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Jad Freer Sisma Mega Thread.
- Thread starter gtirard
- Start date
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,952
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Can't see why it wouldn't, but I'll try to run mine through it to confirm.
hi and thanks again for offering!
Were you able to play them together?
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,516
- 19,952
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Andrea Lo
Commercial User
- Feb 21, 2022
- 198
- 847
- 47
- Disclosures
- Jad Freer Audio, Ibanez Guitars, Aluminati Guitars, Citron Guitars, Dogal Strings, Plick the pick
Nik Mazzucconi of the R&D team plays a tbird with the Sisma. Great combo, I ve tried it.
nice...hope remains...
Well I ordered an Aguilar AG700 in the meantime...can anyone describe that amp compared to the SISMA?
I have a Capo on order already but I’m getting more curious about the Sisma and cabinets.
Andrea, can you talk about pairing the Sisma with the new cabinets? The amp is listed at 700w at 4ohm, but the cabinets are less - like 500w 4ohm for Minerva 212. Can I safely run it with one cabinet or do we have to go with two cabs and run at 2ohm?
Andrea, can you talk about pairing the Sisma with the new cabinets? The amp is listed at 700w at 4ohm, but the cabinets are less - like 500w 4ohm for Minerva 212. Can I safely run it with one cabinet or do we have to go with two cabs and run at 2ohm?
Andrea Lo
Commercial User
- Feb 21, 2022
- 198
- 847
- 47
- Disclosures
- Jad Freer Audio, Ibanez Guitars, Aluminati Guitars, Citron Guitars, Dogal Strings, Plick the pick
Cabs rating is very conservative. They easily handle twice the power rated. Never had a blown woofer. I've tested a lot all the cab range in real world scenarios.
I have had the Sisma for a short while now and still have some things I'd like to try out (the DI, for one).
First off, there are some little things I'd like to see that would make this a better amp, for me, anyway. As note by a couple others above, I can see the very long bat on the power switch ending up broken as it is quite prominent and unprotected.
The three switches on the left side of the front panel (Mute, LPF, and Deep) are virtually impossible for me to see. Perhaps white circles silkscreened around them, or maybe the buttons can be a lighter color, say, white or grey, possibly?
I wish there was a dedicated Tuner Out instead of using the Line Out which is more useful for other "chores", so to speak. At the moment, I have my Stroboflip connected to the Line Out but the Gain control has be up turn up a bit get a signal out to it.
I would like to see the Bass and Treble controls with center detents, as there are such on the Level controls for the two mid-band filters.
Those are only personal preferences, otherwise, the amp is perfect feature-wise. As many have said in previous reviews, this amp has depth/heft/slam/whatever you want to call it; it just makes the notes feel really solid sounding. The mids and trebles have great clarity to them. The straight up sound is superb with the tone controls set flat. If this is the "baked-in" sound of the Sisma, it's great one! I am not gigging these days so all my testing is mostly comparing the Sisma with my Tone Hammer 500 in my home practice space.
I am running each amp into my LDS cabs so I can easily switch back and forth between two rigs to compare the amps.
IIRC, earlier I mention how the Sisma make the TH500 feel like an empty box by comparison; the build quality of the Sisma is first-rate, a very solid and dense feeling that is nice to have as lots of micro amps really are too light in weight. Sisma will stay put on a cab without the need for pads and other trickery to keep it from sliding around.
Has anyone tried removing the tube? Is it easy to get to and grab to pull out for changing tubes in needed?
More to come, it's getting late around here!
First off, there are some little things I'd like to see that would make this a better amp, for me, anyway. As note by a couple others above, I can see the very long bat on the power switch ending up broken as it is quite prominent and unprotected.
The three switches on the left side of the front panel (Mute, LPF, and Deep) are virtually impossible for me to see. Perhaps white circles silkscreened around them, or maybe the buttons can be a lighter color, say, white or grey, possibly?
I wish there was a dedicated Tuner Out instead of using the Line Out which is more useful for other "chores", so to speak. At the moment, I have my Stroboflip connected to the Line Out but the Gain control has be up turn up a bit get a signal out to it.
I would like to see the Bass and Treble controls with center detents, as there are such on the Level controls for the two mid-band filters.
Those are only personal preferences, otherwise, the amp is perfect feature-wise. As many have said in previous reviews, this amp has depth/heft/slam/whatever you want to call it; it just makes the notes feel really solid sounding. The mids and trebles have great clarity to them. The straight up sound is superb with the tone controls set flat. If this is the "baked-in" sound of the Sisma, it's great one! I am not gigging these days so all my testing is mostly comparing the Sisma with my Tone Hammer 500 in my home practice space.
I am running each amp into my LDS cabs so I can easily switch back and forth between two rigs to compare the amps.
IIRC, earlier I mention how the Sisma make the TH500 feel like an empty box by comparison; the build quality of the Sisma is first-rate, a very solid and dense feeling that is nice to have as lots of micro amps really are too light in weight. Sisma will stay put on a cab without the need for pads and other trickery to keep it from sliding around.
Has anyone tried removing the tube? Is it easy to get to and grab to pull out for changing tubes in needed?
More to come, it's getting late around here!
Last edited:
Even if you don't gig any longer, I wish you can find an opportunity to at least try Sisma once in a rehearsal with a full band, because all the qualities you described become super enjoyable at high volume.
I wish I could, but that doesn't seem to be in my future. And that's the issue with the Sisma's rather high price for just my own use at home.
I would loved to see a version as has been asked for here of a lower powered, with a more reasonable price for those like me (small fixed income, retired, etc., type). Actually, I'd be perfectly happy with just a preamp (with headphone output) version of the Sisma for just recording and personal practice. Stereo Aux In with its own level control, and stereo headphones would be ideal as that is what I use my Raven Labs PHA-1 for; for practice and learning songs.
That is a pricey amp for home use. Gosh, I'd look at 350 watt versions of Mesa, Aguilar, GK or Genzler, or a nice combo. Still 1st rate gear but way less expensive than an amp that is overkill for your use.
Yeah, but I was given the opportunity to give the Sisma a whirl. It's not like I can't afford it, it's more of justifying the cost, really, for my current needs. I do already have a Tone Hammer 500, which has been a great amp (I have gigged that quite a bit back in the last decade); I will say that with judicious tweaking of the tone controls and doing my best to level match the Aguilar and Sisma I can get them really close, tonally. The Sisma still has something intangible to its sound that is hard to match with the Tone Hammer 500, though. An openness or perhaps it's a bit more clarity to the mids from the Sisma that I really like.
This may seem a bit odd but one of the qualities I really like best about the Sisma is its heft and solid feel (construction-wise). There's something comforting about that, maybe that it won't get pulled off a speaker cabinet easily if yanked.
Not that that has ever happened with any of the other micro amps I've owned in the past (three Walter Woods and two Markbass amps) nor with the Aguilar. So, who's next in line for trying the Sisma?
Oh yeah, pics or I never really had it in-house.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
Yeah, but I was given the opportunity to give the Sisma a whirl. It's not like I can't afford it, it's more of justifying the cost, really, for my current needs. I do already have a Tone Hammer 500, which has been a great amp (I have gigged that quite a bit back in the last decade); I will say that with judicious tweaking of the tone controls and doing my best to level match the Aguilar and Sisma I can get them really close, tonally. The Sisma still has something intangible to its sound that is hard to match with the Tone Hammer 500, though. An openness or perhaps it's a bit more clarity to the mids from the Sisma that I really like.
This may seem a bit odd but one of the qualities I really like best about the Sisma is its heft and solid feel (construction-wise). There's something comforting about that, maybe that it won't get pulled off a speaker cabinet easily if yanked.
So, who's next in line for trying the Sisma?
Oh yeah, pics or I never really had it in-house.
View attachment 5441238
You may be able to achieve more of the clarity you desire with an Aguilar AG series than with the TH series.
As tempting as the Sisma is, based upon what you've said, the absence of an on-board variable HPF is a deal breaker for me; I've become such a believer that I won't consider an amp that doesn't have one.
I don't mean to tell you what to do. If you love the amp and it's not a hurtful financial hit, then enjoy! I think you've justified the cost by your love of certain intangibles you feel the amp offers.Yeah, but I was given the opportunity to give the Sisma a whirl. It's not like I can't afford it, it's more of justifying the cost, really, for my current needs. I do already have a Tone Hammer 500, which has been a great amp (I have gigged that quite a bit back in the last decade); I will say that with judicious tweaking of the tone controls and doing my best to level match the Aguilar and Sisma I can get them really close, tonally. The Sisma still has something intangible to its sound that is hard to match with the Tone Hammer 500, though. An openness or perhaps it's a bit more clarity to the mids from the Sisma that I really like.
This may seem a bit odd but one of the qualities I really like best about the Sisma is its heft and solid feel (construction-wise). There's something comforting about that, maybe that it won't get pulled off a speaker cabinet easily if yanked.
So, who's next in line for trying the Sisma?
Oh yeah, pics or I never really had it in-house.
View attachment 5441238
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