that NY cab. Those 210's from Ampeg are basically toys which were simply not suitable for live performance. Even a pair of them was barely adequate for most mid size rooms. Whereas the MB cabs have a humongous amount of power, and are fairly neutral sounding (small mid bump but otherwise flat), so will sound like what you want them to sound like. Get the MB you won't be sad!

 

[kcducttaper]

I've owned Ampeg and (now) Markbass and I find Markbass cabs to be MUCH more transient, clear, and detailed than my Ampegs could ever hope to be while also being significantly louder for "the same" speaker combination.

Why not pit a Markbass 210 against the Ampeg 210 though? I've got a Markbass 102HF that would absolutely blow the doors off the Ampeg 210 in nearly every category other than simply "the Ampeg sound" (which can often be dialed in very closely via a EQ or pedal). It doesn't take up too much room and can get dang near almost as loud as my old Ampeg SVT 410. I can't speak to the NY 121 specifically, but generally speaking, small cabs have a hard time with the super low notes, so if you're playing a 5 string like me, keep that in mind.

My opinion is if you specifically want the Ampeg sound, there's no replacement for the original, so the 210AV is the way to go but it may need some help in louder full band settings. If you prioritize basically anything else including portability, volume, clarity, etc, I'd pick the Markbass (although maybe a Markbass 2x10 or larger 12" version).

You could stack 2 Markbass NY's for not too much of a bigger footprint than the Ampeg 210 and it would be monumentally louder than the Ampeg. Just a thought...

 

[Peteyboy]

Any opinion is welcome!

The league blatantly favors the KC Chiefs.

 

[DuluthDank]

Markbass and Ampeg cabs are pretty different. If your music is rock oriented, like the Ampeg sound sound but wanted something different in a cab than what Ampeg had to offer, I might be tempted to look at a company like Orange or Ashdown. With those low watt amps you have, you might like getting it down to 4 ohms and accessing all the watts the amps have to offer. I might look at two 112 cabs. Ashdown RM-112T and the Orange OCB112 would have have a classic rock oriented tuning, be modular and light, and with a 2x12 stack you could get all the wattage out of your amps for louder gigs.

There's a reason why most of the famous people you see playing Markbass are in funk and jazz, and most Ashdown and Orange players play rock. I never cared for how Markbass cabs took overdrive either. Just IMO of course.

 

[Thundar]

Listen, I know there are folks that like that lil Ampeg 210 but I have played both these cabs, and that Markbass 121 had more balls than 2 of the Ampegs...I played thru a two 210 stack and its was fart city...and I wasn't using a 5 string or cranking the lows either.
I do love my Fender Rumble 2x210 stack though

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I own a 210AV but have only used it out a few times. I have owned many different smaller 210 cabs as well as using them in a variety of environments. The 210AV in a large room with many hard surfaces was very undefined and flubby. I didn't feel good pushing it. It sounded great in my house though.

I previously owned a Carvin 210MBE cab, and that cabinet could handle everything from a BAM 200 to an Mpulse 600 and sitll have room for more...indoors or around a lot of wall outside at least. The Carvin had a small front port which helped it with oomph I think.

Compact 210 cabs are a tricky beast of you are playing anything that require keeping up with a loud drummer or pushing the gain.

 

[SJan3]

I have not used the Ampeg 2x10 but I've owned the MarkBass 121HR and 102P for years and recently purchased the NY121. Based upon the limited specs available, there's no way the little Ampeg can hang with any MarkBass cabinet. The NY121 is surprisingly loud for it's physical dimensions. The 102P even more so. The 102HF mentioned above is a great performer! All of these MarkBass cabinets are rated to handle 400 watts RMS and have an efficiency of 100db @1watt. I've said it for years, embrace the yellow. For the money, there is no better choice, IMHO.
*With all that said, if your ONLY use is playing "ultra low" at your home, the little Ampeg will no doubt deliver enough. You might even consider saving a boatload of $$$ and buying a small combo like the Ampeg Rocket 110. I have the predecessor BA110v2 and it is more than adequate for home practice. Best you try before you buy.

 

[goran]

This is what I've owned in the past year and had opportunity to drectly compare using amps ranging from 200W to 1000"
- Markbass NY122 (small 2x12")
- Markbass NY121 (small 1x12")
- Markbass Traveler 121H (bigger 1x12")
- Ampeg SVT 410HE

All Markbass cabinets have original B&C drivers, not the inferior drivers Markbass is using now.

My experience:
- I could easily rehearse or gig Markbass NY122 or Ampeg SVT 410HE. Markbass is as loud as Ampeg, but I prefer Ampeg's sound.
- Little Markbass NY121 was nowhere near loud or full as 2x12". You would expect to brng the master up and it'd be as loud as 2x12"; but well, no . It sounds tiny and small. Nice for coffe shop gigs or home rehearsal. I'd need two to get the volume that I want.
- Bigger Markbass 121H is a completely another story - same 1x12", but in a bigger enclosure is enough for a rehearsal, but not loud enough to gig. Sounds balanced, I love it!
- Ampeg SVT210 - I played it for 5 minutes before I decided it doesn't sound good even for a home practice - lot of mids, not a lot of low end. Sounds "dry". Markbass 121H fits this role much better. I have to say that it's surprisingly loud - if I were comparing mids only, it's very close to it's bigger 4x10" brother, but it sounds very lacking in bass. I'd expect a different story if I was using two 210.


As always, let your ears be the judge - this is my experience, someone else may hear it differently.

 

[Eltote]

Thanks for all your advices and experiences! It's a hard choice and this is getting even harder as now I discovered Barefaced One10 and Two10. Any opinions on these?
There are quite opposite opinions on the svt210 and the MB New York

 

[Nebadon2000]

Thanks for all your advices and experiences! It's a hard choice and this is getting even harder as now I discovered Barefaced One10 and Two10. Any opinions on these?
There are quite opposite opinions on the svt210 and the MB New York

This is TB opposite opinions/assertions is the norm

The Markbass would be my choice having positive experience with CMD 121P combo but yes Barefaced is a viable option to consider
but you also have to consider if you don't like it there is no recourse for return and a most likely several week waiting period

saying that Barefaced should be easy to sell without to much of a loss; It has a 'Baked in' vintage tone many like[sota Ampeg like] and you can get without a tweeter although you can turn tweeter off with Markbass

 

[Aloe]

Thanks for all your advices and experiences! It's a hard choice and this is getting even harder as now I discovered Barefaced One10 and Two10. Any opinions on these?

just get the two10 if your budget fits.

it's a 'traditionally' voiced cab (similar to 210av), but loud, heavy-duty and able to take lots of power.

 

[kcducttaper]

For Barefaced, the 10" cabs are advertised to have a "warm fat" tone.

The 12" cabs are a lot more "flat" sounding with the Big Baby 3 even being claimed to be a "FRFR" cabinet.

If you go the Barefaced route, the 10" will give you some color, but the 12" will more accurately reproduce the signal you give it.

 

[SJan3]

This is what I've owned in the past year and had opportunity to drectly compare using amps ranging from 200W to 1000"
- Markbass NY122 (small 2x12")
- Markbass NY121 (small 1x12")
- Markbass Traveler 121H (bigger 1x12")
- Ampeg SVT 410HE

All Markbass cabinets have original B&C drivers, not the inferior drivers Markbass is using now.

My experience:
- I could easily rehearse or gig Markbass NY122 or Ampeg SVT 410HE. Markbass is as loud as Ampeg, but I prefer Ampeg's sound.
- Little Markbass NY121 was nowhere near loud or full as 2x12". You would expect to brng the master up and it'd be as loud as 2x12"; but well, no . It sounds tiny and small. Nice for coffe shop gigs or home rehearsal. I'd need two to get the volume that I want.
- Bigger Markbass 121H is a completely another story - same 1x12", but in a bigger enclosure is enough for a rehearsal, but not loud enough to gig. Sounds balanced, I love it!
- Ampeg SVT210 - I played it for 5 minutes before I decided it doesn't sound good even for a home practice - lot of mids, not a lot of low end. Sounds "dry". Markbass 121H fits this role much better. I have to say that it's surprisingly loud - if I were comparing mids only, it's very close to it's bigger 4x10" brother, but it sounds very lacking in bass. I'd expect a different story if I was using two 210.


As always, let your ears be the judge - this is my experience, someone else may hear it differently.

All my MarkBass cabinets have the newer speakers and they sound great!
The B&C claim is largely inflated, IMHO.

 

[goran]

I had the chance to compare two Markbass NY122 cabinets—mine, which was made in Italy, and a friend's, which was made in Asia (though we didn't notice that at first).

He originally bought his because he liked the way mine sounded and wanted the same cab. However, when we put them side by side, we immediately noticed they sounded different, though we couldn't quite pinpoint why.

This was around 9–10 years ago, when Markbass had just moved production from Italy.

It's not that newer speakers suck, but the older are clearly better (speaking fom my experience).

 

[sloppy_phil]

I had the chance to compare two Markbass NY122 cabinets—mine, which was made in Italy, and a friend's, which was made in Asia (though we didn't notice that at first).

He originally bought his because he liked the way mine sounded and wanted the same cab. However, when we put them side by side, we immediately noticed they sounded different, though we couldn't quite pinpoint why.

This was around 9–10 years ago, when Markbass had just moved production from Italy.

It's not that newer speakers suck, but the older are clearly better (speaking fom my experience).

It's all very subjective, I think. I had a pair of Made in Italy 12" cabs (NY121 and Traveler 121h) for about 10 years, and gigged the crap out of them, so got very familiar with their sound. Now I have one of the newer M58 or whatever it is, the 210 "energy" model I think. Anyways, I put that cab up against both of my older ones, and I could not hear any differences; still sounds exactly like a MB cab to me.

So now my older cabs have been sold, and I have the 210 left. It's been well over a year, but absolutely no regrets from me thus far! And, for whatever it may be worth, I've noticed that the current cabs are once again being made in Italy.