Mackie Thump

[Gaebrial]

So I plan on replacing my 210 combo amp with a powered speaker, specifically a Mackie Thump (probably the 15in over the 12in). I have seen some threads about other powered speakers, but nothing specific about the Thump, and if I am not mistaken they are made with more of a focus on the lower frequencies. My friend had one a year or two ago and I remember it sounded better than I expected with a bass going direct in. A couple points the Thump has over other options are the portability, flexibility (being useful for more than bass), and, in comparison to other powered speakers, it has a built in preamp with a 3 band, mid adjustable EQ built in (even though only 2 of the bands are really useful for bass, I think). Also, they are relatively cheap.

Does anyone have experience using a Thump for bass? Is there any technical reason why I would want a bass amp/cab over a powered speaker that I do not know about, putting concerns about tone aside?

 

[Stumbo]

PA speaker: Invalid Link Removed

 

[muddycreek]

So I plan on replacing my 210 combo amp with a powered speaker, specifically a Mackie Thump (probably the 15in over the 12in). I have seen some threads about other powered speakers, but nothing specific about the Thump, and if I am not mistaken they are made with more of a focus on the lower frequencies. My friend had one a year or two ago and I remember it sounded better than I expected with a bass going direct in. A couple points the Thump has over other options are the portability, flexibility (being useful for more than bass), and, in comparison to other powered speakers, it has a built in preamp with a 3 band, mid adjustable EQ built in (even though only 2 of the bands are really useful for bass, I think). Also, they are relatively cheap.

Does anyone have experience using a Thump for bass? Is there any technical reason why I would want a bass amp/cab over a powered speaker that I do not know about, putting concerns about tone aside?

I've had good luck with PA speakers, most recently a pair of QSC K10's were fine on a moderately large stage in front of 5-600 people. I've used amp plus unpowered speakers as well, either one or two 15's.

The main concerns ARE tonal, except for the fact that the speaker will have a line level input, that could possibly represent either not enough input gain or an impedence mismatch with your bass plugged in directly. Possibly mitigated with an active bass. If it was going to be a regular rig for me, I'd be tempted to use a preamp up front. I always liked that cheap little half rack Joemeek with the instrument input and compressor.

 

[cultrvultr]

I have used and owned lots of lower cost Active PA speakers. The Thump is my least favorite. I think it sounds like garbage. It is barely passable for pre-recorded music. For bass and live music it sounds gross. It does not hold up to the usual Mackie quality.

Why do you need to use a PA speaker instead of a bass amp? If you really need a clean FRFR type sound, you'll need to use something else like a QSC, Yamaha, EV, FBT, Mackie SRM, etc. Almost all of them will require some type of preamp.

 

[DirtDog]

So I plan on replacing my 210 combo amp with a powered speaker, specifically a Mackie Thump (probably the 15in over the 12in). I have seen some threads about other powered speakers, but nothing specific about the Thump, and if I am not mistaken they are made with more of a focus on the lower frequencies. My friend had one a year or two ago and I remember it sounded better than I expected with a bass going direct in. A couple points the Thump has over other options are the portability, flexibility (being useful for more than bass), and, in comparison to other powered speakers, it has a built in preamp with a 3 band, mid adjustable EQ built in (even though only 2 of the bands are really useful for bass, I think). Also, they are relatively cheap.

Does anyone have experience using a Thump for bass? Is there any technical reason why I would want a bass amp/cab over a powered speaker that I do not know about, putting concerns about tone aside?

I own some Thump12s for monitors and I play an Ampeg PF500/PF115HE. Comparing the two spec-wise, the Thump 12 is lighter and louder for a similar amount of power output (~500W) and a similar frequency response range as the PF500/115HE. I've never AB'd the two (but might now just for S&Gs) but I would expect a more full-range response from the Thump as a PA speaker and more mid-bottom tuning from the PF as a bass rig. According to the specs on both these products, my Ampeg rig can technically reproduce lower frequencies - 50Hz compared to the Mackie 12" at 57Hz. Now you said you'd go Thump 15, which gives you access to even lower frequencies - down to 32Hz so they say. That might even come out ahead of many bass amp speaker cabs.

Really, though, the biggest difference would be in the preamp circuitry between a bass amp and PA amp - one designed for mic/line inputs and one designed for instrument inputs. If you plug your bass right into the Thump, you might get less than stellar results from the "not hot enough signal" from your bass, even if it was active. I would guess you would want/need some sort of preamp before the Thump to boost your level from instrument to mic/line level AND help shape your tone. Something like a SansAmp BDDI would work in this setup. The tone stack on the preamps would likely be more sympathetic to bass tones than the built in tone stack on the Mackie (my guess would be different freqs are shelved or cut based on intended purposes of these two devices). Another key difference would be voicing of the cab and different materials: in my case, the PF500 is a sealed plywood cube with passive tweeter and crossover, the Mackie is an ported irregular plastic box with active tweeter and crossover.

But if it works for you and you like it, to hell with the specs and design!

BTW, we don't use the Thumps for monitoring anymore. We've gone IEM. Also what @cultrvultr says about EV, QSC etc is bang on.

 

[Gaebrial]

I have used and owned lots of lower cost Active PA speakers. The Thump is my least favorite. I think it sounds like garbage. It is barely passable for pre-recorded music. For bass and live music it sounds gross. It does not hold up to the usual Mackie quality.

Why do you need to use a PA speaker instead of a bass amp? If you really need a clean FRFR type sound, you'll need to use something else like a QSC, Yamaha, EV, FBT, Mackie SRM, etc. Almost all of them will require some type of preamp.

It isn't that I want a perfect FRFR sound, but I know that I do like the sound of my bass going directly into an interface/logic much more than I like it going through my amp, and it seems to me that even if I liked both sounds equally it would make more sense to have a PA that is more flexible tonally and in utility.

I would get a preamp at some point most likely, especially considering the instrument/line level issue. I do know that I prefer my sound going from my bass to an interface/logic to going through my bass amp.

My two main concerns were:
1) making sure, for example, a PA with a 15in speaker would be able to "keep up" with an equivalent combo amp with a 15in speaker in a mix (I occasionally play with friends in busking or small gig scenarios, so I am thinking about drums, guitar, keys/synth/organ). It seems bass amps are geared more towards those lower frequencies, but PAs should be able to reproduce those same frequencies, right? It just would not have the same built-in tone stack. I have a ~500 watt 210 combo right now, and the "1000" watt Thumps say they have a 400 watt power amp for the low section, so it seems to me that it should be comparable

2) seeing if there was a PA speaker around the same price that would work better than a Thump for bass. I have seen online where people do not like the thump as much as other options, but it seems the reason is because it does not reproduce the sound as perfectly as other options. That isn't a problem for me since I am not looking to reproduce a track true to the recording. Also, I was under the impression that the Thumps were voiced to get more of that low end...thump, to pardon the pun, in a DJ-like setting, possibly perhaps where a sub wouldn't be practical. It seemed to me that would would be an advantage of this PA over other similar models that are voiced to have a more flat sound and meant to work with a sub.

Also, I did have a 15in combo for a while, but I was unsatisfied with the flexibility of the sound; it got a beautiful warm, thumpy sound, but it didn't get enough clarity for anything other than that. I don't know if the same would apply for PA speakers or not.

 

[blubass]

While I know about the Mackie Thump PA cabs, when I first skimmed the title I thought it was regarding a speaker "thump" from possibly turning off a power amp or mixer.

 

[Steve]

one of the things I do bought a bunch of those things..maybe 6 I think. Two mains and 4 monitors..I wouldn't give you a dollar for all 6.

The low line JBL's 515's...I have two and they will kinda get by. I used them a couple times just to see if I could. Amazing as an acoustic guitar rig, dang good as a keyboard monitor.
I've used a good bit of the QSC K series stuff, K10, K12, K152, K153..that stuff will get-r-done if you have the budget.

if you buy a thump for a bass rig, prepare to be unhappy and using it as a vocal monitor because nobody will buy it used. Be prepared for it to grossly under perform as a vocal monitor as well. Those things are for DJ's playing mastered music. IMHO

 

[cultrvultr]

1) not really. especially in the budget range. There is a reason that most bass guitarists use speakers designed especially for bass guitar.
2) buy used locally. tons of great deals on craigslist, ebay etc, because people don't like to ship their old speakers. I think you can see the consensus and gentle suggestions from your fellow TB members to ignore the Mackie Thump.

It sounds to me like you might just want a better or different bass amp.

 

[Gaebrial]

If a PA speaker won't cut it I want to know why. What are the technical reasons for a bass amp performing better than a comparable PA? What specs am I looking for? What are the specific technical reasons why a bass amp with a 15in speaker works but a PA with a 15in speaker will not? Some have said it will not work, but nobody has told me why it will not.

Also, if the Mackie Thump isn't the best speaker for this, Which alternatives would work? (And why?) I have seen the QSC K series pop up a few times... are they better because they produce more/are better at handling bass frequencies, or are they better because the quality of the sound overall is better?

 

[Uncle Moe]

Man, you all are killing me... I just bought the Thump Boosted for a bass monitor for our band... we have a huge (for a local bar band) FOH and I dont use much stage volume for my bass... Plus, I wanted to get a send from the Monitor mixer to the monitor and my bass in one portable package... we start rehearsals this week .... We will See...

 

[Downunderwonder]

Man, you all are killing me... I just bought the Thump Boosted for a bass monitor for our band... we have a huge (for a local bar band) FOH and I dont use much stage volume for my bass... Plus, I wanted to get a send from the Monitor mixer to the monitor and my bass in one portable package... we start rehearsals this week .... We will See...

Must have been about 2015 I played a number of open mic gigs with drums and plenty of bass came out the front pair of Mackie Thump 15's that my sansamp was sending to the mixer. I am sure there are plenty of better performers but also plenty worse for bass monitoring.