Genzler Amplification ! New Genz Benz ?

[Spector2112]

I am going to run 3 BA 12-3s with the New Magellan 800. Looking forward to running them thru their paces!

 

[Jim C]

Props to the last two posts. TB is a bit of a funny place sometimes. So many posts slagging Class D for not keeping up with the 85 pound SVT. Oh and it's not a volume, but a feel thing….
OTOH, I am all for the improvements in this second generation of micros. Great stuff.

I find very few posts "slag" the Class D amps but rather a description of how a player feels about one type or another.
"Feel" is certainly a fair criteria to judge by and the SVT cannot compete with clean and loud with MOST of the higher power class D amps.

Yesterday, I played a gig that was really close to my house with a super easy load in.
I used my GB Neox 2x12 and a Shutlemax 9.2.
My SVP-CL / led sled rig, GK MB800, and the SVT head were at home and are also killer amps (IMO/IME); I just felt the all GB rig was a better fit.

I'm hoping to find that the new Genzler amp is also as amazing as the those listed above.
I think the big deal for next few months will be how different players view the Magellan and the Subway.
(Definitely like the Magellan name more already!)

 

[5StringPocket]

In a large hall with no FOH is exactly the place where you'd want two BA12-3 cabs stacked together. The benefits of the line array design are that much more beneficial in such a situation---with increased projection and definition.

We had a very experienced FOH engineer as part of the testing team and he was extremely impressed with the penetration and dispersion of 2 together---especially on stages where you'd usually see an 8x10.

I guess the short answer is --- no single 12" only cabs are planned.

Oh, ErnieD.......you crack me up!

I like what I've read about the BA12-3 and seen in that demo, great design. The one thing I wondered is whether a pair of these with 800 watts behind them would be enough to support a gig in a large room. Apparently it is. That's good news because back problems have forced me to realize I'm going to have to sell my 215 cab and go with a modular solution. A stacked array has a lot going for it and at 34# per cab this might be the ticket.

 

[Tonetodiefor]

Mr. Genzler,

All of these posts as well as SVT's review have me seriously struggling with a case of GAS! I thought I was over it once I added four Uber cabs and a SM 9.2 to my stable of gear., but now I'm dreaming of the Magellan 800 as well as at least a pair of BA 12-3's to complement what sounds like a very nice amp. Someone else mentioned in this thread a dream cabinet like a BA 15-3. Do you see a 15 cab in the 2016 lineup? I do love my Uber 15T's and can only imagine what an array of 3's might sound like in front of a 15. I tend to run my 15's (my favorite driver for bass guitar) with little or no tweeter at all but run my Uber Quads with tweeters as they are often doubling duties for my keyboard rig.
I'm excited you're back in the game and look forward to adding this new generation of amps and cabs to my family.

Congrats on the new amp!

 

[tombowlus]

I like what I've read about the BA12-3 and seen in that demo, great design. The one thing I wondered is whether a pair of these with 800 watts behind them would be enough to support a gig in a large room. Apparently it is. That's good news because back problems have forced me to realize I'm going to have to sell my 215 cab and go with a modular solution. A stacked array has a lot going for it and at 34# per cab this might be the ticket.

I've been playing through a pair of BA12-3's a bit with several different new-fangled "700 watt" heads, and I think that this rig should be able to easily handle any of the big rooms I play.

 

[Sav'nBass]

OH, NO! I thought I was done with Genz GAS!

I have never had/played one of Jeff's products that I did not like.

Dan

Me neither..

 

[ErnieD]

Arrgh, was so very close to pulling the trigger on a new Subway D800 but I now feel compelled to wait so I can learn more about this new Magellan 800. I haven't read or at least understood all the specs I've read so far of the Magellan. Can anyone say by what they've read if this is a totally different amp than the Subway?

Also, I own the GB 12.2, GK MB800 and Ampeg RI-V4B 100w. Any comparos' with those amps? 'Course, I'll keep reading along here as thread grows to try n learn more. Very glad to know Genzler back in the game again. Peace, ernie

 

[Jim C]

Arrgh, was so very close to pulling the trigger on a new Subway D800 but I now feel compelled to wait so I can learn more about this new Magellan 800. I haven't read or at least understood all the specs I've read so far of the Magellan. Can anyone say by what they've read if this is a totally different amp than the Subway?

Also, I own the GB 12.2, GK MB800 and Ampeg RI-V4B 100w. Any comparos' with those amps? 'Course, I'll keep reading along here as thread grows to try n learn more. Very glad to know Genzler back in the game again. Peace, ernie

Ernie,
Sounds like you and I are headed down the same road.
I have a SM 9.2, MB800, and an SVT.
The Neox 2x12 and a Berg HT322 take care of both small / medium and large stages.
They are all great.
I don't need another amp and am only interested in trying the Subway and Magellan.
Not so sure that enough players have had a chance to gig with both to really have a rock solid opinion other than they both are great.
I've got to think that Mesa marketing is happy that their amp was released a few months before Jeff's.
1st quarter of 2016 will be a great time to contrast and compare these two contenders; I want to call them heavyweights in the 6 lb. weight division.

 

[andertone]

I am in the same mind frame as Ernie, was getting ready for M-800 until Genzler came up. I have a Streamliner 600,
but want to be able to go to 2 ohms (Bergie HT112/EX112 and HS210 4 ohm). My Streamliner opens up with volume,
but doesn't sound as good as my Eden WT400 at lower volumes. Do appreciate the tighter bass of the Streamliner
with the filter and of course it gets louder. Will wait for reviews, perhaps someone will compare the two back to back

 

[iceboxbass]

I like what I've read about the BA12-3 and seen in that demo, great design. The one thing I wondered is whether a pair of these with 800 watts behind them would be enough to support a gig in a large room. Apparently it is. That's good news because back problems have forced me to realize I'm going to have to sell my 215 cab and go with a modular solution. A stacked array has a lot going for it and at 34# per cab this might be the ticket.

That's what I'm talking about, weight, but not compromising tone quality and output. I've been reading reviews from one touring artist who stated that 2 of these cabs IS enough to fill a stadium plus and hear it out in the parking lot of the stadium and all of his band mates are able to hear his bass all over the stage for the first time ever. They claimed it was remarkable. Jeff Genzler has a home run out of the ball park hitter with these cabs! I truly believe other cab companies are going to have their eyes wide open with the Bass Array 12-3 cabs and look to manufacture and copy these cabs. I'm wringing my hands waiting to play my basses thru the Bass Array cabs and Magellan 800! Will be working out shipping details today with Sho Me Music who's a Genzler dealer. He's also a Talkbass member on here if you'd like to contact Michael A.K.A. bebass, about these amazing cabs/amps.

 

[5StringPocket]

I've been playing through a pair of BA12-3's a bit with several different new-fangled "700 watt" heads, and I think that this rig should be able to easily handle any of the big rooms I play.

Thanks Tom, that's good to hear. I had no doubt the mid/high arrays would have excellent tone and dispersion but that is a lot to ask for a pair of 12's. Nice to know they are up to the task.

I like those new-fangled "700 watt heads". They hit the sweet spot with their feature set, available headroom, and weight to the notes at a very reasonable price point. I'm enjoying my Subway 800-D but would like to check out the Magellan 800 at some point. Even though both are excellent designs around the 700ASC amp, the different front end approaches will appeal to different players.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I've got to think that Mesa marketing is happy that their amp was released a few months before Jeff's.

Hmm, was this something Andy and Jeff talked about? Mesa gets a ton of sales, then, Jeff's amp comes to market and pushes them aside with his killer amp. Oh, the possibilities!

 

[5StringPocket]

That's what I'm talking about, weight, but not compromising tone quality and output. I've been reading reviews from one touring artist who stated that 2 of these cabs IS enough to fill a stadium plus and hear it out in the parking lot of the stadium and all of his band mates are able to hear his bass all over the stage for the first time ever. They claimed it was remarkable. Jeff Genzler has a home run out of the ball park hitter with these cabs! I truly believe other cab companies are going to have their eyes wide open with the Bass Array 12-3 cabs and look to manufacture and copy these cabs. I'm wringing my hands waiting to play my basses thru the Bass Array cabs and Magellan 800! Will be working out shipping details today with Sho Me Music who's a Genzler dealer. He's also a Talkbass member on here if you'd like to contact Michael A.K.A. bebass, about these amazing cabs/amps.

Looking forward to your impressions when you get some time in on this rig.

 

[iceboxbass]

Ernie,
Sounds like you and I are headed down the same road.
I have a SM 9.2, MB800, and an SVT.
The Neox 2x12 and a Berg HT322 take care of both small / medium and large stages.
They are all great.
I don't need another amp and am only interested in trying the Subway and Magellan.
Not so sure that enough players have had a chance to gig with both to really have a rock solid opinion other than they both are great.
I've got to think that Mesa marketing is happy that their amp was released a few months before Jeff's.
1st quarter of 2016 will be a great time to contrast and compare these two contenders; I want to call them heavyweights in the 6 lb. weight division.

@Jim C, I didn't mean to ignore you about the question that you had asked me in the Spector Owners club a few days back about bass amps, my wife and I have been super busy traveling, spending time with our son & his family in Utah for Christmas season.

I have played a variety of tubed amps, Ampeg, Messa, Orange, Acoustic, GB and probably leaving a few out, class AB, class D of vast variety. I have not had "bad" experiences with class D bass amps, I'd say more like there's a few that I wasn't finding "my sound" from but for the majority I've had really great class D amps. The Ampeg PF-500 I had was a workhorse, connect an Ampeg PR-410HLF, a couple of 115 cabs, turn vol up to 8-9 and Rock out all day long. I've connected the "Fridge", 410HLF, B-15 with the PF-500 and it did just amazing. My practice/studio rig is an old 1968 SS Ampeg B-15 Portaflex Fliptop 100W, sounds so smooth and full but if you try to dime it and push it too hard it'll start farting out. But rarely do I need to dial it up past 3-5. I occasionally use that rig for indoor big rooms of 500 capacity and also large outdoor venues where our band is under a pavilion. Other bands that play behind us love using it also. Now, I'm 57, and buying lighter gear mainly due to 1 shoulder permanently disabled up to 10# lifting, and right shoulder gone bad now also. So lighter is better for me but I don't feel as though that I'm compromising quality or tone with the really great class D bass amps that are on the market right now. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right cabs to go along with that Class D amp. I'm really excited to Demo Jeff Genzler's new Magellan 800 along with his new Bass Arrays. Jeff called me this morning to talk with me and to get my mailing info. He will be sending the Magellan 800 out today. I also talked with Michael Lomax, bebass, to order 2 Array cabs and he's sending out to me tomorrow. I feel like I've received the best Christmas presents EVER! It'll be a lot fun working the new equipment thru their pace. I've been told and read that the new Genzler Array 12-3 cabs sound so big, round, smooth and clear that they actually sound more like 15s, not 12s. We shall see! I'll be testing them away from home as well as we have a large room gig that seats 500 I'm going to play the Genzler gear in. BTW, Jeff Genzler and Michael Lomax of Sho Me Music store are great guys to talk with, very much make you feel at ease. I'll give a full report as soon as I get to Demo the Genzler bass gear. Peace everyone.

I hope Jim that's what you were asking about?

 

[iceboxbass]

Looking forward to your impressions when you get some time in on this rig.

Most definitely will and I'm looking forward to the Demo. It'll be next week after the 29th.

 

[Jim C]

@Jim C, I didn't mean to ignore you about the question that you had asked me in the Spector Owners club a few days back about bass amps, my wife and I have been super busy traveling, spending time with our son & his family in Utah for Christmas season.

I have played a variety of tubed amps, Ampeg, Messa, Orange, Acoustic, GB and probably leaving a few out, class AB, class D of vast variety. I have not had "bad" experiences with class D bass amps, I'd say more like there's a few that I wasn't finding "my sound" from but for the majority I've had really great class D amps. The Ampeg PF-500 I had was a workhorse, connect an Ampeg PR-410HLF, a couple of 115 cabs, turn vol up to 8-9 and Rock out all day long. I've connected the "Fridge", 410HLF, B-15 with the PF-500 and it did just amazing. My practice/studio rig is an old 1968 SS Ampeg B-15 Portaflex Fliptop 100W, sounds so smooth and full but if you try to dime it and push it too hard it'll start farting out. But rarely do I need to dial it up past 3-5. I occasionally use that rig for indoor big rooms of 500 capacity and also large outdoor venues where our band is under a pavilion. Other bands that play behind us love using it also. Now, I'm 57, and buying lighter gear mainly due to 1 shoulder permanently disabled up to 10# lifting, and right shoulder gone bad now also. So lighter is better for me but I don't feel as though that I'm compromising quality or tone with the really great class D bass amps that are on the market right now. Sometimes it's just a matter of finding the right cabs to go along with that Class D amp. I'm really excited to Demo Jeff Genzler's new Magellan 800 along with his new Bass Arrays. Jeff called me this morning to talk with me and to get my mailing info. He will be sending the Magellan 800 out today. I also talked with Michael Lomax, bebass, to order 2 Array cabs and he's sending out to me tomorrow. I feel like I've received the best Christmas presents EVER! It'll be a lot fun working the new equipment thru their pace. I've been told and read that the new Genzler Array 12-3 cabs sound so big, round, smooth and clear that they actually sound more like 15s, not 12s. We shall see! I'll be testing them away from home as well as we have a large room gig that seats 500 I'm going to play the Genzler gear in. BTW, Jeff Genzler and Michael Lomax of Sho Me Music store are great guys to talk with, very much make you feel at ease. I'll give a full report as soon as I get to Demo the Genzler bass gear. Peace everyone.

I hope Jim that's what you were asking about?

No worries mate!
Sorry to hear about shoulder problems and feel lucky that I'm the same age and haven't been banged up too bad.
I just sold a SS B-15 about a month ago and had it for at least 20 years; ironic that we both had a reasonably rare dinosaur.
Very interested in your opinions since we both play Spector's and believe that you can only make really good judgments of an amp or instrument in the mix.
A 500 seat room will be a great venue for your feedback.

 

[iceboxbass]

No worries mate!
Sorry to hear about shoulder problems and feel lucky that I'm the same age and haven't been banged up too bad.
I just sold a SS B-15 about a month ago and had it for at least 20 years; ironic that we both had a reasonably rare dinosaur.
Very interested in your opinions since we both play Spector's and believe that you can only make really good judgments of an amp or instrument in the mix.
A 500 seat room will be a great venue for your feedback.

Hey thanks Jim. Yeah I never thought that I'd end up with my body beaten up like this. Wow, you had the same Ampeg rig. Were you able to get a real good price for it? I've been told by Jimmy in the Ampeg Portaflex Owners club when I first bought this back in 2009 to NEVER sell this. As they are very rare and you'll wish that you had not sold it. They make great studio rigs. It's been my reliable go to rig since buying it. And still in Excellent shape. But I did replace the 4 latches back in 09. I noticed the new Ampeg Portaflex rigs have a MUCH better latching system, upside down from the previous latches. What made you decide to sell your B-15?

 

[Jim C]

Hey thanks Jim. Yeah I never thought that I'd end up with my body beaten up like this. Wow, you had the same Ampeg rig. Were you able to get a real good price for it? I've been told by Jimmy in the Ampeg Portaflex Owners club when I first bought this back in 2009 to NEVER sell this. As they are very rare and you'll wish that you had not sold it. They make great studio rigs. It's been my reliable go to rig since buying it. And still in Excellent shape. But I did replace the 4 latches back in 09. I noticed the new Ampeg Portaflex rigs have a MUCH better latching system, upside down from the previous latches. What made you decide to sell your B-15?

I actually had a B-15 and the BT-15 at the same time and kept the transistor head.
Wider range of EQ and much more power before distortion and a really nice tone.
Mine was pretty worn and sold it for $250; had it listed 3 times over the last few years on this board before it sold; rare as in not many around but not rare as in valuable IMO.
But hey; back to the Genzler thread!

 

[MichaelOz]

As already shown on p.43 (hard to keep up with all this) I've been running this rig for a few weeks now:

As already stated I couldn't be happier. One BA12-3 is great, two are magical. Amazing gear, and I've written about the decision between one Magellan 212T and 2 BA12-3 quite extensively on the OzBassForum - happy to provide a link.

Now to run a Magellan 800 with these two I'd love to do ... .

Regards,
Michael

 

[Hotblack]

So... I got to try out the Magellan 800 today. Short review: I haven't been this impressed since I tried out a Shuttlemax for the first time.

Size: The footprint is about the same as the TC RH series heads. For me, that's the perfect sweet spot in terms of size. It is light and small, but I don't have to worry about accidentally pulling it off the amp when I walk away. At around six pounds, it's has enough heft to stay still, but is so easy to carry around in a bag.

Inputs and Knobs: The same quality you would expect from Genz/Genzler products.

Sound: A little background. My personal favorite amp is the Shuttlemax 6.0. I almost exclusively use the FET channel. I play mostly fingerstyle.
When I demoed the Magellan 800, I used the Genzler 12x3 array almost exclusively.
The Magellan knocks it out of the park. It's the clean channel of the Max with a little more "beef". The sound is uncolored when set flat, but everything seems to have a little more "gravitas".
The Contour knob and button is a delight to use. Very musical. Someone else could give you the technical terminology, but using this control almost exclusively, I was able to go from sealed cab, old-school thump to hi-fi fusion clarity.
The Drive channel is really musical. It doesn't have the big tubey sound of an SVT, but you can dial in a nice bit of wooliness without thinning out your low end.
Switching between Clean and Drive is smooth and seamless.

I used a couple different basses. One was a mahogany fretless strung with flats, which I consider to be a very classical sounding bass. Changing sounds with the Contour and my blend knob gave me a huge range of sounds. The next bass was a bubinga body with a wenge neck strung with rounds. This is generally a very bright and aggressive bass that I sometimes have a hard time mellowing out. The Magellan allowed me tame some of the brightness while maintaining the overall character of the instrument. The final one was my Morphine bass, a two-string played with pick and glass slide. This was a real curve as I usually need a plethora of pedals to get the right sound running though an uncolored rig. The Magellan Drive channel added just the right amount of dirt while keeping the clarity and character of the slide intact. I also played a fretted jazz and the Magellan was a champ again.

Overall: Huge thumbs up. It's really hard to go wrong with this amp. I would have a hard time finding a gig where this amp wouldn't be great. Unless you really need the signature sound of (insert brand name), I think many would be hard-pressed not to like what the Magellan 800 has to offer.