New mesa subway amps and cabs!

[/\/\3phist0]

I appreciated your kind and supporting comments.

You were missed greatly.

 

[_Some Dude]

Thanks - well, the WD delivers are great tone with the DBs aswell, thats for sure. Just wonder how the SW112 would compare.

If you’re going to go Mesa the SW115 is the one to get.

The 115 has a room filling sound that the 112 doesn't.

I found the 112 was too prominent in the mids, which had me fighting with the guitarists for space. I swapped the 112 for the 210 because the 210s scoop let me cut through up in high mids while staying out of the guitars way in the rest of the midrange.

The 210 has more highs and deeper lows than the 115, which in turn has a really sweet midrange that fills the room without taking over. They combine super well.

The 115/210 was my preferred setup with the D800, which was darker than the WD800 and benefited from the extra top end of the 10s. With the WD800 I don’t need as much top and I’ve been considering going to a pair of 115s so that I don’t have to dial back the amp as much.

I’ve never used the Aguilar so I can’t give a direct comparison. With any luck that might give you some help, although like all things, YMMV.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Speaking of cabs and amps.

I've been running around to wherever whatever music to play my WD 800 but, mostly with my 1x10 or 1x12 cabs. Sort of grab and go stuff, so I got lulled into this small sound thing.

I kinda forget this is an 800-watt amp and it's, Big on Power, Easy to Get to the Gig

So, I got to plug it into a big Mesa stack the other day, 4x10, 1x15, I think Powerhouse or something, anyway,
Wow!

It was funny seeing that little box sitting astride that massive amount of speakerage and just blowin' the doors off the place

Good Times

 

[pfschim]

You were missed greatly.

yep, while you were gone, besides the usual Mesa and Genz questions that you ordinarily answer, there was a silly outbreak of the perennially stupid "tubes vs ss" and "english watts vs american watts" b.s.

 

[pfschim]

and hey, how about those Trickfish amps ?


.... just couldn't help myself

 

[DrThumpenstein]

yep, while you were gone, besides the usual Mesa and Genz questions that you ordinarily answer, there was a silly outbreak of the perennially stupid "tubes vs ss" and "english watts vs american watts" b.s.

Yeah way to make him miss us!

 

[Goldenboy]

With any luck that might give you some help, although like all things, YMMV.

Thanks, that helps for sure as - someday and on the long run - I defo think about a 15 for a similar reason with two guitarists with Strat/Tele. I don‘t want to steal away the midst and dial the amp to leave more room for them. So I really appreciate your advice. I played a 410 before and find the 2x112 do a better job for me already. The silverface DBs look so much better than the simple black Subways though

 

[Snackulus]

I took a chance & purchased a WD 800 without auditioning one in person. I’ve had it for about a week & am very pleased with it. My initial goal was to find something that could get me in the same tonal territory as my streamliner 900, but also capable of going down to 2 ohms. For my specific tonal goals (reggae), the WD 800 does everything my trusty streamliner does & then some! I was initially intimidated by the parametric, I’ve gotten used to the simplicity of my streamliner. But now that I’ve had time with it, I like it a lot. It allows me to further fine-tune my sound, and I still have the option to bypass it altogether. This is my first Mesa amp & I’m pretty stoked!
It sounds great & the build quality seems top notch!
My only curiosity is that I can’t compare it to the D-800 or D-800+ (which were initially on my radar) because I have yet to try either one out. But in the end, I took a chance & am happy.

 

[Snackulus]

I’m seeking the wisdom of fellow Subway WD-800 owners.
Im going to be pushing a pair of Barefaced Two 10S cabs. These cabs can be switched from either 12ohms or 4ohms. When running both cabs, the obvious choice is to run the amp at 2ohms (both cabs set to 4ohms) correct?
What is recommended if I’m only pushing one cab? The cabs are rated to handle up to 800 watts. But I’m a little hesitant, should I set it to 12ohms instead? Thoughts?
(Going to post in the barefaced thread too, want to hear both sides)

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I’m seeking the wisdom of fellow Subway WD-800 owners.
Im going to be pushing a pair of Barefaced Two 10S cabs. These cabs can be switched from either 12ohms or 4ohms. When running both cabs, the obvious choice is to run the amp at 2ohms (both cabs set to 4ohms) correct?
What is recommended if I’m only pushing one cab? The cabs are rated to handle up to 800 watts. But I’m a little hesitant, should I set it to 12ohms instead? Thoughts?
(Going to post in the barefaced thread too, want to hear both sides)

If you want to get some grit n squish run the switch at 2 ohm on the head and kick both cabs to 12 netting a 6ohm load to the head, cleaner + louder? Run it at 4/8.
This head shines driven just into slight breakup.
Easier to get there at the reduced wattage setting at moderate volumes.

If you want cleaner follow your original thought, and for a single cab leave it in 4 ohm and be vigilant.

 

[mmbass21]

I’m seeking the wisdom of fellow Subway WD-800 owners.
Im going to be pushing a pair of Barefaced Two 10S cabs. These cabs can be switched from either 12ohms or 4ohms. When running both cabs, the obvious choice is to run the amp at 2ohms (both cabs set to 4ohms) correct?
What is recommended if I’m only pushing one cab? The cabs are rated to handle up to 800 watts. But I’m a little hesitant, should I set it to 12ohms instead? Thoughts?
(Going to post in the barefaced thread too, want to hear both sides)

So every time I've played a gig with the WD and Two10s I try it at 12 ohms and always wind up switching it to 4. To me it puts more heft behind the notes and it's easier to turn down or play lighter if I have to. I always have the input at noon or slightly higher to keep the edge.

 

[agedhorse]

Set the speaker to nominal 4 ohms (which is likely to be closer to 6 ohms nominal) and since they recommend a 500 watt amp maximum, I would set the amp into 2 ohm mode which reduces the rated output to ~600 watts at 4 ohms which will end up being around 500 watts at "6 ohms" or right at the top end of their recommendation.

 

[Element Zero]

I’m seeking the wisdom of fellow Subway WD-800 owners.
Im going to be pushing a pair of Barefaced Two 10S cabs. These cabs can be switched from either 12ohms or 4ohms. When running both cabs, the obvious choice is to run the amp at 2ohms (both cabs set to 4ohms) correct?
What is recommended if I’m only pushing one cab? The cabs are rated to handle up to 800 watts. But I’m a little hesitant, should I set it to 12ohms instead? Thoughts?
(Going to post in the barefaced thread too, want to hear both sides)

I’d never even heard of Barefaced until I joined talkbass. Now the fact that it’s switchable impedance feature throws me for a loop. 4 or 12? Weird lol.

Anywho, I’d recommend using your ears more than anything and listen for signs of your cab(s) screaming for mercy. As an owner of the WD, if I owned a single 4 ohm cab I’d experiment with running the WD on 2 ohms damping on LOW and setting the HPF to avoid extreme speaker excursion.

 

[pickles]

Those barefaced cabs are really 3 ohm, not 4.

 

[Snackulus]

If you want to get some grit n squish run the switch at 2 ohm on the head and kick both cabs to 12 netting a 6ohm load to the head, cleaner + louder? Run it at 4/8.
This head shines driven just into slight breakup.
Easier to get there at the reduced wattage setting at moderate volumes.

If you want cleaner follow your original thought, and for a single cab leave it in 4 ohm and be vigilant.

Interesting... Thanks!

 

[Snackulus]

So every time I've played a gig with the WD and Two10s I try it at 12 ohms and always wind up switching it to 4. To me it puts more heft behind the notes and it's easier to turn down or play lighter if I have to. I always have the input at noon or slightly higher to keep the edge.

Thanks! I prefer a heftier sound personally, I’m primarily playing reggae with a clean tone.

 

[Snackulus]

Set the speaker to nominal 4 ohms (which is likely to be closer to 6 ohms nominal) and since they recommend a 500 watt amp maximum, I would set the amp into 2 ohm mode which reduces the rated output to ~600 watts at 4 ohms which will end up being around 500 watts at "6 ohms" or right at the top end of their recommendation.

Ah, thanks! Safer but still plenty of power, I like that. This is for a one cab scenario, correct?

 

[mmbass21]

Thanks! I prefer a heftier sound personally, I’m primarily playing reggae with a clean tone.

The Two10s can handle the WD at 4 ohms all day. I've never heard my Two10s struggle, the WD clips before anything. I use the Two10s for almost all of my gigs when I just want to 1 cab. Tomorrow night will be a small bar with no PA support and it'll hang easily with a 5 piece classic rock band. The WD brings the thunder!

 

[agedhorse]

Those barefaced cabs are really 3 ohm, not 4.

Is this really true? The specs I saw said 6 ohms and 12 onms or 4 ohms and 12 ohms. Neither actually make mathematical sense however.

Since I don't know what's correct, if the 4 ohm number is right but it's actually closer to 3 ohms, the amp's 2 ohm position would be the correct one and I would absolutely not recommend operating the amp in the 4 ohm position. Too much risk of damage to the speaker from overpowering (no matter what others might say) and also risk to the amp from sub-nominal 4 ohm load. Please don't do this to your amp!!!

(Why would any product be marketed in a way that would risk the amp it's connected to?)

 

[pickles]

There was long discussion with Alex in the barefaced thread. The woofer was custom made to be 6 ohms to produce a 4 ohm 6x10. That means the 210 is either 12 or 3. Alex swears its ok to think of it as 4 because of AC resistance factors but this issue always bothered me.

Barefaced 69'er thread