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Tec Puma Bass amps
- Thread starter KJung
- Start date
Those cabs look very cool. Both the 210 and 212 have a 16" by 17" footprint (if I read the specs correctly) That's pretty small. I look forward to hearing these cabs sometime.
I'll post up after I have a few hours on the head late next week.
Sweet I am subscribed - still loving my Little Mark II - but I can have Gear Lust like the best of them.
When you see the US price on the Puma, your GAS might come back into balance
Edit: It's actually very price competitive with full size 500-600 watt amps (like the Eden WT550, AG500, etc.), but over double the LMII/Shuttle 6.0/GKMB500.
The difference in the UK between the 1000 and the 500 models is about £500, and that should roughly translate to the about same numerical difference in Euros or USD between models.
Oddly, in the UK Rosetti inform they have several 1000s in stock but no 500s. At that end of the Power scale (1000W 8ohm) + bells and whistles, I rather take my 8U rack out.
Just left the New York distributor, 2nd day air to Detroit. So, I should be able to give it a quick basement trial on Friday, and then have it on a gig Saturday with either the 410UL or AE410, depending on how it matches up with those cabs.
The shipping weight, including box and carry bag, is 6.7 pounds!
The shipping weight, including box and carry bag, is 6.7 pounds!
Chef
In Memoriam
It arrived this morning!
I only have about an hour of playing on it, through the 410UL(II) 4ohm with a Sadowsky MV5 with singles and an Alleva LM5. I have a good enough feel for it now to post some preliminary remarks, since most in the US are not familiar with these heads. The picture below is my BergHS210, for size reference.
I purchased the Puma500, which is the middle model, 500 watts at 4ohms monoblock. There is a lower powered version called the 350, and a high powered, 'stereo' model (500x2) with more features (compressor, etc.).
The amp has the same footprint as the popular LMII (about 10 by 10) but is slightly taller (two rack space height). It comes with rack ears. It is about the same weight as the LMII (around 5 pound or so)... so very lightweight.
The quality feels very good, but not 'amazingly so', given that the unit is exactly twice the price of the LMII. The knobs are smooth and the switches seem well made. There is a cool on/off indicator light built directly into the on/off switch (blue, but not one of those crazy bright things), and the mute switch (yes, it has a mute switch that also mutes the DI!) has a nice indicator light.
There is a clip indicator light at the input stage to make 'optimum' input gain setting easy and accurate. The fan goes into high speed test mode and then reduces to literally a zero noise level... very nice.
The front panel layout is very similar to the popular LMII, with four bands of EQ. The EQ freq's are 30hz,250hz 800 hz and 8Khz. So, for those who feel the LMII's lo mid is set a bit too high, this low mid really pushes the 'meat and burp'. The treble control and bass control provide similar 'rumble and sizzle' as the LMII, although given the pure, wide tone, they really aren't needed.
The DI is pre/post switchable. There is no ground switch, but in the manual is says that it is 'soft grounded' which eliminates the need. Not quite sure what that means, but they go out of their way to say that there should be no ground loop issues.
There is an 'overall' voicing filter that has the same logic as the Walter Woods 'balance' control and the TF's 'Timbre' control, but it impacts different frequencies. Set flat (all the controls have nice center detents) it is 'out of the signal chain'. Turned to the left, it boosts mids and cuts deep low end for a more 'bridge pickup' type tone or fretless mwaw. Turned toward the right, it takes you into deep bass dub land. I will not be using this control
I purchased the bag (nice that a company actually has the bag available for the unit at introduction!). The amp is mounted in the bag using two of the rack mount screws on each side, and the bag has venting for the top mounted fan and side mounted air intake. Nice and very high quality. HOWEVER, there is no pocket for cords and cables, which is a big negative for me. I very much like to keep the power cord, speaker cable and a small extension cord WITH the amp. Not a big deal, but they need to figure out how to put a pouch on there (I assume the reason they didn't was due to the need for the top venting if you keep the amp in the bag). At $100, I would not recommend the bag, although the design is cool. It's really more like a very small soft rack bag.
The back panel has effect loop, tuner out, line out, and two dual function speakon outs.
OK, the tone. It is exactly what I expected. CLEAN, even, flat but not sterile. Lot's of low end (you can see the speaker cones move a bit when pushed), a very warm, natural mid response, and crystal clear highs. It's more 'pure' sounding than my F1, but has more mid clarity and punch than my Epi502. It sits right in the middle of those two. I'll obviously post more about the tone after more hours of playing and some gig time.
The master volume seems to be one of those different taper designs (I can never remember which is which... log or linear) that requires the master to be turned up more than the typical Eden, Markbass, Thunderfunk type thing where the amp is cranking at 10 o'clock. Similar to the iAmp and Glock heads, this head does not really even start to open up until the master is past noon.
All in all, a very nice head for those looking for crisp, clean, full and small. Is it worth $600 more than an LMII or $400 more than the F1 (two other Micro's that have at least a similar clean, tight and warm sort of voicing)... hard to say. It does sound more 'through a high end mixing board' smooth (i.e., it's a touch closer to the iAmp/Glock/Epi thing), and if that's important to you, this might be a very cool option.
So, all in all, VERY nice. A couple of small nits. The lack of cable pouch on the bag was already mentioned. It did not ship with a power cord (no big deal, but come on!), and, the rack mount screws are some sort of hex type screw. They should have shipped a tool with the rack ears, at least in the US where these types of screws/bolts are not common. Very minor stuff.
Ed and Rawn were great to deal with at the distributor.. nice folks, and they both love the bass, which is cool!
I'll get it out on a gig this weekend and report back!
K
I only have about an hour of playing on it, through the 410UL(II) 4ohm with a Sadowsky MV5 with singles and an Alleva LM5. I have a good enough feel for it now to post some preliminary remarks, since most in the US are not familiar with these heads. The picture below is my BergHS210, for size reference.
I purchased the Puma500, which is the middle model, 500 watts at 4ohms monoblock. There is a lower powered version called the 350, and a high powered, 'stereo' model (500x2) with more features (compressor, etc.).
The amp has the same footprint as the popular LMII (about 10 by 10) but is slightly taller (two rack space height). It comes with rack ears. It is about the same weight as the LMII (around 5 pound or so)... so very lightweight.
The quality feels very good, but not 'amazingly so', given that the unit is exactly twice the price of the LMII. The knobs are smooth and the switches seem well made. There is a cool on/off indicator light built directly into the on/off switch (blue, but not one of those crazy bright things), and the mute switch (yes, it has a mute switch that also mutes the DI!) has a nice indicator light.
There is a clip indicator light at the input stage to make 'optimum' input gain setting easy and accurate. The fan goes into high speed test mode and then reduces to literally a zero noise level... very nice.
The front panel layout is very similar to the popular LMII, with four bands of EQ. The EQ freq's are 30hz,250hz 800 hz and 8Khz. So, for those who feel the LMII's lo mid is set a bit too high, this low mid really pushes the 'meat and burp'. The treble control and bass control provide similar 'rumble and sizzle' as the LMII, although given the pure, wide tone, they really aren't needed.
The DI is pre/post switchable. There is no ground switch, but in the manual is says that it is 'soft grounded' which eliminates the need. Not quite sure what that means, but they go out of their way to say that there should be no ground loop issues.
There is an 'overall' voicing filter that has the same logic as the Walter Woods 'balance' control and the TF's 'Timbre' control, but it impacts different frequencies. Set flat (all the controls have nice center detents) it is 'out of the signal chain'. Turned to the left, it boosts mids and cuts deep low end for a more 'bridge pickup' type tone or fretless mwaw. Turned toward the right, it takes you into deep bass dub land. I will not be using this control
I purchased the bag (nice that a company actually has the bag available for the unit at introduction!). The amp is mounted in the bag using two of the rack mount screws on each side, and the bag has venting for the top mounted fan and side mounted air intake. Nice and very high quality. HOWEVER, there is no pocket for cords and cables, which is a big negative for me. I very much like to keep the power cord, speaker cable and a small extension cord WITH the amp. Not a big deal, but they need to figure out how to put a pouch on there (I assume the reason they didn't was due to the need for the top venting if you keep the amp in the bag). At $100, I would not recommend the bag, although the design is cool. It's really more like a very small soft rack bag.
The back panel has effect loop, tuner out, line out, and two dual function speakon outs.
OK, the tone. It is exactly what I expected. CLEAN, even, flat but not sterile. Lot's of low end (you can see the speaker cones move a bit when pushed), a very warm, natural mid response, and crystal clear highs. It's more 'pure' sounding than my F1, but has more mid clarity and punch than my Epi502. It sits right in the middle of those two. I'll obviously post more about the tone after more hours of playing and some gig time.
The master volume seems to be one of those different taper designs (I can never remember which is which... log or linear) that requires the master to be turned up more than the typical Eden, Markbass, Thunderfunk type thing where the amp is cranking at 10 o'clock. Similar to the iAmp and Glock heads, this head does not really even start to open up until the master is past noon.
All in all, a very nice head for those looking for crisp, clean, full and small. Is it worth $600 more than an LMII or $400 more than the F1 (two other Micro's that have at least a similar clean, tight and warm sort of voicing)... hard to say. It does sound more 'through a high end mixing board' smooth (i.e., it's a touch closer to the iAmp/Glock/Epi thing), and if that's important to you, this might be a very cool option.
So, all in all, VERY nice. A couple of small nits. The lack of cable pouch on the bag was already mentioned. It did not ship with a power cord (no big deal, but come on!), and, the rack mount screws are some sort of hex type screw. They should have shipped a tool with the rack ears, at least in the US where these types of screws/bolts are not common. Very minor stuff.
Ed and Rawn were great to deal with at the distributor.. nice folks, and they both love the bass, which is cool!
I'll get it out on a gig this weekend and report back!
K
svtb15
Inactive
- Mar 22, 2004
- 13,004
- 4,741
- Disclosures
- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
One thing that I'm starting to hear as I play it more is that this amp has the capability of massive low mid punch. There is a LOT of sound in the bass and low mid control, and turning up the low mids just a touch really gets that 'hit you in the chest' thing going more than other micro's (and many full sized bass amps) I've played. VERY nice, and it has just a wicked slap sound set flat... wicked!
svtb15
Inactive
- Mar 22, 2004
- 13,004
- 4,741
- Disclosures
- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
Ken .. if you feel safe about doing it. us gear heads would love if you could pop the top on that baby and see whats under the hood ... but thats up to you
svtb15
Inactive
- Mar 22, 2004
- 13,004
- 4,741
- Disclosures
- I play it all. Whatever works for the gig. Q+
Thanks Ken...
The reason i was asking was that I am wondering if it has a proprietary Class D unit, or the B&O board that is used in a few micro amps?
Also ,do you know if the MB gear uses the B&O unit?
The reason i was asking was that I am wondering if it has a proprietary Class D unit, or the B&O board that is used in a few micro amps?
Also ,do you know if the MB gear uses the B&O unit?
The manufacturer was being considerate, Ken. They wanted you to choose the high-end power cable that sounds best to your ears.
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
put on headphones and stand or sit on that thing, and you'd swear you had 50,000 watts and a bank of 18" subs in humongous cabs. It is totally cool. Great for recording quietly but still getting your booty into it.
And ALL of the Tec stuff that I have tried is absolutely world class, from the little combos to the big stuff. And the owner of the company is a true gentleman, and a brilliant guy. When I tried it at the NAMM show in 06, I was more impressed with the Tec stuff than with the Markbass, which was just beginning to take off.
It's about time somebody wised up and brought this stuff in. I wish them great success.
Cheers,
Cameron
I have no idea. I would guess there probably aren't many proprietary class D units being used, since these small companies wouldn't have the R&D horsepower to develop something from scratch. But, since they all sound WAY different, I guess the magic is in the preamp differences, etc.
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
they are just freakin awesome. Ever hate your sound through headphones in the studio? I know I do, constantly. This is the solution to that problem, just like the old 'Rumbleseat' from EA or whoever that was.
Cheers,
Cameron
Actually, the manual states there is a power cord included, so my guess is the distributor just forgot to put the cable back in the box after he mounted the amp in the bag and repackaged. No big deal. I actually do always replace those little skinny 6' cords with nice hefty 10' cords anyway. Many times, that's the difference between needing an extension cord and not at the venues I typically perform in.K
Edit: Another nice touch, the DI is set for pre EQ default, and has a light that indicates the post EQ setting when engaged. After all those times of trying to determine the setting looking into the back of a dark rack on stage prior to the gigs start, this is a nice, well thought out design.
+1.. .there's another product similar (I think called an 'earthquake' or something). It's basically a big magnet and voice coil that you bolt onto a pad to stand on when using in ears or whatever. I have a drummer friend who tours with a major act that used in ears and has very soft stage sound. He has one mounted to the bottom of his drum riser, and he says it gives him the feeling of a full stage sound. Pretty cool.
The rumbleseat from EA was a similar idea, designed as a chair that would translate the feeling of playing through an amp when going directly to the board in the studio. Nice ideal.
And yes, this amp is quite impessive... very clean, pure, crisp, deep and even!
