EA iAMP - Fragile?

You should do a search. There are likers and dislikers. Those who don't mind that their gear has needed some service or initial tweaking and those who think that the gear is fragile. There are those who have had bad experiences with their cabs as well as their head. Seemingly real bad experiences. Dead on Arrival speakers etc. I had one come messed up with no noticeable damage. I recieved an NL-210 then had been trashed in transit and it not only looked bad it sounded wrong. I expected it to sound okay and look beat. I would have sent it back but I expected it to take some impact.
My 800 has been wonderful after being sent back for being a little noisy. It's been fine and never has let me down. Niether have my two Cxl112s. It would have to be really bad and disrupt my gigging activities for me to give up on the brand because it sounds so good. I haven't found a rig that will do my Guild Ashborys justice and also be so portable.
My 2 cents.

 

I used an EA iAmp 800C in Iraq. We mostly played small places inside the Green Zone for morale purposes.

My experience was that the amp itself was bullet proof, as was the cabinet. The speaker was the problem (it eventually blew), but I attribute it more to the spotty voltage we had as opposed to the speaker. Once it blew, EA sent me a replacement head, a new speaker, and an additional CXL-112, all free of charge - talk about customer service! I didn't need the head, but they sent a new one anyway. They also arranged to have a Furman AR-1215 voltage regulator sent over to deal with any voltage issues.

I don't own an iAmp now, but I will sing their praises till the day I die - they're a great company and product, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to someone looking for a small, portable, and powerful package.

Alan
Iraq, 2005-2006

 

I've been using a new iamp 300 for the last several months with absolutely no issues. The amp was shipped after the initial rollout quality issues and has worked flawlessly. I've used both a DB and electric bass with the amp in a number of different venues without a hitch. The biggest risk I see with the amp is it's extremely light weight (2+ pounds). A good yank on the bass cord could easily pull the amp off the speaker on to the floor. Be sure to hook your bass cord through your speaker handle!

 

+1 to Chadd's post. I would do a search. Similar to the posts already in this thread, you will find many, many posts talking about the excellent service and support when cabs failed or amps hissed, buzzed, or failed, etc. For some, that's OK. For others, it's not.

 

I owned an old EA500 and it was killer. It took a 10 foot fall flat on it's face and still worked. Of course it had some cosmetic damage but it served me well and the CS was great. This was a couple years ago.


Dan

 

I've had my EA iamp800 2 x NL210 rig now over 18months. Went from an Epifani UL112/UL110 / Eden WT550 setup.
All I can say is my EA rig has given me a lot of pleasure & no issues at all. Use it 1-3 times most weeks. I also have an Eden WT800C but use my iamp800 nearly 90% of the time. I find I can dial in my tone a lot easier on the iamp than the Eden. Most times just run flat with some tweaking on my bass. The NL210 is a fantastic cab with great tone especailly with the iamp but I also like it with the Eden as well. I think EA may have had some QC issues a while ago but from what I have heard and going on my experience it seems these issues have all been resolved.

 

I had the infamous bad jack problem. But other than that, my iAMP combo has been reliable. I even slipped on some ice and fell on the iAMP. Hurt my arm, but the combo had no problems.

 

+1 You'll see my prior comments. Basically my iAmp blew up and nearly electrocuted me, due to a shipment of bad capacitors sold to EA. The amp was not "fragile" at all, it just had a bad component. EA provided perfect customer service to fix up the amp, and I'm not sure how they could have avoided the problem in the first place. That said, I'm not sure whether I want to try again with another iAmp.

 

I don't blame you..sheesh. Like I said I loved my Iamp but after that I would go in a different direction for sure.


Dan

 

No problems here with iAmp reliability. At one time or another I've used every iAmp model except the 300, and only once did I have a problem. An original UK model iAmp had a bad output transistor and started to blow fuses. No speaker damage. My local tech shop replaced the transistor and it never happened again. At the point where the problem developed the iAmp had been in use for six years. I still use that amp without a backup.

 

I use EA cabs exclusively now. I have a CXL112, a 12" wizzy and a 10" wizzy. The only problem I had was when my 10" wizzy stopped producing sound. I sent it in to EA and the driver was totally blown. They fixed it for free and even Emailed me pictures of the damage and told me how it happened. My son copped to it after the fact... I rehearse twice a week and tend to gig between two and eight times a month and these speakers have never failed to perform perfectly. I recommend EA cabs to anyone every chance I get.