Genz Benz ShuttleMax Question

The 12.0 has two power amps in it. They are 600 watts each into a 4 ohm load.

 

That is correct. Some amplifiers have 2 power amps that can be bridged.....SWR SM 900 is one...but the Shuttle Max cannot be bridged.

The 9.0 or 9.2 Shuttle Max has a single 900 watt (into 4 ohms) power amp. I own the 9.2 and have found it to be a great sounding amp with all the power I need for the jazz gigs I play....I use mine with a pair of 8 ohm Aguilar GS 112 cabinets. The 12.0 can be used with a pair of 4 ohm cabinets and that something the 9.0/9.2 cannot do. Moving more air with two cabinets will give you much more additional loudness than a single cabinet.

All that said, unless you are playing in a very loud band I doubt that the difference between a 600 watt and 900 watt amp will be an issue.

The Shuttle Max is a great design and is my favorite head for electric bass. Put a good sounding tube in it and it just kills.

 

The 2 channels are specifically for players who have 2 x 4 ohm cabinets (effective 2 ohm load) and will get 600 watts per cabinet (1200 watts RMS total). This is a good match for a pair of 4 ohm 410's.

Amps that bridge can't drive a 2 ohm load, so bridging doesn't help.

 

I had a Shuttlemax 12.0 for awhile and have played through the Shuttlemax 9.2 and Shuttle 9.0 and 9.2 heads. Unless you're running two 4 Ohm cabs, three or four 8 Ohm cabs, or something like an 8 Ohm 210 atop a 4 Ohm 410, I would go with the 9.x series heads over the Max 12.0.

You can't bridge the 12.0 into a single cab (though you do have a built-in backup if one side fails) and the 9.x will have more power into an 8 Ohm or a 4 Ohm load. Not an earth-shattering amount more but enough, in some (louder, single cab) cases, to make the different between being on the edge of what the amp can do and managing comfortably.

 

what kind of single cabinet are you looking to put more than 600 watts through?

 

Correct, different approaches for different needs. When the Max came out, 400-600 watt, 4 ohm 410's were quite common and popular. This was a solution that addressed this need, plus there's an automatic, redundant, auto-switchover power supply for the preamp and DI circuitry which adds an additional factor of reliability for the touring guys.

 

I had a 9.2 and it was very loud with a GB 2x12 NeoX.
Obviously way more power than what the cab could safely handle

 

And the espresso maker. Don't forget it had one of those too. Now everything is K Cups.

 

Ok Roger, you got a good chuckle out of me!

The 9.2 with a sine wave generator will drive a variable speed blender however, ideal for making those late night NAMM booth blended cocktails