Noiseless&quality amps for acoutic ensemble

H

Hallic

Sep 2, 2012
309
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#1
Hi people of the TB-forum,
I have been looking into buying a nice combo, or cab+head, to amplify my bass. Unfortunately the products i tried turned out all the have some amount of noise in the high frequencies.
I'm wondering what level of quality amps i should be looking at before this disappears?

High end like Glockenklang/hevos/Vanderkley/Aer ? Or high mid level(been eyeing a schertler)?
I tried stuff like: Laney RBW300, EBS reidmar head and Gallien krueger mb200 into an EBS 12"(with tweeter).

I play in an acoustic ensemble, which means our playing dynamics somethings go to low volumes. This is where things like noise on an amp also becomes apparent for non musicians! And thus not usable for me.
And i definitely don't want to turn a tweeter off to "fix" a poorly design amp.

Hopefully some of you can give me good suggestions. Please mind that i'm in Europe, not across the ocean.

ps. I can't use stuff like Fender, ampeg, orange. Need something with a flat/natural frequency response.
 
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#5
My GK MB112 is so quiet I accidentally leave it on while sitting right next to it all the time. For like, hours. Overnight a few times. This is with my passive j bass plugged into it, turned up.
 
#9
I've got a pretty good ear for hiss and noise in sound systems and have never had an issue with my cheap Peavey Max115. I play with two acoustic guitars and vocals and it's always been more than enough grunt with no noticeable hiss or noise, even in the confines of a lounge room for rehearsals. The only time I've heard any hiss from it was when I had it mic-ed up for recording, and then it was only noticeable through the headphones. Granted, I have it aimed straight at my head at gigs and don't have much volume on stage, but in an acoustic ensemble you don't need much sound on stage. I always DI for the FOH, even small systems, to enable me to keep the stage sound low while getting a good spread of sound out front.
 
#10
AngusHasMoxie said:
My GK MB112 is so quiet I accidentally leave it on while sitting right next to it all the time. For like, hours. Overnight a few times. This is with my passive j bass plugged into it, turned up.
Click to expand...
I generally like the GK combos. Bit weird they don't have semi para mids.
The GK combos noise becomes really apparent when you take an DI out. The 112 doest have a tweeter so you won't notice it


dlmarquez said:
Oh, if you prefer made in America...check out Acoustic Image.
Click to expand...
No, preferably EU. Mainly because beter availability/pricing. Will have alook at them though :) thanks!
 
#11
I am a big fan of the Glockenklang Bass Art head: 400 watts into 4 ohms, no fan, extremely quit and fantastic amplification quality. I also own 2 Bass Art Classic Mk II cabinets, which are outstanding. But, I'm told the piece-de-resistance cabinet is the Acoustic Art Cabinet, which is even better but not loud. 94 db at 1watt-meter. One or two of these, (or the BAC cabinet depending on your volume needs), with the BAC head would be about as good as it gets. Expensive, but very quiet and amazing quality. Beware, if you buy the rig you might end up replacing your instrument.

Jim

Note: do not confuse these Glockenklang products with the Soul, HeartRock, etc. They have two product lines that are not equivalent.
 
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#12
My rig for loud to soft gigs with electric to acoustic is the new Acoustic Image Clarus s4+, with a Baer ML112. The Clarus s4+ is a 2 channel head eq'd great for electric and acoustic electric instruments. The Clarus S4+ has plenty of power, two channels of very usable eq, sweepable low end filter, built in effects, etc, etc.
And QUIET! The Baer ML112 get tons of lows and volume for a relatively small box. It has a 6in mid-high speaker which I find much fuller and punchier than a horn at low volume. Even at a whisper I could still get a fat, present tone with plenty of highs. This combination works great for my upright/electric bass gigs.
 
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#13
The info you have given is incomplete what bass do you use and does it have an onboard pre amp IE active?.
If so how much hiss comes from that.
Passive basses will not produce hiss.
Most recording mic amps have a high impedance instrument Jack and exceed the signal to noise ratio of most high end bass amps, if you really want a flat frequency response you could save money and choose one like this without built in EQ.
Millennia HV-35P
The powere'd speaker you will then require could then be anything from a high quality active studio monitor to a high quality pa monitor.
You did say you wanted high quality low noise?. JBL have a very very good one for bass monitoring.
JBL PRX735 15" Three Way Active PA Speaker at Gear4music.com

Unfortunately genuine high quality low noise loud to soft comes at a premium.:)X
 
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#14
jsbarber said:
I am a big fan of the Glockenklang Bass Art head: 400 watts into 4 ohms, no fan, extremely quit and fantastic amplification quality. I also own 2 Bass Art Classic Mk II cabinets, which are outstanding. But, I'm told the piece-de-resistance cabinet is the Acoustic Art Cabinet, which is even better but not loud. 94 db at 1watt-meter. One or two of these, (or the BAC cabinet depending on your volume needs), with the BAC head would be about as good as it gets. Expensive, but very quiet and amazing quality. Beware, if you buy the rig you might end up replacing your instrument.

Jim

Note: do not confuse these Glockenklang products with the Soul, HeartRock, etc. They have two product lines that are not equivalent.
Click to expand...
unfortunatelly never heard a glockenklang in person. But every recording i heard just sound so incredible! I really love the Glockenklang Bass Art head clasic. The other you mention: Soul/sky etc. They sound good, but the classic seems to hit the sweet spot. There must be a reason why Jazz venues&studios have this head in their backline. I like how it's transparent, but not to the point where it would become "sterile".(If that makes sense)

The cabs you write about, are those a 15" and a 10" ?
bass art classic box
Products - GLOCKENKLANG
^These are described as flat reponse.
What about the 12" space art?

Probably best for me to look at 2nd hand for this amp. Head+cab is about €3333, which is simply to much for me to drop on gear. I have seen glockenklang popup regulairy on the 2nd hand website in my country.


Bassmec said:
The info you have given is incomplete what bass do you use and does it have an onboard pre amp IE active?.
If so how much hiss comes from that.
Passive basses will not produce hiss.
Most recording mic amps have a high impedance instrument Jack and exceed the signal to noise ratio of most high end bass amps, if you really want a flat frequency response you could save money and choose one like this without built in EQ.
Millennia HV-35P
The powere'd speaker you will then require could then be anything from a high quality active studio monitor to a high quality pa monitor.
You did say you wanted high quality low noise?. JBL have a very very good one for bass monitoring.
JBL PRX735 15" Three Way Active PA Speaker at Gear4music.com
Click to expand...
That's a good suggestion!

Bassmec said:
....
Unfortunately genuine high quality low noise loud to soft comes at a premium.:)X
Click to expand...
That's what i was affraid of
 
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#15
Hallic said:
The cabs you write about, are those a 15" and a 10" ?
bass art classic box
Products - GLOCKENKLANG
^These are described as flat reponse.
What about the 12" space art?
Click to expand...
The Bass Art Classic cabinet is a 15" driver plus a 2" soft dome tweeter.
The Acoustic Art cabinet is a 10" driver plus a 2" soft dome tweeter.

I have not heard the 12" Space Art. I asked Helge about the 2X12" Double Art and he indicated that the Double Art is not as neutral as the Bass Art; it has more warmth, more deep end and it's attack is like a 10" cab. I would imagine that the Space Art is similar but lower SPL due to one driver. The Art series cabinets all use the 2" soft dome tweeter, which is very pleasing to the ear. You might really like the Space Art - give it a try if you can.

There is a thread dedicated to the Glockenklang Art Cabinets, which might be of interest to you.
Glockenklang Art Cabinets

If you have access to a used BAC head, that would be terrific. They are very rare in the US. They are extremely well made, so I wouldn't be worried about buying used if you can find one in good condition.

Jim
 
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