OK, TBers. Time to whip out your wallets.

[dbsfgyd1]

I wonder what the sticker price is?

 

[mmbass21]

I wonder what the sticker price is?

$999 for the WD

 

[mmbongo]

I wonder what the sticker price is?

Sweetwater and Mesa have all the prices of the new stuff on their websites.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

As an owner of the original, I can tell you that the para mids (along with the tube pre) are the secret sauce of this amp.

Mid control is what sold me on Eden. After watching the demo, you certainly can get a lot more drive out of the Mesa. The HPC is a great add on, whereas I use my onboard compression on my Eden to accomplish the same end. I rarely perform without front of the house support, but it I didn't, this is a great tool.

 

[SteveHeissner]

Except that it makes no difference, as they are used in non-linear mode. If we bragged about MOSFETs in this application, while honest, it would be disingenuous marketing blather.



Correct, and these ears will be backwards compatible to all the existing Walkabouts too. Ear kits should be shipping sometime in early January if not sooner.

Nice innovation. Kudos to MESA. I never thought I'd trade in my SVT 7 PRO but this is tempting.

 

[grocker]

The wd 800 and that 215 is everything a bass player would love,great job Mesa(Aged H) im actually very excited by this,even though it's out of my reach financially. This amp seems like a winner,it will be much sought after....

 

[Jeff Scott]

Still goes to your point that I didn't completely didn't understand at first.

So, you actually saying that you did understand?

 

[mmbass21]

So, you actually saying that you did understand?

Lol oops, edited.

 

[Kukulkan61]

So I gigged a Mesa D800 + for the first time that I just received last week, I had it paired to a Subway 15 for a medium size room. I've been using my WA with the 115 and 112 and it sounds killer, I couldn't get the same with the D800+...I worked it and learned it for 3 days before the gig and had it sounding nice in my practice room but didn't sound the same on the gig and I did adjust everything to the room, I don't know? maybe it's not for me or maybe I just like the warm pillowy tone I get from the WA, the D800+ is nice and has the headroom and the deep switch and HPF control are so nice but I just couldn't get the tone I'm use too. I don't know how to explain the tone but I guess dry or baked in could work for describing it. I sent the amp back to Sweetwater and it cost me all but 22.00 to try it out, I wish I would of warmed up to it and even before I boxed it back up I A/B ed it with the WA, so different but I could see myself keeping the D800+ had I never used a WA and for the same reason of using solid state amps my whole time playing music 37+ years, I guess that little glass tube is as addicting as a little glass pipe when it comes to tone..lol, anyway I'm in no hurry to jump on the WD800 band wagon as of yet, I'm happy with my Mpulse Amps and they have been my mains for a couple years now, I'm looking forward to reviews on the DW800 it's gonna be interesting!!

 

[two fingers]

So I gigged a Mesa D800 + for the first time that I just received last week, I had it paired to a Subway 15 for a medium size room. I've been using my WA with the 115 and 112 and it sounds killer, I couldn't get the same with the D800+...I worked it and learned it for 3 days before the gig and had it sounding nice in my practice room but didn't sound the same on the gig and I did adjust everything to the room, I don't know? maybe it's not for me or maybe I just like the warm pillowy tone I get from the WA, the D800+ is nice and has the headroom and the deep switch and HPF control are so nice but I just couldn't get the tone I'm use too. I don't know how to explain the tone but I guess dry or baked in could work for describing it. I sent the amp back to Sweetwater and it cost me all but 22.00 to try it out, I wish I would of warmed up to it and even before I boxed it back up I A/B ed it with the WA, so different but I could see myself keeping the D800+ had I never used a WA and for the same reason of using solid state amps my whole time playing music 37+ years, I guess that little glass tube is as addicting as a little glass pipe when it comes to tone..lol, anyway I'm in no hurry to jump on the WD800 band wagon as of yet, I'm happy with my Mpulse Amps and they have been my mains for a couple years now, I'm looking forward to reviews on the DW800 it's gonna be interesting!!

Although I respect the design, the D800+ never "called out to me". Andy putting his spin on the Walkabout has me tempted. I can't wait to see videos of side-by-side comparisons of the WA and WD. I don't think I'll ever part with the WA. But I very well may buy it a friend.

 

[McFarlin]

So I gigged a Mesa D800 + for the first time that I just received last week, I had it paired to a Subway 15 for a medium size room. I've been using my WA with the 115 and 112 and it sounds killer, I couldn't get the same with the D800+...I worked it and learned it for 3 days before the gig and had it sounding nice in my practice room but didn't sound the same on the gig and I did adjust everything to the room, I don't know? maybe it's not for me or maybe I just like the warm pillowy tone I get from the WA, the D800+ is nice and has the headroom and the deep switch and HPF control are so nice but I just couldn't get the tone I'm use too. I don't know how to explain the tone but I guess dry or baked in could work for describing it. I sent the amp back to Sweetwater and it cost me all but 22.00 to try it out, I wish I would of warmed up to it and even before I boxed it back up I A/B ed it with the WA, so different but I could see myself keeping the D800+ had I never used a WA and for the same reason of using solid state amps my whole time playing music 37+ years, I guess that little glass tube is as addicting as a little glass pipe when it comes to tone..lol, anyway I'm in no hurry to jump on the WD800 band wagon as of yet, I'm happy with my Mpulse Amps and they have been my mains for a couple years now, I'm looking forward to reviews on the DW800 it's gonna be interesting!!

"Dry" is the word that came to mind when I used the D-800. But that's only when I sat in my room comparing it to my Ashdown ABM500. If it weren't for the comparison, and at that time me trying to make it sound like the Ashdown, I would probably still have the amp.
Aside from the relative "dryness", I think I could nail the ABM500 voicing with the D-800+ variable mid frequencies (though that's no longer what I am chasing). But the Ashdown, despite being quick feeling (compared to the Walkabout), still had a bit of heavy low-end bloom I couldn't get with the D-800. The D-800, to me was so quick and tight. I'm looking forward to the possibility of having a little of both worlds with the new damping feature on the WD-800.

Someone here on TB used to have a Teddy Roosevelt quote in his sig. It went something like, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

There's some sort of midrange distortion happening with my Ashdown that I wanted from the D-800, and I'm guessing the WD-800 will have something comparable in the mid character (my Walkabout did in a slightly different way, of course). And from what I read, it'll have the near silent operation that I noticed with the D-800 (my Ashdown has audible buzzing through the D.I. and speaker outs, and the loudest fans I have heard).

 

[agedhorse]

Different tastes for different players, totally get this.

 

[Al Kraft]

"Dry" is the word that came to mind when I used the D-800. But that's only when I sat in my room comparing it to my Ashdown ABM500. If it weren't for the comparison, and at that time me trying to make it sound like the Ashdown, I would probably still have the amp.
Aside from the relative "dryness", I think I could nail the ABM500 voicing with the D-800+ variable mid frequencies (though that's no longer what I am chasing). But the Ashdown, despite being quick feeling (compared to the Walkabout), still had a bit of heavy low-end bloom I couldn't get with the D-800. The D-800, to me was so quick and tight. I'm looking forward to the possibility of having a little of both worlds with the new damping feature on the WD-800.

Someone here on TB used to have a Teddy Roosevelt quote in his sig. It went something like, "Comparison is the thief of joy."

There's some sort of midrange distortion happening with my Ashdown that I wanted from the D-800, and I'm guessing the WD-800 will have something comparable in the mid character (my Walkabout did in a slightly different way, of course). And from what I read, it'll have the near silent operation that I noticed with the D-800 (my Ashdown has audible buzzing through the D.I. and speaker outs, and the loudest fans I have heard).

I can assure you that the WD-800 will sound different than the D-800, and more in the direction you're looking for. Your description of the D-800 really resonates with me as being very similar in many respects to what I hear as well. Whether the WD-800 gets you all the way to your tone goal will be something only you can answer, but I think you'll at least enjoy checking one out.

I've never had the chance to spend any real time with any of the Ashdown heads, but many people have high praise for their tone. Hopefully I will get a chance to play one in the future and experience what Ashdown fans rave about!