NAD: Wayne Jones Audio Powered 2x10

[TonyRo]

I am trying to size a bit down on weight and size (currently have a Darkglass DG410C and MT500) and so I picked this guy up.

I have always been a preamp lover and I have a ton. With my current pedalboard setup this allows me to just pop things in and out of the preamp slot, and I no longer have to worry about an amp. I felt kind of dumb having a $600 amp sitting on top of my cab when I was always plugging a preamp into the FX return anyway.

Tell you what, so far this thing sounds great. Pretty punch and quick, crystal clear, and just nice. I saw criticisms on the handle location, and I get it - if you need to drag this thing through a thin space then having the handles longways sucks. But handles longways is definitely more ergonomic and comfortable otherwise. No knee-knocking, etc.

One thing I notice right away is that most of the preamps I own have too wimpy of a signal to really challenge this thing. I tried two darkglass preamps, the TC Electronics Spectradrive and finally, the Shiftline Olympic MkIIIs, and I literally couldn't turn up the volume on any of the first 3 to generate any clipping at all. I might to invest in a clean boost! Only the Olympic could really push the speakers at around 80% level, and that is notoriously hot. Still sounded great, and man is the WJ 2x10 loud for it's size.

We'll see, but so far so good!

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Love to hear one of these. I'm using a Noble tube-based pre into PJB Flightcase and/or powered PJB cab. They sound great. But that Wayne Jones 210 looks like a monster!

 

[TonyRo]

Any time you're in Cleveland! But maybe Australia is closer!?

It's a loud 2x10, that's for sure. I pushed it up pretty high just for test purposes last night and it cooks! I actually have a Noble arriving today as well, pumped to finally get to play one!

 

[mothra2]

+1 on the Wayne Jones for sure .... I have not searched, tested or entertained ANY other rig since I finally settled in to this one ... can't believe I almost sold it early on. Run my rig dead flat at this point, just use the on-board stuff on my VB Jazz or my MM5. SS, SS + Tubes, or full tubes on the pre into that amp/cab is just ridiculously good and the Mil Origin drives the heck out of the amp stage via the balanced 'out'.

 

[kpc]

I bet it sounds great. Just a little expensive for me.

 

[TonyRo]

Yeah, sounds great, definitely expensive new. I got mine used for less than $1k, so I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing. If I had nitpicks so far, it'd be the handle location, and the fact that besides the attenuators, there's no overall master volume on the cabinet. So if you have preamps with no volume control on the XLR output (Noble for instance) or preamps with signals that aren't hot enough to really push the cab (all of my Darkglass preamps), then you're have to monkey around with things and kluge up a solution, e.g. a TS-> XLR cable for the Noble, etc.

 

[jazzercountry]

Love to hear one of these. I'm using a Noble tube-based pre into PJB Flightcase and/or powered PJB cab. They sound great. But that Wayne Jones 210 looks like a monster!

I can definitely echo that the Noble is killer through a powered cabinet! I always enjoyed mine through the Bodai 112 or 45.5, depending on the gig.

 

[packrat]

I just picked up one of these and I’m just chasing the pre collection together now. Tech21 bass DI, sadowsky , dark glass, and bassart pre are the ones currently lined up. Probably a platinum for the upright.

What was the solution you came up with for the darkglass DI Level?

B>

 

[TonyRo]

What was the solution you came up with for the darkglass DI Level?

I never did, though I can't claim to have tried very hard, as the Noble and Shiftline Olympic MkIIIs are my main preamps and both had more than enough gain on tap. As far as I can tell, your only real option would be to boost your signal before the DG preamp, or run the DG into a higher gain, transparent preamp with a DI out on it. Not particularly elegant. I tested with a passive bass - perhaps a hotter active bass signal would have been sufficient, but again, not a super robust solution!

 

[packrat]

I predominantly play with active basses, so I'll see how that goes. Thanks.

 

[tcasas209]

I play my 2x10 WJ thru my Aguilar Tone Hammer and it smacks hard! the warm tone of the Aguilar preamp balance super brightness of the WJ cab.

 

[wouter12]

I would love to find a comparison between the Wayne Jones and the fEARless cabs. Been looking, anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[yaksonator]

I play my 2x10 WJ thru my Aguilar Tone Hammer and it smacks hard! the warm tone of the Aguilar preamp balance super brightness of the WJ cab.

Is that the th500 or the pedal?

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Here is the deal on the WJA 2X10Powered Cabinets and Preamps...

Wayne Jones patterned his preamps after Avalon 737 recording preamps. The deal is, your pedals don't have the juice needed to produce a clean level. You need a gain stage to control the "master" volume for output.

I have used the WJA single channel stereo Preamp, but personally felt there were other options for my personal taste.

I have used:

Trace Elliot GP12SMX Stereo Preamp
Aguilar DB680 (all)Tube Preamp
Ashdown RPM-1 EVO II (original)
Avalon U5
Alembic F-X1 Tube Preamp

All of these are top shelf BASS preamps and sound unbelievable with the no compromise PASCAL Class D 1000 watt power section in this no holds barred cabinet design.

This type of rig is not for those looking to save money and fit everything in their hip pocket where their wallet used to be. Also you may need to go to something like this arrangement to use the cabinet, as I did.

I am selling both my preamp and the second of my two WJA 2X10Powered Cabinets because I have three amazing rigs and one needs to be someone's NAD who can appreciate playing top of the line and sounding fantastic doing it!