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Bergantino B/Amp at NAMM
- Thread starter Munjibunga
- Start date
After spending some time testing the amp and trying it on some gigs, I'd say Munji/Mike is pretty spot on on his assessment... The EQ is easy to adjust on the fly and changing your EQ points is a breeze... Getting into the menu is easy as well.. I'm not a tech head, but the manual makes everything easy to understand and use... I have 2 CN-210's and 2 NV-115's... Both sound great with the amp, but I'm leaning towards the 210's for my needs.. The amp sounds just as Munji/Mike stated, Hi-Fi but not sterile... I played the cabs with my Aguilar TH-500 and then the Berg B/Amp.. The Aguilar sounds good with the cabs, but the Berg B/Amp just brings your cabs to life... Everything is there, a much fuller sound and you hear what you have been missing, but did not know... I live between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, N.Y. and about 2 hours from Toronto, my fellow TalkBassers are welcomed to stop by and check it out and bring your cabs as well...
Will you cover the airfare, too? I've played the amp, but I could use me some good wings right now.
I wish I could Munji, you're good company !!!
And I wouldn't be able to buy new toys for awhile ....
Airfare from Tasmania Aus shouldn't be too much. ? I'll even forgo the wings. ....Chicken that is 
Envious! !
Envious! !
After spending more time with the amp I'm divided between the 2 cabs I have, the CN-210's and NV-115's... Both sound great in their own way.. I've been experimenting with them in the basement and have only had the CN-210 on 2 gigs with the amp... I may take the NV-115 tomorrow night for a night club gig.. The CN-210 for Saturday night which is a Casino gig.. Next week I have an outdoor on Wednesday in which I will use the 2 CN-210s together, this setup rocks.. Jim's amp setting for 2 of CN-210 cabs has one on top of the other or vertical.. I kind of like them side by side for now... I've been trying them with my 2 Mike Lull MV-5s... One had the Nordy Big Singles with the Lull/Bart preamp, the other Dual Coils with the Lull/Bart preamp and this one really shines with the NV-115..
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,518
- 19,954
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,518
- 19,954
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Fascinating. I hadn't been following the recent posts now that cats have played it.
What is the power like? Is this going to be a Walkabout thing where the sound is there, but power has limitations?
Edit: Oh, I see now; 700W @ 4ohms. So, its about in the same class as the Demeter Mini? Would you want to use something like the Mini in addition to drive two 4 ohm cabs; or is the output into two 4 ohm cabs sufficient?
What is the power like? Is this going to be a Walkabout thing where the sound is there, but power has limitations?
Edit: Oh, I see now; 700W @ 4ohms. So, its about in the same class as the Demeter Mini? Would you want to use something like the Mini in addition to drive two 4 ohm cabs; or is the output into two 4 ohm cabs sufficient?
The B-Amp is 2-ohm capable at 800 watts. You set the amp for 4/8-, 2.67- or 2-ohm operation in the firmware.
I talked to Jim yesterday about the feedback filters and he suggested that I take my Breedlove ABG down to BSD to test them out. I sat facing the amp and an HD212 with the bass about 14 inches away from the cab. I had no plug in the sound hole, so this was about as bad as it gets. Playing at moderate volume, I got a loud, obnoxious howl on "A" at 55 Hz. I cut back the "A1" (55 Hz) -12dB and it removed most of the howl, but I found that the howl was completely killed by setting the filter to the "A2" (110 Hz). The note was feeding back on the first overtone. Keep in mind that this is an acoustic instrument only 14 inches from the speaker, and the feedback was eliminated. George and I were blown away - it really works, even in extreme conditions. Then I noticed some feedback on "C" with the filter set on "A". That went away when I moved back from the amp a few inches. Ultimately, if you're standing out in front of the amp experiencing feedback, there's no doubt in my mind that the amp will eliminate it, because you'll be nowhere as near the amp as we were.
I talked to Jim yesterday about the feedback filters and he suggested that I take my Breedlove ABG down to BSD to test them out. I sat facing the amp and an HD212 with the bass about 14 inches away from the cab. I had no plug in the sound hole, so this was about as bad as it gets. Playing at moderate volume, I got a loud, obnoxious howl on "A" at 55 Hz. I cut back the "A1" (55 Hz) -12dB and it removed most of the howl, but I found that the howl was completely killed by setting the filter to the "A2" (110 Hz). The note was feeding back on the first overtone. Keep in mind that this is an acoustic instrument only 14 inches from the speaker, and the feedback was eliminated. George and I were blown away - it really works, even in extreme conditions. Then I noticed some feedback on "C" with the filter set on "A". That went away when I moved back from the amp a few inches. Ultimately, if you're standing out in front of the amp experiencing feedback, there's no doubt in my mind that the amp will eliminate it, because you'll be nowhere as near the amp as we were.
After more time with the amp and the opportunity to use my NV-115 and CN-210's on gigs I've been loving this amp.. Last Friday night was the NV-115...
Very tight and smooth sounding, plenty of lowend and power... I especially love the midrange driver on these cabs.. Saturday was the CN-210 for a wedding at the casino with sound/lights provided.. These cabs are very open sounding with the amp, plenty of highs/lows and everything in-between.. This is a 8 member band which includes a 3 piece horn section and I have no problem keeping up and cutting through... Wednesday was an outdoor in downtown Buffalo in which I brought 2 CN-210's, this is a killer rig.. One would have been plenty, but I wanted to try two for ***** and giggles !! I had them stacked which was nice and I didn't get a chance to try them side by side... My guitar player complimented me on the sound/tone and the soundman loved the clean D.I. signal... Also, somebody asked earlier about a profile for the HS cabs and I asked Jim, you would just use the HD profile for your particular cab...
Very tight and smooth sounding, plenty of lowend and power... I especially love the midrange driver on these cabs.. Saturday was the CN-210 for a wedding at the casino with sound/lights provided.. These cabs are very open sounding with the amp, plenty of highs/lows and everything in-between.. This is a 8 member band which includes a 3 piece horn section and I have no problem keeping up and cutting through... Wednesday was an outdoor in downtown Buffalo in which I brought 2 CN-210's, this is a killer rig.. One would have been plenty, but I wanted to try two for ***** and giggles !! I had them stacked which was nice and I didn't get a chance to try them side by side... My guitar player complimented me on the sound/tone and the soundman loved the clean D.I. signal... Also, somebody asked earlier about a profile for the HS cabs and I asked Jim, you would just use the HD profile for your particular cab...
Last year, I had a gig with some New Orleans guys at a boat club in San Diego. I had an early CN210 and an AE210, so I took them both and stacked them vertically. I was playing through my Mesa Prodigy. I plugged in only the CN210 for the first set and it was fantastic. At the beginning of the second set, I added the AE210. It was way too much for the room, and I unplugged the AE after the first song. I've used the CN210 at many gigs since then and it's never let me down. For bigger gigs I use the CN212. I sold the AE210.
Note: Another issue was that the AE210 was directly coupled to an elevated wooden stage, so things go boomy in addition to loud. These days I always take a Gramma Pad to the gig. It helps with the mechanical coupling if not the acoustic.
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Munjibunga,i see that you are very impressed by this B-amp,i believe it is fantastic,but how would you compare it GK MB800 to?More similarities or not?I have read around here that you have one,it would be interesting not to me only,i suppose.
Tonally, I'd say they're more similar than not. They both have a very clean sound and don't do overdrive - but that's not the objective for either. They also sound pretty uncolored when set "flat." I like that as a starting point so I'm not spending half the night twiddling trying to find a sound that works. I use the MB800 at gigs a lot, and it sounds great through Jim's cabs. I'd say the MB800 could be my favorite amp currently, but it's a close call with the others I have.
The MB800 has a very good analog feature set, but necessarily has more knobs and switches. The game changer is the digital feature set in the B-Amp, particularly the cab presets. If there were any irregularities in the voices of his cabs, the presets even them out. As I've said before, if you feel a little intimidated by the feature set, the amp sounds great just using the 4-band EQ. You can gradually burrow into the firmware at your leisure.
BTW, George tried out the auxiliary input today and played along with it. That's the way to practice - sounded excellent.
Right, but the MB Fusion 800 is not that much different. It can get some grind, though.
