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New mesa subway amps and cabs!

#2,161
keto said:
I don’t think the WD-800 is for me. I prefer a firmer bottom than what I’m getting from it, c’est la vie. Spent an hour with it, my board (it does take drive pedals very well), a passive and an active bass, and a lot of knob turning. Can definitely hear the ‘800 heritage’. I found the 800+ more to my liking. Anyone around here looking for one, it should be back at L&M North Saturday.
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I've GASsed for the WD but the 800+ has been such a stunning amp for me with loads of immediate power. I've shifted to GASsing for Powerhouse cabs that folks are dumping for lighter cabs. I have a 2X15 and want a 6X10 to mate with it.
 
#2,162
tripp2k said:
I've GASsed for the WD but the 800+ has been such a stunning amp for me with loads of immediate power. I've shifted to GASsing for Powerhouse cabs that folks are dumping for lighter cabs. I have a 2X15 and want a 6X10 to mate with it.
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I'd like to try a PH610 as well. I recently tried a PH410 and thought that plus two would be awesome.
 
#2,164
donahue said:
How does the SW215 compare to the PH610? From what I hear, that cabinet is no slouch either. I'm actually lately interested in a PH610. I run mostly 15s a the moment.
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I was not overly impressed with the 6x10. In all fairness, it is entirely possible i did not setup the amp correctly for optimum sound and since I only ever played it at home, the room acoustics could have been a factor. Also I never turned it up really loud either, maybe this cab needs some volume to shine?

To my ears and in the same room, the Ampeg and Fender Rumble rigs sounded better to me. Now with the D800 and 2x15, it has taken the number 1 spot, again to these old ears.

Hope that helps.
 
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#2,165
The voicing of the Subway is quite different from the PH, so a lot of what you heard may be a different personal preference between the voicings of the cabinet lines.

The PH is fairly brash, in your face, straight ahead rock voicing, whereas the Subway is a little more sophisticated. While the Subways can do rock just fine, they will go to places that the PH don't do very well. This is a direct result of listening to TB players likes and dislikes as well as how they have evolved over the past 10 years or so.
 
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#2,166
So I had a chance to stop by Gelbs to try out the WD and the berg HG310. I have the Mesa prodigy and berg IP. Still deciding if I am going to change so I went to try out the WD and some cabs.

First the the WD was easy to dial in and the med damping was great. Super fast and I tried a few basses but didn’t have to fiddle at all. Settled on a Sadowsky 4 string for testing. I play rb, efw, Stevie, TOP and Chicago stuff.

I tried the bergs:
Hg310, nv 115, hdn 2x12,410. The 115 was really smooth and tight, really leaning in the nv direction The hg had great mid-range but I wish I would have put it on the floor, the size is baffling really portable. The 2x12 and 410 were great as well but size is my biggest consideration.

SWR 6-10. Wow, killer sound should have never tried it.

Mesa Subway:
2x15. It is a great size and the sound is really fantastic. Very clear with a strong bottom but not boomy at all.
The 2x10 is a great size as is the 112. The 2x10 has more bottom than the Hg, but it was in the floor and the HG wasn’t.
The 112 was good but a little thin by its self.

The best of the day was the 112 with the 2x10 or the Hg.
Perfect bump, weight, good mid definition overall and 2x10/112 is the way to go.
Then I switched the 112/nv115 together. Good lord what a tone!

Can’t go wrong either way. I really found the tone quickly on the WD. Just food for thought
 
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#2,167
Jman2089 said:
I really found the tone quickly on the WD.
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It's interesting to me that with so many controls for tone shaping on that head, it just seems to be able to give you what you're looking for very easily. Which is just the opposite of my SWR SM-400S which also has a lot of adjustability, but can more easily give you a bad sound than a good one unless you've spent some time learning to use the head.
 
#2,168
Seriously sat down looked at it:
Gain 10
Bass 1
Mid 2
Treble flat
Peq:
500 bump, mid cut a bit, treble flat.
Tried the damping on a couple of passes with different cabs and settled on Med.
Pretty easy. Played with the bass and mid abut on different cabs, but left it as above most of the time
 
#2,169
Al Kraft said:
It's interesting to me that with so many controls for tone shaping on that head, it just seems to be able to give you what you're looking for very easily. Which is just the opposite of my SWR SM-400S which also has a lot of adjustability, but can more easily give you a bad sound than a good one unless you've spent some time learning to use the head.
Click to expand...
Well, that was always my experience with SWR heads. Maybe I just didn't give them enough time, but for a while those were in backlines everywhere on the club circuit and I grew to dread them - Eden were a lot easier to EQ though I rarely saw them in backlines. ...but I digress, sorry. ...where were we?
 
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#2,170
TomB said:
Well, that was always my experience with SWR heads. Maybe I just didn't give them enough time, but for a while those were in backlines everywhere on the club circuit and I grew to dread them - Eden were a lot easier to EQ though I rarely saw them in backlines. ...but I digress, sorry. ...where were we?
Click to expand...
...IIRC, observing how we live in better times as bass players! :)
 
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#2,171
Crusher47 said:
I was not overly impressed with the 6x10. In all fairness, it is entirely possible i did not setup the amp correctly for optimum sound and since I only ever played it at home, the room acoustics could have been a factor. Also I never turned it up really loud either, maybe this cab needs some volume to shine?
Click to expand...

I've not played through the Mesa PH610 but I have played though quite a few Bergs (and currently own an HT322 and HD112). Cranking the power to Berg cab's makes all the difference in the world. If I play my HT322 or HD112 at low volumes they sound different but not drastically different. However, if i crank my amp up and hit them hard they totally open up and sound totally different. I would suspect that the PH610 would sound totally different in a high power gig environment.
 
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#2,172
Jman2089 said:
So I had a chance to stop by Gelbs to try out the WD and the berg HG310. I have the Mesa prodigy and berg IP. Still deciding if I am going to change so I went to try out the WD and some cabs.

First the the WD was easy to dial in and the med damping was great. Super fast and I tried a few basses but didn’t have to fiddle at all. Settled on a Sadowsky 4 string for testing. I play rb, efw, Stevie, TOP and Chicago stuff.

I tried the bergs:
Hg310, nv 115, hdn 2x12,410. The 115 was really smooth and tight, really leaning in the nv direction The hg had great mid-range but I wish I would have put it on the floor, the size is baffling really portable. The 2x12 and 410 were great as well but size is my biggest consideration.

SWR 6-10. Wow, killer sound should have never tried it.

Mesa Subway:
2x15. It is a great size and the sound is really fantastic. Very clear with a strong bottom but not boomy at all.
The 2x10 is a great size as is the 112. The 2x10 has more bottom than the Hg, but it was in the floor and the HG wasn’t.
The 112 was good but a little thin by its self.

The best of the day was the 112 with the 2x10 or the Hg.
Perfect bump, weight, good mid definition overall and 2x10/112 is the way to go.
Then I switched the 112/nv115 together. Good lord what a tone!

Can’t go wrong either way. I really found the tone quickly on the WD. Just food for thought
Click to expand...

I found the the eq quickly and easy to dial in when I took a test drive. That probably has to do with my M-pulse experience.
 
#2,175
Anybody using a subway 1x15 or 2x15 with a line 6 helix? With a D-800+ it seems like it would be a good platform for getting a nice true PA-like response from the amp so you can use all you speaker sim patches without going muddy. I play in a really eclectic cover band so thinking about giving this a try ...

Is the 2x15 the best choice for that goal?
 
#2,176
pickles said:
Anybody using a subway 1x15 or 2x15 with a line 6 helix? With a D-800+ it seems like it would be a good platform for getting a nice true PA-like response from the amp so you can use all you speaker sim patches without going muddy. I play in a really eclectic cover band so thinking about giving this a try ...

Is the 2x15 the best choice for that goal?
Click to expand...

Considering the cost of the subway cab, I believe you can find better for frfr cabs and amps. I use a Fearful 12126 and peavey IPR1600 with my helix.
 
#2,180
Warwick Qc418 said:
Considering the cost of the subway cab, I believe you can find better for frfr cabs and amps. I use a Fearful 12126 and peavey IPR1600 with my helix.
Click to expand...

I’m not super cost sensitive. When it comes to sounding like a good set of headphones or studio monitors I’d give regular fearfuls and fearless about a 6/10. They’re pretty opinionated in the high mids. I had a 3-way fearful that was 8/10. Just wondering if anyone is getting subways in the ballpark of warm true hi-fi. I wouldn’t always use the helix.
 

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