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High-end/handmade cabs, amps, preamps

jb90

jb90

Feb 22, 2018
171
157
Poland
#1
Hi guys !
I want to start, imo, interesting topic about all those cabs, amps and preamps which are consider as high-end/handmade ones.
There's a lot of companies (Accugroove, Barefaced, fearfull, Bergantino, Schroeder etc.) which made gear like this. I have a couple of question and, at the same time, I think that we can talk a little bit about that gear.

1. How you can compare those companies and their products ?
2. Many of them produce cabs which are self-powered. What's the differences and pros and cons of "standard" cab and self powered cab ?
3. Many of those companies don't make any heads or preamps. My question is which heads or preamps are same high quality as those products ? Which of them suite with those cabs ? If I spend $3k for cab I can't plug $500 head or preamp on this because sound will be probably worse.
4. I'm looking for similar gear to GK (amp/preamp + 1x12 or 2x12 cab "standard" or "self-powered") but with flat response, same dynamics and punch and loud (at least 800+ watts). I want gear which will show a true tone of my bass and change the tone only when I want (with eq, effects or whatever). I want clean (but not crystal clear) tone without buzzing and hissing tweeters (I like a decent amount of tweeter sound but hiss and buzz from cab makes me crazy).
Thanks for advices ! All the best !
 
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#2
jb90 said:
1. How you can compare those companies and their products ?
Click to expand...

You can compare to a certain extent using specs and manufacturer's descriptions, but some marketing departments are more optimistic than others, so that's not totally reliable. You can search these pages for direct comparisons and/or for people who are familiar with two or more such cabs, and their comments will probably be more reliable than our respective propaganda.

And last but not least, see if there has been a review in Bass Gear Magazine. The measurements section in particular is a great resource for making apples-to-apples comparisons.

jb90 said:
3. which heads or preamps are same high quality as those products ? Which of them suite with those cabs ? If I spend $3k for cab I can't plug $500 head or preamp on this because sound will be probably worse.
Click to expand...

Imo the cabinet is usually the weakest link in the amplification chain, so improvements there are theoretically the mostly likely to be audibly significant.

Usually in threads dedicated to a particular manufacturer, you can find lots of real-world experience with different heads.

jb90 said:
4. I want gear which will show a true tone of my bass and change the tone only when I want (with eq, effects or whatever). I want clean (but not crystal clear) tone without buzzing and hissing tweeters (I like a decent amount of tweeter sound but hiss and buzz from cab makes me crazy).
Click to expand...

Lots of us "boutique" guys build cabs along those lines. You'll probably end up choosing between multiple "right" choices, rather than between "right" and "wrong" ones.

I might mention one of the tradeoffs that happens in pursuit of building a "true tone of your bass" cab: The way we smooth out the frequency response of a cab is by lopping off the peaks, rather than by filling in the dips. So we're essentially trading away SPL for smoothness. Thus a "true tone of your bass" cab will usually be not as loud as an otherwise comparable bass cab.
 
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#6
Could you tell me the names of all companies which make high-end amps and cabs (or rack preamps and poweramps especially for bass) ? Where I should looking for ? What you recommend ? I want gear which is not just a handmade mix of cheap parts and plywood. I'm not from USA so the only way I can get this stuff is an online order. I'm sick of the same weak bass amps and cabs that are made now - I tried Ampeg, Markbass, GK, Hartke and those amps are always silimar. My next bass will be a handmade too. Thanks.
 
#7
Powered cabs allow you to swap out pre amps....easily.
I’m using powered Bag Ends and they sound pretty much like the passive cabs..The rear port is in a different location since the power amp is sharing that space..
Powered cabinets allow you to direct out to additional cabs with no concern about ohmage.
 
#8
jb90 said:
Hi guys !
I want to start, imo, interesting topic about all those cabs, amps and preamps which are consider as high-end/handmade ones.
There's a lot of companies (Accugroove, Barefaced, fearfull, Bergantino, Schroeder etc.) which made gear like this. I have a couple of question and, at the same time, I think that we can talk a little bit about that gear.

1. How you can compare those companies and their products ?
2. Many of them produce cabs which are self-powered. What's the differences and pros and cons of "standard" cab and self powered cab ?
3. Many of those companies don't make any heads or preamps. My question is which heads or preamps are same high quality as those products ? Which of them suite with those cabs ? If I spend $3k for cab I can't plug $500 head or preamp on this because sound will be probably worse.
4. I'm looking for similar gear to GK (amp/preamp + 1x12 or 2x12 cab "standard" or "self-powered") but with flat response, same dynamics and punch and loud (at least 800+ watts). I want gear which will show a true tone of my bass and change the tone only when I want (with eq, effects or whatever). I want clean (but not crystal clear) tone without buzzing and hissing tweeters (I like a decent amount of tweeter sound but hiss and buzz from cab makes me crazy).
Thanks for advices ! All the best !
Click to expand...

#4) To my ears, Bergantino forte’ WILL provide true flat response ; reflect the true sound of Your bass with plenty of power and no inherent hiss

I own forte’ and HDN1-12

When you’ve made your choice please let us know
 
#9
zon6c-f said:
#4) To my ears, Bergantino forte’ WILL provide true flat response ; reflect the true sound of Your bass with plenty of power and no inherent hiss

I own forte’ and HDN1-12

When you’ve made your choice please let us know
Click to expand...

Best powered cab ever made was Acoustic 361 which was a powered cab and preamp with great tonal pallet

Although rated @ 200 Watts rms I have witnessed one keeping up with 2 Marshall stacks. The 361 was only at half power

Downside is finding and shipping an affordable 361 in optimum functional state
 
#10
Seems like Bergantino have a lot of series of their cabs. Which one too choose ? Some pros and cons of certain series ? What do you think guys about buying rack preamp and poweramp ? I noticed that many class D amps of well-known companies sound almost the same like someone just turn off the treble knob on them - very close and not open sound which immediately remind me of my small old Ampeg BA 115 amp. Dull with no dynamics, punch and power. Some amps like Glockenklang or Mesa/Boogie made nice class D amps with great flat and open tone but first one is too "hi-fi" for me and Mesa Subway seems almost perfect but has very harsh treble which is too much for my taste. I like open sound with good bass, just enough middle (without scoop like in GK but not so much overbump like in Markbass or similar heads) and just nice treble without harsh. I noticed that Demeter amps make preamps and poweramps but I have no experience with those. Does class D poweramp from Demeter will be enough ? Or maby Class A, A/B ? Which poweramps should I looking for a bass rig ? There's a ton of poweramps on the market. Maby you recommend me some typical bass poweramps which are on the market now ? Same with preamps - Demeter, Sansamp, sth else ? Or maby choose some studio preamp like Avalon ? Do you think that very good preamp+poweramp+custom made cab will be solution for me ? I just want no compromise in sound, build and reliability. I tried many amps and lots of them just looking cheap, sound cheap and are built from Made in China parts. Many of those amps are not reliable anymore like my previous 1001RB - it was a nightmare ! And I thought that solid state is more reliable than those small class D amps. So what you think guys ? I'm asking a lot because I need to have to do some research and most of this gear are in the USA and I'm not from the USA so the only way to buy this gear will be blind online purchase but I don't know where looking for. Those "factory gear" from China is not my interest anymore. Great quality and sound or nothing ;) Thanks
 
#12
If you have any skills in soldering, and have a general knowledge of AC and DC electronics, and know how to follow instructions well. With a perfectionist mentality, you could look into building your own hand wired tube amp. Some companies sell kits with full instructions (some with illustrations and pics) and have options to change out brands of parts. Thus, you could build a high end tube amp with the highest quality parts you choose.

There are a lot of kits for guitar amps, but not many for the bass amp.
 

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