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Ashdown Speakers

Jammin'John

Jammin'John

Aug 29, 2004
79
1
Tug Hill Plateau
#1
I am looking at the Ashdown Mag C210T combo.
Are the speakers in this amp any good ?
Would it be better to just get the head & an Avatar cab ?
Are the stock speakers probably like the Avatar Delta ?
Is there attenuation on the Ashdown horn ?
It says a 307 watt amp BUT it doesn't say at what ohm & in the same ad it says it has an extension speaker jack.
With the stock speakers does it put out 307 watts ?
If it takes an extension cab to get to 307 watts what ohms would it have to be ? JJ :hyper:
 
#2
Amp is rated at 307w into max load of 4 ohms, the combo is 8 ohms rated i believe so you will only get about 185w unless you have a second cab (8ohms )

I have the MAG300 head and use it with various cabs when not using my SVTCL head. This is better as you can change the speakers or head in the future.

Im not sure what speakers they use they call them Blueline, they arnt Emminence and not Celestion so i guess a cheap brand of some description.

Ashdown 307w into 1 x 8 ohm cab is just about loud enough for most small gigs etc but you need the full 307 w into 4 ohms to really stand a chance.
 
#3
I know nothing about Ashdown speakers, so that gives me no reason to slam them either as mentioned in a post above. Just because you do not know their origin does not mean they are crap...a lot of fine players use Ashdown. I own one of their amps and it has performed flawlessly. Ashdown is designed by former Trace Elliott people, another high quality overseas manufacturer. I doubt they would put crap speakers in their cabs.
 
#4
I also own several pieces of Ashdown gear! Electric Blue 130 combo, and a Mini48 cabinet and Mini15 cabinet (the latter pairing powered by an ABM 500 EVO).

The speakers have performed excellently in my opinion - easily up to ther standard of my previous Trace Elliot cabs (which had Celestions in them).


Not sure about the MAG series amps though......I haven't tried them!

But it'll be 307 watts at 4 ohms as suggested - which you'll need an extension cab for... :)
 
#6
I wasnt intending to run down Ashdown, but there is a huge difference in the price of Mag series gear to the ABM series.The company is now owned by Behringer and alot is made in china so we are led to believe so work the rest out for yourselves. No such thing as a free lunch in engineering so you get what you pay for, i cant imagine the speakers in the Mag series cabs are top of the range but i might be wrong, i think common sense and using yours ears to judge is the answer.Wasnt intending to attack Ashdown but there is a big difference in Mag series to the ABM /EVO series amps and cabs.

In my opinion the Mag series is the working mans Ashdown as the ABM / EVo stuff is the gear you see played by the pros, a bit like Fender and Squire !!
 
#8
The Ashdown MAG stuff is superb. I have the 300W head and the 410. It has never let me down and is an excellent piece of equipment. As for being the poor mans ABM/EVO I wouldnt quite agree with that. The only difference between the ABM cabs and the MAG cabs is the covering material. The heads on the other hand differ in that the MAG does not have any EQ sliders, just knobs but the ABM has both.
 
#9
I have owned both Mag and ABM/EVO gear. There is one other big difference besides sliders not being on the Mag amps, it's the 12ax7 tube in the preamp of the EVO. It has a knob so you can choose to run the signal through the tube or not, or just a little bit. That creates a big difference in sound (more so when the tube knob is cranked) you'll notice more gain, presence and a bit of natural overdrive. The higher you turn your gain knob the harder the tube get's driven, but you already knew that.

As for cabs I have found that the either Mag or EVO sound best w/ Ashdown cabs. I mean let's face it, these are the cabs that the heads were voiced to go with. Any other cab (SWR, Eden, Ampeg) I've had to use my Sansamp Bass Driver to bring out more presence. It sounds like someone took a blanket off of my cab. I love the sound, but still prefer Ashdown cabs w/ Ashdown heads. I would like the 414t cab, but don't have any Ashdown dealers where I live. Anywhere else is overpriced IMHO. So for now my current set up is passive Jazz and/or P-bass>Sansamp BDDI>Aphex Optical Compressor>ASHDOWN RPM>GK 700w power amp>vintage Ampeg 8x10...I think that's all. I like the sound and have shared my rig at shows w/ other bassists. Players and soundmen both are always intrigued by the Ashdown more than anything else.
I'll get off my soapbox now. Hope this info helps somehow.
 
#10
Yes you are right about the covering material and overall finish is better on the ABM series.I was also amazed the Behringer had purchased the company but i have heard this from several reliable sources.

The Mag Amps are different as they are solid state and do not have a valve like the EVO series, there are a few other minor changes as well but still a great amp for the money.

I visit the Ashdown offices ( twice to return a failed Mag300 ) and they are very good and helpful.

Great range of amps and cabs but again you get what you pay for.
 
#11
I own the ABM 300w 1 x 15" combo, and I like it a lot. Even though I only use about 70% of its power (because I don't use an extension cab... yet), it's powerful enough for my needs (and I play in a heavy rock band). It has a punchy tone and doesn't lack highs, even without a horn... So I assume that Ashdown use quite good speakers in their ABM series. I don't know about the MAG series though...
I believe there's quite a difference between both series, not only different knobs and sliders...

I'm thinking off buying a 1 x 15" ABM cab as an extension.
 
#12
The Mag series cabs and Combos are made using chipboard and have plastic corners and lower cost handles etc

The ABM series cabs are Birch ply built use better handles and metal corners for protection. The covering is black carpet type on Mag series and better quality tolex on the ABM cabs.

Has anybody seen the Behringer website recently huge range of cheap bass gear and cabs, again speakers are a strange brand ?? so not sure how they sound, but prices are dirt cheap.
 
#13
I am looking at the Ashdown Mag C210T combo.
Are the speakers in this amp any good ?
(no one knows?) :confused: Would it be better to just get the head & an Avatar cab ?
(sounds like the Avatar cab is of higher quality) :D Are the stock speakers probably like the Avatar Delta ?
(does anyone know?) :help: Is there attenuation on the Ashdown horn ?(anyone know?) :confused:
It says a 307 watt amp BUT it doesn't say at what ohm & in the same ad it says it has an extension speaker jack.
With the stock speakers does it put out 307 watts ?(guess not) :hmm:
If it takes an extension cab to get to 307 watts what ohms would it have to be ? (8 ohm?) :bawl: Sounds like I would do better by just gettin' the head & an Avatar 4 ohm cab.... :cool: ....maybe a 2x12. JJ
 
#16
Just to put in my two penneth:

I've got a MAG 300 head, and did have two 2 x 10 MAG cabinets. Just sold one of the cabs as I really just didn't need it, the single 2 x10 works well enough by itself in every situation I've found myself in recently.

There's no horn attenuation on the MAG cabs, can't say about the ABM stuff as I don't know.

One thing to look out for with MAG cabs is the second series (Extra Deep) are much better than the original MAG's. Alot more depth to the sound.

Like Ashdown so much I'm about to swap the MAG for and ABM, so can't be that bad.
 
#18
Don't think they own Ashdown - spoke to Mark Gooday (Owner and MD) the other day and I think he would have mentioned this in the conversation. Yes apparently the MAGs are maed in China now but Mark says the quality is just as good as before - but he has to follow others or just become completely uncompetitive. In the UK manufacturing workers expect about £300-400 a week in China they get £9 - not that's not a misprint it's really £9. Where do you think all this leaves USA based manufacturing as well? Since we're all alraedy watching Chinese TVs, listening to Chinese radios and Hi Fi, use their tools, their electronic components - so what's so special about the amplifier market? I've got a little Roland MicroCube made in China that's just brilliant for £65.

The real market for home built product is the high level quality stuff, niche markets and custom builts. But the mass market that supplies 98% of players, well........you know where it's going don't you.
 
#20
I only noticed this recently in the last few months. You can imagine how excited I was that my relatively new MAG had just dropped in price by 35% or so - from the £745 I paid to £499 - that's about $1300 down to $880. Trouble is that all the manufacturers will tell you that these Chinese ones are just as good as the home built product - which maybe they are - but if you want to sell the original, who know's what that change did to you're trade in price? One guess.

I can't blame Ashdown or the managemnt team who all seem like brilliant guys at what they do and how they behave - but they have no option but to go to China to build these as everyone else is going the same route. Mark Gooday (President of Ashdown) tells me that they have just been blown away by a competitor's product that launched a little ahead of a new one of theirs at a 1/3 of their forecast price of their new product. They now have to rethink a three year development project. I bet this story is replaying in all Eurean and USA amp manufacturers. Looks like all amp suppliers will be going East for their manufacture - it's what they call "open competition". And it looks like the rest of us in the West are going to become office administrators, shop or internet site owners, truck drivers, and repairers. We seem to be getting out of the basic wealth creation business. We're told we are now in the knowledge businesses - which would be OK if everyone was really brilliant and all had Harvard degrees - but.....

If you want to be in the making / building stuff business you're going to be competing with the $16 a week that the Chinese are happy to earn! In fact, the Chinese Government recently made an announcement that they could manufacture all, yes ALL, the World's needs for manufacturing. In contrast, our governments are pretty quite about all this aren't they?

Now look at what you made me rant about - that's why I play bass and guitar and left the World of business. Try to replace me at a live gig from China!
 

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