My guess would be the internal speaker is 8 ohms and you can drive another 8 or possibly 4 ohm speaker.
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New GK 800 Legacy!
- Thread starter johnson79
- Start date
My guess would be the internal speaker is 8 ohms and you can drive another 8 or possibly 4 ohm speaker.
Or since it’s a combo, just a different ICE module to drive that 8 or 4 ohm load.
I'm waiting to see if the Legacy combos are identical in all the knobs and switches, and the back panel, as the amp version. Price is $800 so higher than the amp but not by much. But one option is to go ahead and get the amp for $650 and then get a used 1x12 or 115 cab for at home practice. GC nearby has several GK cabs for about $160 right now so that would take care of the 'at home' situation.
This from someone else's post a few days ago: Legacy 500 Combo $800 (112) Legacy 800 Combo $1450 (212)
I think you have missed all the ''what's the point of a combo with an 8 ohm speaker only making half the output '' discussion over the years.
Highlights are:
1 speaker will never stand a chance up against the full amp output.
Extension cabs make use of the portability of a combo for lower volume plus high volume with the extra cab(s).
My guess is the combo will have exact same innards as one of the amp offerings due to the economy of scale.
The 212 is a Fusion (tube pre) combo according to Full Compass. Maybe the Legacy version will be a bit cheaper...
Me? Wasn't being snarky. I'm a little bummed that GK is no longer in the working man's price range and hope that they have some affordable but good stuff in the future.
I do see their reasoning though. They had the first 1 rack unit class D small amp head and light weight combo and now everyone has similar designs out for less money. They need to set themselves apart.
I do see their reasoning though. They had the first 1 rack unit class D small amp head and light weight combo and now everyone has similar designs out for less money. They need to set themselves apart.
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I think the CX cabs are very reasonable. And manufacturing in the USA ain't cheap, but worth it. When I buy from companies like GK and Mesa, I feel like I'm putting the money back into our own economy.
Certainly moreso than anything coming from China. We have regs, they don't.
Agreed but @TonyP- said that the new line of amps would replace all of the old lines. I read this to include the CX cabs but maybe I'm mistaken.
edit: although reading back when TonyP made this statement it looks like he might have only been talking about amp heads so maybe the cx cabs aren't going anywhere. Still $900 for a head is getting up there. The price jump % from when I bought my mb500 a few years back has far outpaced the growth in my income!
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- Aug 21, 2003
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TonyP are the combos worth the wait (did I read August?) or should I go ahead and get the Legacy head and get a cab later.? I just sold all my heavy gear so I'm starting up afresh.
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Shipping parts from overseas is way more fuel efficient than the shipping of built amps and cabs.
Politics aside.... The Legacy amps don't sound "Legacy" from what I experienced. They sound somewhat vanilla and lack the throatiness of the RB series. They sound modern with a less than grunty distortion circuit.
"Boost" - really had/has something special in the RB line.
The other 2 new GK class D amps are already modern and super flexible from the looks of it.... the "Legacy" should have been more simple with a meatier tone. YMMV.
"Boost" - really had/has something special in the RB line.
The other 2 new GK class D amps are already modern and super flexible from the looks of it.... the "Legacy" should have been more simple with a meatier tone. YMMV.
Yes, YMMV - mine certainly does! I needed to pick up a new amp quickly when my #1 went down during a long run of money gigs last week. Sweetwater was able to get me a Legacy 800 in a little over 48 hours, and I hustled it into service just in time for the hit last night. I'm very impressed, both with their service and with the amp.
I played an 800RB for many years, and have owned and loved a couple of MB's in the many years since. The MB's are a great tone (reminiscent to me of my long-gone 400RB) but different from the 800RB entirely.
Sound check took a little doing as I adjusted to the L800's somewhat different gain/master relationship (every GK model's been a little different in that regard, IME). I found myself setting gain higher than on the MB's, but I sorted that out pretty quickly, and discovered the 800 watt headroom once I played with the master a bit. Be aware though, it's not a significant volume increase from the MB500 or MBF 500, but just a little extra horsepower. I've also gigged an MB800 but I can't really compare it to that - I'll need more time to explore its outer limits.
It took no time at all to get the GK tone through the EQ. Even though the controls are re-arranged in a less-GK and more conventional fashion, the tone-stack settings for me work pretty much the same as any time I encounter a GK amp - very easy to get the sound I hoped for.
After sound check I played with the foot-switchable distortion feature and was quickly able to find a setting that very much resembled the old 800RB "boost" function, and also the B-channel function on the Fusion preamp. To be honest, having 3 controls vs a simple "boost" makes the Legacy actually very versatile in the overdrive department. Not only was I able to control the volume level of the B-setting using the "Level control" (like the old "Boost" knob), but the "Depth" and "Edge" controls allowed more shaping of the B-sound than any earlier GK products I've played. For those who hate overdrive through a tweeter, the "Edge" control allows you to find a sweet spot that eliminates harshness altogether. Bravo for listening to players, GK!
As the night went on, the touch-sensitive nature of the amp revealed itself - it became more and more like its 800RB ancestor as I got to know it better. I ended the night with nothing but a big smile and compliments from the sound tech and others. As I said to them, "it sounds like my old amp, just like I hoped it would".
I've never spent much time with a 700 or 1001 or other GK products except for my 400, but for those who've hoped to recapture the feel and sound of the old 800 with a bit more headroom, there's hope here, IMO.
Oh, and it fit perfectly into the laptop bag I've used for the MB amps for years - it fit better, actually! It's chubby shape filled out the space nicely!
I'm very happy after one gig and hoping the honeymoon lasts! Tom
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