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Big E Speakers Part 4 - Quadraphenia

#3,101
MrBEAR said:
The Baby Sumo is 600 watts @ 4 ohms, 300 @ 8 ohms and 150 @ 16 ohms.

Mike and I agreed on the following:

Tantra half amp/power, however that works, and gain matched by ear with the Sumo. Sort of it turns out.
We alternated Bass --> Tantra pre-amplifier --> Baby Sumo / Tantra -->and went with the MAS Bodai 110 as the control cab.

Highs were fairly close, not so much to call it a close tie, but the Tantra has a defined air whereas the Baby Sumo has a slightly veiled yet pleasant presentation.

Lows were similar with the Tantra seeming meatier for us both.

Morning after thoughts added here with cleaned up text from a TB private message I answered last night from someone interested in the Baby Sumo with most of the contents of that reply included.
I have cats that spent my nine hours of drive time and probably more sleeping. Breakfast for them is almost always in the 4:00 am time frame with after meal preening conducted in front of the great room stereo waiting for the soundscape clips from BBC America World News. Audiophile cats, go figure. A snack and a nap for me, from which I was roused by a flurry of E-mails from Europe on an unrelated topic. Android updates ensued so I brewed coffee fired up the laptop figuring I would try to stay on the routine schedule until a longer, deeper couch snooze/nap set in. Supposed to snow here anyway so.......

I heard the Sumo as going lower, with the low B having a pure even voicing on the Sumo.
The Tantra seemed to be more palpable. Presentation, for me, had the Sumo going "this is what I hear" while the Tantra said "this is what you want to hear".

The mid-range was different and we talked at length about the Sumo having more grind or a textured quality than the Tantra. Then Mike plugged in again. Lowered the volume on the Sumo as he felt that it was a bit louder and may be what we were hearing. Quick listen and we agreed that output was more closely matched. Several back and forth's later we agreed that the Sumo had more grind and the Tantra had cleaner, wider spread. But... they were very close and well into the different flavors of really good territory and thus down to personal preference.

Is the Baby Sumo, Grace Design AliX combo a Tantra killer?
Nope.
Head and shoulders above say Magellan, Subway D800, Aguilar TH500, LWA1000 and MT900?
Yup.
IMHO, and based on what I heard and what works for me.
Conforms to "you get what you pay for".

Considering price points alone they should be.

Mike's bottom line was that the Sumo beat the popular Ice 700 module in all categories and.... at the price, size point, was an absolute steal.
He figured, just spit balling, if he did something similar with his power module he would probably be north of $650.
The Baby Sumo, with shipping and import duty, was south of $500

BTW: Euro to U.S.D. was at 1.07 yesterday so the Baby Sumo is now going for less than I paid.

All pretty quick impressions, hope they help.
Click to expand...

Thanks MrBEAR! Food for thought, or maybe GAS.
 
#3,105
Uhuh.

You are all fortunate to not have been present when I visited Mike and Dan yesterday.

After a fitfully vivid night of "Bass Plums" dancing in my head I placed my cash and credit cards in the safe and locked the door.

I then went for a long walk to try and clear my head. More than one moment of clarity, artistic vision, and future direction was the biggest reward.

Fortunately, for now, I cannot remember the safes combination nor the location of the written sequence.

Passing the time evaluating everything in the studio, making a list, and preparing for the purge.

Apologies to everyone for possibly being an enabler of G.A.S.

BUT!

This is Talk Bass, where several forumites requested my impressions, and it did feel good and help my own direction to "Spill the Bass Beans".

Cheers, and Enjoy.
 
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#3,106
spiritbass said:
Nothing but a bunch of GAS-enabling fools around here... :cool:
Click to expand...
Yeah, I love it when someone creates a "Talk me out of buying... " thread. As if anyone here would talk ANYONE out of buying bass gear... EVER.
 
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#3,108
MrBEAR said:
Uhuh.

You are all fortunate to not have been present when I visited Mike and Dan yesterday.
Click to expand...

I have been considering the new MAS110 for awhile now. Talked with Mike some weeks ago and he said, "I think you'd dig this cab." He and I have had quite a few conversations, and I was one of the guys pushing towards more forward mids (and shallower/taller cabs). A pair of MAS110s stacked vertically would make me feel like a mini-Woodstock setup :D
 
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#3,112
Hi, My name is Steve and I have a perpetual putzing affliction.
Not to be confused at all with G.A.S as my perpetual putzing leads to discoveries, contradictions to popular TB presumptions and espoused wisdoms.

In short, my putzing leads me to investigate and weed through "all you alls" current G.A.S fads.

At my visit to M.A. Soundworks, during the trial run with my MAS 112 - 18 Sound & 4x mids, brought to current specifications. I was pleased and happy with the result.

Mike noticed my eyes perusing the three Bodai cabs and suggested we start with the 116's knowing I was interested in a studio only cab. Several notes in my first question was: " will it play nice with my Matchless Thunderman? ". His response was no, gave me the reason, then stated the MAS 112 - custom Eminence with 4x mids at my home was the definitive low power tube statement from the current lines.

I started to point to the Bodai 110 and got probably not - no, as he then patted the Bodai 115 and said definitely No. Okay, fair enough, he really does know his cabs capabilities.

Segue to several TB personal messages, a couple of phone calls and a nature walk yesterday brought about a filament glimmer in my noggin.

Prior to the arrival of the G.S.S. Baby Sumo I had been recording with and practicing through an Audio Kitchen "The Big Trees " 2 1/2 watt class A tube pedal- box with amp and line outputs available.

"The Big Trees ", line out, into the Baby Sumo and started swapping out Glockenklang B.A.C, KW Cabs Super 8, Acme Low B One series III, and the aforementioned MAS 112 .

And Done. Personal Nirvana.

Direction navigated, decision to sell all four MAS Cabs made, maybe only three if I keep the now "heavy " tube heads.

I now have a Bodai 110 in the cross hairs.

So that my friends is the answer to what was my personal favorite from the New Bodai lineup.

Cheers
 
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#3,113
MrBEAR said:
I now have a Bodai 110 in the cross hairs.

So that my friends is the answer to what was my personal favorite from the New Bodai lineup.

Cheers
Click to expand...

That was my favorite, as well. More particularly, two of them! :bassist: :bassist: :bassist: :thumbsup:
 
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#3,115
Been rocking this setup for a month long tour with my prog rock band District 97. Just absolutely kills. More detailed impressions to come once tour is over.
 

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