New mesa subway amps and cabs!

[agedhorse]

And power rating given for 16 Ohms. PERFECTER!

And in the money where their mouth is department, did anyone notice the thermal vs mechanical power ratings on the cabs? Yummy.

If you hear about my house exploding in the news you know it was due to a build up of GAS.

The publishing of mechanical power handling (and some of the other more detailed specs) is something that was prompted by some TalkBass members a few years ago so I sat down and incorporated this information when we released the first 3 cabinet models.

Gosh darn it! My D800+ just arrived this morning and now this comes out!

No worries man, there's nothing wrong with the 800+. In fact, some players will prefer the 800/800+ and some will prefer the WD-800, very much a personal preference thing.

 

[esoxhntr]

Ah, ok... this is new
Mesa Boogie Subway WD-800 WalkAbout Bass Amplifier | MESA/Boogie®

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This is an incredibly comprehensive control/feature set. I love the EQ options. Nicely done, Mesa!

 

[mmbongo]

agedhorse, more of a curiosity question here...are the woofers used in the 2x12 and 2x15 the same drivers used in the 1x12 and 1x15?

 

[57pbass]

I use the Walkabout on all my shows.. I will be acquiring the new version ASAP.
Agedhorse...amazing work. Thank you...

 

[Janforth]

I love my D-800+, that 2 x 15 cab looks awesome, Andy, would a single D-800+ match well with 2 of the 2 x 15 cabinets?

 

[Texican]

It should fit because all of the mounting holes are identical between the Walkabout and the Subway WD-800. Of course there will be extra space at the back. (disclaimer: I'm not familiar with all of the head cases that might have been made going back to the earlier production, nor any possible customized headcases)



I'n not a tube preamp stuck into a Subway. This is a recreation of the Walkabout concept, the basic architecture including the architecture of much of the original tube preamp but scaled differently to better meet the requests of the many comments over the ~15 year life of the Walkabout.



The reason for using the USB-A connector is purely for durability and compatibility. It better matches up with the bazillion cables and chargers in use today and likely in the future. Note that this is a 500mA charge port only, so there's no data benefits to be had by using USB-C.



This really is a different amp than the D-800 and D-800+, it's not an "upgrade" or a revision but an amp that will appeal more to those players who have gravitated to the Walkabout in the past but find the limitations unworkable.



Not sure I understand your question or comment. We are using a void free, high ply count Italian poplar plywood because it happens to be a very nice material to build speaker cabinets from. All of our Subway cabinets have used this material with no problems at all. The only real drawback is that it's quite expensive compared with other plywood materials. (Finnish Birch is also expensive as well, but is a lot heavier)



Yup, I wanted to hear from you guys what you thought was important and what you might want to play in the future. I have said it before, but TalkBass as a community is full of good players who represent the higher end of the bass market and usually do a good job of articulating what direction this market needs to go. I am ALWAYS listening to what's being said on TB, like the proverbial fly on the wall

This is why Agedhorse is my absolute favorite TB member!

I play multiple instruments and have owned MANY different peices of gear over the years........ my old Walkabout Head was my absolute favorite sounding piece of gear that I’ve owned. So excited about this new model.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

Schwwwwwwwinnngg!

 

[hotrodjohn]

@agedhorse, Sir Elder Equus, will this WD-800 fit and play nice in a 4 ohm walkabout 12” cabinet with a 4 ohm Scout radiator 12” extension cabinet (2 ohm total load), or is it too powerful for those speakers? Thanks.

 

[lowfreek]

Gosh darn it! My D800+ just arrived this morning and now this comes out!

Mine will be here Friday. Story of my life!
I'm still pretty stoked, though. After years of loving my WA, I'm ready for a taste of something new. (And the WA isn't going anywhere!)

 

[agedhorse]

agedhorse, more of a curiosity question here...are the woofers used in the 2x12 and 2x15 the same drivers used in the 1x12 and 1x15?

Yes, they are the same parts. These have been extraordinary drivers that sound good AND have very high reliability.

I love my D-800+, that 2 x 15 cab looks awesome, Andy, would a single D-800+ match well with 2 of the 2 x 15 cabinets?

Yes, we have had many requests from TB players for exactly this reason.

@agedhorse, Sir Elder Equus, will this WD-800 fit and play nice in a 4 ohm walkabout 12” cabinet with a 4 ohm Scout radiator 12” extension cabinet (2 ohm total load), or is it too powerful for those speakers? Thanks.

Yes, it would work ok BUT as you have recognized, the amp does have enough power to destroy those drivers. Therefore, good judgement and common sense is important. I would also set the HPF to about 45-50Hz minimum, which will help protect the drivers somewhat.

 

[somebrains]

Will there be a WD DI pedal?
Cab Sims?

 

[mexicant]

Nice stuff, and not to dis or dampen your excitement, just a quick question about the cabs. Amazingly light, but they are built with poplar. Just a quick question. Would anybody buy a house framed with poplar? It’s not known as the most rugged wood on the planet. Sorry, I’ll stick to my gap less plywood cabs from days of yore.

I've owned a 2x10 subway cab for 2 years,seems quite rugged!

 

[agedhorse]

Also, for those of you looking for "out of production" rack mount kits for the original Walkabouts, the WD-800 kits share the same mounting holes. They are now 1 piece instead of two, and are available in black only.

They are not listed in the on-line store yet, but you can give the customer service guys a call and they will get you taken care of.

I have received many PM requests for these parts, sorry to put some of you off the way I did, but now you know why!

 

[BadExample]

Andy, I was supposed to be asleep and hour ago. Why are you making me read new product manuals?

 

[Jason Hollar]

A 55lb 4Ohm Mesa 410 ...

 

[Al Kraft]

This is an incredibly comprehensive control/feature set. I love the EQ options. Nicely done, Mesa!

What is especially great is how well the controls interact without stepping on each other or getting out of balance. My experience with some heads that offer a lot of tone shaping and voicing options is that it's sometimes easier to get a bad outcome than a good one when you start turning knobs.

This head is very versatile with controls that are more complementary and musical than you might expect. While an engineer would be happy with the control/feature set, you don't have to be an engineer to use them.

 

[Jim Carr]

@agedhorse — Andy, thank you so much for this amazing creation (the WD800)!
The feature set is perfect. I am going to have to get one—and I already have 3 Mesa amps, LOL!

 

[Sid 31Hz]

agedhorse, any plans for an Ultra-Lite 1X15" with the same dimensions as the 4X10"? #mydreamstack

 

[4stringmf]

I figured a WB tube pre-amp (stomp) would be the likely solution, but after seeing the release of today's new pr-amp, it still makes me wonder ...LOL. I figured something like that would compliment my MP very well! I certainly thought a SW 2x12 made a lot of sense and I felt that coming too. Now if there was a tilt back and role, staggered 3x12 with up to 800W of the new WD-800 flowing through it, I would would sell my PH 4x12 in a second!
Thanks Andy for all you have done!

PS... the only thing missing from the WD-800 is jewel power light

 

[Joebone]

I'm a happy Subway 800+ kind of guy, but this new amp is fascinating! The HPF on the 800+ was school, in of itself...but the notion of also adjusting the damping factor is like EQ college... Thank you, Aged Horse and all others at Mesa...