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Boss Katana Bass ...

The way I see it[my 2 cents]class d is light and efficient offers a lot of power for reasonable $ but at a cost in sound/tone.Yes to me I think bass amps with class ab output sound better but at the compromise in weight and bulk.To me that 13lbs isnt a big put off.To some it is.And by some chance it doesnt work out once I get it chances are I might end up with one of those class d wonders most likely a Mesa Subway.But what I stated on here about watts loudness holds true.If you took a pair of tens and put a 160 watts to them,played for a while and then turned up to 350 watts and played you would be hard pressed to tell a difference in volume.Some of these new amps claiming they have a 1000 watts to me is crazy.Back in the 80s I played in a Metal band and the subs on our pa were a 18 and a 15 on each side being ran by an old class ab Peavey CS 800 that was around 400 watts per side at 4 ohms crossed over about 150 hz.Both guitar players had 100 watt half stacks and I had a Mesa D180 with a 215 cab.Those woofers had around 100 to 150 watts apiece going to them at any time and were plenty loud covering the stuff we had on stage.I guess in a nutshell I think class d sounds good but class ab sounds better.Class d is more efficient,lighter and class ab is bulkier,heavier.If your happy with your class d amps that is all that matters not what I think.But im one of the few willing to carry a few more pounds for better tone.Play on everybody.
 
I can certainly dig the concept, what would *actually* make me buy one is an amp that could model both. I haven't actually looked into the models though, so maybe this one does.
Haha, same. I play my guitar through my PJB Double Four practice amp once in a while because it's manageable volume but I have to put some grit in front of it. I play my bass through my Fender headphone amp often, that's got traditional guitar models. I suppose the speaker is the hardest part to apply to both?
 
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Haha, same. I play my guitar through my PJB Double Four practice amp once in a while because it's manageable volume but I have to put some grit in front of it. I play my bass through my Fender headphone amp often, that's got traditional guitar models. I suppose the speaker is the hardest part to apply to both?
I think it might be the next step for the market, just making an amp that could reliably do both reasonably well. I'm not asking for "Pepsi challenge" replacement on a super lead and an svt, just "sounds reasonably close." There's no real reason why they don't make a decent combo and put a few presets for both into the preamp, aside from only having one amp to sell you now.
 
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Here my thought so far hoping that Boss put some/ well designed good 10s with good sensitivity into that amp.I think it will be just as or almost as loud as a Fender 500/210.Being an class ab amp I think the bottom end will be a little bit tighter/punchier.And beyond all that the Effects such as 3 different compression types,delay,chorus,flange,etc with 3 different voices in the preamp such as vintage[tube]modern and flat will more than make up for 13 lbs of weight.How much extra would it cost/weigh over the the cost of the Fender if you had to go buy a Boss quality compressor,chorus,delay,flange,pedal board cables etc that the Boss already has and the Fender doesnt.Bet you might make up that weight difference fairly quick.But time will tell.The difference in weight might make up having not to need any other external effects.
 
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I like this amp, especially the pre/post DI, other combos seem to lack that feature.

Roland discontinued the Cube, I have the 100w version, I guess this is the replacement via Boss. The cube is plenty loud for a little box, the Katana 110 is around the same weight.

My class D GK MB110 is about half the weight but the Cube does sound nicer to me. I use the GK for practice and rehearsals because it’s easy to carry, works on gigs with PA support if I want a quick in and out lug.
 
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I got mine today[Katana 210] from Sweetwater and took it to a practice tonight.Yes everybody it gets loud enough even with only 160 AB watts.I dont have a competitors 210 combo to compare it too but the drummer was fairly loud and the guitar player was using an older 30 watt Marshall combo and I kept up with them no problem and the amp still had volume to spare.The bottom was nice and tight and it had a fairly deep sound somewhat similar to my tube gear.Didnt get into the effects any but will in the near future.Its easy to move around and doesnt feel like 48 lbs.post more soon.
 
Ah. Don’t you just love it when a product is reviewed before it’s even bought and owned?

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Ah. Don’t you just love it when a product is reviewed before it’s even bought and owned?

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Watch for my review coming up soon on the Sweetwater site.The problem is that individual that posted that does need to go further to understand how watts,loudness and decibels work and how the Boss Katana 210 has built in compression,delay,reverb,chorus,flange etc,etc 3 different voices vintage,flat and modern and many other features that the Fender Rumble 500 210 doesnt.If you had to go out and buy all those effects of Roland/Boss quality you would spend hundreds of $ more and the weight would be equal to or more of the difference between the Fender Rumble 500 210 and the Boss Katana 210.I weighed the amp and came up with 45lbs.So to whoever posted that on Sweetwaters site.Please do go further,learn that 350 watts is barely 3db louder than 160 watts which is barely any difference to the human ear.These are class ab watts that do make a difference or Boss would have never used a class ab amp to begin with because they could have made more profit and saved weight with a class d module and sacrificed tone-Like Fender Did,so please before you post another review of something base it on facts and actually using the product instead of conjecture and nonsense. Thank you P Cheen for showing that individuals review.
 
Hey everybody following this thread.Go to youtube where Andertons Music does a side by side comparison of the Fender Rumble 100 vs the Boss Katana 110.The Boss amp[60 watts ab] is just a little over half the power/wattage of the Fender[100 watts class d] and has a 10 inch speaker vs the 12 inch in the Fender.This ought to put to rest class ab vs class d watts but everyone listen for yourselves and comment.