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Not another "which class D should I buy" thread

Which amp?

  • Bergantino B|Amp

    Votes: 11 18.3%

  • Bergantino Forté D

    Votes: 24 40.0%

  • Genzler Magellan 800

    Votes: 32 53.3%
  • Total voters
    60
R

ReeV0

Apr 5, 2013
732
273
#1
Oh yes, it's that time again.

I am in the market for a new class D amp! :bassist:

My current setup is a TC RH750 into a Bergantino AE212. It's good, but not great. It's plenty loud but I have never been satisfied with the tone. I find the RH750 overly-complicated, with each EQ being semi-parametric. Good for some, but not me it seems.

I also find the AE212 to be a little boomy - compared to the TC RS212 that I also have, I don't actually find much in it. They are both fairly equal to my ears. A little disappointing given the money I spent on the Berg.

Anyway, after lots (and lots and lots) of research, I think I've narrowed down my options to the following:

- Bergantino B|Amp
- Bergantino Forté D
- Genzler Magellan 800


The B|Amp slightly concerns me as it looks similar to the RH750 - pretty complicated. You can change all the EQ frequencies, load up effects etc... stuff I wouldn't want to be using. I have a HX Stomp to cater to that.

The Forté D looks interesting, basically a simplified version of the B|Amp.

The Magellan is the amp I am leaning to the most, due to it's simplicity and useablility. I've read great things about the overdrive and contour control. However, I owned a GB Shuttle 9.0 in the past and found it lacked punch and volume. Though, the Magellan is said to be designed from the ground-up...

After watching this video, I have never heard a bass sound so good. But I don't know if that's in part due to the cabs or just Nate's superior playing... lots of factors involved.



I do like the fact you can input cab profiles into the Bergantino amps, so I could tell it that I am using an AE212. But I don't know how much difference this would make in reality. I also really like the look of the Genzler Bass Array cabs, so would probably move to those at some point in the future when I could afford them.


Any suggestions welcome! :)
 
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#5
ReeV0 said:
My current setup is a TC RH750 into a Bergantino AE212. It's good, but not great. It's plenty loud but I have never been satisfied with the tone. I find the RH750 overly-complicated, with each EQ being semi-parametric. Good for some, but not me it seems.
Click to expand...

I used my RH750 through a Berg CN212 and thought the same. It was loud but the sound seemed overly compressed, and changing the EQ on the fly was, as you say, overly complicated. It was replaced by an Aguilar TH500 and then an AG700. I heard those comments about the AE212 tone, which is why I went for the CN212. Great cab.

I recently owned the Berg Forte HP, and it was the best amp I've played through. There were too many facilities that I wasn't going to use, so I decided to stick with the, much simpler to operate, AG700.
 
#7
I'd also throw Mesa's Subway series of amp heads that come with the adjustable HPF into your considerations.

(As I mentioned in one of your other threads), I've a Berg CN212 powered by a Mesa 800+ ( it has the adjustable HPF to control those times when a cabinet/room is sounding boomy.)
I also always run a old SansAmp V1 BDDI in front of the 800+.

As to the Berg cab seeming to not be much better than any other manufacturers cab.
This is just to my ears, while playing at home, quietly by myself, I'd have to agree with you, my CN cab is just o.k., (I'm guessing that's how your hearing your AE.)
Actually I find the CN high-end'ish and low-end shy, especially on a open E.
But, put that Berg cab "on stage in a live band", it transforms into the best sounding cab I've ever owned.

It cuts through the on stage clutter.
Everything is there, highs, mids, lows.
The sound is balanced, notes are even across the fretboard, with a clarity that'll hopefully make me a better player.

Someone here on TB told me that it'll take alittle time for my ears to adjust to that clean clarity.
They were right.

Give the AE some time.
Maybe, once your ears have adjusted to it you may decide the AE was the cab for you.
 
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#11
ReeV0 said:
Oh yes, it's that time again.

I am in the market for a new class D amp! :bassist:

My current setup is a TC RH750 into a Bergantino AE212. It's good, but not great. It's plenty loud but I have never been satisfied with the tone. I find the RH750 overly-complicated, with each EQ being semi-parametric. Good for some, but not me it seems.

I also find the AE212 to be a little boomy - compared to the TC RS212 that I also have, I don't actually find much in it. They are both fairly equal to my ears. A little disappointing given the money I spent on the Berg.

Anyway, after lots (and lots and lots) of research, I think I've narrowed down my options to the following:

- Bergantino B|Amp
- Bergantino Forté D
- Genzler Magellan 800


The B|Amp slightly concerns me as it looks similar to the RH750 - pretty complicated. You can change all the EQ frequencies, load up effects etc... stuff I wouldn't want to be using. I have a HX Stomp to cater to that.

The Forté D looks interesting, basically a simplified version of the B|Amp.

The Magellan is the amp I am leaning to the most, due to it's simplicity and useablility. I've read great things about the overdrive and contour control. However, I owned a GB Shuttle 9.0 in the past and found it lacked punch and volume. Though, the Magellan is said to be designed from the ground-up...

After watching this video, I have never heard a bass sound so good. But I don't know if that's in part due to the cabs or just Nate's superior playing... lots of factors involved.



I do like the fact you can input cab profiles into the Bergantino amps, so I could tell it that I am using an AE212. But I don't know how much difference this would make in reality. I also really like the look of the Genzler Bass Array cabs, so would probably move to those at some point in the future when I could afford them.


Any suggestions welcome! :)
Click to expand...

Welcome to the GAS Station. Your glass is now forever half empty.


Personally, that video sounds very sterile. To me, the words that come to mind are "lifeless" "stale" or "meh"

I would never be happy with that set up.


But, that's why there are so many options available. Because everybody likes something different. If bass was "supposed" to sound one way, there'd be one bass, one rig, and one set of strings.

Have you tried putting those 2 cabs together yet? I bet you're blown away by it.

You should really just set that TC amp up once, and never touch the frequency settings again. It was really made to be more of a personal standard amplifier, with extra "save space on your pedal board" features. A single amp, that could work for every bass player.

Set up the knobs with the bass frequency you like to boost or cut (usually around 50hz. Adds girth, cuts boom). The low mid (usually around 400hz. 250 for more bass, 500 for more definition), high mid (800 for honk, 1.5khz for twang). And treble (2.5khz for a pick sort of bite, 4 - 8 for zing). Spend the time to set it up how you like it. Then, you can simply use the knobs as standard amp knobs. It'll turn it into a nice and simple set up, but with all the extra features.

Your amp has a low pass filter, to shelf off the high highs "tweetertone" which works very well as an ultra high cut. The spectracomp is amazing. And the tube tone is also top knotch.

My suggestion, based also off your previous posts out what speaker cab you should get for more volume, is the same that I left you in that thread. Get another RS212.

If you want a different amplifier, go with anything you like. You'll either dig it, or be out the money, and start the revolving door...like the rest of us.

Welcome to TalkBass. Your GAS tank is never full.
 
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#12
I've been using the Demeter Bass400 with an AE212 for gigs; and my Mesa TT800 is sitting on an AE212 in my practice space. Both are magnificent.

The Bass400 has a Broughton Always On HPF screwed to the back of the dove cage, and cabled into the Effects Loop. The TT800 runs in Boogie Channel, and has an outstanding HPF circuit built in. Both are key to the AE212.

The Mesa has an extensive array of tone shaping. The Demeter is very limited, but what it does is nearly perfect; kind of the Idiots Guide to great Bass Tone.

BTW, if you go to my YT channel below, select Videos, and scroll down to the bottom, there are two live vids from some years back where I was using a Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0 into an AE212; no send to the PA. So what you hear is all AE212. Price Tag and Preacher Man.
 
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#18
Agree that there really appears to be no wrong answer among those options up top. But I also think that it can be hard to track down a head that's just right in every aspect all by itself.

One more thought that may make any choice even easier to live with down the road - based on my recent experience...

I've recently switched into heads that are smaller and lighter - very much enjoying both a GK MB 500 and a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 as more of a backup. The GK routinely surprises me in terms of how eager it is to push sound into a room using a pair of vertically stacked 2x10's and no PA support. It offers the healthiest 500 watts I've ever experienced.

A music pal came to hear the band where I played one set through my Shuttle and the next using my GK. Although the Shuttle doesn't share quite the same general loudness as the GK, he was WOW'ed by my tone when playing through my Shuttle. Thinking that an addition of warmer tubey-ness could be a good thing when using my GK, I dug out my old Ampeg preamp - their Billy Sheehan SVP-BSP rack unit, which has a GREAT sounding clean channel. As soon as I used that in front of my GK, everybody at that gig got perma-grin and now I have my new gig rig sorted out.

So I'll bet that you could hit sonic pay-dirt by combining a lot of possible combinations. Maybe you'll land on one head or another that drops you smack dab in the middle of tone heaven, but that can sometimes be tough to track down in a single unit. Either using a preamp with your current head or knowing that you could try one along with either of the Berg's or Magellan you're shopping could be an easy path to finding terrific sound without getting too complicated.
 
#20
mambo4 said:
Genz Benz Streamli -oh you said new
Click to expand...

Man... I had a AE212 for a very brief time, and a Streamliner for a very brief time at the same time. This was when I was changing amps and cabs like crazy.
Used that combo (AE212 and Streamliner) on a big outdoor rock-n-roll thing, and it just sounded awesome. Now, like 12 years later, I'm back to using a Streamliner and a couple different berg cabs.


As to the OP... The Magellan is a funny sounding amp to me. I tried one when they came out, and ended up going with a Quilter BB800 (based on trying them both in the store). About 2 years ago, I got a Magellan (because there was one for crazy cheep on CL). I played it and played it, but just did not like it. There is a baked in something that you can not dial out. So for me, that is a no go. But of course, lots of folks like that amp.

If you are worried about complicated, the B-amp might not be the way to go... HOWEVER, you might also be able to load an AE212 profile in the amp and get your rig to a flat response (is that how the B-amp works?).

Given the choices, I vote Forte D. I played one in a shop in Chicago and liked the voicing very much.
 
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