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MB800: Hissy or Not

#21
No abnormal hiss on mine or excessive fan noise. I have heard the fan but it's not annoying at all. I usually sit directly in line with tweeter on my cab during band practice and haven't had any issues. Had other heads that were super hissy. The MB800 is not.

And for the record this amp is awesome. :hyper:
 
#22
bkbass2000 said:
Mine is going back today. Hope to have better luck with the next one,
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bkbass2000 said:
Interesting. In the short time I had mine, the fans would kick on every 10 minutes or so in my climate controlled practice room at low bedroom volume. This makes me glad I'm exchanging it for another.
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please post a picture of the new one when it arrives next week with your cab - and if it hisses I'd like to see/hear it if you have video recorder. thanks
 
#23
Joe Louvar said:
...If a fan runs to much it will bring in a lot of dust which is not good for the electronics. For this reason GK MB amplifiers are enclosed in a 100 percent aluminum chassis which conducts the heat out of the enclosure very well.

...So the fan will not turn on under normal operations. It’s only there for the very hot club or outdoor gig where the heat is unbearable for you and the amp.
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During my evaluations of the MB200/500/800, I noticed the same behavior across multiple examples- as you point out, the amps would often play quite loud without engaging the fans.

However, they did spool up from time to time, even when the amps were idle. This was indoors, at music store levels, in air conditioned spaces.

The noise doesn't bother me, but it's clearly audible at bedroom levels, enough that if I was recording with it around open mics, it would have to be isolated.
 
#24
My MB200 has more hiss than my Harley Benton HB500 (500w and costs the same). I think the extreme power/size/price ratio must give something bad in exchange. I can live with the hiss but I only think it's fine because of the price of the amp. On a more expensive unit? Nope. Guess the 800 is similar but not sure.
 
#25
steve_rolfeca said:
During my evaluations of the MB200/500/800, I noticed the same behavior across multiple examples- as you point out, the amps would often play quite loud without engaging the fans.

However, they did spool up from time to time, even when the amps were idle. This was indoors, at music store levels, in air conditioned spaces.

The noise doesn't bother me, but it's clearly audible at bedroom levels, enough that if I was recording with it around open mics, it would have to be isolated.
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Way cool - All amps should be isolated when recording (unless you want bleed over) but you’re right - the fan can and does turn on from time to time but most of the time (unless pushed hard) there is no fan noise. Anyway, thank you Steve for responding and sharing your experience and info.
 
#27
Joe Louvar said:
This seems to be same experience most have.
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I read a lot of reviews before buying mine since I couldn't personally test one and had a few concerns. After a few band practices (loud rock and quiet jazz) I am very, very impressed with this amp. The amount of headroom makes stunning difference at high and especially low volumes.

I have heard the fan, to me it sounds like the fan on my lap top. Small high, speed and louder than you'd think. It is noticeable but certainly not bad for an 800 watt head. Guess it would be different if my rig was mic'd but if I need foh support I go direct anyway. Oddly enough playing rock for 2 hours straight didn't make it come on but jazz for 45 minutes did? I did read somewhere that on some digital amps pushing them keeps them cooler than idling them? I'm no indjinear though, just a simple bass player.
 
#28
aproud1 said:
I read a lot of reviews before buying mine since I couldn't personally test one and had a few concerns. After a few band practices (loud rock and quiet jazz) I am very, very impressed with this amp. The amount of headroom makes stunning difference at high and especially low volumes.

I have heard the fan, to me it sounds like the fan on my lap top. Small high, speed and louder than you'd think. It is noticeable but certainly not bad for an 800 watt head. Guess it would be different if my rig was mic'd but if I need foh support I go direct anyway.
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Even if you miced your cab you wouldn’t hear fan noise unless you were playing at ridiculously low volumes for an 800w amp and even then I wouldn’t worry about it anymore than I would with an Ampeg, Boogie, and etc, etc.

Oddly enough playing rock for 2 hours straight didn't make it come on but jazz for 45 minutes did? I did read somewhere that on some digital amps pushing them keeps them cooler than idling them? I'm no indjinear though, just a simple bass player.
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the harder you push an amp the harder it works and the hotter it gets.
 
#29
My MB800 has no abnormal hiss. I usually use it at home at modest volume levels (master at around 7 o'clock ish) and, at times, band rehearsals at a higher level that is limited by the cab at the rehearsal space.

I have noticed the fan kicking in at my house. It's not excessively loud or annoying, but it does kick in 2 or 3 times in a 2 hour practice session. Air temp is probably low to mid 80s, no a/c.

--jack
 
#30
I just want to clarify that my MB800 is not noisy in a way that's objectionable or unusual in a musical instrument amplifier.

It has some thermal noise when the treble is dimed, and the fans are somewhat small and noisy, but nothing unusual.

In fact, I can't think of a single all-tube bass amp that can hold a candle to the MB800 in that regard. To have such thunderous power jumping out of near silence, is a remarkable achievement.

They only reason I mentioned it in comparison to my Streamliner, is that the Genz is such a spectacular piece of engineering when it comes to the amount of gain, and the near-absence of noise..

The Streamliner is glassy quiet, as good as a lot of recording equipment. This is one reason why my SL900 is still hanging around, even though I prefer the tones I'm getting from the MB800 for live work...
 
#31
steve_rolfeca said:
The Streamliner is glassy quiet, as good as a lot of recording equipment. This is one reason why my SL900 is still hanging around, even though I prefer the tones I'm getting from the MB800 for live work...
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My experience with the Streamliner was a bit different. I purchased a brand new 900 and 600 intending to use one as a backup. Even after swapping out all three tubes the 900 had an unacceptable level of hiss. Fans were quiet on both (especially the 600). I returned the 900 and kept the smaller amp. GK users can take heart. You're not the only ones dealing with these issues. :hmm:

M. M.
 
#36
blowinblue said:
My experience with the Streamliner was a bit different. I purchased a brand new 900 and 600 intending to use one as a backup. Even after swapping out all three tubes the 900 had an unacceptable level of hiss. Fans were quiet on both (especially the 600). I returned the 900 and kept the smaller amp. GK users can take heart. You're not the only ones dealing with these issues...
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Thanks to liberal return policies from companies like Musician's Friend, a lot of people are getting used to simply returning products that don't meet their expectations, rather than engaging with the manufacturer.

If you simply assume that a defective product is supposed to work that way, then you deny the manufacturer the opportunity to put the matter right, and you spread misinformation about the actual performance of that product.

For the record, the SL900 has more overall gain than the SL600, so if it isn't gain-staged properly, it can produce a little more noise. But if all other factors are equal, a healthy SL900 is just as quiet as its little brother.

Ditto for the 200/500/800 watt G-K MB heads. I've tried at least one of every model, and every example I touched had good noise performance. They might not be quite as glassy quiet as the more expensive G B Streamliner, but if your MB800 is unacceptably noisy, then it's defective. End of story.
 
#37
steve_rolfeca said:
Thanks to liberal return policies from companies like Musician's Friend, a lot of people are getting used to simply returning products that don't meet their expectations, rather than engaging with the manufacturer.

If you simply assume that a defective product is supposed to work that way, then you deny the manufacturer the opportunity to put the matter right, and you spread misinformation about the actual performance of that product.

For the record, the SL900 has more overall gain than the SL600, so if it isn't gain-staged properly, it can produce a little more noise. But if all other factors are equal, a healthy SL900 is just as quiet as its little brother.
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For the record, I knew that my 900 should have been quieter than it was. Genz-Benz was very helpful with trouble-shooting both on this forum and on the phone. All of their suggestions were tried, including proper gain-staging. I could have given them the opportunity to make it right (and no doubt they would have) but decided against it. I don't buy brand new product so that I can get stuff fixed or replaced. I buy brand new product to avoid hassle.

IMO, no misinformation was spread about the product. In fact, the unit had way too much hiss. It was noted that the company was right there with suggestions and help. It was also noted that I kept the 600 and love it. Sometimes a manufacturer gets just one chance to please a customer with a particular product. If I hadn't purchased both the 900 and 600 I would have likely let GB replace the 900 with another unit. Maybe down the road I'll try another 900. I seriously doubt my experience will cause any forum readers to shy away from either Streamliner.

M. M.
 
#38
Anyway - back to the GK MB800.

Bass-4-God said:
The opportunity to play the MB800 this weekend didn't happen.
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Bummer, with some good speakers I think the MB800 might blow your mind. Maybe take a ride down town to your local music store and check one out or just order one from a good online dealer (MF, etc) put some good speakers under it and if you don’t like it return it?
 

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