Genz-Benz Streamliner Part 6

[Gab124]

Loopee,
I have a LMIII and a SL600. The LM is effectively now a back up amp. But they are both similar in tone (warm), the SL just has more of it. The SL goes lower and I like the mids better, I think they are more balanced with the voicing. The highs are more natural to me, and not overbearing when boosted. I think the mention above about wanting to punch ,instead of cut, through and wrap the music is a great idea of what the SL will do/can do. YMMV

 

[Red Planet]

OK now back to the Streamliner.


Was playing the other day and my drummer said man that thing is loud. I had the master volume on 9:00. I told him that and his comment was "well it prolly don't get much louder than that" so I reached over and turned it up to 12:00 and plunked a couple notes.

Those eyes got big around, guitard was getting agitated at this point as he had some new $2200.00 tube head that was not keeping up to the Streamliner (really loud drummer).

A few minutes later I asked do they think the amp had any more steam? I reached over turned the master to 3/4 and played a couple lines and the Earth began to move. Now this was with the Gain Switch engaged and the Preamp Volume dimed. You can imagine how loud it was with a P Bass plugged into a 4 ohm load.

I then turned the thing back down to 9:00, unhooked one Berg HT112ER cab and left the other one connected, and we began to make music. The guys were just amazed at how good and loud and small my new rig is.

The Streamliner is a wild hairy Rock & Roll Machine. Sure you can play any style of music on it but it is begging to be Cranked and Rocked.

 

[Eublet]

.

LMII - think dry nasally clank right up till it starts to squashy.

Seriously, have you ever even tried a LMII? That description is ridiculous, whether you like it or not.

 

[Eublet]

Loopee,
I have a LMIII and a SL600. The LM is effectively now a back up amp. But they are both similar in tone (warm), the SL just has more of it.

This is much more accurate. Thanks for being objective.

 

[Red Planet]

Seriously, have you ever even tried a LMII? That description is ridiculous, whether you like it or not.

Yes I have played an LMII. I owned the first LMIII in the country, I also owned a TA501, and demoed considerably an SD 800.

What else would you like to know about them? I'm glad to be of service.

And the Streamliner sounds nothing like MarkBass ever built. Truth.

 

[David A. Davis]

Someone asked for some pictures of the Streamliner bags, so here goes.


The small compartment easily holds the cables in the pic. 15ft. Monster cable, 3ft. Speaker cable and the power cord. It could hold a few more small items. Overall good quality. Thanks to Greg @ Rocket Music.

 

[Eublet]

Yes I have played an LMII. I owned the first LMIII in the country, I also owned a TA501, and demoed considerably an SD 800.

What else would you like to know about them? I'm glad to be of service.

And the Streamliner sounds nothing like MarkBass ever built. Truth.

I don't think the SL sounds like any MB amp. I take objection to you calling the LMII nasally and clanky. It's quite ludicrous, especially for someone such as yourself who has bragged about running the Shuttles "dead flat". I think anyone who gave an objective opinion would say that ANY of the Shuttles will have more upper mid presence and less fullness when compared flat to a LMII, including the 9.0. So how could the LMII be nasally or clanky to you when the 9.0 is not? I just get tired of these kinds of fanboy comments that have to tear down other gear when they have no basis in reality, especially when it might cause someone else to form an opinion or spend their hard-earned money. We should be objective when talking about gear. I know thats not the TB way, though.

Sorry, but I'm a bit cranky this morning.

 

[Red Planet]

If you do not like what I say then put me on your ignore list.

I stand behind what I say and your calling me names is rude and against the rules here at TB.

 

[Tunaman]

The LM III is clanky without the VPL & VPF filters... I think yall both right in a way but of course in a Streamliner thread we're not going to have a huge in depth review of the LM III. I chose the Streamliner over the LMIII & LM tube myself, more NATURAL tube warmth without EQ. I think needing to add bass with EQ to get warmth doesn't sound the same.

So the LM can get warm, not naturally without EQ & doesn't sound like the Streamliner warmth so you both win!

 

[vision]

I don't think the SL sounds like any MB amp. I take objection to you calling the LMII nasally and clanky. It's quite ludicrous, especially for someone such as yourself who has bragged about running the Shuttles "dead flat". I think anyone who gave an objective opinion would say that ANY of the Shuttles will have more upper mid presence and less fullness when compared flat to a LMII, including the 9.0. So how could the LMII be nasally or clanky to you when the 9.0 is not? I just get tired of these kinds of fanboy comments that have to tear down other gear when they have no basis in reality, especially when it might cause someone else to form an opinion or spend their hard-earned money. We should be objective when talking about gear. I know thats not the TB way, though.

+1...I agree completely. We should be able to give opinions on these amps without being offensive. I've tried just about everything out there, and the LMII is the perfect amp for me. I tried the Streamliner and while I know it isn't the thing for me, I can objectively see why someone with different tone goals would absolutely LOVE it. There really isn't anything like it on the market. But just because it's not for me doesn't mean I should bash it. People that can't give negative opinions without bashing make their personal agendas clear.

 

[Eublet]

If you do not like what I say then put me on your ignore list.

I stand behind what I say and your calling me names is rude and against the rules here at TB.

I don't think I've called you anything. Just challenging your comments.

 

[Gab124]

In my years on TB I have become pretty good at knowing what comments to listen to regarding gear. I don't think it takes long to figure out good advice/information from personal opinions. With that said, if a particular piece of gear regularly gets those extreme opinions that can be a red flag. The LM has always received significantly high marks so the extraneous "its awful" is easy to take at face value. I love my LMIII, and I love my SL600. Though each matches up with various instruments and cabs differently and therefore have their place - especially when taking music style and genre into consideration. My .02

 

[Red Planet]

The LMII LMIII is not a bad amp just not in the same league.

It does have a hump in the low mids/bottom that gives it that wide glide type of sound but as you start to push it you must cut the lows or the amp runs out of steam. In a loud band situation one must take the tone of the LMII to an area that I do not like and just as you almost get there (the master at 12:00) the limiter kicks in and turns it all to squash.

On the surface in a bedroom the LM sounds really good, when you need to depend on it as a tool, it lets you down. It would make a great coffee house amp. In a loud traditional blues band or a heavy rock band these things just will not keep up.

The preamp volume only works at half it's travel and so is the master volume. The amp is dimed right out of the shoot with no room. The Bass control can not be turned above 12:00 as it robs the amp of power and goes into limiting prematurely.

I tried so desperately to make that amp work. I wanted it to work with a passion. It's a great platform/idea/look but it could not deliver. I thought the 501 would offer me a little more control - no dice. I thought the SD800 would have the headroom/more power - none. No louder than the LMIII or 501.

I've owned all these amps. The Suttle 9.0 is much much warmer gooey than any MB amp and by far the Streamliner is a leap into light speed away from any of these. How could one ever imagine the tone being remotely close?

Objective?

But folks let's keep in mind we are only talking about a stupid amp here not anything really important to the human race. Tunaman I appreciate your trying to lighten it up.

Now back to the Streamliner please.

Can we talk about the Streamliner?

 

[Red Planet]

I don't think I've called you anything. Just challenging your comments.

Fanboy?

Anyhow at this point you guys can have the last word. I said my thoughts and stand behind them. I'm off to a Wedding to have a good time. My Nephew is getting married today and I'm really looking forward to the day.

 

[Vic]

Yes I have played an LMII.

I just want to say I also very much disagree with your tonal assessment of the LMII, but we can leave it at that and get back to the SL. FWIW.

 

[Smallequestrian]

The LMII LMIII is not a bad amp just not in the same league.

It does have a hump in the low mids/bottom that gives it that wide glide type of sound but as you start to push it you must cut the lows or the amp runs out of steam. In a loud band situation one must take the tone of the LMII to an area that I do not like and just as you almost get there (the master at 12:00) the limiter kicks in and turns it all to squash.

See, it stuff like this makes whatever you say questionable. The Little Mark scopes (and sounds like) to be one of the flattest amps in the market. There are also plenty of people on the board who run the Little Mark with great success in all types of gigs.

The problem is not that you have an opinion, or even that you have an opinion that is opposite of most peoples experiences...the problem is that you state your opinion as fact without.

I like the Streamliner a lot, but I don't think its miles ahead of the Little Mark.

 

[dubstylee]

Gentlemen, picked up a SL 600 last night from Washington Music Center, my gosh does it sound amazing! And wow, the 600 is the entry level with lower wattage and it still gets pretty darn loud, more than enough headroom for me. I think anything past what this thing gives me I would probably be getting PA support.

I cannot believe how much it sounds just like my tube amps. I'm a tube amp lover and I have only been able to find my sound by lugging those heavy things around with me for years. This is a dream come true for me and I'm amazed by the sound with my passive P & J basses.

 

[Musicman20]

I sold my LM3 to get the SL900...because as much as I LOVED the LM3, I wasnt keen on the EQ points...I could never get the mids right for me. BUT, that being said, if you ran it flat, it was great. Markbass are great as are Genz, but clearly Genz are working wonders at the moment in this market.

Still waiting for my SL900 but I know its on its way...

 

[Hollow Man]

I don't think the SL sounds like any MB amp. I take objection to you calling the LMII nasally and clanky. It's quite ludicrous, especially for someone such as yourself who has bragged about running the Shuttles "dead flat". I think anyone who gave an objective opinion would say that ANY of the Shuttles will have more upper mid presence and less fullness when compared flat to a LMII, including the 9.0. So how could the LMII be nasally or clanky to you when the 9.0 is not? I just get tired of these kinds of fanboy comments that have to tear down other gear when they have no basis in reality, especially when it might cause someone else to form an opinion or spend their hard-earned money. We should be objective when talking about gear. I know thats not the TB way, though.

Good observation. Some people get so behind one brand that it almost becomes a mission to trash the competition....

I've loved my LMIII on every practice and gig that it's been on, and I'm quite enamored with the SL900 I picked up recently, although I've not gigged it yet. I've also liked my F500 and Shuttle 9.0, so I'd like to think I'm vendor-agnostic. I'd also like to think that we can all appreciate that healthy competition between builders benefits the industry, and that not all of us want the same sound.

Now, in the spirit of getting back to the Streamliner, I'll say that my Lakland 54-94 has never sounded better than it does through my SL900 and Berg AE410!

 

[Eublet]

as much as I LOVED the LM3, I wasnt keen on the EQ points...

I agree with this. The 800hz was great for scooping a touch, but that low mid point never made any sense to me, and you couldn't boost the deeper low mids. A dual semi-para mid on that head would have fixed all that, which brings me back to the Streamliner. I just think that kind of mid control opens up so much possibility for getting the sound someone wants. Tubes or no tubes is a separate discussion. I like having EQ control regardless.