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Help Deciding between Mesa and GK Amp Head

#41
Giubaloo said:
Just wanted to say thank you again to everybody who has been weighing in, all of this information is incredible helpful to an amp noob like me. I will say this, the chance of this amp being played in front of anybody other than myself in my apartment is pretty much 0. If I did end up going the GK route I would have no problem paying the extra $100 for the Legacy 800 vs the Legacy 500, I just think an amp that powerful would be overkill for what it would be used for in my situation.

Another thing I wanted to address was the comment I made earlier about the GK sound clips I've heard sounding like what I envision my bass tone to sound like. I've only seen watched a couple of videos of the Mesa and none of them were playing a more aggressive style of music, so it's not that the Mesa *can't* replicate that sound I'm imagining in my head, it's just that I haven't seen it myself. I have watched a few videos of older models (like the D-800+) which I assume have similar tonal characteristics. I wanted to add that caveat because at the end of the day I've never played either of these amps in person before so I can't say for certain which one sounds better to me personally, just that the GK videos I've seen definitely seem to be catered more to the style of music I'm into.
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If possible, you owe it to yourself to try these in person. You might be surprised.
 
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#42
Al Kraft said:
If possible, you owe it to yourself to try these in person. You might be surprised.
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I couldn't agree more, unfortunately there are no local distributors (to my knowledge) that would give me the opportunity to try them. I'd love to be able to just order both from Sweetwater and return one of them but I'd never do that. Ultimately I feel that I will be happy with whichever amp I decide to purchase (which is comforting) but it kills me that I'll likely have to make this decision without trying either amp first.
 
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#43
Giubaloo said:
Sorry, should have clarified. For the last few years I've primarily been playing via Neural DSP through my DT770 Pros, also have a pair of Eris PreSonus E7 XT monitors which I've been enjoying. I also have a TC Electronic BQ250 head which I was using mainly for the DI out into my audio interface, and have experimented using my Darkglass B7k and SansAmp as preamps as well but right now they're on my pedalboard. I'll only be in an apartment for another year or so and have been playing with friends (acoustic drum kit, two guitars, vocals, me) so I want to invest in a nice amp/cab, just don't need anything insanely powerful.
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Thanks for the clarification, but I still advise getting a head that will accommodate the addition of a second matching cab in case you decide later that you want one. I've been playing for years in two bands (at two different people's houses in dedicated music rooms), each of which has two (electric) guitars and drums. Neither band is particularly loud, but I decided long ago that a pair of matching 2x10s stacked vertically was much better than a single cab. I found that this gave me a lot more available headroom, I didn't have to push either the amp or cabs, my sound was deeper and fuller, and the tall stack was great for getting a couple of speakers up closer to my hears so I could hear myself clearly in the mix.

In my case adding a second (matching) cab to each rig was easy because I started with an 8-ohm cab, so the amps I already had could easily handle the addition of a second cab. But since your cab is 4 ohms, I think you want to be sure to get an amp that will handle a 2-ohm load just in case you want to add a second matching cab later. You might eventually find that you prefer two stacked cabs in your current situation -- and/or you might eventually decide to play in other places where you need more oomph.
 
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#44
Lobster11 said:
Thanks for the clarification, but I still advise getting a head that will accommodate the addition of a second matching cab in case you decide later that you want one. I've been playing for years in two bands (at two different people's houses in dedicated music rooms), each of which has two (electric) guitars and drums. Neither band is particularly loud, but I decided long ago that a pair of matching 2x10s stacked vertically was much better than a single cab. I found that this gave me a lot more available headroom, I didn't have to push either the amp or cabs, my sound was deeper and fuller, and the tall stack was great for getting a couple of speakers up closer to my hears so I could hear myself clearly in the mix.

In my case adding a second (matching) cab to each rig was easy because I started with an 8-ohm cab, so the amps I already had could easily handle the addition of a second cab. But since your cab is 4 ohms, I think you want to be sure to get an amp that will handle a 2-ohm load just in case you want to add a second matching cab later. You might eventually find that you prefer two stacked cabs in your current situation -- and/or you might eventually decide to play in other places where you need more oomph.
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I think this is definitely very sound advice, my only reservation with purchasing an amp that powerful (even if I never end up needing it) would be if it were to sacrifice the sound quality or performance in any way at low volumes, which is realistically how it'll be played >99% of the time. (ie, if I have to keep the master volume at 5% will it perform or sound differently?) Also my cab is rated at 600w, if I had an amp that was >600w am I in danger of damaging the cab assuming I'm not pushing it too hard? I'd definitely consider spending the extra $100 to get the Legacy 800 if that made the most sense.
 
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#45
fgallien said:
Just wanted to clear this up, we went back to using jacks that accept both NL2 and NL4 speakons on all of our products, there will probably be a couple still floating around that only take the NL2, but as of March/April 2022 everything shipping out has jacks that accept both!
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Thanks for the update and good news Forest, it's appreciated.
 
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#46
Giubaloo said:
my cab is rated at 600w, if I had an amp that was >600w am I in danger of damaging the cab assuming I'm not pushing it too hard?
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IF you aren't pushing it, then it's not likely that the head would be sending 600 watts to the cabinet.

Also, many of the current Class D heads have impedance matching switches on the back.
For an extra measure of caution, you could set that switch to 2 ohms, which would limit the output of the amp and give your speaker a little larger margin of safety.
 
#47
groovaholic said:
Also, many of the current Class D heads have impedance matching switches on the back.
For an extra measure of caution, you could set that switch to 2 ohms, which would limit the output of the amp and give your speaker a little larger margin of safety.
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This is true of many but not all amps. Be sure to verify with the manufacturer first.
 
#48
agedhorse said:
This is true of many but not all amps. Be sure to verify with the manufacturer first.
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Would this be possible for the Legacy 800? I've attached a picture of the back of the amp for reference.

Screen Shot 2022-08-17 at 3.01.24 PM.png
 
#53
fgallien said:
Yup, that's the impedance switch, 2ohms would be in the 4+4 position
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Thank you for clarifying! I just double checked the specs of the RevSound cab I ordered and saw this:
  • Sensitivity: 99.5db 1 watt / 1 meter 127.5db peak
  • Power handling: 650 watts / 800 peak
  • Impedance: 4 ohms
I’m a huge noob when it comes to power handling (obviously), with these numbers in mind would the Legacy 800 pair well if I were to only play through that single cab, or would the Legacy 500 be a better fit in that case? (Especially keeping in mind that the 800 would never be pushed even above 75% which is a conservative estimate, realistic upper limit would be like 50%).
 
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#54
I’m not sure this helps, but I’ve been pushing my Legacy 800 into a 4 ohm 400 watt speaker in live performance for 3 years now (well the pandemic kind of interrupted) but let’s just say over 100 gigs, some of them pretty loud, though mostly about 1/2 power, or at least with gain at 1:00 and master at noon. I’m still on the original speaker and am hearing no signs of fatigue. I don’t crank the bass EQ. There are many times I play smaller rooms at about half that volume. There’s no sacrifice in tone that I’ve noticed. That’s just one data point, but it leads me to think you’d be fine with an 800. Just be careful - and it sounds like you are :).
 
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#55
Giubaloo said:
Thank you for clarifying! I just double checked the specs of the RevSound cab I ordered and saw this:
  • Sensitivity: 99.5db 1 watt / 1 meter 127.5db peak
  • Power handling: 650 watts / 800 peak
  • Impedance: 4 ohms
I’m a huge noob when it comes to power handling (obviously), with these numbers in mind would the Legacy 800 pair well if I were to only play through that single cab, or would the Legacy 500 be a better fit in that case? (Especially keeping in mind that the 800 would never be pushed even above 75% which is a conservative estimate, realistic upper limit would be like 50%).
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I think the Legacy 800 would pair really well and give you that extra headroom if you ever needed it!
 
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#56
fgallien said:
I think the Legacy 800 would pair really well and give you that extra headroom if you ever needed it!
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Thanks so much, I’ve just about settled on the Legacy 800! Just to clarify, one of the above posters recommended setting the switch to 2 ohms to limit the output of the amp given the cab is rated at 650w at 4ohms, is that what you’d recommend (especially when being played at more quiet volumes?)
 
#57
Giubaloo said:
Thanks so much, I’ve just about settled on the Legacy 800! Just to clarify, one of the above posters recommended setting the switch to 2 ohms to limit the output of the amp given the cab is rated at 650w at 4ohms, is that what you’d recommend (especially when being played at more quiet volumes?)
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Ask the manufacturer, different designers do things differently.
 
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#59
Giubaloo said:
Was trying to ask @fgallien specifically, sorry relatively new to TB and still learning formatting.
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We would recommend setting the switch to the (4or8) position. As long as you don't crank the volume to 11 you shouldn't risk blowing the speakers. They would start to "fart out" before the would blow. You will be able to play a quieter volumes no problem.
 
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