Have never owned anything lightweight. All my stuff is big and heavy. I don't particularly have difficulty moving stuff - wheels and leverage and whatnot. However, I don't gig anymore. Everything has a solid footprint. Back in the day we were pretty steady. Ate many 4am meals. I certainly do understand how loading in and out could get weary. 4 or 5 trips to the van really sucks when dawn is approaching.
Well, that's kind of the debate. The
weight of
stationary amps and cabinets (barring any weight or size restrictions) doesn't have much significance in the argument, aside from cabinet size/volume correlations to tone. It's only when the amps are in motion, that a person needs to personally debate the pros and cons of size, weight, tone, physical strength, etc. The more often the gear is moved, the more significant the weight and size becomes, regardless of proper lifting techniques, and utilization of wheels and leverage to make the task easier. It also provides an exponential increase in the possibility for injury.
The other side of the debate, and not directed toward yourself, is the perpetuation; lighter weight gear doesn't sound as good as heavier gear. The most asinine part of that conclusion is that tone is subjective and severely clouds any "factual" information about the subject.
Also, we have yet to see two identical preamps ran through colorless power amps and had conclusive evidence that the heavier power amp sounds better than the lighter one. People claim to have tried with different brand power amps, or trying to compare two completely different amps. The argument that is usually brought up is that power amps
DON'T color the sound, and therefore it has been done. The proper answer in most cases is that power amps SHOULDN'T color the sound, but many do lend slight variances to the tone.
Once that test is complete, and all of the factual data is presented, the other obstacle is that sound is
STILL subjective and if a person prefers heavier or lighter gear, then that's their choice. I'm firm in the camp of, play what you like regardless of what it is.
