I bought one of these a little over a year ago for a good home practice amp that would sound good and be loud enough but not blow the roof off the place at anything over 5. Plus, as I love the format's small footprint potential in my small house. I've wanted to try out a 2x8" speaker configuration for quite awhile now. Hence the Max 208.
With this interation of Peavey's long running MAX series. They've improved their construction over the previous series which imo was built kind of flimsy, especially with the controls which tbh was very unusual for Peavey.
Unlike the other amps in the current series. The 208 offers neither a built in tuner nor an external cab out. The tuner I could care less about but imo Peavey kind of missed an opportunity here as if they had put a cab out on it and offered a matching 2x8" to go with it, I would've snapped it up even faster.
As it sits. We have 120 watts of output power with the typical high/low input jacks with gain/3 band EQ with 15db boost or cut/master volume dials plus switches for contour, mid-shift, brightness, overdrive, & the octaver "Kosmos-C" circuit. All can be useful in tailoring your tone but none are mandatory in getting a good tone either. A sign of a good design. Plug almost any bass into it with all knobs at noon,. Play with the switches only (or not) and it will sound good everytime.
The contour button is really good for solo use at home but makes things sort of muddy & inarticulate live in a band. Conversely, I almost never use the mid-shift or bright switches at home but always use the bright live and usually the mid-shift too.
It also has ⅛" jacks for the auxiliary input and headphone output jacks and a covered switch to allow between 120 volt or 240 volt operation anywhere in the world (everywhere outside Japan?). There's also a ¼" input jack for a footswitch to switch the overdrive on or off.
Idk the exact weight but I'd guess it to be in the 30-35 pound (@15 kilos) range. It also has the speaker baffle at a 15° angle so as to not have the tones blowing by your knees. Nice!
Many on here don't seem to have much use for an effects loop but I like it here because it will allow me to run the 208 as a 120 watt powered cab and to be able to run other preamps into the effects return for even more versatility.
I also really like with the mid switch in the appropriate position, I can use the mid control's full sweep and still get a useable tone with most of my basses. Many many an amp will sound like harsh poo when the mids are turned much past 40% or so.
The only bass that was a bit harder to dial in was my Stingray. Because of its active preamp? Tbh idk. It is my only active bass.
There's a huge variety of tones on tap but fans of super bright ones may find it lacking as it is tweeterless. I am not so I do not.
This amp is just a good solid everyday performer that earns its keep on a daily basis. It is one of the best amp buys I've ever made & an incredibly useful design.
I just very recently joined a new band and was very surprised to find it keeping up with an enthusiastic trio when we jammed for the first time. New mates were loving the tones with an '02 MIM Standard with rounds & an '18 Player Jazz with flats going through it.
As a result of that. I got brave and decided to try it out at our NYE house party gig in a smallish room. It was successful on all levels albeit almost out of gas by that point with the gain at 6-7 and the master volume pinned. However, it never got hot, missed a beat, started farting, or released the magic smoke either. So impressed!
It has exceeded all of my expectations. I never thought in a million years that a 120 watt solid state 2x8" combo amp could keep up with a fairly loud trio with a pretty active drummer in any circumstance. Thx Peavey!
To be fair, nothing is perfect. While the knobs gave been upgraded, the switches are still a bit cheapish and in the dark, can be a bit of a PITA to tell which position they are in. I'd prefer toggle switches here. Some may find it just a little noisy at high volumes but for the price point isn't bad at all. Imo, the DI should also have a pre/post EQ switch as well.
Also, when I took the 208 to the jam spot, the much-too-pointy plastic front logo caught onto my truck's seat cover and promptly snapped in half. This was literally the first time the amp had left the house since I bought it but otoh it was -35°C outside too so plastic can get pretty brittle at that temperature.
So now I had to take off the front grill to remove the rest of the busted logo. When I did this I was flabbergasted to see that the 8" speakers had no center dome whatsoever! Whatever, it sounds great.
While I had the grill off, I decided to check all the screws and tighten any loose ones. Wound up literally tightening every single one on the entire amp about a ½ to 1½ turns. The funny thing here is that it wasn't rattling or sounding loose beforehand either. I only checked them due to the grill being off.
So, to whoever from Peavey is on TB (Could someone @ them pls?) maybe see about my suggestions for the next generation of the MAX series. Imo, this is for my purposes, been the best MAX ever so far. Also, does Peavey have a cover available for this amp?
Also, when I bought it, the dealer couldn't find the other stuff that came with it.
The question I have here is if this was a Peavey product that came with a free copy of Reaper or not? I believe it was & if it is, can I somehow get my copy of Reaper pls?
Just so tickled with this one. A year in and it still impresses and hasn't gotten old/stale. Just a very solid daily performer.
I'd rate it a very solid 8½ out of 10.
Now do my suggested fixes and hire me as your Prairie Canadian tester! I need a new job asap!
With this interation of Peavey's long running MAX series. They've improved their construction over the previous series which imo was built kind of flimsy, especially with the controls which tbh was very unusual for Peavey.
Unlike the other amps in the current series. The 208 offers neither a built in tuner nor an external cab out. The tuner I could care less about but imo Peavey kind of missed an opportunity here as if they had put a cab out on it and offered a matching 2x8" to go with it, I would've snapped it up even faster.
As it sits. We have 120 watts of output power with the typical high/low input jacks with gain/3 band EQ with 15db boost or cut/master volume dials plus switches for contour, mid-shift, brightness, overdrive, & the octaver "Kosmos-C" circuit. All can be useful in tailoring your tone but none are mandatory in getting a good tone either. A sign of a good design. Plug almost any bass into it with all knobs at noon,. Play with the switches only (or not) and it will sound good everytime.
The contour button is really good for solo use at home but makes things sort of muddy & inarticulate live in a band. Conversely, I almost never use the mid-shift or bright switches at home but always use the bright live and usually the mid-shift too.
It also has ⅛" jacks for the auxiliary input and headphone output jacks and a covered switch to allow between 120 volt or 240 volt operation anywhere in the world (everywhere outside Japan?). There's also a ¼" input jack for a footswitch to switch the overdrive on or off.
Idk the exact weight but I'd guess it to be in the 30-35 pound (@15 kilos) range. It also has the speaker baffle at a 15° angle so as to not have the tones blowing by your knees. Nice!
Many on here don't seem to have much use for an effects loop but I like it here because it will allow me to run the 208 as a 120 watt powered cab and to be able to run other preamps into the effects return for even more versatility.
I also really like with the mid switch in the appropriate position, I can use the mid control's full sweep and still get a useable tone with most of my basses. Many many an amp will sound like harsh poo when the mids are turned much past 40% or so.
The only bass that was a bit harder to dial in was my Stingray. Because of its active preamp? Tbh idk. It is my only active bass.
There's a huge variety of tones on tap but fans of super bright ones may find it lacking as it is tweeterless. I am not so I do not.
This amp is just a good solid everyday performer that earns its keep on a daily basis. It is one of the best amp buys I've ever made & an incredibly useful design.
I just very recently joined a new band and was very surprised to find it keeping up with an enthusiastic trio when we jammed for the first time. New mates were loving the tones with an '02 MIM Standard with rounds & an '18 Player Jazz with flats going through it.
As a result of that. I got brave and decided to try it out at our NYE house party gig in a smallish room. It was successful on all levels albeit almost out of gas by that point with the gain at 6-7 and the master volume pinned. However, it never got hot, missed a beat, started farting, or released the magic smoke either. So impressed!
It has exceeded all of my expectations. I never thought in a million years that a 120 watt solid state 2x8" combo amp could keep up with a fairly loud trio with a pretty active drummer in any circumstance. Thx Peavey!
To be fair, nothing is perfect. While the knobs gave been upgraded, the switches are still a bit cheapish and in the dark, can be a bit of a PITA to tell which position they are in. I'd prefer toggle switches here. Some may find it just a little noisy at high volumes but for the price point isn't bad at all. Imo, the DI should also have a pre/post EQ switch as well.
Also, when I took the 208 to the jam spot, the much-too-pointy plastic front logo caught onto my truck's seat cover and promptly snapped in half. This was literally the first time the amp had left the house since I bought it but otoh it was -35°C outside too so plastic can get pretty brittle at that temperature.
So now I had to take off the front grill to remove the rest of the busted logo. When I did this I was flabbergasted to see that the 8" speakers had no center dome whatsoever! Whatever, it sounds great.
While I had the grill off, I decided to check all the screws and tighten any loose ones. Wound up literally tightening every single one on the entire amp about a ½ to 1½ turns. The funny thing here is that it wasn't rattling or sounding loose beforehand either. I only checked them due to the grill being off.
So, to whoever from Peavey is on TB (Could someone @ them pls?) maybe see about my suggestions for the next generation of the MAX series. Imo, this is for my purposes, been the best MAX ever so far. Also, does Peavey have a cover available for this amp?
Also, when I bought it, the dealer couldn't find the other stuff that came with it.
The question I have here is if this was a Peavey product that came with a free copy of Reaper or not? I believe it was & if it is, can I somehow get my copy of Reaper pls?Just so tickled with this one. A year in and it still impresses and hasn't gotten old/stale. Just a very solid daily performer.
I'd rate it a very solid 8½ out of 10.
Now do my suggested fixes and hire me as your Prairie Canadian tester! I need a new job asap!
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