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Demeter 600 mini review

#21
man, i'm soooooooo broke and i still wanna try one. Have you compared it to any other similar powered heads in terms of volume? I'm wondering if it's noticeably louder than say an eden 550/400 or an aggie 500. I'm not expecting it to be as loud as an aggie 750, but somewhere in between those extremes would be nice.
 
#23
jokerjkny said:
i forget the math, but 200 watts really isnt gonna do that much difference in terms of volume. more efficient speakers would give up a more readily discernable difference, i thinks.

with that said, i've given up on anything below 800 watts. just not enough wattage to make my Acme cabs happy.
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oh i know all about the dB math joker, i just know that not all 400 watt heads are equal. even the db750 seems to be rated differently than the ag500. into an 8 ohm load (an aggie 410), in theory the 750 should be just a bit louder than the 500 (i think the 500 is supposed to put out 275 or so at 8, and the 750 puts out 425) that shouldn't even be a 3 dB difference. In practice the 750 sounds (to me) to be about 6-10 dB louder! Very differently designed amps to be sure, but i think the rating is just a tad conservative for the 750. Ir reminds me of those 300 watt trace heads that would smoke an swr sm-900 in bridge mode. no contest.

sooooooo........i'm wondering how the demeter stacks up.
 
#24
I got lucky and found my HPB-1 used for $450. that with a $500 power amp and its tone city. I'll still lug my little GK1001-II to gigs instead of dragging the rack anymore though. I always use the parametric when I use the Dem. It's sweet.
 
#26
um... yeah said:
I'm just wondering if it has a fan, and if so how loud is it. Also how it would handle a 2 ohm load in regards to heat. Anyway, who else has got one?

Bump intended.
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I'm also wondering about the 2ohm thing which is the only draw back on my WWU. Sometime I would like to use my Berg NV610 (4ohm) and one Berg HT112 sittin on top which i think makes about 2.67 ohms or there about. I guess as long as it's greater than 2ohms it will be all right, but I'm still wondering abou the fan and heat at 2ohms.

I love my Dem 201s and Crest CA9 but it's heavy as hell :rollno:
 
#27
it's been my experience that reputable companies won't list an amp as ok to use at 2 ohms unless they're darned sure it is. Last thing they want is to have to do free repairs because joe shmoe used it with a 2 ohm load "just like you said i could".
 
#31
Maestro4Bass said:
No speakon only 1/4 inch and a banana plug... I've since had a chance to
use the HB600 with 2 Epi 4 ohm cabinets. That's right running at 600w at
2 ohms. I was very impressed. The head didn't over heat. But the best
part is the sound, comparable to my HBP-1 and Crest CA9... I know hard
to imagine.
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Hmmmm...well it there was any head I would even consider buying, this one would be at the top of a very short list. It's been a long time since I've tried a demeter preamp though, I have no experience with his new stuff at all. Is the parametric reallas good as everybody says? I'm not usually a fan of para-EQ.
 
#32
I know this is an old thread, but I just became interested in this amp. Do any users have an opinion about the rather unusual 'gain only - no master volume' set-up of the preamp. It seems strange to control the volume of the amp from the preamp gain control, since different levels of input at the initial gain stage of the preamp results in (at least in most heads I've played... and especially tube heads) quite different sound, tone and warmth. Seems like a negative to me... and is one of the only hi end (or even low end) heads that I'm aware of that works this way.
 
#33
K
I assume you are speaking of the 201S which I have.
The master is internal. Does limit even more though. I don't know the logic or genious behind this design. Anyway I set mine were I got the most out of it an started jammin'. Cool preamp, especially with NOS tubes. Not a tweaker's dream.
 
#36
Big String said:
K
I assume you are speaking of the 201S which I have.
The master is internal. Does limit even more though. I don't know the logic or genious behind this design. Anyway I set mine were I got the most out of it an started jammin'. Cool preamp, especially with NOS tubes. Not a tweaker's dream.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure what the 201S is. I'm talking about the 600 watt hybrid head.... it seems that only having the preamp input as a gain control would really be a problem at low volumes.... it seems it would be like, for example, running an Eden 800 with the master volume all the way up and the preamp gain on virtually 0, which would be horrible for tone and signal to noise ratio.

I have a feeling there is something I'm not understanding here. It seems like a great head, but I've just never seen another head without pre and post gain controls. I have heard something about the 600 having an internal trim pot. So... maybe the volume on the unit is actually a 'post' preamp volume, and the internal sets the input sensitivity. Still seems like a limiting design to me.

My key question is.... can you keep the sound relatively similar at very low and high volumes, like other heads where you can set the input to the preamp 'constant' and adjust the volume of the unit using the post preamp 'master'?
 
#37
KJung said:
My key question is.... can you keep the sound relatively similar at very low and high volumes, like other heads where you can set the input to the preamp 'constant' and adjust the volume of the unit using the post preamp 'master'?
Click to expand...

This is a good question...when I had my Demeter 201s preamp it only had the pre-eq gain (most preamps still have a post-eq volume control) but that didn't make any difference sense you are contolling master volume with the poweramp. But I don't see how on an integrated head you can just had a preamp gain without a master volume control...
 
#38
KJung said:
I'm not sure what the 201S is. I'm talking about the 600 watt hybrid head.... it seems that only having the preamp input as a gain control would really be a problem at low volumes.... it seems it would be like, for example, running an Eden 800 with the master volume all the way up and the preamp gain on virtually 0, which would be horrible for tone and signal to noise ratio.

I have a feeling there is something I'm not understanding here. It seems like a great head, but I've just never seen another head without pre and post gain controls. I have heard something about the 600 having an internal trim pot. So... maybe the volume on the unit is actually a 'post' preamp volume, and the internal sets the input sensitivity. Still seems like a limiting design to me.

My key question is.... can you keep the sound relatively similar at very low and high volumes, like other heads where you can set the input to the preamp 'constant' and adjust the volume of the unit using the post preamp 'master'?
Click to expand...
[edit: I own a VTBP-201S preamp & this is what my comments are based on, but I suspect the 600 head preamp is set up the same way.]
My understanding is that the gain is what it is (not sure at what point the internal trim works in the circuitry).
The volume control is a preamp output attenuator.
 
#39
I have owned Both Demeter preamps and powered them with a QSC PLX-1602(not sure if 1602 is correct). Loved them both. But I bought the HB-600 and is awesome. The punch of this amp rivals the punch of my Orange bass tube head! It can go as low as 2 ohm loads. The amp is bullet proof. The only complaint I have is the replacement of the preamp tube requires unscrewing the top to get to it! So, if you rack mount it...... I have called Demeter support and dealt directly with James Demeter. Cool guy, great service. The tone of this amp is versatil but I leave most of the settings at12 O'Clock or flat. Sometimes I boost the Bass, or treble as needed. I love this amp!
 
#40
metron said:
:eyebrow: The EQ on the Dem pre is very useful. IMO of course.
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I have owned almost every hip piece of bass amplification and cabinets in the last 35 years. IMHO the Demeter VTBP front end is the be all end all. I bought a Demeter Bass600 in 2005 and played the snot out of it until recently had James mod my VTBP with an 800D power module. I couldn't be happier. The Bass 600 has been trouble free since day one, 8 plus years!
 

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