Best Class D Bass Amps???

[Lepparda]

I did that, but it still distorted with the 4x10. I would have thought the head was screwed up, but it sounded fine through the 1x15 for some unexplainable reason???

Odd.

 

[sheltjo6]

The only solid state class d amps I've used were the GK MB200 & MB500. They meet the modern tone requirement you mentioned, but as for a vintage tone, I don't think they meet that requirement.

 

[foothilla]

I have the Subway 115 and 112. I bought the 115 first and really liked it, but felt it needed midrange. My sound puts emphasis on a barky midrange, and I bought the 112 to help with that. In the time since I bought them, however, I have come to appreciate the 115 a whole lot, and the 112 not so much. If I had it to do over, I'd get two 115s, and I think there is another 115 in my future (look for the 112 for ale on here at some point). I want to try the config of two 115s with a 112 and see what that's like first.

I've never had a Mesa PH cab, so can't speak to that. But I will say that the SW 115 is my fave cab, maybe ever. It sounds so good it makes all my other amps sound good.

Nice. I was thinking the 1x15 paired with the 2x10. Almost pulled the trigger today. Went back and exchanged the D-800 for the D-800+. While I much prefer the simpler controls of the D-800, I really really wanted the tuner out and the effects loop on the D-800+. I almost left with the Subway cab setup. Lucky for my wife, they only had the floor demo's, and I hate buying demo stuff.

 

[bdplaid]

Nice. I was thinking the 1x15 paired with the 2x10. Almost pulled the trigger today. Went back and exchanged the D-800 for the D-800+. While I much prefer the simpler controls of the D-800, I really really wanted the tuner out and the effects loop on the D-800+. I almost left with the Subway cab setup. Lucky for my wife, they only had the floor demo's, and I hate buying demo stuff.

I so wish I could walk in and demo/buy Mesa gear. My wife would be unhappy. That is, if she found out! ;-)

What do you think of the difference in sound between the D800 and the D800+?

 

[otp57]

Hello All,

I am interested in getting a SIMPLY DESIGNED class D bass amp head, but am feeling a little overwhelmed. Class D seems to have been rapidly evolving in recent years and many of the "class D" threads on talkbass are 5+ years old. So, I would love opinions on the absolute best class D amps out there, as of late 2016.

Price doesn't really matter, I am looking for the best of the best. It has to have enough power to drive 8x10 cabs, and I want the design to be simple (i.e. the Orange Terror Bass, or the Quilter Bass Block). I am tired of super heavy, unreliable, rattling tube heads (just sold my last one, a Mesa 400+). And I have plenty of class A/B bass amps. I'm looking to step into the modern day, with a high end, lightweight class D amp. I want something that can do slap tones and modern sounds,...but would also like to be able to roll the treble back and get some nice, warm, vintage tones.

Thanks in advance for taking your personal time to help out your bass playing brethren.

The only way to find your amp is to try them.
Example for me it is the Hartke 5500 and I jam many amps from tubes to vintage.
You just can't say I want the best state of the art amp.
Your state of the art amp is the amp the give you the sound you are looking for.

 

[9mmMike]

I just spent some quality time in the studio where I hooked up my Shuttle 6.2 to an Ampeg 810. It was pretty nice. Still think I prefer my Genz rig but this little Class D worked fine. No doubt the Genzler stuff continues in this great Class D tradition.

A nice used ShuttleMax 9.2 would be awesome. That's what I use in my loud (three guitar) band with a 4 ohm 410.

 

[jayman121]

If you get the Tonehammer you'd better like distortion. I sent mine back the same day. It sounds a lot like an overdriven tube amp. Clean sounds it does not do. I hated it.

I also had a GK MB800. The tonal opposite of the TH. Very bright, very clean, sounds very GK, meaning a big dip in the mids. It's a great amp if you like that sound. Can be very punchy, but I find the midrange lacking just because of the baked-in GK sound. Reliable and very small.

My main amp is currently a Mesa Subway D800. Loved it when I got it, now I like it a whole lot, but don't love it after having it for a few months. I wish it were brighter. Having said that, it's a monster of an amp and worth every penny. It'll drive anything down to 2 ohms, and the controls are relatively simple. The thing that's a little different is the contour knob - on paper it's something of a mid dip, but sonically it does more than that. It adds richness to the sound. It's a great sounding amp. If you like this kind of sound - warm and punchy - you can't go wrong.

If I had it to do now, I'd buy the Mesa Subway D800+. I think the bright switch is needed. But then, the D800+'s controls look like more than you want.

I have a couple of other Class D's on the lower end you might like (I do): Fender Rumble 500. Dead simple, has a lot of grunt, just sounds good. Been reliable for me. I also have a Rumble 500 combo and the same comments, Love it.

A surprisingly good sounding Class D is the Acoustic B1000HD. With a graphic EQ, it's not what you want, but I mention it because I love the sound of it. I've only just gotten it so can't speak to the reliability.

And there's MarkBass, but you probably know about them.

Good luck!

 

[jayman121]

TecAmp makes some great sounding head and cabs. The Puma 900 has plenty of tone and power in a 3 lb package.
Very accurate sound. Probably not the amp for you if you're looking for a more tube sound. The cabs are lightweight and compact but are punchy and project well. Tried Markbass, EBS, Glockenklang, TC Electronic, GK, Epifani, Walter Woods, Eden, SWR, Genz Benz, Ampeg, Aguilar and a few others over the years and IMO TecAmp is the best I've used. The Puma 900 with one or 2 2x12s kick some serious butt. Snappy highs & bite for funk and nice thick lows and mids for rock if needed.

 

[TomB]

Look up JGR's custom amps on this site. They might tickle your fancy.

 

[Bander]

I'm in the market for a micro, similar to the OP, but half the wattage, going into a Markbass NY 121. I noticed little or no entry on the Hartke, LittleMark series, Carvin, TC Electronic - are these omitted on purpose, or just not widely available? My main rig is all Hartke, so I was a little interested in the TX600?

 

[9mmMike]

I'm in the market for a micro, similar to the OP, but half the wattage, going into a Markbass NY 121. I noticed little or no entry on the Hartke, LittleMark series, Carvin, TC Electronic - are these omitted on purpose, or just not widely available? My main rig is all Hartke, so I was a little interested in the TX600?

I have a pair of Shuttle 6.0's in the classifieds - 375W at 8 ohm or 600 at 4 ohm. I like these alot and just replaced them with the 6.2 versions. Good match to that Markbass.

 

[TheBassPreacher]

Honestly I'd say one of the best is the Milkman Half and Half 700 Watter, but they aren't really readily available.

 

[aproud1]

I'm in the market for a micro, similar to the OP, but half the wattage, going into a Markbass NY 121. I noticed little or no entry on the Hartke, LittleMark series, Carvin, TC Electronic - are these omitted on purpose, or just not widely available? My main rig is all Hartke, so I was a little interested in the TX600?

The tx600 sounded good to me but seem underpowered into an 8ohm cab. That NY121 can handle a good amount of power so I'd throw more at it. You don't have to use it all but it would give more flexibility down the road.

As far as amps go. The Carvin stuff is good though the BX series seem to need a good amount of eq to sound great. The B1000 would be my pick for your cab. Think they have 17% off right now too.

I haven't found a TC amp that I really like but they do get some love around here.

If you go used get a MarkBass LM2 or 3 or F1, F500 are all great amps and well matched to your cab.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

I had some time with the Phil Jones D400 on the gig a week ago and was seriously UN impressed. I was hopeing to really dig it but I couldn't get the mids I was looking for and it felt severely underpowered even with a 4 ohm load into 2 112 ceramic Berg cabs. I'd say my Genz 6.0 blows it away.

 

[Jesuguru]

I really like the rumble sound and it is one of the under rated amps power wise. Rumble 200 can hang with other 350w heads and the 500 can hang with the 800w ones

For the price/performance ratio, Rumble 500 would be at the top of my list except for 1) no speakon, 2) DI is post-eq only.
Also price/performance of Carvin BX500/700, except reliability concerns.
Also price/performance of Quilter BB800, except lack of specific eq (especially low mid).

So wanting a powerful, clean-sounding, (hopefully) reliable and fully featured amp that won't leave me with too much GAS, looks like I'm just gonna have to shell out for either a Genzler 800, GK MB800, or maybe a Tecamp/Eich 900. I figure I can "dirty up" the clean sound with a Sansamp BDDI, but can't clean up dirty.

 

[Robroy]

For the price/performance ratio, Rumble 500 would be at the top of my list except for 1) no speakon, 2) DI is post-eq only.
Also price/performance of Carvin BX500/700, except reliability concerns.
Also price/performance of Quilter BB800, except lack of specific eq (especially low mid).

So wanting a powerful, clean-sounding, (hopefully) reliable and fully featured amp that won't leave me with too much GAS, looks like I'm just gonna have to shell out for either a Genzler 800, GK MB800, or maybe a Tecamp/Eich 900. I figure I can "dirty up" the clean sound with a Sansamp BDDI, but can't clean up dirty.

I remember when I used to be looking for the perfect setup I was constantly finding that one amp had everything except one thing, while another had that one thing plus everything else except one thing, etc. drove me nuts.

Turned out that a lot of stuff I thought I just HAD TO HAVE was just stuff I thought I might need because it was available.

now I have a 1200 watt monster powered by a BBE bass pre fed by a Boss GT 6b, but I usually just bring my 200 watt Acoustic head and my bass plugged directly into it. I'm thinking of selling most of the rest of that stuff.

 

[jthisdell]

For the price/performance ratio, Rumble 500 would be at the top of my list except for 1) no speakon, 2) DI is post-eq only.

The Rumble Di's are post everything including master volume. So adjusting your volume will also affect the FOH. It is not a true DI, rather an XLR line out. Now I have a Rumble 150 v2 and gigged out with it plenty and it worked fine as long as you understand this and don't crank up your volume in the third set.

 

[Munjibunga]

The B|Amp is the best and it will just keep getting better. However, I also own and like the Mesa Subway D800+, GK MB800 and MB Fusion 800, and Demeter VTBP-M-800D, all great amps.

 

[9mmMike]

For the price/performance ratio, Rumble 500 would be at the top of my list except for 1) no speakon, 2) DI is post-eq only.
Also price/performance of Carvin BX500/700, except reliability concerns.
Also price/performance of Quilter BB800, except lack of specific eq (especially low mid).

So wanting a powerful, clean-sounding, (hopefully) reliable and fully featured amp that won't leave me with too much GAS, looks like I'm just gonna have to shell out for either a Genzler 800, GK MB800, or maybe a Tecamp/Eich 900. I figure I can "dirty up" the clean sound with a Sansamp BDDI, but can't clean up dirty.

You can still find used Shuttle's in many flavors out there. They have speakon & pre/post DI that you mentioned. A used Shuttle and an MXR pre-amp is the combination that I'd recommend.

 

[jayman121]

Class D amps have come a long way in a few years tone and power wise. Like I said earlier I'm using a TecAmp rig with a Puma 900 amp with the S212 and XS112 cabs stacked. The 12" drivers offer a nice compromise between 15"s and 10"s. There's a nice sweet spot in the midrange with 12s. The Puma 900 offers great tone and amazing power (900 watts) in a tiny (3 lb.) package which you can carry in your gig bag. If you want more control over tone, a great compressor and a "Rock" control to dial in some grit and dirt the TecAmp Black Jag 900 is a killer amp. Made to be rack mounted but it only weighs a few ponds more than the Puma at just under 7 lbs. Also if you happen to be near a TecAmp rep you can arrange to try one of their rigs on your gig to see how it works for you in your situation which is something you can't get from other companies. Check out tecampusa.com As a lot of us know sound is VERY subjective so you should get whatever sounds good to you. What sounds great to me might not tickle your fancy, but it's always fun to try gear out right?