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Genzler Amplification Club

#2,901
Jeff Genzler said:
About the Contour circuit in the full CCW position, technically the circuit is out of the signal chain at this point. BUT your using a mechanical pot to make this selection and there is always a variance of some percentage when using a pot--- could be 5 - 10%, thus this might be what you're hearing in this CCW position. Since we don't have an OFF selection with the switch this is one artifact. This is just how it works.
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Thank you Jeff for confirming what I have been hearing and feeling. Again nothing bad by any means whatsoever, just something I had noticed. Appreciate it.
 
#2,902
Fan noise is basically NONE.. The fan is internally mounted inside the chassis and not on the outside vent, which muffles any noise even more.
Any ambient room sound (people talking, glasses clinking, footsteps slapping the bass acoustically, etc) will mask any possible fan sound and make it disappear.
If you are gigging you will NEVER hear it . Might have to put your ear next to the VENT.
You would have to be trying to hear it , in order to hear it..
And if you are doing that, then you are not playing your gig properly. IMO.:)

Out of all the amps that i have played or owned , I think that i can honestly say that the MG800 has the quietest fan. My Walkabout, SVT, SVT2, SVT3 non pro, Fender Tb1200, GK, Ashdown ABM, Edens, Aguilar-db750 like a turboprop are dozens of dB louder.... Play the bass!
 
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#2,903
lordradish said:
Hey, folks, just got my Magellan 800. Only spent a few minutes with it, so far,loving it, but a question about the contour. I’m trying to understand what, exactly, it does. Is it basically an adjustable preset EQ curve that comes before the regular EQ? It certainly seems that way.

Thanks. Can I join the club, now?
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Hey, you can be #59, however we seem to have hit the point where I am not longer able to edit the first post (hard to believe I started this club 2 years ago already). Are there any mods in here who would be willing to be my roster update donkey? :)
 
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#2,904
Jeff Genzler said:
Thumbslapper, I see Loring responded too (thanks) but here is a little more info. Yes all BA cabs are ported, the BA12-3 has 2 triangular ports in the lower corners of the baffle. The BA210-3 has a square shelf port in the front baffle.
The 12" does "go lower" and that depth is one of the major differences, where the 2 x 10" has more punch and "gut-slap" that you'd expect from dual 10's. NOT to say that the BA210-3 cannot support your B string with authority and heft, it certainly will.
Micing these cabs does come with a little more experimentation than a traditional cab. You certainly want to get out front of the array and a little off axis as well but this is a place to season the mic location to your taste and your mics parameters too.

The Magellan 800 uses a variable speed fan for cooling. It is ALWAYS on but is whisper quite when at idle or under bedroom use. It ramps up pretty fast when demand on the amp ramps up too. Our fan circuit design is one place we spent a lot of time designing just for questions like yours. We have experienced no issues from customers regarding fan noise OR thermal capacity when the amp is driven hard. This is always a balancing act between keeping the fan speed quite for those settings BUT ramping up and staying ahead of the thermal curve of the amp and all of its circuits as you drive the amp hard on a hot stage. We've learned a lot over the years of designing amps in this regard and many times this part of the design gets overlooked. Thanks for the question.

Hope this info is helpful.
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Jeff.... I have never heard my fan operating. No matter what, or in any given performance situation. All I can say is this amp cooks, and has allowed me to bring only it to any gig any where.

And it has replaced my previous amp that was a Demeter HBP1 preamp with a Crown XLS 1500. Although that was a killer set up, the MG800 is a real better system for me, and is a lot easier to set up and haul around. Period. Thanks Jeff. You are the man.
 
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#2,905
Eddie LeBlanc said:
Jeff.... I have never heard my fan operating. No matter what, or in any given performance situation. All I can say is this amp cooks, and has allowed me to bring only it to any gig any where.

And it has replaced my previous amp that was a Demeter HBP1 preamp with a Crown XLS 1500. Although that was a killer set up, the MG800 is a real better system for me, and is a lot easier to set up and haul around. Period. Thanks Jeff. You are the man.
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Thanks Eddie, As always, much appreciated.
 
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#2,907
I used the 350 combo with my church band this past Sunday using my fretless Bee (in the avatar).

The first question is whether or not it was enough. Yes. @campbems I think you would find it more than enough for smaller churches. I know the woofer is not the same as the BA210-3, but my gut says it still may give you some of the characteristics you like in the 210 vs. the single 12. You will lose the dirty channel on the head but everything else seems much the same to me including the quickness of the attack.

We play at a moderate volume but there was more than enough. Indeed I started out with the gain and the volume controls both at about 11:00 and the EQ all flat with the contour fully counter clockwise and the sound person told me I need to turn down a bit. FWIW, I generally do not put the bass through the FOH. It is a small room (seats 120) with excellent acoustics. Putting the bass through FOH would basically mean removing my speaker cab from the equation. The rest of the instrumentation is drums, acoustic guitar, synth, and acoustic piano.

My first impressions are that the cab has a good deal less bottom end than the BA12-3 which makes it sound a bit more focused on the mids and a bit brighter. Not quite honky or boxy but leaning in that direction. It sat very nicely in the mix though. Bringing the bass up a tiny bit and the trebles down or engaging the contour B a bit took it closer to what I like to hear.

Today I had a few minutes to play with both the BA10-2 and the BA12-3 using the 350 head and my fretted Sire V7. No surprises. The BA12-3 does have more bottom end, is a bit louder, and is more round sounding. The BA10-2 is brighter and perhaps a bit more punchy. Like the BA 12-3, it sounds much bigger, deeper, louder than it looks. The two cabs seem to play together quite nicely although the sound of the BA12-3 dominates. Playing the two together does seem to me to be more than the sum of the parts. There seemed to be more of everything including the increased dispersion that one gets from the array. I expect the magic isn’t the same as having two BA12’s but it seems to still be there to a lesser degree. Playing the cabs together with the volume about 12:00 on the 350 head and everything else set as above was impressively loud.

So, conclusions... The 350 head is likely all the power I need for any of my uses. Since I already have the 800 head as well, I’ll likely keep it but if I were buying it today, I’d just get the 350. One of these days I may decide to sell the 800 and get a second 350... or maybe not. It is nice to have the extra power even if I never need it. The combo with the single BA10-2 likely also covers almost all and perhaps all of my current uses. I prefer the overall sound of the BA12-3 to the BA10-2. While the BA12 is certainly not a large footprint or overly heavy, I do have settings where the smaller footprint and easier schlepability are real pluses. So... a trade off. We’ll see over time how I feel about that. Saying that, I am sure there would be folk who would prefer the sound of the BA10 over the 12. Different strokes. For them, the small cab is a huge win win. For me, it is a small question. All in all, it is an amazing little piece of gear.

 
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#2,908
Djadja said:
I used the 350 combo with my church band this past Sunday using my fretless Bee (in the avatar).

The first question is whether or not it was enough. Yes. @campbems I think you would find it more than enough for smaller churches. I know the woofer is not the same as the BA210V2-3, but my gut says it still may give you some of the characteristics you like in the 210 vs. the single 12. You will lose the dirty channel on the head but everything else seems much the same to me including the quickness of the attack.

We play at a moderate volume but there was more than enough. Indeed I started out with the gain and the volume controls both at about 11:00 and the EQ all flat with the contour fully counter clockwise and the sound person told me I need to turn down a bit. FWIW, I generally do not put the bass through the FOH. It is a small room (seats 120) with excellent acoustics. Putting the bass through FOH would basically mean removing my speaker cab from the equation. The rest of the instrumentation is drums, acoustic guitar, synth, and acoustic piano.

My first impressions are that the cab has a good deal less bottom end than the BA12-3 which makes it sound a bit more focused on the mids and a bit brighter. Not quite honky or boxy but leaning in that direction. It sat very nicely in the mix though. Bringing the bass up a tiny bit and the trebles down or engaging the contour B a bit took it closer to what I like to hear.

Today I had a few minutes to play with both the BA10-2 and the BA12-3 using the 350 head and my fretted Sire V7. No surprises. The BA12-3 does have more bottom end, is a bit louder, and is more round sounding. The BA10-2 is brighter and perhaps a bit more punchy. Like the BA 12-3, it sounds much bigger, deeper, louder than it looks. The two cabs seem to play together quite nicely although the sound of the BA12-3 dominates. Playing the two together does seem to me to be more than the sum of the parts. There seemed to be more of everything including the increased dispersion that one gets from the array. I expect the magic isn’t the same as having two BA12’s but it seems to still be there to a lesser degree. Playing the cabs together with the volume about 12:00 on the 350 head and everything else set as above was impressively loud.

So, conclusions... The 350 head is likely all the power I need for any of my uses. Since I already have the 800 head as well, I’ll likely keep it but if I were buying it today, I’d just get the 350. One of these days I may decide to sell the 800 and get a second 350... or maybe not. It is nice to have the extra power even if I never need it. The combo with the single BA10-2 likely also covers almost all and perhaps all of my current uses. I prefer the overall sound of the BA12-3 to the BA10-2. While the BA12 is certainly not a large footprint or overly heavy, I do have settings where the smaller footprint and easier schlepability are real pluses. So... a trade off. We’ll see over time how I feel about that. Saying that, I am sure there would be folk who would prefer the sound of the BA10 over the 12. Different strokes. For them, the small cab is a huge win win. For me, it is a small question. All in all, it is an amazing little piece of gear.
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Amazing feedback brother. Your experience is pretty much what I pictured in my mind with me owning both the 12-3 and 210-3 arrays. I’m sure the 350 combo would be a great rig to add to anyone’s arsenal.
 
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#2,912
19467F42-7BCB-46A0-A82C-526902062218.jpeg
 
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#2,914
New amp day! I took my darkglass m900 into DeGeorge Bros guitars, who had a Magellan 800 in stock, so I could test them side by side. I must admit, they were very similar, but the Genzler was capable of more. The contour was the selling point for me .I could very quickly go from vintage grit, to a fat scooped modern sound in about 5 seconds .I also feel that the Genzler had more bass on tap that I could dial in, if needed. It also is cheaper than what I could sell my darkglass for, so it put more money in my pocket at the end of the day. No brainier for me!!

20180313_235134.jpg
 
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#2,915
Lammchop93 said:
New amp day! I took my darkglass m900 into DeGeorge Bros guitars, who had a Magellan 800 in stock, so I could test them side by side. I must admit, they were very similar, but the Genzler was capable of more. The contour was the selling point for me .I could very quickly go from vintage grit, to a fat scooped modern sound in about 5 seconds .I also feel that the Genzler had more bass on tap that I could dial in, if needed. It also is cheaper than what I could sell my darkglass for, so it put more money in my pocket at the end of the day. No brainier for me!!

View attachment 2949822
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Nice rigs. Glad you like the MG800 with your cabs. DeGeorge Bros are great people down there in KY. We appreciate their support.
 
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#2,916
Lammchop93 said:
New amp day! I took my darkglass m900 into DeGeorge Bros guitars, who had a Magellan 800 in stock, so I could test them side by side. I must admit, they were very similar, but the Genzler was capable of more. The contour was the selling point for me .I could very quickly go from vintage grit, to a fat scooped modern sound in about 5 seconds .I also feel that the Genzler had more bass on tap that I could dial in, if needed. It also is cheaper than what I could sell my darkglass for, so it put more money in my pocket at the end of the day. No brainier for me!!

View attachment 2949822
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I'm glad you finally go the Genzler 800. They are amazing bass heads that are so easy to dial in great usable tone.
 
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