NAD - tc electronics BAM200 - everybody join in!

[wintremute]

Thanks to @lark_z and this thread, I got the $99 BAM Amazon special.

My review:
Because of the mortality thread, I hooked the BAM up and played it as soon as it arrived. I played for about 90 minutes straight. No technical/mechanical issues. The amp did get pretty warm, but I guess that's because it doesn't have a fan.

It feels pretty solid. There are not a lot of bells and whistles, which is fine by me because I like simple.

I am used to playing through my SVT-7 Pro, so immediately noticed how "clean" this amp sounded to me. It also seemed to have less bass. What you see in the pic was the (currently) final destination of the knobs. I got a sound I was pleased with.

The most surprising part to me was how loud it could be. As you can see in the pic, my Ampeg is normally set at around 9 o'clock for my personal practice, but I had to set the BAM at 8 o'clock to keep the volume from being too loud. [ "too loud" is louder than the music I have cranked that I'm playing along with ]

Overall, this was a steal at $99. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does playing in a band setting, but right now I'm thinking this is a great backup.

Anyone else who grabbed one of these on Amazon is welcome to join this thread, add pics, and give a review!

 

[SoulReflection]

View attachment 4751899

Thanks to @lark_z and this thread, I got the $99 BAM Amazon special.

My review:
Because of the mortality thread, I hooked the BAM up and played it as soon as it arrived. I played for about 90 minutes straight. No technical/mechanical issues. The amp did get pretty warm, but I guess that's because it doesn't have a fan.

It feels pretty solid. There are not a lot of bells and whistles, which is fine by me because I like simple.

I am used to playing through my SVT-7 Pro, so immediately noticed how "clean" this amp sounded to me. It also seemed to have less bass. What you see in the pic was the (currently) final destination of the knobs. I got a sound I was pleased with.

The most surprising part to me was how loud it could be. As you can see in the pic, my Ampeg is normally set at around 9 o'clock for my personal practice, but I had to set the BAM at 8 o'clock to keep the volume from being too loud. [ "too loud" is louder than the music I have cranked that I'm playing along with ]

Overall, this was a steal at $99. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does playing in a band setting, but right now I'm thinking this is a great backup.

Anyone else who grabbed one of these on Amazon is welcome to join this thread, add pics, and give a review!

Mine won't be here for a week or so but, I would love to hear any other impressions of it in the meantime...

 

[sloppy_phil]

I almost pulled the trigger on one of these, but I have a perfectly functional BH250 as my current backup head. It's been perfectly fine, so I really don't need to replace it.

Glad to hear it didn't fail on you!

 

[smperry]

Cool. My $99 one arrives tomorrow. It probably won't get here before my jazz band practice, but fingers crossed.

 

[Freightshaker]

Received my $99 BAM today. So far it's a neat little amp. I think this can be my small living room setup.
At 8 ohms it gets almost as loud as the Shuttle 6.2 it's sitting on in the picture but gets warmer faster.
@wintremute , mine does seem to have a tiny fan on the top left side. It's quiet and not pulling much cfm. I tried to cool it down for a half hour and the fan didn't turn off.

That's a Yorksville sound 250B on top of the GK neo 212 if y'all are wondering.

 

[wintremute]

@wintremute[/USER] , mine does seem to have a tiny fan on the top left side. It's quiet and not pulling much cfm. I tried to cool it down for a half hour and the fan didn't turn off.

I thought that was just an air vent. I'll check mine. Thanks!

 

[gidbass]

View attachment 4751899

Thanks to @lark_z and this thread, I got the $99 BAM Amazon special.

My review:
Because of the mortality thread, I hooked the BAM up and played it as soon as it arrived. I played for about 90 minutes straight. No technical/mechanical issues. The amp did get pretty warm, but I guess that's because it doesn't have a fan.

It feels pretty solid. There are not a lot of bells and whistles, which is fine by me because I like simple.

I am used to playing through my SVT-7 Pro, so immediately noticed how "clean" this amp sounded to me. It also seemed to have less bass. What you see in the pic was the (currently) final destination of the knobs. I got a sound I was pleased with.

The most surprising part to me was how loud it could be. As you can see in the pic, my Ampeg is normally set at around 9 o'clock for my personal practice, but I had to set the BAM at 8 o'clock to keep the volume from being too loud. [ "too loud" is louder than the music I have cranked that I'm playing along with ]

Overall, this was a steal at $99. I'm looking forward to seeing how it does playing in a band setting, but right now I'm thinking this is a great backup.

Anyone else who grabbed one of these on Amazon is welcome to join this thread, add pics, and give a review!

Mine arrives tomorrow. It is going to be my backup, but like you, I intend to play it for a few hours first to make sure it doesn't die out on me (at least initially).

 

[wintremute]

mine does seem to have a tiny fan on the top left side. It's quiet and not pulling much cfm. I tried to cool it down for a half hour and the fan didn't turn off.

After today's use, I did see that fan in there working it's little heart out. I agree, it doesn't move much air. Probably why the amp gets so warm.

 

[lug]

Left mine on for abot 5 hrs. and play off and on, No problems. My fan kicked on and I'm wondering if the ones that failed had a fan issue.

 

[mdogs]

Got mine today, still in box and is going to have to wait until tonight to get put through its paces. Really looking forward to seeing how loud this thing gets.

 

[MLC_BassPlayer]

Mine came today. I had time between meetings to hook it up to the Ashdown 210 in my office. With gain and volume set to 9:00 it has plenty of volume for how I practice at home. I have a gig Saturday night so I'll use it as I run through songs I'll week. I'll update everyone accordingly...

 

[Basselink]

Got it today - had a chance to play though it for about 30 minutes so far and no issues - although it got quite hot as others have mentioned. I couldn't hear a fan running so I'm hoping there's no issue there. If it works out, that's a great $99 insurance policy against main amp issues, in a size that should easily fit in the gig bag.

 

[wintremute]

Got it today - had a chance to play though it for about 30 minutes so far and no issues - although it got quite hot as others have mentioned. I couldn't hear a fan running so I'm hoping there's no issue there. If it works out, that's a great $99 insurance policy against main amp issues, in a size that should easily fit in the gig bag.
View attachment 4754213

I couldn't hear my fan. I had to break out my magnifying glass to see it spinning.

 

[arbiterusa]

It has a fan. I’d have bought a second one at 99 bucks, not that I need it.

It is barely acceptable for practice through a 410 and IMO not nearly enough for gigs…but far more than enough for at-home practice. And it sounds great. I’ve had mine for 7 months now and really like it.

 

[gidbass]

So, i received mine yesterday, and I had no cab to test it with.

I have a first generation GK MB212 that I have always wanted to add speakOn connectors so I could run any head I want, and have a backup incase this fails, which it has before but in fairness it was largely due to user error...

Anyways, i was considering an GK MB200 or ELF due to it's compact size, so once the BAM went on sale, it really was a no brainer, especially for $100. It's primary function is a backup for gigs, and maybe for practice if i am too lazy to haul my MB212 (once i get a BC208 that is).

The pics are below for this mod, but i got to run the BAM through it and I'm impressed by the tone. It sounds pretty good to my ears. I can't wait to crank it a bit at next practice.