Hartke KB15 Combo

[backtobass]

I think the DI is Pre. This is taken directly from the Hartke manual from the PDF on their web page.

Direct output - This standard male XLR connector provides a mic level pre-EQ (and pre-Volume control) balanced low-impedance output from the amplifier. This ouptput is usually used this to connect the Kickback to a Direct Injection (DI) box or to an XLR mic input when interfacing with external sound reinforcement or recording mixing consoles. The signal from this output adds approximately 6 dB of gain to the input level. 9.

 

[west al]

I think the DI is Pre. This is taken directly from the Hartke manual from the PDF on their web page.

Direct output - This standard male XLR connector provides a mic level pre-EQ (and pre-Volume control) balanced low-impedance output from the amplifier. This ouptput is usually used this to connect the Kickback to a Direct Injection (DI) box or to an XLR mic input when interfacing with external sound reinforcement or recording mixing consoles. The signal from this output adds approximately 6 dB of gain to the input level. 9.

You're right, I misread that.

 

[cb56]

Had my KB15 for about a month now. Love it! Played a gig last weekend where club provided PA and soundman.
Soundman was super impressed with the amp. KB15 sounds great, plenty loud, lightweight, affordable.
What's not to love?

 

[Yahboy]

I have try Ampeg 150 v2, Markbass JB School player, Orange crush bass 100, hartke HD150, KB 12 and KB 15 at GC.
And I pay for KB15. Just because there are only one display unit in stock, so my new KB15 will arrive in this few days.

The reason I choose KB15 not only the tone, this combo really make low B sound great, tight and focus wihout boomy. Second reason is weight and higher watts.

Out of topic, Orange crush bass 100 sound unique and classic organic, in clean tone it not as dark as Marshall MB series. While push the gain , It sound transform like Ampeg BA. Have to mention,the 100watts crush bass sound louder than Ampeg BA150.Another classic bass tone after Rumble, Ampeg and Marshall.

 

[Yahboy]

Here the Fender Rumble V3 200/115 and Hartke KB15....... comparision will coming soon.

 

[Yahboy]

Fender Rumble V3 200/115 vs Hartke KB15
15’ vs 15’

The size the weight the look and the smell
Both size and weight is come close. KB is little shorter but deeper than Rumble.If carry, I found Rumble is easier and lighter.
Ofcause, for me, Rumble retro look is far sexy than KB.Although I own the rumble almost 2 years, but the combo still produce some bad wood smell until now.

The features
From both control layout, Rumble is winner.
You can get Overdrive , aux , extent cab, effect send and return... ext.
The KB just got headphone and Di . Lacking piezo horn . As I mention before, Rumble could use as keyboard amp and digital drum amp through AUX in + horn On. And also could use as elec guitar amp with both horn and bright switch engage.

The Tone
Both sound good to me. Rumble tone is smoothy scoop classic tone. And the KB tone is more mid present with some thick bottom in flat EQ. At here , I dint share the colour tone from shape mode, contour, vintage and overdrive mode for compare.I found the EQ fine tune already make both combo sound different. If I increase the bass on rumble, it produce fat bottom ; meanwhile the KB produce tight and solid bottom without boomy. Thank the hydrive driver design too, even I increase bass but the MID is still present well. Unlike rumble, More bass you increase, more scoop you get.The first reason I buy KB15.
The MID control is more easy dial in than rumble LoMid and hiMid control.
The treble increase only make tone sharper with No Harsh.
Because KB come without horn,there are no horn hiss even I increse the treble to 4 o'clock.
The most visible different is how Hartke KB handling Lo B well than Rumble,this is the second reason I buy Hartke KB15.I think if you guy play drop D or C, the KB15 won't let you disappointed.

Have to mention that cooling fan produce some low frequency noise from KB15, but acceptable. Rumble’s cooling fan is absolutely silent.

So, thank you for reading.

 

[west al]

Good write up Yahboy.
I had the Rumble earlier, and there were a couple of things that did't help me to keep it in favor of the Hartke. I'm glad it doesn't have a HF horn, or tweeter. Even though I don't use the kickback feature, it's nice to have the feature. More power doesn't hurt either. The HyDrive speaker is on a par with the Eminence. Bottom line, you really can't go wrong with either one.

 

[Anders Barfod]

Fender Rumble V3 200/115 vs Hartke KB15
15’ vs 15’

The size the weight the look and the smell
Both size and weight is come close. KB is little shorter but deeper than Rumble.If carry, I found Rumble is easier and lighter.
Ofcause, for me, Rumble retro look is far sexy than KB.Although I own the rumble almost 2 years, but the combo still produce some bad wood smell until now.

The features
From both control layout, Rumble is winner.
You can get Overdrive , aux , extent cab, effect send and return... ext.
The KB just got headphone and Di . Lacking piezo horn . As I mention before, Rumble could use as keyboard amp and digital drum amp through AUX in + horn On. And also could use as elec guitar amp with both horn and bright switch engage.

The Tone
Both sound good to me. Rumble tone is smoothy scoop classic tone. And the KB tone is more mid present with some thick bottom in flat EQ. At here , I dint share the colour tone from shape mode, contour, vintage and overdrive mode for compare.I found the EQ fine tune already make both combo sound different. If I increase the bass on rumble, it produce fat bottom ; meanwhile the KB produce tight and solid bottom without boomy. Thank the hydrive driver design too, even I increase bass but the MID is still present well. Unlike rumble, More bass you increase, more scoop you get.The first reason I buy KB15.
The MID control is more easy dial in than rumble LoMid and hiMid control.
The treble increase only make tone sharper with No Harsh.
Because KB come without horn,there are no horn hiss even I increse the treble to 4 o'clock.
The most visible different is how Hartke KB handling Lo B well than Rumble,this is the second reason I buy Hartke KB15.I think if you guy play drop D or C, the KB15 won't let you disappointed.

Have to mention that cooling fan produce some low frequency noise from KB15, but acceptable. Rumble’s cooling fan is absolutely silent.



So, thank you for reading.

Fender Rumble V3 200/115 vs Hartke KB15
15’ vs 15’

The size the weight the look and the smell
Both size and weight is come close. KB is little shorter but deeper than Rumble.If carry, I found Rumble is easier and lighter.
Ofcause, for me, Rumble retro look is far sexy than KB.Although I own the rumble almost 2 years, but the combo still produce some bad wood smell until now.

The features
From both control layout, Rumble is winner.
You can get Overdrive , aux , extent cab, effect send and return... ext.
The KB just got headphone and Di . Lacking piezo horn . As I mention before, Rumble could use as keyboard amp and digital drum amp through AUX in + horn On. And also could use as elec guitar amp with both horn and bright switch engage.

The Tone
Both sound good to me. Rumble tone is smoothy scoop classic tone. And the KB tone is more mid present with some thick bottom in flat EQ. At here , I dint share the colour tone from shape mode, contour, vintage and overdrive mode for compare.I found the EQ fine tune already make both combo sound different. If I increase the bass on rumble, it produce fat bottom ; meanwhile the KB produce tight and solid bottom without boomy. Thank the hydrive driver design too, even I increase bass but the MID is still present well. Unlike rumble, More bass you increase, more scoop you get.The first reason I buy KB15.
The MID control is more easy dial in than rumble LoMid and hiMid control.
The treble increase only make tone sharper with No Harsh.
Because KB come without horn,there are no horn hiss even I increse the treble to 4 o'clock.
The most visible different is how Hartke KB handling Lo B well than Rumble,this is the second reason I buy Hartke KB15.I think if you guy play drop D or C, the KB15 won't let you disappointed.

Have to mention that cooling fan produce some low frequency noise from KB15, but acceptable. Rumble’s cooling fan is absolutely silent.



So, thank you for reading.

Great review..

This was my suspicious.. The Hartke KB15 with its hydrive speaker, different cabinet design and probably slightly more power is much more suited for a 5 string bass.. Some combos like the Fender with 140W at 8 ohm with the internal speaker is not powerfull enough for a tight clean producing B-string while maintaining punchy mids . The hartke KB15 has 250 watts with the internal speaker which is kind of the minimum for loud clean B string action through a large 15" speaker..
With these digital amp (class D) i think one should aim for at least 250W into a 15" if you want loud and quick clean transients on a 5 stringer..
Well designed class AB amps seem louder and punchier at similar wattage ratings as the class D amps...
The Orange 10kg class A/B amp OB-1 is 300W in 4 ohm or ~215W in 8 ohm (~0.71 x 4 ohm rating) which is what the internal 15" speaker gets in the Orange OB1-300 Combo and I can promise that those ~ 215W can blow most of the small class D amps with a 300W 4 ohm rating driving a 8 ohm speaker..

 

[Linnin]

Good write up Yahboy.

Agreed! Yahboy is from Malaysia, and his observations are honest and reliable. He is a good friend of mine. Forgive his English as he is writing as best he can.

 

[Midas]

Bought a KB15 yesterday. I like that the sound is "more analog" than the Markbass combos. It handles the low b string quite good, of course it's not able to do it on any volume. But it is a loud combo.
If I would play just 4 strings I would go for the 12" version but I don't trust smaller single speakers in that range of power for a 5 string. The wedge position is a great thing! I will play the combo only from the stage edge fronting me.
Makes more sense to me than a cab where my ears should be at my knees to be able to hear me. I think I will use two of this combos this way instead of one big cab in the back of the stage.

 

[Midas]

Had the first rehearsals with the KB15. Loud enough for my power rock trio. The wedge position ist so usefull!! I wonder why not more cabs are built like this!
I will buy a second KB15 for my loud rock band to put them in front of me next to the normal monitor cabs. I will need no big cab in my back anymnore with two of this combos.
The sound ist very deep, due to the 15" mids are a bit underrepresented but I can hear everything down the b string very clear, it handles the 5 string Le Fay very good.
Thinking of maybe buying a KB12 to have a bid more mids, the fact that both speakers can be equalized seperately is very useful here.
Playing without band I did not like the sound 100% because 15" is not my most loved format of speakers. But with and wthin the band it cuts very powerfull though the mix and the
Hartke speakers make very nice highs, I like that the KB15 has no tweeter!!! No hiss of highs... I think I like the "cube"

 

[Anders Barfod]

I

Had the first rehearsals with the KB15. Loud enough for my power rock trio. The wedge position ist so usefull!! I wonder why not more cabs are built like this!
I will buy a second KB15 for my loud rock band to put them in front of me next to the normal monitor cabs. I will need no big cab in my back anymnore with two of this combos.
The sound ist very deep, due to the 15" mids are a bit underrepresented but I can hear everything down the b string very clear, it handles the 5 string Le Fay very good.
Thinking of maybe buying a KB12 to have a bid more mids, the fact that both speakers can be equalized seperately is very useful here.
Playing without band I did not like the sound 100% because 15" is not my most loved format of speakers. But with and wthin the band it cuts very powerfull though the mix and the
Hartke speakers make very nice highs, I like that the KB15 has no tweeter!!! No hiss of highs... I think I like the "cube"

I agree the wegde format is great for smaller combos. If that 15" speaker is playing pointing at your knees you will hear no mids on stage. I need a 12" guitar combo up at least 2 feet of the grund if I want to hear it on a smaller stage.
Also the idea of getting one of each is good. The kb12 will have more mids or at least some audible dispersion of mids. That is the major strenght of 10" speakers for bass amps compared to 15" speakers e.g mid dispersion off-axis.

For guitar which is shifted an octave above bass and has two extra upper strings should have multiple 8" instead of (1-4) 12". Like a smaller 8x10 ampeg just with 8x8" speakers to get some mid-high dispersion.

 

[Midas]

I did try the markbass 210 combo in the shop with my 5 string. I liked the sound of the 10" very much but the 210 could not handle the low b string at all! I was really surprised by that but I don't play jazz or blues, I need a powerfull
cab! I dont use distortion sounds but my band plays a lot of supports for bigger acts (so far ;-) ) and I need to hear me through the sound of guitars, drums and a lot of strings and keys from tape so the bass signal musst be loud, even on the b string. The 210 Markbass is not able to do so concerning my requests.

 

[njones89]

My kickback weighs much more than 35 lbs. It's more like 70+. Maybe that's because it's older. Anyway, people always rag on Hartke, but I personally love the brand. My kickback 15 is a gigging amp. Everybody I jam with compliments me on my tone and how loud the amp is, and they usually don't believe it's 100 watts. It is very loud! I have had sound guys take me out of the PA at medium bar venues without even turning it past noon.

 

[Midas]

Well I am speaking about the new 500w version of the Kickback. The more heavy old ones must be even more solid in tone!

 

[Anders Barfod]

Well I am speaking about the new 500w version of the Kickback. The more heavy old ones must be even more solid in tone!

The new version is powered by a Class D (digital switch amp) which gives you 250W RMS to the speaker (not 500W),, but 250W to a single 12" or 15" is plenty..
That Hydrive speaker has a neodynium magnet.. Everything adds up to an extremely lightweight amp at 35 lbs.


The older version was a classic 120W class A/B with transitors mounted to cooling fins and a 15" aluminium hartke speaker with a very large heavy ceramic magnet..Total weight 47 lbs.
Those transitors class A/B watts often sounds a little punchier than class D amps to my ears when comparing similar wattage amps.
A class A/B amp with good mos-fet transtiors, large transformers and large quality filter caps gives you that instant kick, punch.. Some lesser class D amps seem to lack this initial kick to my ears..

 

[Anders Barfod]

I did try the markbass 210 combo in the shop with my 5 string. I liked the sound of the 10" very much but the 210 could not handle the low b string at all! I was really surprised by that but I don't play jazz or blues, I need a powerfull
cab! I dont use distortion sounds but my band plays a lot of supports for bigger acts (so far ;-) ) and I need to hear me through the sound of guitars, drums and a lot of strings and keys from tape so the bass signal musst be loud, even on the b string. The 210 Markbass is not able to do so concerning my requests.

Is that the markbass CMD-102p amp ?
It is a modern 2x10 amp with 300W to its internal speakers.. Can't handle a low B at loud volumes.. THat is intersting..
A single 15" (177) has more surface area than two 10" (157),
I think comparing a modern 2x10 cab to a modern 1x15 cab around the same price level/quality powered by the same power (300W), I would only trust the 15" for good low B handling a high volumes.. But you loose a bit of the midrange dispersion/openness on the 15".
A modern 2x12 or a 4x10 (that can go low) is what you need for decent high volume low B string action with some punch.. A 15" can be punchy as well,, Just need a good powerful amp to keep it tight.. No less than 200W powerfull watts for a single 15".

 

[Midas]

Tried also the 2x12 Ninja by Markbass (powered by the Ninja top) and... the 212 had problems with the low b string too at high volumes.
The "problems" disappeared when I connected the 212 to a 121 Combo. Then I could turn down the volume and the additional speakers did make it work. I was totally into buying a Markbass set up but
I lost my trust at least in the smaller cabs as a standalone 5 string solution. And cause I don't like the Markbass equalization on the tops I chose to step away. I was surprised how well the Hartke handles the 5 string but as mentioned before,
there IS a lack of mids! I am still thinking on buying a KB12 instead of a second KB15 to get a different tone out of it.

 

[Midas]

I like the possibility of putting either two of the KB's on the side on top of each other (as a normal stack) or putting them in front of me as bass monitors or do both - one cab in wedge mode from behind
and one in front of me. I only think... why don't other guys do so..?

 

[njones89]

Because you really only need one Kickback. That's loud enough!