Genzler Amplification Club

[Jeff Genzler]

Jeff, does the HPF on the 800+ operate differently since it is variable? I’m guessing yes?

Yes, it is substantially different. To simplify, it is not just an adjustable frequency at the same slope throught out the frequency range you might choose. The slope actually changes as you roll up the frequency, so that even a HPF setting of 80Hz it is still a musical sounds slope and not just a 24dB cliff.
Hope that is helpful.

 

[MaxSpinrun]

Very helpful since I am going to upgrade from the MG800 to the MG800+, thank you.

 

[jjk2007]

Well.....I went and did it....I used the 'fat' setting Saturday night. Yes....it was amazing.....carry on!

 

[TheBass]

@TheBass ---- Good question. While the HPF is set at approx 28 - 30Hz at 24dB slope, the LF "feel" of the amp is impacted by a few of the other features.
When using the DRIVE channel, the more you turn up the GAIN control, it also rolls up the low frequency response so that the overdriven tone stays tight and does not get flubby or tubby. While the HPF stays as it is set, the amp feels different in the low end. As well, the Contour B does something similar, the more you roll up that B control it raises the lower frequency somewhat and enhances a bump in the 80 Hz range as well.
I hope this is helpful.

Thanks.

That sounds to me like the HPF isn't just a simple passive or active filter somewhere near the input section as I thought. I guess at least part of it also in the negative feedback loop which would also explain the unusual high slope of 24dB/oct.

Another technical question: are there frequency curves available of A and B contour (max setting) from Magellan 800 ?

 

[witchhammer92]

@witchhammer92 --- Congrats on joining TB and for your interest in our bass amps. Regarding you questions, you don't mention what type of bass you're using but I'm sure with any deent active bass, the Kinetix will certainly give you plenty of gain/drive to get a really nice overdriven tone as well as very clean, tube dimension and harmonic complexity. In other words, it will feel like a tube amp should. Adding your DG Microtubes would give you a little more on top of what the Kinetix naturally delivers. And comaring it to the new MG-800+, while we did some extensive redesign of the DRIVE function on that amp, the Kinetix is a tube pre running over 300 volts, that is the magic sauce of that amp. AND the 3 position switch on the KNX-800 will give you varied LF "feel" that will impact how hard you're driving the front end.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Jeff! Sounds like the Kinetix will be the way to go for me.

Thanks to everyone who replied as well

 

[RickDeckardCain]

Thanks.

That sounds to me like the HPF isn't just a simple passive or active filter somewhere near the input section as I thought. I guess at least part of it also in the negative feedback loop which would also explain the unusual high slope of 24dB/oct.

Another technical question: are there frequency curves available of A and B contour (max setting) from Magellan 800 ?

https://www.bassgearmag.com/amp-lab-genzler-magellan-800/

This article should be helpful

 

[TheBass]

https://www.bassgearmag.com/amp-lab-genzler-magellan-800/

This article should be helpful

What a great ressource. That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks !

 

[Joeykun]

Had a band practice last night to prepare for a few NY shows coming up. My trusty Magellan 800 & Series 1 BA410-3 sounded great as ever!

 

[Old Blastard]

Howdy. Anyone compared the MG-800 and 800+? Be been thinking of going up from the 350, but the 800 is quite the deal right now. Wondering what y'all users think with more experience with them than me.

Also, are the NC cabs replaced by the ULV?

Inquiring minds want to know

 

[RocketMusic]

Howdy. Anyone compared the MG-800 and 800+? Be been thinking of going up from the 350, but the 800 is quite the deal right now. Wondering what y'all users think with more experience with them than me.

Also, are the NC cabs replaced by the ULV?

Inquiring minds want to know

The NC and ULV cabs will both continue to be in production.

I've haven't done a close side-by-side comparison of the 800 and 800+. Color me also interested in opinions!

 

[RColie]

Howdy. Anyone compared the MG-800 and 800+? Be been thinking of going up from the 350, but the 800 is quite the deal right now. Wondering what y'all users think with more experience with them than me.

Also, are the NC cabs replaced by the ULV?

Inquiring minds want to know

I have a lot of experience with the MG800 and it is an excellent amp. It has a thick, clean tone with plenty of power and EQ adjustments. I would be happy using it for the rest of my gigging life.

I recently picked up the MG800+ but it's first time playing out will be this coming Saturday. I will say the addition of the variable HP filter, separate controls for the two curves, and additional midrange controls make the 800+ well worth the additional cost for me. It all depends on what features are important to you, but as they always say, you can't go wrong with either!

 

[Old Blastard]

The NC and ULV cabs will both continue to be in production.

I've haven't done a close side-by-side comparison of the 800 and 800+. Color me also interested in opinions!

You know who I'll be calling for a side-by-side test ... See you soon, Greg!

 

[Old Blastard]

I have a lot of experience with the MG800 and it is an excellent amp. It has a thick, clean tone with plenty of power and EQ adjustments. I would be happy using it for the rest of my gigging life.

I recently picked up the MG800+ but it's first time playing out will be this coming Saturday. I will say the addition of the variable HP filter, separate controls for the two curves, and additional midrange controls make the 800+ well worth the additional cost for me. It all depends on what features are important to you, but as they always say, you can't go wrong with either!

Let me know what you think. I get lots of compliments from sound people/bass players on my sound, thanks to the MG350 and bass arrays

 

[noahw1]

You know who I'll be calling for a side-by-side test ... See you soon, Greg!

I think there was a side-by-side about them back around the time it came out. Iirc the mg800+ had a bit more sparkle up top? Or something like that. A tad more something.
Not very helpful. lol

 

[ShadowGroover]

Hi folks,

So I have this upcoming outdoor gig in 2 weeks and we are sharing the stage with 10 other bands. Music style varies from indie folk to indie pop/rock, nothing too heavy (maybe a couple of bands, I don't know). So the organizer wants us to use whatever amps they provide to avoid switching gear between sets... And in this case, it's a Fender Rumble 100W for bass. To be honest, I don't know what to think of this (not being sarcastic):
1. I've never used Fender Rumble amps before so not sure what to expect.
2. My main rig is an MG-800 with NC-212T (MG-350 is my backup amp) — I use this rig on all of my gigs (indoor/outdoor/small to large) and I have peace of mind, not to mention the wide sound spectrum we can get with this setup combination (I guess we all know...).
3. My main concern is that I am very sceptical to use the Rumble, coming from an MG-800.

Now, since I had ordered a BA10-2-S2 cab to use it with my MG-350 as a combo (wanted to take advantage of the MG-350 and not only keep it as a backup amp), I was thinking to bring the 175W combo with me and try to talk the organizer I quickly switch amps four our set, so I can have my sound...

I know the Rumble is a 12" and I will be bringing a 10" cab, but I've never used or heard the BA series before so I don't know if the BA10-2 is a suitable choice in my situation. I don't have any other combo, and I really need to make a quick amp swap between sets, so I don't think head+cab (my MG-350+NC-112T) is an option here.

Should I stick to the Rumble 100W or is the MG-350/BA10-2-S2 combo a better choice? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

So, how did the event go, and what did you decide/use regarding amp & cab gear?

 

[Hawk620]

So, how did the event go, and what did you decide/use regarding amp & cab gear?

Yeah, I'm curious as well. I believe many would be very surprised by how much low end even a single BA-2-S2 can produce even at 175w. It may not have all of the low end fullness of 12" cab but it's one of those issues Jeff worked on when they produced the Series 2 cabs. He's discussed that here in the past.

The nice thing about using an MG350 and a BA-2-S2 as a combo with the head attached to the cab is it would take you all of about 30 second to swap it for that backline amp provided. Then just plug in, set your levels and EQ and you're ready to go. All in a compact combo that weighs less than 25lbs.

 

[Old Blastard]

Yeah, I'm curious as well. I believe many would be very surprised by how much low end even a single BA-2-S2 can produce even at 175w. It may not have all of the low end fullness of 12" cab but it's one of those issues Jeff worked on when they produced the Series 2 cabs. He's discussed that here in the past.

The nice thing about using an MG350 and a BA-2-S2 as a combo with the head attached to the cab is it would take you all of about 30 second to swap it for that backline amp provided. Then just plug in, set your levels and EQ and you're ready to go. All in a compact combo that weighs less than 25lbs.

So far, the Combo of MG350 + S2 10 (combo) with a series 1 210 have met every need. It's just gassing for "more" and a deal on the 800 that calls to me.

Oh, and the Kinetix

 

[noahw1]

This is Tom Bowlus’ comparison of all three Genzler heads.

I recently received an 800+ in for review, but I wanted to share my first impressions with y'all. I was hoping to have band practice tonight and to be able to hear it in a band setting, but unfortunately, practice was cancelled tonight. I did spend some time playing through the three 800w Genzler heads, though, and here are my initial reaction thoughts.

View attachment 7461306

The 800 seems to be a little bit more mid forward and very slightly on the woolly side in comparison to the 800+. Please bear in mind that in general, I consider the 800 to be a very well balanced and fairly neutral amp, so I am not saying it is excessively mid forward or woolly. Just that I noticed a bit of that in comparison to the 800+ when both amps have their controls set to noon.

By comparison, the Kinetix with all controls set to noon (switch set to Fat) has more clarity in the high end and a bigger low end than either the 800 or the 800+. In truth, the Kinetix sounds very refined with Gain, Volume, and all tone controls set to noon. With the switch set to Lean, it sounds definitely more like the 800+, though it still has a bit more brightness and excitement in the high-end. To an extent, with all controls on all amps set basically to noon, the 800+ sounds a bit like a middle ground between the 800 and the Kinetix.

Some additional random thoughts from my notes:

The variable high pass filter is just great and still still retains functional low end even at its highest setting.

Despite having just one knob to engage the Drive function on the 800+, you can still dial it in just fine using the pre-amp Gain and master Volume controls. To my ears, the drive on the 800+ is a bit improved from the 800 and it sounds thicker and richer and more natural, but we are not talking dramatic differences - but nevertheless audible differences. By engaging the boost and tweaking the Gain and Volume settings, the Kinetix can dial in a very excellent drive, which I do slightly prefer to that of the 800+. But again, it’s not a massive difference, which is pretty impressive for the 800+.

The real difference between all three of these heads is how you dial things in from a tone stack perspective. The Kinetix starts things off with the Lean/Fat/Thick switch and then gives you a straightforward five-band EQ. The 800 gives you the two Contour options, but with just one knob shared between the two, and then a three-band EQ with parametric meds. The 800+, in addition to the high pass filter, gives you separate knobs for each Contour curve and the ability to switch between the two, and then gives you a four-band EQ with semi-parametric low-mids and high-mids.

None of the amps give you center defense on any of the tone controls, but fortunately, all of the knobs are easy to see.

I could easily gig with any one of these as my primary gigging head. My MG-800 has been to the most gigs, by far, but the Kinetix totally won me over. The 800+ takes the rock-solid performance of the 800 and adds some undeniably useful and excellent features. But as I mentioned above, it also just sounds slightly different - slightly more "Hi Fi" - than the 800, which for me is a positive, but I can absolutely see some people preferring the native tone of the 800. Of course, with the tone controls on hand, you can dial in a bit more midrange fullness pretty easily on the 800+

Can't wait to dig in further, but wanted to share my initial thoughts with you all!

Keep up the great work, Jeff!

 

[Hawk620]

So far, the Combo of MG350 + S2 10 (combo) with a series 1 210 have met every need. It's just gassing for "more" and a deal on the 800 that calls to me.

Oh, and the Kinetix

You too huh? I'm finding it very easy to develop an addiction to Genzler gear which leads me to believe Jeff should be required to post a warning on each box that ships.

 

[John D Harris]

You too huh? I'm finding it very easy to develop an addiction to Genzler gear which leads me to believe Jeff should be required to post a warning on each box that ships.