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Hartke KB12 - not usable past half volume?

N

navijaz

Guest
Sep 20, 2016
458
873
#1
Hey everyone,

I just got a new Hartke KB12 and while I have to say that I like the general tone, it starts to fart out/distort from 5 (12 o'clock) on the volume. That is with a neutral EQ and the shape switch off.

Seriously easing off on the bass will give a little more headroom but I would say 6 seems to be the limit.

What are everyone else's experiences? Did I get a lemon?
 
#2
navijaz said:
Hey everyone,

I just got a new Hartke KB12 and while I have to say that I like the general tone, it starts to fart out/distort from 5 (12 o'clock) on the volume. That is with a neutral EQ and the shape switch off.

Seriously easing off on the bass will give a little more headroom but I would say 6 seems to be the limit.

What are everyone else's experiences? Did I get a lemon?
Click to expand...
New?
Return it for another and see how it plays.
If still the same, that may not be the droid you're looking for.

Knobs at Noon does not necessarily equate to flat frequency response.

What bass? Five string? Pedals?
What happens with the shape switch on?
Have you backed off on the lows/boosted the highs?
 
#5
Old Garage-Bander said:
New?
Return it for another and see how it plays.
If still the same, that may not be the droid you're looking for.

Knobs at Noon does not necessarily equate to flat frequency response.

What bass? Five string? Pedals?
What happens with the shape switch on?
Have you backed off on the lows/boosted the highs?
Click to expand...

According to the manual, knobs at noon equates to neutral setting...

Four string, EMG JVX, no pedals. shape switch adds more distortion.

As mentioned in the OP, backing off on the bass gives a little more head room but not much.
 
#8
I dint own KB12, but I have KB15. I can run volume till 3 o'clock without farting issue.

I choose 15 because she sound better in Low tone at high volume .

My advise is, return the KB12 and get KB15.
Don't worry the MID punch perform on KB15, hydrive driver give you great enough Mid and Hi present even with 15 driver. The tone You could not get with others paper 15 driver.
 
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#11
That combo has an amp section rated at 250 watts RMS, which is more than any "standard" 12" driver will musically handle. Most 12s will compress/fart before 200 watts, the exceptions being more expensive drivers (like Eminence LF series) that you won't see in a combo this price. The 15 has the same power with a larger driver. You can play around with the volume knob on your bass to find the sweetest ratio of input to output, but as was eloquently stated by Stumbo, it is what it is.
 
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#13
eaglemachine said:
I think the 12 has the same 500 watt amp section as the 15. It is probably feeding too much power to a single 12.
Click to expand...

Yeah, after playing around a bit, I am getting the feeling that this design simply has its limitations. I will see if I can try another unit next week. The shop got this one from the warehouse for me. Let's hope they have another one.

The amp seems quite loud and I want to use it as nothing but a stage monitor and for rehearsals. It might be fine for that. It's still a bit unsettling that it starts to sound stressed so early on.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far!
 
#14
navijaz said:
Yeah, after playing around a bit, I am getting the feeling that this design simply has its limitations. I will see if I can try another unit next week. The shop got this one from the warehouse for me. Let's hope they have another one.

The amp seems quite loud and I want to use it as nothing but a stage monitor and for rehearsals. It might be fine for that. It's still a bit unsettling that it starts to sound stressed so early on.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far!
Click to expand...

If the 15" version is not too heavy and/or pricey for your liking, it will most definitely get significantly louder and compress/distort later than the 12 incher.
 
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#15
navijaz said:
Yeah, after playing around a bit, I am getting the feeling that this design simply has its limitations. I will see if I can try another unit next week. The shop got this one from the warehouse for me. Let's hope they have another one.

The amp seems quite loud and I want to use it as nothing but a stage monitor and for rehearsals. It might be fine for that. It's still a bit unsettling that it starts to sound stressed so early on.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far!
Click to expand...
It just sounds like you are asking too much of this amp.
IMHO, a single 12 just normally can't deal with that much power. 250 watts RMS = a lot more than that in terms of peak power.

I have a Rumble 200 combo, 160 watts into a 15 in speaker rated for 300 watts. I can get it to fart out if I want to.
You can't just go by speaker power ratings because those only address the thermal rating, the point at which the voice coil heating might cause problems. IT DOES NOT ADDRESS MECHANICAL LIMITS.

My personal rule of thumb is twice the rated speaker power handing than what the amp is capable of producing.
And be sure all power measurements are the same type. Amp RMS vs speaker RMS or amp continuous vs speaker continuous. No way a single 12 is going to handle 500 watts RMS.

If your amp can accept a second external cab, that is what you need to do. Then you are not working each speaker nearly as hard. If it won't, find a combo that uses a pair of 10s or 12s instead of a single speaker or will take a second cab.
 
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#16
Old Garage-Bander said:
It just sounds like you are asking too much of this amp.
IMHO, a single 12 just normally can't deal with that much power. 250 watts RMS = a lot more than that in terms of peak power.

[...]

If your amp can accept a second external cab, that is what you need to do. Then you are not working each speaker nearly as hard. If it won't, find a combo that uses a pair of 10s or 12s instead of a single speaker or will take a second cab.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. My issue is not that the amp is not performing the way I want it to. I just found it strange that the second half of the volume knob seems to be useless. That's why I was wondering whether other owners have found the same. Apparently they haven't. So I will try to check out another unit and see how it performs.

If it behaves the same, then I guess I could live with that. I got this amp precisely so that I wouldn't have to lug around more cabs. It's meant to serve mainly as my stage monitor when I'm DIing. It should be OK for that, I guess. I like that it's simple and small. Might have to get used to its limitations...
 
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#17
navijaz said:
If it behaves the same, then I guess I could live with that. I got this amp precisely so that I wouldn't have to lug around more cabs. It's meant to serve mainly as my stage monitor when I'm DIing. It should be OK for that, I guess. I like that it's simple and small. Might have to get used to its limitations...
Click to expand...

...then if it gets loud enough for you to use as a monitor without distorting, there's no problem :-)
 
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#19
bolophonic said:
Have you tried a different bass?
Click to expand...

Yes. I also tried it with my passive JB in the meantime, and I tried it with a Sadowsky preamp pedal. There are always combinations that allow a bit more headroom, but not significantly so. As others have said, it might just be what it is - and if it is then so be it...:D:D

I will try to check out another unit next week and report back. Thanks again for all the replies! It is appreciated.
 
#20
This could also be by design.

Let's say you test out two amps in the store. You try out amp A, turn it up halfway and it's LOUD...not knowing that's all she can do. Then you turn up amp B halfway and it's not nearly as loud. You then get the impression that amp A is much better because even at halfway it's waaay louder than amp B. But amp A is done. It can't do any more. Amp B might completely outperform it if you allow the volume control to work through it's whole range. But you buy amp A because you don't realize that. Cheap trickery, yes. But it happens.
 
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