This thread is a spin-off reply to Poor person's Acoustic Image? In that thread someone asked if there were any cheaper alternatives to Acoustic Image. I replied I'd just ordered a GSS 06B400 and would be able to a offer a comparison between that and my Acoustic Image Coda III. Well here it is!
TL;DR: Both great amps. Acoustic Image is louder, has more knobs to twiddle and feels more professionally made. GSS 06B400 is less loud, sounds better at a given perceived volume (to my ears), is much lighter and is quite a bit cheaper, particularly for a me in Europe.
Why did I buy the GSS if I already owned an AI?
Main one was weight. I'm sure this is a niche market, but I walk my double bass around to rehearsals and gigs (no jokes about walking bass please). I bought the AI sight unseen 10 or so years ago because it was light enough for me to walk over a mile with a bass on wheels and an amp. It's possible, but it's not pleasant by any stretch so I was looking for something that sounded great for upright, came with a decent bag that could be slung over the shoulder, and was lighter. The GSS seemed to fit the bill.
So, with that out the way, onto the comparison. I will use AI interchangeably with Coda, and GSS with 06B400.
Features
If you like large featuresets on an amp then there's no contest, the AI wins. I can add reverb, adjust the gain along with master volume, offer a lineout with pre or post, plug in an XLR, give it phantom power if I want and add a frequency notch or High Pass Filter [HPF].
The GSS head gives me volume, bass, mids, treble and mute. It doesn't even have a power switch! I have more flexible control on my bass guitar than I do on the amp.
It's not all doom and gloom for GSS though. For years I've controlled much of my sound from a preamp and I don't think I've touched any knobs on the AI other than the gain knob. Actually I tell a lie, I use the HPF a lot but I'll come to that in a minute.
One massive GSS feature I have no use for is, because it uses a laptop PSU, you can buy an external laptop battery and get a pretty decent light portable rig.
Physical attributes
I wanted a lighter rig, but a smaller one would have been nice too. The GSS is smaller, but not by a huge amount. The front of the GSS is smaller but for depth it's about the same.
Both have bags. Both are good, but the AI one perhaps feels better made. It damn well should do given its cost. I suspect the cost is because it's a cylindrical shape which is hard to manufacture.
Apologies for the socks.I weighed both amps in their case with requisite cables and adapters as that's what I'll be carrying. The AI is 26lb, the GSS is 19lb. I should note here that I purchased the 06B400MKD which is the coax version of the 6.5" driver and is a little heavier.
The GSS feels much lighter on the back, probably even more so than the numbers would imply. I'm guessing this is because it's a more regular shape and the weight distribution is better for carrying.
Musical attributes
This is going to be hard to put into words and I really don't want to be accused of bias. Actually how can I? I own both amps! I have no affiliation with either company although my experience with Rick and Didier have both been wonderful. See below.
I've been playing the AI for many many years, and the GSS for only a few days, so I reserve the right to update and change my opinion as I gig with the GSS more.
In short, the AI sounds great in good rooms, and bad in bad rooms. What's a good room and what's a bad room? I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the down-firing woofer can lead to a lot of unwanted reflections. One gig sticks in my memory when the band leader came up to me and said "your sound was amazing tonight, did you get a new amp?" No, but we got a new room!
You can tame a lot of this with the included HPF, but a lot of the AI's power is in its low end so aggresively using the HPF takes the loudness into the GSS territory.
Speaking of the GSS, it's not as loud, particularly in the lows. I can get the 6.5" speaker to fart on the lowest notes on a 4 string bass guitar so I have to dial back the bass level when playing aggresively.
However I didn't buy this combo for bass guitar, I bought it for upright playing. This may surprise people here but I think the GSS sounds much better for upright playing than the Coda. For information I have a Full Circle/Crown GLM 200 blended with a Fishman Pocket Blender. A few months ago I asked here why I needed to plug the Full Circle into the Fishman to sound good? Plugging into the AI straight just didn't give me the sound I liked. Well, that sound I like is there plugging straight into the GSS! I cannot explain it, but the GSS gives me bottom, but in a tight way that doesn't cloud the detail up top. The AI on its own, even with all the knobs at my disposal, just couldn't give me that. An analogy I can think of is cars. The AI is a muscle car: lots of power that's hard to tame. The GSS by contrast is less powerful, but what it's more manoeuvrable.
The company
Both companies are amazing to deal with. Rick at Acoustic Image still helps me with issues on my super old AI, and Didier at GSS has been super responsive reponding to emails with my questions and even made a custom modification to my order at my request.
As examples of how they do customer service, someone borrowed by AI and blew up my 10"woofer. Rick posted me a new one, no questions asked, from the US over to the UK. The amp was 5 years old at the time.
I can't say if Didier will match that at GSS, but when my combo arrived, it had an annoying hum. He was very quick in replying to me and helping me trace the issue to the PSU that came with the amp. He is shipping me a new one, but because it's a laptop cable I've been happily playing away in the meantime hum free.
The cost
You probably have a feel for this if you've been researching these two combos. I bought my AI over ten years ago. It was expensive then and it's even more expensive now. Even ignoring inflation and the recent tanking of the GBP, I paid more ten years ago for my AI than I did this year for my GSS.
Conclusion
There is no conclusion. Both amps are great! If you have any questions then please feel free to ask. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either combo, but I hope this post will help you make an informed decision.
I know there's a new combo from AI called the Doubleshot. By most people's account that doesn't have the boominess of the Coda line of amps. Bear in mind that the cabinet alone costs considerably more than I paid for my GSS combo and because I have a series III Coda I cannot take the amp head out and reuse that.
TL;DR: Both great amps. Acoustic Image is louder, has more knobs to twiddle and feels more professionally made. GSS 06B400 is less loud, sounds better at a given perceived volume (to my ears), is much lighter and is quite a bit cheaper, particularly for a me in Europe.
Why did I buy the GSS if I already owned an AI?
Main one was weight. I'm sure this is a niche market, but I walk my double bass around to rehearsals and gigs (no jokes about walking bass please). I bought the AI sight unseen 10 or so years ago because it was light enough for me to walk over a mile with a bass on wheels and an amp. It's possible, but it's not pleasant by any stretch so I was looking for something that sounded great for upright, came with a decent bag that could be slung over the shoulder, and was lighter. The GSS seemed to fit the bill.
So, with that out the way, onto the comparison. I will use AI interchangeably with Coda, and GSS with 06B400.
Features
If you like large featuresets on an amp then there's no contest, the AI wins. I can add reverb, adjust the gain along with master volume, offer a lineout with pre or post, plug in an XLR, give it phantom power if I want and add a frequency notch or High Pass Filter [HPF].
The GSS head gives me volume, bass, mids, treble and mute. It doesn't even have a power switch! I have more flexible control on my bass guitar than I do on the amp.
It's not all doom and gloom for GSS though. For years I've controlled much of my sound from a preamp and I don't think I've touched any knobs on the AI other than the gain knob. Actually I tell a lie, I use the HPF a lot but I'll come to that in a minute.
One massive GSS feature I have no use for is, because it uses a laptop PSU, you can buy an external laptop battery and get a pretty decent light portable rig.
Physical attributes
I wanted a lighter rig, but a smaller one would have been nice too. The GSS is smaller, but not by a huge amount. The front of the GSS is smaller but for depth it's about the same.
Both have bags. Both are good, but the AI one perhaps feels better made. It damn well should do given its cost. I suspect the cost is because it's a cylindrical shape which is hard to manufacture.
Apologies for the socks.I weighed both amps in their case with requisite cables and adapters as that's what I'll be carrying. The AI is 26lb, the GSS is 19lb. I should note here that I purchased the 06B400MKD which is the coax version of the 6.5" driver and is a little heavier.
The GSS feels much lighter on the back, probably even more so than the numbers would imply. I'm guessing this is because it's a more regular shape and the weight distribution is better for carrying.
Musical attributes
This is going to be hard to put into words and I really don't want to be accused of bias. Actually how can I? I own both amps! I have no affiliation with either company although my experience with Rick and Didier have both been wonderful. See below.
I've been playing the AI for many many years, and the GSS for only a few days, so I reserve the right to update and change my opinion as I gig with the GSS more.
In short, the AI sounds great in good rooms, and bad in bad rooms. What's a good room and what's a bad room? I'm not sure, but I'm guessing the down-firing woofer can lead to a lot of unwanted reflections. One gig sticks in my memory when the band leader came up to me and said "your sound was amazing tonight, did you get a new amp?" No, but we got a new room!
You can tame a lot of this with the included HPF, but a lot of the AI's power is in its low end so aggresively using the HPF takes the loudness into the GSS territory.
Speaking of the GSS, it's not as loud, particularly in the lows. I can get the 6.5" speaker to fart on the lowest notes on a 4 string bass guitar so I have to dial back the bass level when playing aggresively.
However I didn't buy this combo for bass guitar, I bought it for upright playing. This may surprise people here but I think the GSS sounds much better for upright playing than the Coda. For information I have a Full Circle/Crown GLM 200 blended with a Fishman Pocket Blender. A few months ago I asked here why I needed to plug the Full Circle into the Fishman to sound good? Plugging into the AI straight just didn't give me the sound I liked. Well, that sound I like is there plugging straight into the GSS! I cannot explain it, but the GSS gives me bottom, but in a tight way that doesn't cloud the detail up top. The AI on its own, even with all the knobs at my disposal, just couldn't give me that. An analogy I can think of is cars. The AI is a muscle car: lots of power that's hard to tame. The GSS by contrast is less powerful, but what it's more manoeuvrable.
The company
Both companies are amazing to deal with. Rick at Acoustic Image still helps me with issues on my super old AI, and Didier at GSS has been super responsive reponding to emails with my questions and even made a custom modification to my order at my request.
As examples of how they do customer service, someone borrowed by AI and blew up my 10"woofer. Rick posted me a new one, no questions asked, from the US over to the UK. The amp was 5 years old at the time.
I can't say if Didier will match that at GSS, but when my combo arrived, it had an annoying hum. He was very quick in replying to me and helping me trace the issue to the PSU that came with the amp. He is shipping me a new one, but because it's a laptop cable I've been happily playing away in the meantime hum free.
The cost
You probably have a feel for this if you've been researching these two combos. I bought my AI over ten years ago. It was expensive then and it's even more expensive now. Even ignoring inflation and the recent tanking of the GBP, I paid more ten years ago for my AI than I did this year for my GSS.
Conclusion
There is no conclusion. Both amps are great! If you have any questions then please feel free to ask. I don't think you'll be disappointed with either combo, but I hope this post will help you make an informed decision.
I know there's a new combo from AI called the Doubleshot. By most people's account that doesn't have the boominess of the Coda line of amps. Bear in mind that the cabinet alone costs considerably more than I paid for my GSS combo and because I have a series III Coda I cannot take the amp head out and reuse that.
