Double Bass Just got the NEW EDB-2 VAP for testing and review

[John Littler]

Hi Rick, new speakers keep appearing, some with more and more power handling capacity and better low end. The smaller speakers work effective in much smaller cabs than larger ones, so it seems right to try them. Clearly a 6.5" woofer and a 5.5" co-axial are not going to sound like a 15" though. It's changed a lot from 2005 when we put out the Shire King acoustic combos. Also, I have found ways to make these high power speakers work in very small cabs, apparently without too much peakiness. I did wonder if you could use the port to fire pingpong balls out from bottom E. But we'll have to see what they do in the real world before settling on this. John from Headway

 

[AGCurry]

Valves / Tubes should be seen as consumables, a little like light bulbs.

That may be, but in my experience they can take a long time to be consumed. I have 12AX7s which are still good after 50 years.

 

[John Littler]

Mr Curry, that's good, although they were probably better made 50 years ago, sometimes in Chelmsford, Essex, UK. I'd be even more surprised if they had withstood much touring. John of Headway

 

[flatback]

yeah John right on.
YThe other thing about tubes is NOS. New Old Stock. Lots of great old tubes out there...Somewhat more expensive but the build quality and "sound" is better. I bought a RCA NOS and I love it long lasting. Cheap tubes can "ring" or be microphonic, they can also have weird sonic anomalies. I bought a bunch of old tubes just to educate myself on the different sounds. Of the new ones JJ's are good and getting a good one will last a long time and be fine for most people.

 

[John Littler]

Hi Flatback, sounds about right. There are modern ones that do the job right too. A friend who used to be involved more in this business collects old valves and valve radios and our 3D designer plays jazz guitar and collects valve guitar amps. A little bottle of glowing warmth.

 

[BassDuex]

Update: I recently purchased a Grace Felix 2 and have had the opportunity to use it a few times and compare to the VAP.

I play in a variety of settings, sometimes pushing crazy loud - and the resulting feedback battle.

I find the Headway VAP to be superior to the Grace for my needs. I prefer the Grace form factor, but the notch filter leaves much to be desired, and to my ear the Headway EQ is a substantially better for for URB.
On the Headway both channels have HPF and the notch filter has a fully adjustable surgical accuracy.

The Tube drive and HEAT settings are icing on the cake - after comparing to the Felix2 I appreciate the flexibility even more.

Anyhow that’s my 2cents!

 

[rickwolff]

Update: I recently purchased a Grace Felix 2 and have had the opportunity to use it a few times and compare to the VAP.

I play in a variety of settings, sometimes pushing crazy loud - and the resulting feedback battle.

I find the Headway VAP to be superior to the Grace for my needs. I prefer the Grace form factor, but the notch filter leaves much to be desired, and to my ear the Headway EQ is a substantially better for for URB.
On the Headway both channels have HPF and the notch filter has a fully adjustable surgical accuracy.

The Tube drive and HEAT settings are icing on the cake - after comparing to the Felix2 I appreciate the flexibility even more.

Anyhow that’s my 2cents!

Nice review. Thank you. I'm going to sell the Demo Headway VAP for John Littler. I just have to get a price from him and I'll post it here.

 

[crd]

Update: I recently purchased a Grace Felix 2 and have had the opportunity to use it a few times and compare to the VAP.

I play in a variety of settings, sometimes pushing crazy loud - and the resulting feedback battle.

I find the Headway VAP to be superior to the Grace for my needs. I prefer the Grace form factor, but the notch filter leaves much to be desired, and to my ear the Headway EQ is a substantially better for for URB.
On the Headway both channels have HPF and the notch filter has a fully adjustable surgical accuracy.

The Tube drive and HEAT settings are icing on the cake - after comparing to the Felix2 I appreciate the flexibility even more.

Anyhow that’s my 2cents!

Where do you have the EQ points set on the internal jumpers of the Grace Designs Felix?

 

[Earl]

Is this demo still going around by any chance?

 

[Greg Clinkingbeard]

I owned a Headway for a minute but couldn’t decipher the text to adjust EQ on a dark bandstand. Good sounding preamp though.

 

[Ric Vice]

In my limited experience, the Grace Felix and the Headway EDB 2-H.E. serve very different purposes. I use the EDB -2 as a backup to the Grace. My
poweredMAS 1/8 and MAS 4x5.5 benefit from the higher available headroom the Grade provides. I rarely if ever need the Notch Filter and always use its low cut function. When a EDB-2 VAP comes up on the used market I’ll try it out. The Grace has an excellent 5 year warranty and they stand behind their products. I’ve had occasion to use the warranty on three occasions and they always serviced the unit and got it right back to me, even after the warranty period was up.

 

[njbokker]

... We are currently designing a 300w acoustic bass amp combo prototype using Class D, an aluminium housing and two drivers, a 6.5" 200w rms woofer and a 5.5" 120w co-axial, which handles a modest amount of treble and both at full power down to 70Hz but useable down to 60Hz. It will be well featured including two channels, tweeter defeat and probably a low noise compressor. It will be incredibly small, about 12-13 Litres for the sound cab and an extra litre for electronics with an external PSU. Modelling suggests it's capable of 120dB. John of Headway

Hi John, any updates on the acoustic combo?