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NAD: Hartke LH500

#21
Thanks!

I was wrong about my cooling fan not turning on at startup. It is just so quiet. Still getting a huge smile every time I turn it on.

Compared to tone hammer? I never got to that point. I was deciding between tone hammer 350 and Ampeg PF 350 when I stumbled upon the LH500 and never did try the TH350. (I know, probably sounds fantastic paired with the Aggie cab). Maybe someday but there are no GAS pains at the moment!
 
#22
The_Janitor said:
Congrats on the amp! I have a LH1000, love it.

A limiter is similar to a compressor - it limits volume spikes.

A compressor will limit spikes and increase the perceived volume of low-volume sounds to even everything out to a consistent level.

So a limiter allows for a little bit more dynamic range - soft sounds will still be soft - but if you really dig in the limiter will stop dramatic volume increases from damaging your speakers.
Click to expand...


Hey - Thanks. I find the limiter useful and it works exactly as you say it does. I find myself leaving it turned on. I need to remember to turn it off before I become hooked on it!
 
#24
iDaemon said:
I'm now choosing between Hartke LH500 or Aguilar Tone hammer 500
Click to expand...

I was in exactly this place a year ago.

If you _love_ the TH sound, great! 'cause you're stuck with it. It has a certain baked-in flavor that is part of its character.

The LH family is 'cleaner' and 'flatter.' Some describe this as 'sterile.' I don't think so, but it's all personal preference.

If you start with the LH and decide you want the ToneHammer flavor, you can get most of the way there with a TH effect pedal (the pedal 'drive' is fixed - not adjustable, so it's not quite the same...) Or you can use another 'character-altering' effect, such as a B3K or B7K, or VMT. Or something else. (B7K was my choice.)

You can 'dirty-up' clean, but you can't clean up dirty.
 
#27
Just got my set up this week

20140225_171241_zps5f006510.jpg
 
#30
Well, it's been 3 months and the honeymoon phase never ended. She still sounds as sweet as our first jam session and if anything my love for the LH500 has only become stronger.

Until yesterday.

After the first "on" click - there was another, louder pop. Then a click again. And sometimes another pop and click.

At least she is under warranty but I have come to a very negative minded conclusion that all bass amps suck. (I'll get over it, but right now I'm in the angry stage.)

Oh well, I too shall fail one day!

:hmm:
 
#31
SolarMan said:
Well, it's been 3 months and the honeymoon phase never ended. She still sounds as sweet as our first jam session and if anything my love for the LH500 has only become stronger.

Until yesterday.

After the first "on" click - there was another, louder pop. Then a click again. And sometimes another pop and click.

At least she is under warranty but I have come to a very negative minded conclusion that all bass amps suck. (I'll get over it, but right now I'm in the angry stage.)

Oh well, I too shall fail one day!

:hmm:
Click to expand...

That's a bummer, contact Samson/Hartke if you have any issues getting it serviced. Larry has listed his personal phone number on here multiple times, so don't hesitate to jump up the chain of command if anyone gives you any trouble. Another reason i love hartke products: the customer service is top-notch.
 
#35
middy said:
I guess I shouldn't get too worried. I have a PF500 that's seen at least 100 hours of hard use and it's been flawless.
Click to expand...

1st off no - I didn't mess with the tube. I'll let them sort it out.

I wouldn't worry too much. I had seen a couple failure threads before I bought mine but I also saw threads where Larry Hartke said that he will make things right.

And this is really a "semi-failure" because after about 10 minutes it still runs perfectly fine (for now anyway).

I don't perform live anymore so this is just a little bump in the road for me - and if I did perform I would have a backup amp no matter what I was running anyway.

Cest La Vie!

(The funny thing for me is that I steered away from Ampeg Portaflex because of the failures on the PF500 - lol)

Still a great amp in my mind and I am so in love with the tone that there is no way I'm thinking about a different head.
 
#36
I used an LH1000 as a back line head this weekend and found the volume to be nowhere near what I would expect from a 1000 watt amp...It sounded good tone wise, but I was pretty underwhelmed power wise....I really wanted to love this amp, and was excited at the chance to get to try it out...I love the simple EQ section...I was just expecting it to be much more powerful than it was.
 
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