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how's the peavey minimax?

#21
I will let others deal with your cabinet and ohm questions. Just saying the amp is plenty loud, even through an 8 ohm cab.
I have the Minimax, and for gigging it is a great little amp. Lots of tone options, variety of sounds depending what you want. Great features. But if you plan to use it for home practice, it is not a good choice. The fan is extremely loud. If I leave my practice room with the amp on, I can hear the fan all the way down the hall in another room. It will drive you nuts after a short while. As I said, at gigging volumes you will not notice the fan, but for home practice the fan is too loud. In all my years I have never heard another amp that has a fan that loud.
 
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#22
I don't even mind the fan I play at pretty low volumes at home, when I play I don't notice it stop and I 100% hear it, i think it really depends on the person as my kustom kxb200H had a pretty loud fan, I feel like it's more noticeable as most fans are typically on the back of a unit facing away peavey chose for whatever reason to have their fan blasting out the side
 
#23
I own the 3W mini bass amp from Blackstar but I don't have the extension cab. From what I understand the extension cab is really just that, not another set of the same amp I have. So if I do get a pair of 210s, the so called "extension cab" is non existent but I'd have to get 2 of the same set (or similar) 210 cabs, right? So if I get a pair of Peavey's Headliner 210, how exactly do I connect both together to get a 410 effect? Is it plugging an instrument cable from the "phones" to the "phones" of the opposite cab? I was a bit confused about the parallel talk, I assumed the cabs needed to sit side by side or stacked up on top of one another. So I guess I could have each cab far left and far right then?

Chuck M said:
In this case "parallel" is an electrical term...not a reference to physical placement of the cabinets.
Click to expand...
 
#27
bushy said:
I own the 3W mini bass amp from Blackstar but I don't have the extension cab. From what I understand the extension cab is really just that, not another set of the same amp I have. So if I do get a pair of 210s, the so called "extension cab" is non existent but I'd have to get 2 of the same set (or similar) 210 cabs, right? So if I get a pair of Peavey's Headliner 210, how exactly do I connect both together to get a 410 effect? Is it plugging an instrument cable from the "phones" to the "phones" of the opposite cab? I was a bit confused about the parallel talk, I assumed the cabs needed to sit side by side or stacked up on top of one another. So I guess I could have each cab far left and far right then?
Click to expand...
You can stack the cabs vertically or place them next to each other. As others have said, that has nothing to do with whether the cabs are connected electrically in parallel or series. For all practical purposes your cabs will always be connected in parallel.

Further, it's generally a bad idea to separate your cabs spacially - it can lead to acoustically undesirable effects.

Hopefully you've got all this figured out by now.
 
#29
Well it has Kosmos which was on the minimega instead of the transtube on the older minimax is what stands out to me the most, I haven’t tried it yet as I sold my minimax could just be changing the name/rebranding to make a older product seem fresh. Now that I read the description everything seems the same just relabelled the front.
 
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#30
My current head is a Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550 and while the tone on that thing is monstrous, the head itself is an absolute beast to lug around and I prefer the lower maintenance of solid-state amps. Hence why I'm looking to trade in my Fusion 550 for a lightweight head that's just as powerful. I'm aware of the various choices out there (GK MB500, Ampeg PF500, Aguilar Tone Hammer 500), but the Peavey MiniMax is the one I'm most interested in. The built-in tuner seems like a nice feature, I like that it has dual Speakon jacks in the back, and the price point is quite nice. How would folks say the reliability/build quality is on the MiniMax?
 
#31
Dincrest said:
My current head is a Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550 and while the tone on that thing is monstrous, the head itself is an absolute beast to lug around and I prefer the lower maintenance of solid-state amps. Hence why I'm looking to trade in my Fusion 550 for a lightweight head that's just as powerful. I'm aware of the various choices out there (GK MB500, Ampeg PF500, Aguilar Tone Hammer 500), but the Peavey MiniMax is the one I'm most interested in. The built-in tuner seems like a nice feature, I like that it has dual Speakon jacks in the back, and the price point is quite nice. How would folks say the reliability/build quality is on the MiniMax?
Click to expand...

I bought a miniMax as a cheap back-up amp a few weeks ago when my MB200 fried. I never expected to use it (it was just for back-upafter all) but I've been gigging it since I got it and I couldn't be more pleased! (For reference my other gigging amps are a Thunderfunk and a Quilter - both superb amps.)

It seems to be well built and sturdy. The available tones are good and varied. The tuner is useful and seems to be accurate.

Reliability? Ask me again in a few years time, but I have high hopes. Thirty + years ago I used Peavey combos and up until 2005 a Peavey Database 450 combo for a couple of years. All those proved to be 100% reliable.

If the new stuff is as good, I'll be well pleased.
 
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#32
I loved my minimax had no issues used it almost daily for seminloud practicing at home and with the band. The only reason I got rid of mine is found a Mesa boogie prodigy for the right price and the minimax couldn’t touch it tone or power wise.



Dincrest said:
My current head is a Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550 and while the tone on that thing is monstrous, the head itself is an absolute beast to lug around and I prefer the lower maintenance of solid-state amps. Hence why I'm looking to trade in my Fusion 550 for a lightweight head that's just as powerful. I'm aware of the various choices out there (GK MB500, Ampeg PF500, Aguilar Tone Hammer 500), but the Peavey MiniMax is the one I'm most interested in. The built-in tuner seems like a nice feature, I like that it has dual Speakon jacks in the back, and the price point is quite nice. How would folks say the reliability/build quality is on the MiniMax?
Click to expand...
 
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#33
Dincrest said:
My current head is a Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550 and while the tone on that thing is monstrous, the head itself is an absolute beast to lug around and I prefer the lower maintenance of solid-state amps. Hence why I'm looking to trade in my Fusion 550 for a lightweight head that's just as powerful. I'm aware of the various choices out there (GK MB500, Ampeg PF500, Aguilar Tone Hammer 500), but the Peavey MiniMax is the one I'm most interested in. The built-in tuner seems like a nice feature, I like that it has dual Speakon jacks in the back, and the price point is quite nice. How would folks say the reliability/build quality is on the MiniMax?
Click to expand...
Isn't the Fusion 550 like only 25 pounds?
 
#36
I've used mine gigging for the last two weeks while my SVT CL was in the shop. I use it with a 210 portaflex. Sounds great, and has lots of roar, even at 8 ohms.

The fan is still loud. It doesn't bother me.



bushy said:
Is it really an old amp that originated in the 80's?
Click to expand...
Class D was unheard of in the 80's, unless you have a magic Delorean, it's a new amp.
 
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#37
Super Bass said:
Isn't the Fusion 550 like only 25 pounds?
Click to expand...

25 lbs doesn't seem that bad when I'm at the gym putting plates on a bar, but when I'm taking multiple trips to lug stuff up and down the stairs at city venues or up and down several city blocks because I couldn't get a parking spot close to the venue... Yeah. Plus, I keep it protected in a Gator rack case so while that doesn't add too much poundage, it's still bulky to lug around.

I run my head through two Bergantino 1x12s and I can sling my bass gig bag on my back and hold a cab in each hand, but I have to go back for my head. The thought that I can take my head with me on that same trip with my bass and cabinets is appealing, especially during city gigs.

Hence why I'm interested in the MiniMax and made my inquiries in this thread. Portability, man.

UPDATE: Well, I took the plunge and traded in my Fusion 550 for a MiniMax. The store didn't have it in stock, so they had to special order it. There was also nothing in the used gear section that I particularly wanted. I'm going with the MiniMax because I'm getting on in years so a lightweight rig is good, adulting is expensive, so the MiniMax has the features I want at a price I can stomach, and several TalkBassers approve.
 
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