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Ashdown CTM-200R
- Thread starter Joris 55
- Start date
That's way more than a Reeves C225. I still like the form factor.
MSRP: $4,499.99 is a joke! and we still don't know about issues that may come up with a newly designed amp.
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I'm glad I got mine when I did!!!! My second 2x12 is at my local UPS depot scheduled for delivery today. Hiwatt / Reeves are some of my favorite tone stacks... but the Ashdown is just as magical
I'm not concerned about a new design, the masterminds behind it have been at long enough and there isn't anything "new" about the components.
I think MAP is $3299. Still a wad of cash, and the reason why I primarily buy second hand (especially tube amps).
My notes say I am in the hole about $2050 for my Small Block 427. This includes a new octet of KT88s. I bought this amp B-stock and the original purchase price with shipping was $1,579. The plate supply was not configured properly when I got the amp, so it was popping output tubes. After the tech figured out/fixed the problem, I bought a new matched set of JJs, and kept all of the original JJs that tested good. Ashdown replaced some of the bad tubes.
I paid $1,100 for my CTM300. It came to me with EHX KT88 and the amp could not be biased. I swapped out the bias ranging resistor, but most of the EHX tubes failed in short order. It's running a sextet of JJs now...most of them were the good pulls from the 427, so the cost is already factored against the 427.
Purchase price for my AD200B was about $1,400. The only mark on the amp was a black smudge on the back of the chassis that came off with a bit of goo gone. Of the amps I will mention in this post, it's the only one that has not needed any tubes replaced (knock wood).
Paid $2,600 for my Reeves 400. Also near mint. This amp came to me with EHX KT88 and 6550. For a short period of time Reeves used EHX as their OEM tubes. The original EHX KT88 was bad when the original owner received the amp and a tech installed the 6550. The 6550 was running really hot when I got it. I immediately replaced it with a good pull that was a better current match. 4 of the remaining 5 KT88s failed within the first year. Its running good pulls from other amps and sounds great. Apparently, it's not finicky about the output tubes, but I do believe it runs them relatively hard. I've only had one failure since I pulled all of the EHX, and it was a tube from the 90s that simply stopped working.
All of my other tube amps were long out of production when I bought them. I would say about half of them came to me with at least 1 janky tube.
I cannot wait to get mine out in public! Past the Honeymoon, my only complaint is the volume of the internal fans
So, this is quite a number of years since most of these CTM200R posts have been made.
I wanted to share that I have just recently gone through a sell-off process of my heavy touring gear to prepare for a move to a new state, new music community, and a smaller home situation where we will be in a townhome where being a good (not loud) new neighbor will be important.
For years I have had 2 4x10 Ashdown ABM EVOIV cabs and the ever-loud and beastly Marshal VBA400 (400 watt all-tube amp) as my go to rig for endless amount of headroom, clarity, and tonal flexibility.
The issue was all of that gear was very heavy and 400 watts all-tube was almost impossible to justify on most stages. I rarely was able to set the volume higher than 4 or 5.
I sold all of that off, and decided on two Ashdown cabs again (they are so well made and can take every bit of rough playing and traveling for years) - this time I went with ABM 2x10H EVO IV Compact & ABM 1x15H EVO IV Compact cabinets that are each 300 watts @ 8 ohms. For amp options I went with the Ashdown ANT (200 watts @ 8 ohms) due to its tiny size and fantastic sound at small volume; and the Ashdown CTM200R (a B-Stock showroom model that had a few scratches on the side).
So far I have done 2 shows with both the 1x15 and 2x10 and the ANT where there was front of house PA support, and I was more than pleased with the presence, volume, and tone I maintained throughout both gigs.
This past weekend, I had the chance to do an outdoor show with front of house PA support, and I decided to put the CTM200R to work with the 1x15 and 2x10, and I was so glad for the purchase decisions I made during that show. I was concerned that 200 tube watts was not going to cut it from what I was used to having behind me on stage, but I was pleasantly surprised to find my concerns unmerited. I received many compliments and questions about my updated rig and the load in and load out were way more polite on my body.
I wanted to share that I have just recently gone through a sell-off process of my heavy touring gear to prepare for a move to a new state, new music community, and a smaller home situation where we will be in a townhome where being a good (not loud) new neighbor will be important.
For years I have had 2 4x10 Ashdown ABM EVOIV cabs and the ever-loud and beastly Marshal VBA400 (400 watt all-tube amp) as my go to rig for endless amount of headroom, clarity, and tonal flexibility.
The issue was all of that gear was very heavy and 400 watts all-tube was almost impossible to justify on most stages. I rarely was able to set the volume higher than 4 or 5.
I sold all of that off, and decided on two Ashdown cabs again (they are so well made and can take every bit of rough playing and traveling for years) - this time I went with ABM 2x10H EVO IV Compact & ABM 1x15H EVO IV Compact cabinets that are each 300 watts @ 8 ohms. For amp options I went with the Ashdown ANT (200 watts @ 8 ohms) due to its tiny size and fantastic sound at small volume; and the Ashdown CTM200R (a B-Stock showroom model that had a few scratches on the side).
So far I have done 2 shows with both the 1x15 and 2x10 and the ANT where there was front of house PA support, and I was more than pleased with the presence, volume, and tone I maintained throughout both gigs.
This past weekend, I had the chance to do an outdoor show with front of house PA support, and I decided to put the CTM200R to work with the 1x15 and 2x10, and I was so glad for the purchase decisions I made during that show. I was concerned that 200 tube watts was not going to cut it from what I was used to having behind me on stage, but I was pleasantly surprised to find my concerns unmerited. I received many compliments and questions about my updated rig and the load in and load out were way more polite on my body.
I've definitely found 'my' settings... mellow and shift buttons 'in' , bass and middle at 16, treble at 13
I did disconnect the internal fan... it gets warm but not too bad. I'm thinking of ordering a fancy silent fan like I put in my last computer build.
I'm hoping to get some sound samples this weekend, I'll put them in this thread.
I did disconnect the internal fan... it gets warm but not too bad. I'm thinking of ordering a fancy silent fan like I put in my last computer build.
I'm hoping to get some sound samples this weekend, I'll put them in this thread.
