Genz Benz Streamliner; Part 4

[Saluki]

OK got mine today and I think it has some great tonal variations. I found a realy good tone through my AE212 with input gain on, gain at noon, input vol at around 9ish, bass at 10ish, mids bumped up at 1 to 2 (all mid frequencies sound good to my ear, but had favs depending on the bass), treble at 12. I switched between several gain settings and with the input gain on and off. I am not into melt your face OD, but to me this amp really opens up with the input gain on. Seems like the input gain equates to about 25% on the input volume when I was trying to match between the two ( I am sure it is more complex than that just my observation).

I also noticied a bit of scrath on the master vol. I did a couple of full turns and we'll see if it goes away, but of more interest to me is the loudness of the amp with no signal. My Mesa M6 and my GKs are not quiet amps on idle, but the SL900 is at or above those levels depending on the input vol. If you put the amp on mute the adjust just the input vol the noise floor goes from none at 0 to pretty quiet at 9 to getting pretty noticeable above that and increases with increasing input volume. I need someone to give me an idea of their noise floor with a berg cab and tweeter on about 11. This is without a signal and is obviously not noticeable when playing, but just checking. The noise floor on mute is not impacted by depressing the gain button or increasing the gain just by adjusting the input volume.

Pretty loud amp, but it just feels like more punch with the input gain in, even if you have to dial back some gain. Not sure if this has to do with that whole 3d thing or not, but to my ear sounds like more presence or lively with it in.

 

[Scott McArron]

Got my 900 today. It's all true. I can't add much that hasn't been said already. It sounds great with the RS 210. It makes this cab sound huge. I will open her up a bit more with the Eden 410. As much as I loved the RH 450, the SL spanked it. Girth, balls, oomph, depth, nice highs with out sizzle, it's all in there. It is very hard to get a bad sound out of this amp. Prefer the mid at 600. I find the sound really opens up with the gain at about 1 and the pre volume at 2, and still sounds clean, as opposed to a lower gain setting. I'm only getting started.

That's what I wanted to hear! I'm coming from the same setup. Get mine on Wednesday.

 

[Scott McArron]

Scott, you owe me! I found you yours... so I want a DB750 v Streamliner review !!!

Dang it! I sold my DB750 off a while ago and "replaced" it with an RH450. I'd love to find someone in the area, though, who wants to get together for an A/B!! Any takers?

 

[mikeluch]

Just picked up a week old SL 900 here on TB. Can't wait to return from my trip to give it a spin. I am curious how it sounds with either my 4 ohm Schroeder 1210R or 1515L for the time being until I get my Berg AE112s

 

[moretolife]

Bass NorthWest in Seattle has a DB750 and SL900, you can A/B there. BTW SL900 and Berg HT310 sounds really good together. Bass NW also have a HT310, great shape, good price.

 

[adivin]

Someone actually sold one already!

 

[Scott McArron]

Bass NorthWest in Seattle has a DB750 and SL900, you can A/B there. BTW SL900 and Berg HT310 sounds really good together. Bass NW also have a HT310, great shape, good price.

Oh, I thought they had sold out and weren't due to have more in for another couple of weeks. Shows you what I know. Maybe I'll give them a call in the next couple of days if I get a sec from work and rehearsals. If I could fit that 310 in my Mustang I'd probably be all over it.

 

[mikeluch]

Yeah, but it sold in 4 minutes, I just happened to be in at the right time

 

[Scott McArron]

Yeah, but it sold in 4 minutes, I just happened to be in at the right time

4 minutes?! Gotta be a new record of some kind.

 

[m_hell]

I think I got the last SL900 from BassNW about a week ago. Great sounding amp. Scott, if you're interested in A/B'ing with the DB750 I have some time this weekend during the day. Got a few shows in the evenings if you're interested in checking it out then.

 

[m_hell]

D'oh, I meant the RH450, not the DB750.

 

[Scott McArron]

D'oh, I meant the RH450, not the DB750.

Darn, I've already got the RH450. I'm more interested in A/Bing with the mighty DB750. Where you playing this weekend?

 

[wateroftyne]

nice clip! looks like everything set pretty flat- and good tone to boot!

Thanks!

I forgot to add that the drum track was played from my laptop via the Aux In. Pretty cool...

 

[Musicman20]

Nice to hear the TH comparison. Im starting to use mine a little more and I really like it. I think im even going to be touring without a cab and just an amp/DI like the Tonehammer, because of space restrictions.

 

[husky123]

Settings - I love this discussion on settings. Here's my sweet spot with my J:

Input gain - engaged
Input volume - noon
Gain - 2 o'clock baybee!!!
Bass - 11 o'clock
Mid - 2.5k at 2 o'clock
High - 1 o'clock
Master volume to suit

These settings make the J sing! The really cool thing is when I grab the ole P thumper I just change the mid switch to 220, leave everything else the same and instant nut kicking fun.

 

[KJung]

Of course, the settng of the gain level is very dependent on the output level of the bass and the player's technique... so someone at 1 o'clock with the gain button engaged can literally be identical with someone at 11 o'clock without the gain button engaged. Also, of course EQ is very much dependent on the voicing of the cab you are using.

That being said, with my very hot output passive P and the Berg AE410, for a warm, clean tone, but with some 'character' when you dig in:

Gain 11 o'clock (boost off)
Volume 1
Bass 11
mids flat, or slightly boosted at 220
treble 11 o'clock

tweeter 9 o'clock

With my lower output 70's type J.....

Gain 1
Volume 11
EQ totally neutral
Tweeter 10 o'clock

 

[hensonbass]

OK got mine today and I think it has some great tonal variations. I found a realy good tone through my AE212 with input gain on, gain at noon, input vol at around 9ish, bass at 10ish, mids bumped up at 1 to 2 (all mid frequencies sound good to my ear, but had favs depending on the bass), treble at 12. I switched between several gain settings and with the input gain on and off. I am not into melt your face OD, but to me this amp really opens up with the input gain on. Seems like the input gain equates to about 25% on the input volume when I was trying to match between the two ( I am sure it is more complex than that just my observation).

+1
The only knobs I tend to turn a lot for tone variation is the gain and bass control depending on what bass I play with.

For fun I played my Underwood P/U equipped upright bass through the SL900 and Thunderchild cab - it sounded really nice. I did have to turn down the gain, and the bass knob was set to 8 o'clock. My bass has a lot of bottom end to the tone.

I'm very impressed how versatile this amp is!

 

[KJung]

OK got mine today and I think it has some great tonal variations. I found a realy good tone through my AE212 with input gain on, gain at noon, input vol at around 9ish, bass at 10ish, mids bumped up at 1 to 2 (all mid frequencies sound good to my ear, but had favs depending on the bass), treble at 12. I switched between several gain settings and with the input gain on and off. I am not into melt your face OD, but to me this amp really opens up with the input gain on. Seems like the input gain equates to about 25% on the input volume when I was trying to match between the two ( I am sure it is more complex than that just my observation).

I also noticied a bit of scrath on the master vol. I did a couple of full turns and we'll see if it goes away, but of more interest to me is the loudness of the amp with no signal. My Mesa M6 and my GKs are not quiet amps on idle, but the SL900 is at or above those levels depending on the input vol. If you put the amp on mute the adjust just the input vol the noise floor goes from none at 0 to pretty quiet at 9 to getting pretty noticeable above that and increases with increasing input volume. I need someone to give me an idea of their noise floor with a berg cab and tweeter on about 11. This is without a signal and is obviously not noticeable when playing, but just checking. The noise floor on mute is not impacted by depressing the gain button or increasing the gain just by adjusting the input volume.

Pretty loud amp, but it just feels like more punch with the input gain in, even if you have to dial back some gain. Not sure if this has to do with that whole 3d thing or not, but to my ear sounds like more presence or lively with it in.

My Streamliner is the quietest amp I have yet experienced. VERY low noise level. I would think, compared to that Mesa M6, you would be in heaven with the noise level of the Streamliner.

Be careful about the way you 'test' this noise level... don't use some totally unrealistic method. Just plug our bass in, set the amp as you would play on a loud gig, and listen. You will most likely be impressed compared to the other amps you have (GK and especially the Mesa IME).

 

[wateroftyne]

I've never noticed any hiss from the 900 into my Berg HS210s - that said, I run the tweeter about 1/4 on.

 

[KJung]

I've never noticed any hiss from the 900 into my Berg HS210s - that said, I run the tweeter about 1/4 on.

Another key point is that there is a LOT of power in the volume control. That control is really the one you use for the 'optimal signal to noise' sort of thing. The gain is much more of a tone control, and the balancing of the gain and volume levels is key (IMO) to getting this amp to 'do what it does' the best. With the gain boost not engaged, I've found a reasonably 1 to -1 relationship works quite well to get the amp pumping with the lowest noise floor... i.e., 10 oclock gain, 2 o'clock volume, etc.

This might be quite dependent on technique though, so not sure how that will carry over to others, but it works great for me, and makes the setting of those two controls very simple.... set the gain to where you dig the tone, and then 'mirror' that with the volume control.