Markbass CMD102P vs GK MB210 combo

[cchorney]

I love Markbass amps but I find there speakers fart out very easily. That was the case when i bought the CMD102P. I used it it at two different gigs and back it went to the store. I do have a Markbass little mark II that i have had since 2007 and love it.

Fyi my experience was similar - I bought a MB CMD102P and for the one gig I used it on, I couldn't maintain stage volume without really lowering the bass and low mids. I returned it and asked for one in a factory sealed box, and that one was perfect. Buying a floor model or opened box (probably a customer return) is a recipe for trouble.

Also, as someone else pointed out, its subject to the limitations of 2x10's, so cranking the bass and low mids and then also cranking the VPF will make it more likely to fart out the amp or cabs at volume.

 

[Russell L]

I have had better results with my Markbass Traveler 151P cab. Running through my Little Mark III it hasn't farted out yet. I can run the gain at 2:00, master at 1:00, eq knobs at noon, and either no filters or VLE at noon or more, VPF at 9:00 and still sound great. Very loud, too. I will not try to boost the lows too much, especially by turning the VPF up too far. I did that with my CMD 121H combo at high volume, and it ran out of excursion. The 15" handles what the 12" couldn't, plus more. I opted to skip the 10s altogether.

 

[Brady4]

I prefer the sound of the GK mb210 II, but after buying and returning FOUR of them because they "rattled" like a can of bolts, I went with the Markbass 102p I don't like the sound as much, but it's still pretty killer, and it's built better in my opionion. I liked the GK speakers better and the look of the GK is alot cleaner.

 

[red_rhino]

I prefer the sound of the GK mb210 II, but after buying and returning FOUR of them because they "rattled" like a can of bolts, I went with the Markbass 102p I don't like the sound as much, but it's still pretty killer, and it's built better in my opionion. I liked the GK speakers better and the look of the GK is alot cleaner.

This is the only problem I had when I first got my MB210, but it was really easy to fix. The rattle was coming from the speaker grill. I removed it (very easy to do), and placed a couple of strips of black electrical tape on each of the four sides of the grill, which resulted in a more snug fit when the grill was put back into it's frame. Problem solved.

I did play a CMD102P at one point prior to buying the GK, but it sounded too "wooly" to me, like there was a blanket over the cab and I just couldn't get it to sound decent at anything approaching playing volume. Markbass has their sound, just like GK. I think it's just a matter of taste.

-Alan