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Double Bass GK MB150E noise level

Jaromir

Jaromir

Nov 5, 2005
309
16
Prague, Czech Republic
www.jaromirhonzak.com
#1
I've just replaced my old MB150S with new MB150E (series III). While I like the sound, I was unpleasantly surprised by the noise level of this new combo. I'm talking about the hiss one can hear from the speaker after the amp is switched on. It's not a big deal at all in this case, it's just that the old combo was VERY silent, so I was a little surprised the new one is little noisier.
Now I'm not sure if this is normal, or something is wrong with my combo. Is there anybody who has compared the older and the new GK MB combos in this matter? Thanks!
 
#2
I have the old MB150E, and have never heard the new one. I am surprised that the new one is noisier, because lower noise usually comes "for free" when you upgrade an old design to new components. A couple hypotheses:

1. The "E" could be noisier than the "S" due to simply having more guts.

2. The new speaker could have more high end.

3. The amps could be voiced different. I know that my "E" is voiced with a treble boost.

It's worth calling GK on this one. Also, do you still have the old "S" close at hand? You could mess around with running the preamp out from one to the power amp in of the other, to see if you can narrow down the noise source. Dan Elliott is a GK employee who frequents the electric bass side of this forum, and I have to say that GK has generally gone the extra mile for me with some of my own pesky questions over the years.
 
#3
I had one of the 150E heads last year briefly. It was purchased new and then returned.

I did not have a hiss unless I plugged into 'bad' AC power. At home, when I plugged into an ungrounded, two-prong outlet, with an adapter, there was a noticeable hiss at all times. A couple of places that I played out with the 150E had probably old substandard wiring and it would hiss.

Other places, and other rooms in my home that do have grounded wiring, there was no problem.

I think the amp design is susceptible to AC power issues. Try playing it in different buildings and see if you are running into the same thing I did.

Ultimately, the hiss is why I took the head back. It can be that bad.
 
#4
i have a new GK MB150E (series III), and have the same hiss-problem.
sometimes it´s there and somtimes not.

michaelvee´s explanation sounds good to me, i will check this. thank you michael.

but i have another gk-mb-hiss-problem: when i add a cab the hiss is VERY loud.
(the cab is a gk neo 112 and its absolutly quiet with my markbass-top, so i think the cab (esp. the tweeter) is not the problem)

has anyone else experienced this?
 
#6
It's worth calling GK on this one. Dan Elliott is a GK employee who frequents the electric bass side of this forum, and I have to say that GK has generally gone the extra mile for me with some of my own pesky questions over the years.[/QUOTE]

I did contact Dan Elliot and his response was that at GK they know some of the new MB combos and heads have this problem. They work on solving it. With the limiter off the new MB's should be actually quieter than the old ones... So, for me this means I need to get my combo replaced.
Thanks for your idea to contact Dan Elliot - he really answered my question and confirmed my suspicion.
 
#7
I have had an 150E since 1991. It has always been a noisy amp - impossible to record with, etc, though it sounds fine live. I always thought it ironic that I ended up using the direct out of the quite cheap and designed-for-live Hartke 3500 that I had when I wanted quiet, and the GK, with all it's fancy outputs was unusable.
 
#8
I recently returned my (new) MB150E combo due to excessive noise. I ordered a 150E head from another dealer today, since I really liked the sound of the amp otherwise. Guess I'll find out soon enough if my combo was just a faulty unit.

GK didn't answer my email regarding the apparent noise problem, btw. So much for support.
 
#9
I'm talking about the hiss one can hear from the speaker after the amp is switched on. It's not a big deal at all in this case, it's just that the old combo was VERY silent, so I was a little surprised the new one is little noisier.

Hello Jaromir! I had the same problem with my older amp- Crate Telluride (3-channel acoustic combo). It sounded great and was very silent until I gave it to my friend for two or three concerts... After that it started to hiss and generate different and strange noises. People from service told me, that everything was ok, and this amp "sounds like that"...
I wrote to St. Louis and they replaced my amp with a new one. It's better, but the noise is still there. Meanwhile, I started to use GK MBS III and it is dead silent.:confused:
I don't know where is the problem, but I ALWAYS use a filter between the cable and the wall outlet.
Regards
Pat
P.S. I've ordered my GK amp from www.thomann.de . Good prices, nice people. I've also found there a nice carrying bag.
 
#10
808 said:
I recently returned my (new) MB150E combo due to excessive noise. I ordered a 150E head from another dealer today, since I really liked the sound of the amp otherwise. Guess I'll find out soon enough if my combo was just a faulty unit.

GK didn't answer my email regarding the apparent noise problem, btw. So much for support.
Click to expand...

My email regarding the same issue remaines unanswered too...
However, Dan Elliot from GK who appears occassionally on this forum answered immediatelly my PM and said at GK they know about this problem and are trying to solve it.
 
#15
Is that amp also picking up radio stations when there's np cable plugged in. I all cases where I have seen this happen it was the result of a poorly shielded cable ... or you might be really close to a radio transmitter ... we once had a basement right next to a strond radio transmitter ... even the best cables and amps were picking up the radio signal
 
#16
Jaromir said:
I've just replaced my old MB150S with new MB150E (series III). While I like the sound, I was unpleasantly surprised by the noise level of this new combo. I'm talking about the hiss one can hear from the speaker after the amp is switched on. It's not a big deal at all in this case, it's just that the old combo was VERY silent, so I was a little surprised the new one is little noisier.
Now I'm not sure if this is normal, or something is wrong with my combo. Is there anybody who has compared the older and the new GK MB combos in this matter? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Jaromire, ja jsem take prodal GK MB150S (r.2001-2?), vymenil jej za AI CONTRA, toho se rychle zbavil (problemy s povrchem podia,spatna intonace,podivne/umele basy,blby tvar ke stehovani,atd.), a koupil jsem si starsi GK MB150E (r.2000?, mozna i starsi!),ktere je tiche. Myslim si, ze nove kombo series III - kvuli jine technologii, ktera se pry tolik nezahriva - JE hlucnejsi nez series II.
 
#19
The GK MB150 is a great combo, I realized this fact again after experimenting with other stuff. The problem, maybe not a real problem but some little disapointment is that the new series III is noisy with the limiter off.
It's normal that the noise come with the limiter engaged, but the older version of the combo was dead quiet (with the limiter off of course).
 

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