Streamliner 600 vs Little Mark Tube?

Go with the 900, the extra wattage gives extra presence IMO. The Streamliner is very reactive to your attack. I love it and can play very different styled songs in a set just by adjusting my bass tone or position where I pluck. Set the gain right at the threshold of breakup and play soft for clean songs and dig in when you need the breakup. Or just keep it clean there is tons of headroom.

I think it will be fine with your cabs. I've played through Crate cabs and got a good tone...nuff said.

As far as customer service, nothing has changed AFAIK. Its still one of the best.

 

I've owned an LMTube, and currently own an STL900. For me, the Streamliner is infinitely better than the LMTube in every respect except for getting a really hi-fi, ultra clean tone, but I find there are better options if that's your cup of tea. I ultimately thought that the LMTube was a great head that did a lot of things well, but nothing great.

 

This is largely dependant on the bass you use and how much tweeter you dial in. With my P and Jazz basses, I can get very vintage. With the same settings on the amp and my active basses, I can get a great HiFi clean tone by using the eq on the bass.

There is nothing wrong with the 600 in respect to head room and is plenty loud. The 900 just has that extra oompf if you need it.

 

What pedals did you try?

 

Gigged an LMII a while back (almost identical to the LMTube IME) and then gigged a Streamliner900 for a couple of years.

+1 to most of the above posts. Here's a little more info based on my experience.

First, I found that little mini tube in the LMTube to have very little impact on the tone or feel of the amp. In my A-Bing with the LMII/III, once you set the gain to match, the amps sounded very close. So, the LMTube is very 'not tubey'. No give, and a very straightforward tone stack. Turn the filters off, set the gain just under clip, EQ flat, and you have a pretty good, even, warm, plug and play sound. The EQ is set up like a channel strip in that it is more about keeping the inherent tone of the amp constant from room to room than radically changing the feel and the tone.

The Streamliner is at the other end of the spectrum. It has a much more complex front end, with everything interacting with everything else (like many all tube amps), and a kind of 'modified Fender type' tone stack, where 'all knobs at noon' is not a particularly good thing. The gain/volume/master gain stages are interesting, and lots of different sound in there, especially when combined with the 'gain boost' circuit and the EQ. Small changes on any knob can result in BIG changes in the tone. If you are willing to put in the time, it is probably the closest hybrid I've ever experience that 'feels and sounds' somewhat like an all tube signal path (for better or worse). Some of the Mesa hybrids like the MPulse600 have this vibe also.

I find the Genz power ratings a touch 'hopeful', so the 600 should give you pretty much similar output to the 500 watt Markbass amps. The power management is very good, so while the Markbass will eventually strongly compress and stop getting louder when you hit the max output, the Streamliner will do more of an 'all tube amp' thing.... .compress gently and it will keep getting louder with more distortion and compression. Very nice.

The Markbass, with its very 'flat/neutral' voice always sounded good (assuming you liked the clean/warm thing) with virtually any cab I tried it with. The big, wide open, relaxed midrange of the Streamliner, with that 'complex but somewhat limited EQ' really sounded great with some cabs, and MUCH too 'wide and relaxed' for me with other cabs (I definitely need some aggressive mid punch in my sound in the busy mixes I usually perform in).

So, who knows if you will dig it, but it will be a way, way different experience. If I were you, I'd get a VT DI pedal when they are released and be happy. However, if you want a significantly different vibe, with the more organic, reactive feeling of an amp that is significantly driven by its multiple tube front end, you may love it!

IMO and IME.

Edit: I eventually moved to the Aguilar TH500, which kind of sits right between the Streamliner and the LM Markbass amps..... growly, grunty and 'tubey' in its own way, but lots of midrange complexity and punch, combined with a tone stack and gain that interact strongly. Not as wide and clean as the LM, but much punchier and mid complex than the Streamliner. FYI!

 

That is the best way to truly find out.

Yeah, the TH500 is relatively organic and relaxed up top, but I find plenty of top end myself with my 70's J with roundwounds. However, the EQ, like the Streamliner, is quite interactive, and if you don't spend time with it (e.g., like thinking that the 'drive' control is actually an overdrive control versus what it really does, which is reduce the upper treble and deep bass), the amp can sound a bit dull. It grinds up top pretty well, but +1 in that it surely does not extend into the upper treble like the LM amps or the Streamliner, which has a particularly nice 'tubey' sweet top end.

Good luck on the search!

Edit: I believe I still have a Streamliner clip up on my Youtube channel (with the Baer ML and my P Bass with nickel wounds), along with a bunch of TH350/500 clips that might be a useful data point if you have decent phones.

 

I had a Steamliner 900 for a few months and honestly never really got a good tone out of it. It's definitely not versatile, as it doesn't have many different tones and pretty much has no midrange. It's all sub-lows and some treble up top. There's actually a dip in the lower midrange, so punch is out of the picture. I have owned a ton of all tube amps and the Streamliner didn't sound at all like any of them. I've heard a lot of people say it acts like an all tube amp, but that wasn't my experience at all. I did like the power amp, just not the preamp.

I currently have a LMTube and I love it. It's much more punchy and works with every cab I put it through. The tone isn't absolutely fantastic, but it's really good at all settings. Even though it doesn't have the give or break-up of an all tube amp, I really felt that it comes much, much closer to my SVT. I also found the tube to have more of an effect than most other people, especially in the way the lows sound and when you push the gain hard. I do, however, wish that the LM has a semi-parametric EQ.


I would never recommend the Streamliner for anything other than a power amp myself, but I would whole heartedly recommend the LMTube to anyone, especially for the price.



Michael

 

Unless you have one of the hottest bass outputs around, combined with very aggressive technique, it sounds like there might be something wrong with your amp. So, your input clip light comes on with the gain barely on?

With my moderately hot output basses, and pounding on the B string to optimally set the gain on my Markbass amps, the clip light typically comes on at that extreme playing at about noon or so on the input... maybe 11 o'clock on my hottest bass (which happens to be a passive P).

Does your amp do this (distort) in both the 100% tube and 100% solid state setting?

 

The lows kind of compress a bit when you hit them hard when the knob is completely turned to the tube side. I didn't really like the amount of compression on the lows, so I usually run the knob pretty close to 1:00, which is just slightly favouring the tube side.

Also, when I set the gain just under clipping and I strike the strings hard the tube tends to put out some distortion, which doesn't happen on the solid state side as much. It's honestly not really a sound you would go after, but it is a difference between the tube and solid state sides.


I usually run the gain at around 1:00 IIRC.


Michael

 

I have the streamliner 900 with avatar b210 neos and the setting I've found that really allows for a good clean and clear tone is:
Gain button ON
gain at 9 o'clock
volume at 3 o'clock
bass at 9 -11
mids (600) at 3
treble 11-1
Master volume to taste
For me this setting really cleans up the tone and makes it more cutting when I'm using my Jazz. The extra grit and presence seems to muddy the sound.
When I play my P the added mid presence seems to allow me the ability to grit up the tone and boost the gain.
Check the Streamliner 900 settings thread on here for other ideas. A lot of people like to use what they call the SVT setting which is something like
Gain Off
Gain 3 o'clock
Volume 3 o'clock
Bass 9 o'clock
Mids (220) 9-10
Treble - Noon
Master Volume to taste