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OK, TBers. Time to whip out your wallets.

#84
StayLow said:
Forgeign pricing is just the currency exchange rate difference plus any additional VAT/fees a country may impose. Shipping too, if applicable. It's the same for all gear, not just Mesa.
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No, sorry. Import Duty of musical equipment here is 5% and then GST is 10%.

Example, after all the costs a Mesa Bass Prodigy from the US would cost ~$3,200 AUD. They retail here at anywhere between $3,800 (street) and $4,800(retail). Not to mention this price hasn't changed since when the dollar was close to parity, so i guess you could say it's getting a bit better :P

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Mesa here has the same sort of premium that Orange has in the US.

Don't even get me started on Ampeg :D

That being said, I still think Mesa is worth it. The gear is very high quality. It's just at the very top of premium here so you hardly see it in the wild.
 
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#87
Al Kraft said:
The WD-800 is a super head that's hard for a WA lover not to go nuts over, but may not be for everyone, just as the original WA wasn't for everyone.
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I'm really looking forward to trying out a D800+ and a WD-800 side-by-side. The D800+ has been on my radar for a little while, but due diligence requires that I try them both. :thumbsup:

I tried a WA years ago and it wasn't for me at the time. But things change, and I don't want to assume I wouldn't like the new one. Either way, I think that I'm likely to be happy.
 
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#90
WD 800 sports a 12AT7 which has an optimal voltage range of 150 - 250V at the plates. 300V is at the max and I'm sure that Mesa has thought about today's tube manufactures when designing the circuit. Safe bet is between 175 and 225V. BTW- I opened my wallet and have one on pre-order! There is a Santa Claus and he lives in Petaluma!

agedhorse said:
medium voltage, between low voltage and high voltage.
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#91
JOE EDO said:
WD 800 sports a 12AT7 which has an optimal voltage range of 150 - 250V at the plates. 300V is at the max and I'm sure that Mesa has thought about today's tube manufactures when designing the circuit. Safe bet is between 175 and 225V. BTW- I opened my wallet and have one on pre-order! There is a Santa Claus and he lives in Petaluma!
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Out of curiosity, where did you come up with this information?

Optimal is based on the plate characteristics of the tube combined with the load line of the driven load integrated with the linearity of the plate curves being used. Many, many different (and sometimes unique) characteristics can be extracted from a tube if you understand exactly how a tube works and how the different variables interact. Optimal is different for each different circuit and topology.

It all depends on the circuit topology, the driving impedance, the source impedance (they are not pure resistances), how the tube is biased and how the plate and cathode are referenced. My father was an engineer (a real engineer) during the tube era designing servo amplifiers for aerospace and the military. Servo amps are nothing more than stabilized audio amps with a specific type of error correction. When I completed my electrical engineering degree, we still studied tubes and especially the various elements of mathematical tube models for calculating performance. This was mostly so that we could make the transition to FETs, since many of the equations are very similar, but at this time we still had a lot of returning Vietnam veterans on the VA program and these classes were essential to those returning to the military to modify and maintain legacy systems still in use at that time (and well into the future). Of course I also studied my father's work (the stuff that wasn't classified or up in the sky circling Mars), because he used some of the very techniques that I was exploring (back in the late 1950's)

Opinion is one thing (the internet is full of opinion) , but when you actually sit down and do the real math, there is a lot of really interesting opportunities in both low voltage (below say 12-24 volts) and very high voltage (say 400-600 volts) using the 12AX/T/U family. In this particular case I chose a medium voltage because it got the circuit parameters and response curves closest to the intent of the Walkabout without the limitations of the previous circuit.

Wait you say, the maximum plate voltage of a 12AX7 is 300 volts... it's impossible. Actually, if you understand the PRINCIPLES of how tubes work and especially circuit principles themselves, NONE of these assumed limitations exist. Yes, I have designed a circuit that used a 550V plate supply with 12AX7's, but not with the typical "text book audio" assumptions. Actually this very principle is also used in some unusual high voltage power supplies using MOSFETs. I have seen the same principle used in well over 800 volt systems too, but carefully designed circuit "tricks" must be used and carefully respected. These are not common audio type circuits though. Look up totem pole circuit topologies, and you will see an entirely different set of rules when it comes to plate voltage multiplication and/or division... in fact, this is where the theory behind class G, Bash and class TD amplification originally came from (more practical in solid state), where the B+ is not even a fixed voltage.

Play your new amp and see how it sounds and feels to you, that's what's the most important thing about an amp.
 
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#93
12AT7 as a phase splitter in an amp average spec is 220V which is what I based my estimate at..and it sounds like I'm a bit off base. I should have known better as to not take into consideration circuit design/ application (pre-amp vs. phase inverter/split) Albeit, I appreciate your lesson above and your "creativity" as an electronics artist to deliver the goods in the new platform, while holding to a "heritage" such as the WA. So much so that your reputation and patience have led me to purchase this new Mesa product. At this point a "thank you" for your work and dedication to do what you do for this bass community for many years is well earned many times over (at least from me.)
 
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#95
JOE EDO said:
12AT7 as a phase splitter in an amp average spec is 220V which is what I based my estimate at..and it sounds like I'm a bit off base. I should have known better as to not take into consideration circuit design/ application (pre-amp vs. phase inverter/split) Albeit, I appreciate your lesson above and your "creativity" as an electronics artist to deliver the goods in the new platform, while holding to a "heritage" such as the WA. So much so that your reputation and patience have led me to purchase this new Mesa product. At this point a "thank you" for your work and dedication to do what you do for this bass community for many years is well earned many times over (at least from me.)
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This has nothing to do with a phase splitter, but when you get to phase splitter topologies, there are a TON of them out there that look nothing like what's used in a tube guitar amp. Phase splitters (as a circuit type) are an essential component in all kinds of applications, switchmode power supplies, quadrature amps, servo drives, stepper drives, etc.

Most designers in the MI these days are looking at and recycling the same old circuits with the same old values and the same old voltages without actually doing the math and without considering how things might have been done in other industries. For example, I'm going to use Al Kraft's industry as an example... the semi-automatic positioning systems on shipboard gun turrets and range finder systems in the earlier days of naval weaponry relied on large servo amps driving positioning motors (and likely Selsyn type positioners) with feedback to drive the actual turret control motors and these were nothing more than very large audio type amplifiers with some unique circuitry. Understanding how this circuitry actually works can unlock some secrets that may be useful in other applications. Same applies to the cinema market, where some of the best audio and control system engineers in the world ended up (and of course during the war years they designed other things of course). I worked in that industry for quite a while and understand the evolution of the dominant players (Western Electric, Ampex, RCA, Simplex, Altec etc) by studying their schematics and applications notes from the beginning to the end of a product's life. This may be a period of 20 years or more, the revisions really documented their learning curve with technology. Most of the legacy circuits used today come from this industry, so it's probably more valuable looking back and studying than it was originally. I have lots of original documentation left from when I serviced this industry at the end of the tube era.
 
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#96
Semi-automatic gun turret position systems. cinema audio, to end of life study of 20 years in audio. Here I thought I was buying just some musical instrument gear! I guess we sometimes take for granted how much thought/evolution is built into the products we buy/use. Consider me fascinated with yours/ Mesa's product designs/ philosophies. Can't wait now to see/ hear/ feel the little monster you've created!
 
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#98
two fingers said:
I must have read a THOUSAND TIMES here guys saying "If Mesa would make a lightweight more powerful Walkabout I would buy one!!!!"


Welp..... it's here.
Mesa Boogie Subway WD-800 WalkAbout Bass Amplifier | MESA/Boogie®
View attachment 3231170

I fully expect dozens of NAD threads very soon.

Put your money where your mouth is. Don't berate a manufacturer for not making your perfect amp and then not buy it when they do. ;)

(I have nothing to do with Mesa. I already own a Walkabout. It is stupid loud and light enough for me.)
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Even I might be interested in that.. love the mid controls.
 
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