Bass Gear Mag Amp Lab Peavey Minimega Technical review

#2
arca_tern said:
Hey low end-ers.
Anyone read this article/pay for access beyond the paywall?
Am I crazy or does it look like the reviewer gave the MiniMega a 0.5/5?

It's not crazy high on my list of new amps to check out but was really curious as to what went down.
Mahalo
Click to expand...

I believe that is a rating system for the article that was written about the product, and not the Peavey itself.
 
#4
Dunno about the article. But I tried a Minimega into a PV 4x10 and was impressed. Great range of tones and lots of very usable onboard effects. Kinda loved it. If the Tone Hammer 350 that's on the way doesn't trip my trigger I might grab one of these. Very solid feel to the build.
 
#5
I wanted to love the new Peaveys but they made the conscious choice to change their sound to more 'transparent' and as a result the head I tried had absolutely no personality except for its loud fan that made it unusable for low volume practice. I have a small bunch of old 'silver fin' Peaveys and always marvel at how good they sound the more you push them. The louder they go the better they sound. I was so disappointed in the new stuff-- I like being a loyalist to brands that are proven. In this case sadly no.
 
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#6
I guess I'm firmly in the 'transparent' camp. I like a good, solid, punchy, but uncolored bass tone that I can modify with my guitar's eq or with pedals. My PV Max 700 does that perfectly. And the Peavey MiniMega seems to do it, too, albeit with more bells and whistles.

Same with guitar. For years I used low-ish wattage tube amps that I could push into natural grind and compression then slam the amp with a 4885 op amp. But the past few years I've moved more towards uncolored there, too, and get my dirt from pedals.
 
#7
If anyone who has read the cited article behind the pay wall is willing, I would appreciate a "fair use" quote of the part where it discusses shortcomings when used with a 4 ohm load, or a synopsis thereof. Thermal problem or max voltage swing problem?
 
#8
kartiste said:
If anyone who has read the cited article behind the pay wall is willing, I would appreciate a "fair use" quote of the part where it discusses shortcomings when used with a 4 ohm load, or a synopsis thereof. Thermal problem or max voltage swing problem?
Click to expand...

Maybe check with @tombowlus for better details, as the MiniMega did not pass their 4 ohm tests either.
 
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#10
I have a customer who has one. It doesn't like 4 ohm loads. Bass Gear couldn't get a maximum watts rating for 4 ohms if I'm not mistaken. My guy says that it cuts out (thermal overload) and is unusable into 4. He tried other 4 ohm cabs and got the same results. He did like the sound of the preamp, though.
 
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#12
I normally wouldn't disagree with you Mike, on much of anything, but I think you'll find most users report that head has been solid at 4Ohms. I think ones that are shutting down may have other issues. I know that myself as well as many others are hitting it hard at 4 Ohms without a hitch. I use mine at what most would consider pretty loud volume on multiple gigs weekly at 4 and have never had a thermal shut down.
While I don't want to misquote @tombowlus, I think it's safe to paraphrase that the amp seemed every bit as powerfull as others in the same class.
I bought mine before the review came out and I compared it to other similarly powered amps of this newer generation (GK, Subway non plus, Quilter, Aguilar) and preferred it. I do like the newer Subway + a lot. Like you I'm a player not a hobbyist and to my ears it's sounds good and has every bit of the heft, kick, punch or whatever you want to call it, these more powerfull power modules have. That said I haven't tried the Pascall unit you guys are using. I'd love to hear it. I tried like hell to hear you're cabs when I was in SF recently to no avail. I certainly hope I'll get the chance soon.
I was hoping to pair the MM head with one of your cabs. Alas the stars did not align.
Again I believe the head you refered to has issues and should be sent in for service. Peaveys service is reasonably prompt and painless. Just give them a call at warrantee service and repair.
 
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#13
As to the transparency, I find this head slightly less transparent as my Genz or especially my Glock. It seems a bit warmer to my ears but not tube warm, just not cold and clinical. I had a Q BB800 and just didn't bond. Also an AmpegPF, those amps sounded warm but fuzzy as if there was a higher level of harmonic distortion going on, to my ears. Many people like those heads but I did not.
 
#14
Tom couldn't get a 4 ohm power rating due to shutdown if I'm not mistaken. I have no personal experience with it so I'm just relaying what I've read or someone who owned one told me.
 
#15
Mike Arnopol said:
Tom couldn't get a 4 ohm power rating due to shutdown if I'm not mistaken. I have no personal experience with it so I'm just relaying what I've read or someone who owned one told me.
Click to expand...

Mike, to be clear, we did get a burst power rating of 1,435w (at 4 ohms), and I do consider the burst power test to be more indicative of real-world performance than the continuous power test (which uses a continuous 1kHz sine wave). That being said, this is the first amp that could not complete this test without thermal issues. I have used this head at some very loud gigs pushing a 4-ohm load with no issues.

Also, FWIW, the MiniMega received an average in-hand score of 4.14 and an average 3.55 on bench score (both out of 5).
 
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#16
I believe I am the customer that mike is referring to...with a 4ohm load and my gain at 5 if I was over 6 on my master it would sound great for about half hour and then start dying...first the solid bottom left then eventually the mids and everything would distort, most people I've talked to said that sounds like a thermal issue..that minimega has been down to Mississippi twice...the first time In not sure they did much to it and sent it back...the second time they replaced the whole preamp...but it still sucked so now I have a new one that seems to be holding up fine so far through 5 gigs two of them where I would be been in the danger zone with the last one..they told me they updated some cap values? Idk but so far so good with this one...
 
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#17
Kirk just for fun here is the mini sitting on one of mikes 1,8 cabs...really fun rig to use out...can one trip it in carrying tiny cab and then still have enough to punch em in the face at small bar gigs
20180214_180428.jpg
 
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#18
I dig your mini rig a lot. The 2/8, + 1/8 combo would probably be a lifetime rig for all but the largest gigs.
I use very similar knob settings on my loud blues rock jam night. However I never use the crunch bright or buttons but do use the punch button. Pushing a 4ohm 212 Berg load with my active basses, Tune and JRetro Pres, I can get pretty loud at those settings. In fact I don't usually run the gain as high as you have it. And don't forget, Jimmym told us all to crank the bass knob.
Also bot, although I got a screamin deal on this amp it's the best bang for buck of Any of my many musical purchases.
 
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#19
Kirk Bryant said:
I dig your mini rig a lot. The 2/8, + 1/8 combo would probably be a lifetime rig for all but the largest gigs.
I use very similar knob settings on my loud blues rock jam night. However I never use the crunch bright or buttons but do use the punch button. Pushing a 4ohm 212 Berg load with my active basses, Tune and JRetro Pres, I can get pretty loud at those settings. In fact I don't usually run the gain as high as you have it. And don't forget, Jimmym told us all to crank the bass knob.
Also bot, although I got a screamin deal on this amp it's the best bang for buck of Any of my many musical purchases.
Click to expand...

In looking closer at the pic I believe my 1.5 year old son may have been pushing a very cool light up buttons lol....I do not use the crunch or the bright buttons except for fun...knobs,are pretty close I run almost everything at noon with compressor on and it sounds great that way through these mas cabs...each bass really has it's own voice
And yes technically peavey does have one in my hands that seems to work fine so it's hard to complain too much as I know sometimes thing just happen...almost impossible not to have some problems on this size of production scale
 
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