Traynor YBA200 vs. YBA 200-2 and more...

[gordon sims]

I may have the opportunity to buy a Traynor YBA200 for a pretty good price. Just wondering if anyone could help me out with these questions:

1. YBA200 vs. YBA200-2 (reliability) – from my review of some of older comments on this site, it looks like the main difference in terms of features is the YBA200-2 doesn’t have autobias which may have caused problems with the YBA200. Is anyone aware of any other concerns about the YBA200 in terms of glitches or reliability?
2. YBA200 vs. YBA1 (tone) – Is it comparable to the YBA1 in terms of tone? I currently have a YBA1 and I love the tone, but I need something with more power
3. Passive EQ – People describe it as “cut only”. What does this mean?

Would appreciate your comments.

Thanks.

 

[maevinj]

I can only answer #3 for you, but my understanding is that when your bass,mid,treb are on 10, that it is really on "0". So setting the bass knob at noon, would really be like having it set for -5 if that makes sense.
Also if I'm wrong, somebody else feel free to chime in, but those are the guidelines I use when using my YBA200-2.

 

[gordon sims]

I think I get it. Does it mean that on the EQ you can't "add" bass, mid or treble, you can only reduce it? So if the knob is all the counter-clockwise, that is the highest level and all the way clockwise is the lowest?

 

[maevinj]

You've got it part right. When it's full clockwise that is set at what would normally be 0 on any amp. Turning it counter-clockwise will cut that frequency. I think there was a diagram somewhere illustrating it. Let me see if I can find it.

 

[maevinj]

Here are some quotes from some old threads about the EQ.

the YBA has a passive EQ; theoretically speaking, knobs all the way up should be flat
As someone has already pointed out, flat on the YBA200 is all the EQ at "full". The range knob goes from 200hz to 1khz. With that in mind, it's real easy to dial in a ton of tones with the Traynor

 

[LowB-ing]

The YBA-200 has a Fender tone stack, basically.
Bass:2 Mid:10 Treb:2 will give you a 'flatish' response at some point along the Range control. That's where the "basically" comes in, as the Range control modifies the behaviour of the tone stack.

EDIT: The Fender tone stack is one of many ways to design a passive EQ, and arguably the most common.

 

[jmlee]

Resurrecting a zombie thread to correct some misinformation. The Traynor YBA200(-2) does *not* have a Fender tone stack, although it is fully passive. The tone stack is *cut only* which means that the starting point is Bass/Mids/Treble on 10 and turning each knob down cuts some of those frequencies. The Range control modifies the overall effect of the BMT controls. Essentially, the higher the Range control, the overall brighter/thinner the sound for a given BMT setting. It's a curious set-up to be sure, but for me Range~3 is optimal, with Treble~4, Mids~7, and Bass all the way up.

 

[jmlee]

Posted this up for the reference of @Loring who commented above. It's from the user manual and corresponds to my experience with my YBA200-2.