Positive Grid have announced a powered cab. Could be fun to play with. Wonder if it could take the place of monitors
Well essentially it is a monitor. Smart move from Spark!
This looks more like a PA since it has multiple inputs. I wonder how much it will cost and if it will compete against Fender new FRFR speaker.
Cool, I could clear up some space in my study.
Looks like it’s regular price is $299, this was on the signup page:
“Be the first to know when pre-orders go live. Coming soon for a limited-time price of just $269 ($299 regular).”
Probably make it about $450 in Australia which would be about the same as a pair of KRK Classic 5.
That’s not expensive!
Desktop and floor monitors do have different goals tho. I would say desktop monitors are a must if you are really into mixing and music production.
Oh! Very tempting. I have all 3 now so may be, lol.
Thanks Paul, I currently only have headphones and a few amps. I have only done basic recording so far, but would like to do a bit more.
I’d also like to have something for practicing with amp sims.
That is how I roll too! I actually use my “old” Roland keyboard speakers for this. Works great haha
Since I already have the spark mini, I wonder how it sounds once paired. An interesting combo. Could be fun.
What a great idea! Clever.
I’m thinking louder?
Yeah this is a smart move from them.
That would be a complete disaster if they miss that part
“What, you want the cab to be loud ? Sorry, we didn’t get that memo so the volume knob can only go down …”
Guitarworld has a review: First look: Positive Grid Spark CAB review | Guitar World
They say it is very loud. Their con ist that it is a little bass heavy. But maybe a plus for us bass players?
Anyway, I will find out in January, if I am lucky late December. I ordered one, and will pair it with my Boss GT-1000CORE.
It’s not even a con since you can EQ bass. Nice addition!
So, I received the Cab on Tuesday, much earlier than anticipated. So that was a nice suprise.
The first thing I noticed though: This thing has a very loud hiss to it, as soon as I turn it on. It doesn’t matter how I turn the volume, always the same hiss.
Then playing through it, yes, it can be very loud, and the sound is fine. Maybe a bit bass heavy, but as @Paul mentioned, nothing that could be fixed by a little EQ.
This seems to be a thing for everyone who got the Cab: rather loud static noise.
What is Positive Grid saying about this: That is by design, every Class D amplifier has some amount of static. But I am pretty sure: Not that much!
What annoys me is: No one of the early reviewers has mentioned this. So either they didn’t have it on their preview cabs, or they didn’t care about it, or it is really a thing among musicians that these things hiss like crazy and they totally forgot about this might be an issue for some.
If anyone would have mentioned this, “be aware, it has the typical Class D hiss to it, and this Cab might not be for you” I would have known that it is not suitable for my use case. Using it in my practice space mostly with lower volume.
I guess if you want to gig with it and use it only as a monitor on stage, this might not be an issue at all.
I guess I will send it back and get a refund.
Thanks for the review! Too bad about the hiss…
Loud static noise could also be a ground issue. Did you try different sockets in your house? All my pedals, amps and guitars have static noise if I don’t use a proper ground connection/adapter. It was really bad
Ummm….no.
My Berg Class D amp is silent, albeit a lot more expensive.
You get what you pay for ain’t a saying for nothing. Most of these smaller/low power/low cost units have some hiss, but you can’t blame a class D amp specifically for it.
Hiss or miss?
I’m quite confident that proper power conditioning/grounding is the culprit in most cases. This bloke has these issues too.
Also more gain equals more noise. @Mike_NL just mentioned that in an other thread.
My Rumble 800 combo is class D and silent. i.e no hiss.
The only noise is from the the internal fan. But if you can hear that, you’re playing too quietly
I also sold all my tube / valve amps because my house has a lot of EMF noise. Solid state fixed all those problems.
Sorry to hear about the noise it looked like a great idea.
I did, two different ones in two different rooms. But might try another one, just for the lulz, although I am not very optimistic. Or rather, I am pretty optimistic about the electrics in my house. Every socket is grounded as it should be. Even phase and neutral are where they should be, not like in many houses where both are switched around whenever the person installing the sockets felt like it.
And I also tried plugging it in the other way around (this can make a difference on some audiophile equipment)
Like my house where I only have ground in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry/heater room
Too bad about the cab, sounds like you got a miss.