New mesa subway amps and cabs!

[TrentB]

The Subway 212 is $300 less than the 215 just fyi. The 212 has impressive sensitivity specs.

I’m gassing for the 215 but definitely don’t need it!

 

[Al Kraft]

Which cab would you guys recommend with the WD800 for mostly home use?

For a small, home rig that could also handle some serious gigging I would recommend the SW115 if you want to stay all Mesa. If you're looking for minimal size and weight with exceptional performance, the AudioKinesis Hathor or Changeling 112 T versions would make a sweet set-up.

 

[TheRealGru]

Sold D800+ before taking a plunge for a WD-800 without hearing it first. Risky I know , but I am not gigging so no harm here.

I'm glad I did! I love this amp. I could really easily dial in the sound I wanted with D-800+, not yet so much with WD-800 (for now), but I really haven't had that much time with it due to my recent move and now live in the apartment, in the high rise (I'm considerate of my neighbors). I also signed up for a private music club here downtown Chicago just yesterday (for bass lessons and jam sessions in the dedicated space) which will allow me for turning the volume knob past 9 o'clock

BTW, I got #78 unit.

 

[Al Kraft]

Sold D800+ before taking a plunge for a WD-800 without hearing it first. Risky I know , but I am not gigging so no harm here.

I'm glad I did! I love this amp. I could really easily dial in the sound I wanted with D-800+, not yet so much with WD-800 (for now), but I really haven't had that much time with it due to my recent move and now live in the apartment, in the high rise (I'm considerate of my neighbors). I also signed up for a private music club here downtown Chicago just yesterday (for bass lessons and jam sessions in the dedicated space) which will allow me for turning the volume knob past 9 o'clock

BTW, I got #78 unit.

The D-800+ is more like using autopilot to smoothly get to your sound and the WD-800 is more like handling all the controls on your own. In the latter case you have a lot more options for what will happen when you make an input, and that can be amazingly satisfying once you get the hang of it. Enjoy!

 

[keto]

Talked to L&M about ordering a 215 today, they want 10% non refundable so $220 CDN. I didn’t take the plunge yet, but some nice gear is going up for sale tomorrow and if it moves I will. It looked like they had 1 special order and 1 coming for stock, unassigned to location, so I could probably get that one. 2-3 weeks if fresh order, dependant on stock in Cali.

 

[dabis]

The D-800+ is more like using autopilot to smoothly get to your sound and the WD-800 is more like handling all the controls on your own. In the latter case you have a lot more options for what will happen when you make an input, and that can be amazingly satisfying once you get the hang of it. Enjoy!

Hi @Al Kraft! I read you in some Aguilar related posts. Did you A/B'd Aguilar TH vs. MESA WD800? I know these are different amps but with the "vintage vibe" as a goal both of them, as I understood well. Thanks.

 

[Al Kraft]

Hi @Al Kraft! I read you in some Aguilar related posts. Did you A/B'd Aguilar TH vs. MESA WD800? I know these are different amps but with the "vintage vibe" as a goal both of them, as I understood well. Thanks.

As you know I think quite highly of the TH500 and find it to be a unique head in many respects. It has a lot of tube richness to my ear (especially for an all SS head) and a lot of versatility to re-voice the head through the Drive, Gain and semi-parametric mid controls - something that takes a little practice to get the hang of. I did not find the TH500 an intuitive head to use when I first got it and I had owned a TH pedal for years before I bought it.

On the spectrum of inherent tonal centers I find the TH500 to be anchoring the darker/woolly voiced end of the spectrum and the GK MB/Mesa Carbine heads anchoring the other (very clear/lots of top end available). The Mesa D-800/800+ to me have attributes that place it in-between those two extremes, but with more of a nod to the clean/quick attributes and the ability to feel more open up top.

I think the WD-800 offers more harmonic richness than the D-800/800+ and IMO easily as much as the TH500, while providing more articulation/clarity/note definition than the TH500. It also has a much more open top end - the WD-800 can be much brighter and crisper if you want that. Where the TH500 can start getting very woolly when pushed hard (not unlike the original WA), the WD-800 has more power in reserve and stays focused when you drive it hard. In terms of tone shaping capability the WD-800 is much more versatile than the TH-500 IMO and it is easier/more intuitive to use.

The bottom line for me is that if you liked that Aguilar thickness that is reminiscent of the DB750/751 heads (although it is not exactly light-weight DB to my ear), love harmonically thick/busy mids and don't need a lot of top end, the TH500 is a bargain in terms of size, weight and cost. While you can play with the voicing quite a bit, the TH500 really tends to sit more to one end of the voicing spectrum. Like the Mesa products I also feel it is well built and comes from a company that cares about its customers.

IMO the WD-800 is a brilliant design and can do most everything I can get a TH500 to do and then some. It fills out more of the middle of the voicing spectrum and can reach pretty close to either end. Additionally it has more power to work with, is much more articulate (especially at high volume), and offers harmonic richness that is well-focused to sit perfectly in a busy mix. You may hear it differently, but those are the big differences I have found...and FWIW I still like the TH500.

 

[nostatic]

The bottom line for me is that if you liked that Aguilar thickness that is reminiscent of the DB750/751 heads (although it is not exactly light-weight DB to my ear), love harmonically thick/busy mids and don't need a lot of top end, the TH500 is a bargain in terms of size, weight and cost. While you can play with the voicing quite a bit, the TH500 really tends to sit more to one end of the voicing spectrum. Like the Mesa products I also feel it is well built and comes from a company that cares about its customers.

IMO the WD-800 is a brilliant design and can do most everything I can get a TH500 to do and then some. It fills out more of the middle of the voicing spectrum and can reach pretty close to either end. Additionally it has more power to work with, is much more articulate (especially at high volume), and offers harmonic richness that is well-focused to sit perfectly in a busy mix. You may hear it differently, but those are the big differences I have found...and FWIW I still like the TH500.

^^^ this

DB751 is one amp I never minded seeing on a provided backline - always preferred it to an SVT (heresy I know). I tried to love the TH amps - bought three of them at different times (2x TH500, 1x TH350). In my hands it was a one-trick pony. A very good trick mind you - very much that chewy vintage vibe. But while you can clean it up, I found it didn't sound/feel great (to me) when I did.

WD800 is a totally different ball game. It can sound open and loud with a bit of edge, or more compressed with a bit of edge, or a lot of edge. The only thing it doesn't do (for me) is replace a dirt pedal. I don't care for the full over-driven signal, but going for that "on the edge of breakup" it is stellar. And as a bonus, I find it to be more open sounding than the D800 (great for chordal or solo/duo/trio stuff). Or not depending on how you twiddle the knobs. I think I get why the original Walkabout continues to have devotees - that preamp section can be "set it and forget it" or you can tweak all night - up to you. I never got into the original for whatever reason (back then I was using an AMB-500 I liked a lot), but the WD800 is the first-call amp now.

 

[thumbs&fingers]

My Aguilar 751 is in the classifieds now, only a year old. But the wd800 is so much more tonally what i like, and so much easier to carry. My backup has and will continue to be an Orange Terror Bass head. Like that one too a lot but the WD800 has twice the power and can really cover a lot of sounds.

 

[57pbass]

As you know I think quite highly of the TH500 and find it to be a unique head in many respects. It has a lot of tube richness to my ear (especially for an all SS head) and a lot of versatility to re-voice the head through the Drive, Gain and semi-parametric mid controls - something that takes a little practice to get the hang of. I did not find the TH500 an intuitive head to use when I first got it and I had owned a TH pedal for years before I bought it.

On the spectrum of inherent tonal centers I find the TH500 to be anchoring the darker/woolly voiced end of the spectrum and the GK MB/Mesa Carbine heads anchoring the other (very clear/lots of top end available). The Mesa D-800/800+ to me have attributes that place it in-between those two extremes, but with more of a nod to the clean/quick attributes and the ability to feel more open up top.

I think the WD-800 offers more harmonic richness than the D-800/800+ and IMO easily as much as the TH500, while providing more articulation/clarity/note definition than the TH500. It also has a much more open top end - the WD-800 can be much brighter and crisper if you want that. Where the TH500 can start getting very woolly when pushed hard (not unlike the original WA), the WD-800 has more power in reserve and stays focused when you drive it hard. In terms of tone shaping capability the WD-800 is much more versatile than the TH-500 IMO and it is easier/more intuitive to use.

The bottom line for me is that if you liked that Aguilar thickness that is reminiscent of the DB750/751 heads (although it is not exactly light-weight DB to my ear), love harmonically thick/busy mids and don't need a lot of top end, the TH500 is a bargain in terms of size, weight and cost. While you can play with the voicing quite a bit, the TH500 really tends to sit more to one end of the voicing spectrum. Like the Mesa products I also feel it is well built and comes from a company that cares about its customers.

IMO the WD-800 is a brilliant design and can do most everything I can get a TH500 to do and then some. It fills out more of the middle of the voicing spectrum and can reach pretty close to either end. Additionally it has more power to work with, is much more articulate (especially at high volume), and offers harmonic richness that is well-focused to sit perfectly in a busy mix. You may hear it differently, but those are the big differences I have found...and FWIW I still like the TH500.

Since Aguilar recently introduced the TH700 I would be very interested in hearing user comments with regards to this topic..

 

[Lowendtech]

As you know I think quite highly of the TH500 and find it to be a unique head in many respects. It has a lot of tube richness to my ear (especially for an all SS head) and a lot of versatility to re-voice the head through the Drive, Gain and semi-parametric mid controls - something that takes a little practice to get the hang of. I did not find the TH500 an intuitive head to use when I first got it and I had owned a TH pedal for years before I bought it.

On the spectrum of inherent tonal centers I find the TH500 to be anchoring the darker/woolly voiced end of the spectrum and the GK MB/Mesa Carbine heads anchoring the other (very clear/lots of top end available). The Mesa D-800/800+ to me have attributes that place it in-between those two extremes, but with more of a nod to the clean/quick attributes and the ability to feel more open up top.

I think the WD-800 offers more harmonic richness than the D-800/800+ and IMO easily as much as the TH500, while providing more articulation/clarity/note definition than the TH500. It also has a much more open top end - the WD-800 can be much brighter and crisper if you want that. Where the TH500 can start getting very woolly when pushed hard (not unlike the original WA), the WD-800 has more power in reserve and stays focused when you drive it hard. In terms of tone shaping capability the WD-800 is much more versatile than the TH-500 IMO and it is easier/more intuitive to use.

The bottom line for me is that if you liked that Aguilar thickness that is reminiscent of the DB750/751 heads (although it is not exactly light-weight DB to my ear), love harmonically thick/busy mids and don't need a lot of top end, the TH500 is a bargain in terms of size, weight and cost. While you can play with the voicing quite a bit, the TH500 really tends to sit more to one end of the voicing spectrum. Like the Mesa products I also feel it is well built and comes from a company that cares about its customers.

IMO the WD-800 is a brilliant design and can do most everything I can get a TH500 to do and then some. It fills out more of the middle of the voicing spectrum and can reach pretty close to either end. Additionally it has more power to work with, is much more articulate (especially at high volume), and offers harmonic richness that is well-focused to sit perfectly in a busy mix. You may hear it differently, but those are the big differences I have found...and FWIW I still like the TH500.

Nice comparison review. Thanks for that.

 

[dabis]

As you know I think quite highly of the TH500 and find it to be a unique head in many respects. It has a lot of tube richness to my ear (especially for an all SS head) and a lot of versatility to re-voice the head through the Drive, Gain and semi-parametric mid controls - something that takes a little practice to get the hang of. I did not find the TH500 an intuitive head to use when I first got it and I had owned a TH pedal for years before I bought it.

On the spectrum of inherent tonal centers I find the TH500 to be anchoring the darker/woolly voiced end of the spectrum and the GK MB/Mesa Carbine heads anchoring the other (very clear/lots of top end available). The Mesa D-800/800+ to me have attributes that place it in-between those two extremes, but with more of a nod to the clean/quick attributes and the ability to feel more open up top.

I think the WD-800 offers more harmonic richness than the D-800/800+ and IMO easily as much as the TH500, while providing more articulation/clarity/note definition than the TH500. It also has a much more open top end - the WD-800 can be much brighter and crisper if you want that. Where the TH500 can start getting very woolly when pushed hard (not unlike the original WA), the WD-800 has more power in reserve and stays focused when you drive it hard. In terms of tone shaping capability the WD-800 is much more versatile than the TH-500 IMO and it is easier/more intuitive to use.

The bottom line for me is that if you liked that Aguilar thickness that is reminiscent of the DB750/751 heads (although it is not exactly light-weight DB to my ear), love harmonically thick/busy mids and don't need a lot of top end, the TH500 is a bargain in terms of size, weight and cost. While you can play with the voicing quite a bit, the TH500 really tends to sit more to one end of the voicing spectrum. Like the Mesa products I also feel it is well built and comes from a company that cares about its customers.

IMO the WD-800 is a brilliant design and can do most everything I can get a TH500 to do and then some. It fills out more of the middle of the voicing spectrum and can reach pretty close to either end. Additionally it has more power to work with, is much more articulate (especially at high volume), and offers harmonic richness that is well-focused to sit perfectly in a busy mix. You may hear it differently, but those are the big differences I have found...and FWIW I still like the TH500.

Awesome! I'm a TH user (350, enough for me), that I like a lot, but sometimes I needed more possibilities. As you described the WD800 have a lot of options. Can't wait to play one at a shop, but think i'll have to wait months... Thank you very much.

 

[bklee]

Generally, cost cutting isn't something that I am saddled with when designing new products. These are the same tubes we use in the highest end guitar and bass amps we make (or made), and we back it up with the longest warranty in the industry too.

It's too bad these assumptions are made, then propagated around the internet. Some of the blame comes from the tube resellers, but guess where all those raw "screen-out" tubes that don't meet our performance or baseline reliability specs end up??? Often these very resellers.

I just came across this thread today, and, as a devoted user of Mesa products, Am I correct in presuming that I could install the WD800 in my Walkabout Scout 12 amplifier space (as long as I observe the cautions regarding the increased power leading to speaker damage)? I use the Walkabout Scout in conjunction with a Subway single 15 (8 Ohm) plugged into the ext speaker outlet. I do the sound for the band (for non-supported gigs, anyway) and welcome anything that would lower the number of things I have to keep track of.

 

[57pbass]

I just came across this thread today, and, as a devoted user of Mesa products, Am I correct in presuming that I could install the WD800 in my Walkabout Scout 12 amplifier space (as long as I observe the cautions regarding the increased power leading to speaker damage)? I use the Walkabout Scout in conjunction with a Subway single 15 (8 Ohm) plugged into the ext speaker outlet. I do the sound for the band (for non-supported gigs, anyway) and welcome anything that would lower the number of things I have to keep track of.

This same question was asked earlier.. As you mentioned.. you will need to be careful with the Scout combo speaker. I believe the WD800 fits.. but I have not tried.

 

[Frankie Fender]

I just came across this thread today, and, as a devoted user of Mesa products, Am I correct in presuming that I could install the WD800 in my Walkabout Scout 12 amplifier space (as long as I observe the cautions regarding the increased power leading to speaker damage)? I use the Walkabout Scout in conjunction with a Subway single 15 (8 Ohm) plugged into the ext speaker outlet. I do the sound for the band (for non-supported gigs, anyway) and welcome anything that would lower the number of things I have to keep track of.

Yes it fits. It’s a couple inches shallower.

 

[agedhorse]

The caution about power handling is quite real.

 

[bklee]

The caution about power handling is quite real.

Is there a practical way to minimize the power going out by setting the Ohm switch one way or the other and running 8 Ohm loads? I really like the WA setup I have, but there were times where I needed a little more firepower (as when I found out that the PA operator didn't want to put bass through the FOH and it was too late to get another rig). I would really like to see a unit like the WA Scout with the WD800 installed with a more robust speaker setup. I would buy that immediately.

 

[agedhorse]

Operating the amp in 2 ohm mode while driving an 8 ohm speaker brings the rated power down to about 300 watts (RMS).

 

[keto]

Any more reports on the 215? What type of music, band, etc.

 

[Doug Parent]

I totally bought the wrong amp. I used the WD800 on a News Years gig last night. I raised the midrange just a touch and that was it. I didn't turn around to tone tweak all night. What a disappointment to not be distracted by the need to tweak. I think I need a recovery group or something.