Genz Benz Streamliner Part 3!!!!

[KJung]

What specifically was the problem? Just sayin "topic CLOSED" doesn't cut it and really makes me wonder what was up with that amp.

The key here is, there have been no more reports. There is no company that has a 100% non failure rate. My first amp had a ' non tube related' problem (don't know and don't really care what that particular problem was, as long as 10 more people didn't report it!), the second one was a bad tube (which can happen with tubes).

Again, strange that one person (me!) ran into both of these types of problems within hours of each other. Zero issue IMO for future buyers (versus, for example, the disasterous GK MB2-500 into, where owner after owner was reporting issue after issue for month after month after month).

Again, seems like a zero issue to me, and just an unusual situation that I experienced a double wammy. There are enough of these out there now that if there was a systematic issue, it would be apparant. Since Genz has been making these micro's with the ICE power modules for years now, it does not surprise me that the new models are solid. That being said.... one out of each couple hundred is probably going to fail... that half percent is probably as good as any company can get. As long as it fails out of the box and the unit is replaced, zero issue for me.

 

[12bass]

Maybe just a bit ironic that "Mr. Amp Reviewer Guy" would get the only two known bad apples from the bunch.....

 

[KJung]

Maybe just a bit ironic that "Mr. Amp Reviewer Guy" would get the only two known bad apples from the bunch.....

It was very strange indeed. Fabulous sounding box (and I'm not the typical 'Genz guy' who thinks every single piece of new gear that Genz puts out is the 'gosh gollyest best amp ever' This one is a REALLY good sounding unit IMO and IME.

 

[jlepre]

Well I got some good news yesterday. My Uber Quad that I thought was coming Monday, will actually be here tomorrow!

I can't wait to hear this head through MORE than headphones...

 

[Red Planet]

Well I got some good news yesterday. My Uber Quad that I thought was coming Monday, will actually be here tomorrow!

I can't wait to hear this head through MORE than headphones...

Do tell us what it sounds like with the Streamliner.

 

[Red Planet]

You are going to get failures from time to time. Most likely from shipping but it will happen. The key is patience when a problem does arrive. Everyone these days wants instant gratification and if they can not have that, well then everything be damned. Smooth or no smooth.

For some reason people have come to think, since we live in a (what we call) technological society there should be no failures from anything. Wrong.

You might say I'm in the business of repair and for sure failure can never be completely engineered away. Stuff happens, things break down. Yes these days we can expect less failure than yesteryears, because we know more but we can still expect it.

We do not live in a perfect world, high road or not.

 

[jnewmark]

Sorry if I missed this, but has anyone played a Fender Jazz through this amp ? I'm also one who likes lots of the clean power headroom thing, and I've only had enough when using a pre/power amp rig.

 

[husky123]

I just spent 4 glorious hours with my Jazz and the Streamliner last night. I get it now. I really get it. My last 4 amps have been a GK 400RB, Hartke 7000, Fusion 500 and now the SL. This thing is velvet smooth.

I cannot believe how good my Jazz sounds though it. It was almost like I was listening to another player and having an out of body experience.

My Jazz is passive so I had to engage the gain and crank the gain dial to about 2 o'clock. I settle on about 12 high with the preamp volume. EQ'd I actually cut the bass (first time I've ever had to do that!!!) slight boost on the 2.5 mids, slight boost on the treble. She was growling hard like that!

Even with the gain boost engaged and the gain cranked I still had very clean tone IMO. I head to dime the gain to really get some fuzz going.

I really like a lot of mids in my tone. On my past amps when cranking the mids/highs it would get very clanky and I'd just deal with it because I like the overall tone in the band setting....and let's face it, I'm not the most precise of players. When you crank the mids and highs on this thing it just boosts them but still stays dead smooth and warm. It's really hard to explain. The whole thing just fills the room with smooth and crisp warmth....if that's even possible.

Can't wait to get home tonight and play with it some more.

I've never EVER been so happy with my sound. Thanks Genz Benz!

 

[lomo]

Sorry if I missed this, but has anyone played a Fender Jazz through this amp ? I'm also one who likes lots of the clean power headroom thing, and I've only had enough when using a pre/power amp rig.

IME a watt is a watt, other than the Mesa Carbines, which (even accounting for their stoopid steep and abrupt gain slopes) seem insanely loud to me. If 900 watts was enough in a pre and power setup, it will be with this head. If you needed 2K watts before, this will fall short.

 

[KJung]

IME a watt is a watt, other than the Mesa Carbines, which (even accounting for their stoopid steep and abrupt gain slopes) seem insanely loud to me. If 900 watts was enough in a pre and power setup, it will be with this head. If you needed 2K watts before, this will fall short.

IMO, not really that simple. You are correct that a 'watt is a watt' of course, but published marketing spec watts are very difficult to compare. All are reported on different THD's, and all in one bass heads have different voicing and limiting that can make a 450 watt (published spec) head sound like 700 watts, and an 800 watt (published spec) head sound like 400 watts.

IMO, virtually any of the micro's can drive a nice, high SPL 410 or 212 to full volume, and you would probably only notice a real difference when running a large 8ohm cab or a very low sensitivity cab like an Acme or whatever.

The Streamliner 900 seemed to have, again, more output that most would ever need, but it did not give me the feel or girth of a DB750 or Mesa M9 IMO and IME. It stomped my LMII on pure, clean output. Volume on the RH450 seemed about the same, but the Streamliner was deeper and more open, which means louder in the low end. IMO there.

If you need more output than the Streamliner 900, you are playing really, really loud, I could not get the amp to even start to compress when cranking my rig louder than I would ever play live.

 

[Vic]

Pages of responses... and not one post suggesting that the Streamliner is lacking "oomph"....

You expected one?

 

[12bass]

You expected one?

Isn't there always?

 

[Vic]

So, those of you with them, can they get that super clean tube sound? I'm so not into grindy/dirty tube stuff from the amp.
I haven't read through all the posts as of late so I may have missed something.

YES. Ken already replied to you on this, but sounds like you also haven't yet seen Ed's video, and you really need to. He does a great job of covering a lot of tones on this amp...

 

[Vic]

IME a watt is a watt, other than the Mesa Carbines...

You just contradicted yourself, and set my reply up perfectly.

Disclaimer: The following is a totally generalized comment, not about GB, so don't MISinterpret it to be a sideways slam.

You're correct, that a watt is technically a watt, BUT, the BIG catcher on this, is how those watts are produced (and maintained) by different amps in different conditions. It's the dynamic behavior of the amps that sets them apart... and that doesn't even get into how you even know for sure how many watts a given amp is truly capable of. Printed specs just don't tell the whole story as we've found out so many times with so many brands.

 

[Vic]

Isn't there always?

Oh yeah, forgot where I was for a moment.

 

[Oldtimer]

I just spent 4 glorious hours with my Jazz and the Streamliner last night. I get it now. I really get it. My last 4 amps have been a GK 400RB, Hartke 7000, Fusion 500 and now the SL. This thing is velvet smooth.

I cannot believe how good my Jazz sounds though it. It was almost like I was listening to another player and having an out of body experience.

My Jazz is passive so I had to engage the gain and crank the gain dial to about 2 o'clock. I settle on about 12 high with the preamp volume. EQ'd I actually cut the bass (first time I've ever had to do that!!!) slight boost on the 2.5 mids, slight boost on the treble. She was growling hard like that!

Even with the gain boost engaged and the gain cranked I still had very clean tone IMO. I head to dime the gain to really get some fuzz going.

I really like a lot of mids in my tone. On my past amps when cranking the mids/highs it would get very clanky and I'd just deal with it because I like the overall tone in the band setting....and let's face it, I'm not the most precise of players. When you crank the mids and highs on this thing it just boosts them but still stays dead smooth and warm. It's really hard to explain. The whole thing just fills the room with smooth and crisp warmth....if that's even possible.

Can't wait to get home tonight and play with it some more.

I've never EVER been so happy with my sound. Thanks Genz Benz!

This is what I was waiting to hear. It seems passive Jazz basses, Fender anyway, are fairly low output. On my Shuttle 9.0, I have the channel volume dimed and the gain at about 1:00-2:00 o'clock normally. It's hard to get a great amount of grit out of it with my Jazz. Of course, this works for me cause I like it clean anyway. I am not a fan of the too clean, voicing, etc. of the 9.0. I am very interested in the described warmth of the Streamliner. Is your Jazz a Fender perhaps?

 

[lomo]

You just contradicted yourself, and set my reply up perfectly.

.

The contradiction was intended. I get that there are differences. My point is that it sounds like a pretty honest 900 watts, which is more than enough for most, but if one needs 2K watts in a rack, it likely will not satisfy.

 

[KJung]

This is what I was waiting to hear. It seems passive Jazz basses, Fender anyway, are fairly low output. On my Shuttle 9.0, I have the channel volume dimed and the gain at about 1:00-2:00 o'clock normally. It's hard to get a great amount of grit out of it with my Jazz. Of course, this works for me cause I like it clean anyway. I am not a fan of the too clean, voicing, etc. of the 9.0. I am very interested in the described warmth of the Streamliner. Is your Jazz a Fender perhaps?

The Streamliner input section is more similar to the Max amps than the Shuttle 9. It is virtually infinite in scope. With the 'gain' button out, it is still hotter than the 9, but can be dialed down nice and low for even high output basses to stay totally clean. With the 'gain' button 'in', you will be able to totally overdrive (if you choose) the input section with literally any bass you have. VERY nice input section on this amp.

To give you an idea (and as you can hear on my clips), even with my VERY high output Nordstrand VP5, the amp was VERY clean up through the noon gain setting (with the gain button out), and started to warm up nicely at around 1 o'clock. With the gain engaged, it snarled and screamed starting at about 10 o'clock. Nice!

 

[Oldtimer]

The Streamliner input section is more similar to the Max amps than the Shuttle 9. It is virtually infinite in scope. With the 'gain' button out, it is still hotter than the 9, but can be dialed down nice and low for even high output basses to stay totally clean. With the 'gain' button 'in', you will be able to totally overdrive (if you choose) the input section with literally any bass you have. VERY nice input section on this amp.

To give you an idea (and as you can hear on my clips), even with my VERY high output Nordstrand VP5, the amp was VERY clean up through the noon gain setting (with the gain button out), and started to warm up nicely at around 1 o'clock. With the gain engaged, it snarled and screamed starting at about 10 o'clock. Nice!

Ken, I saw your clips and appreciate it. It's unfortunate you didn't get to show the Jazz. I kinda figured the P/U on the P was fairly hot. I am, currently, using the Shuttle 9.0 on my gigs and it sounds great for the most part. I'm still looking for a little more warmth and a little less clank.

 

[KJung]

Ken, I saw your clips and appreciate it. It's unfortunate you didn't get to show the Jazz. I kinda figured the P/U on the P was fairly hot. I am, currently, using the Shuttle 9.0 on my gigs and it sounds great for the most part. I'm still looking for a little more warmth and a little less clank.

I think the Streamliner would totally fit your need... MUCH different vibe than the Shuttle 9 (which is good in its own way). I still am amazed at the 'tubiness' of the top end of the Streamliner... that very sweet tube driven treble that is smooth and not harsh at all. And, no upper mid bump in this amp like the Shuttle has (IMO)... just smooth and fat. A little bit of a cut in the bass control and a touch of bump at the low mid setting of the semi-parametric, and a slight dial down of the treble, and it is really something.