I ended up auditioning the Rumble V3 40 and 100, the Traynors and the Ampeg BA108 against the MB110.
The Fenders made me think of a Bassman TV. Pleasingly full, but with a midbass peak that made the A string jump out, especially on my P-bass V. It was as if the driver was a bit underdamped. No big deal, except it was tricky to dial out. The price and weight were great on both models. The 100 was definitely more 5-string friendly, but the size and the boom sent me back to looking at smaller boxes.
The 10" Traynor has flexible EQ and a decent low end extension. However, the woofer gave it up a bit too soon, especially if I turned up the low frequency expander. Nice switchable tweeter and feature set, but I was underwhelmed. The little Ampeg is amazing for less than $100, but the B string was the weakest of the group.
After playing them all back to back, my ears were getting tired, so I decided to check out some larger rigs for a fresh perspective.
That was when things fell apart. The micros all sounded weedy, once I started comparing them to bigger combos like the Markbass CDM 121p, G-K MB112, and the Traynor SB112. The Markbass in particular had a more professional tone and feature set, as well as playing significantly louder before it ran out of headroom.
I could have taken either the Markbass or the G-K home, but they are both larger than I had in mind.
That sent me back to examining my options. The AER and the Markbass both sound great, but it's hard to swallow the price, especially since neither one plays loud enough to carry a gig with a drummer, at least in the circles where I travel.
The Fenders made me think of a Bassman TV. Pleasingly full, but with a midbass peak that made the A string jump out, especially on my P-bass V. It was as if the driver was a bit underdamped. No big deal, except it was tricky to dial out. The price and weight were great on both models. The 100 was definitely more 5-string friendly, but the size and the boom sent me back to looking at smaller boxes.
The 10" Traynor has flexible EQ and a decent low end extension. However, the woofer gave it up a bit too soon, especially if I turned up the low frequency expander. Nice switchable tweeter and feature set, but I was underwhelmed. The little Ampeg is amazing for less than $100, but the B string was the weakest of the group.
After playing them all back to back, my ears were getting tired, so I decided to check out some larger rigs for a fresh perspective.
That was when things fell apart. The micros all sounded weedy, once I started comparing them to bigger combos like the Markbass CDM 121p, G-K MB112, and the Traynor SB112. The Markbass in particular had a more professional tone and feature set, as well as playing significantly louder before it ran out of headroom.
I could have taken either the Markbass or the G-K home, but they are both larger than I had in mind.
That sent me back to examining my options. The AER and the Markbass both sound great, but it's hard to swallow the price, especially since neither one plays loud enough to carry a gig with a drummer, at least in the circles where I travel.
