Mack Gem sound clips

[Robert]

http://www.mackamps.com/Portals/60335/images/gemside_cc.jpg

Mack amps have a new little amp in the works. Check out the fresh sound clips
http://www.mackamps.com/sound-clips-gem/
Sounds pretty awesome! :dude:
I will have one in August! :dude:

Features
- Single EL84, TRUE Class A
- 4 or 0.4 watts - ZERO tone change at low volume
- Rehearsal, small gig, studio, bedroom - big amp tone!
- Clean headroom (no kidding!), crunch, high-gain rock tones - versatile!
- Tiny - stow it in your carry-on bag

[Jimi75]

Unbelievable! You lucky guy. The soundclips are awesome. The first LP tone clip is a killer. I want one, too!!!!

[Robert]

Yeah, the saturated, sweet gain at talking volume (or whisper) has me drooling... :drool:

[Algonquin]

Cool looking little amp :AOK:

[bigG]

Great, Robert! Man, .04 watt! Now THAT should handle my apartment nicely! I might be talking to Don soon, after all, Roberto! :D

[piebaldpython]

Hey Robert........the GEM is just a head, right??? There's no speaker in that lil thing, right? I didn't see mention of one anyway. Damn, that is one sweet sounding lil amp though. Geez!!!

[amphead]

Hi everyone!

It's Don Mackrill here, the Mack in Mack Amps.

The Gem in the photo is indeed a head - no speaker in there!

A combo version of the Gem will be coming soon. It features a 14" W x 16" H x 8" D open-back cabinet with a 10" Eminence Patriot Ragin Cajun speaker. The sound clips were recorded using the same speaker in the new 1X20 OB open back speaker cab - it's the same size as the combo cab and it will be launched in the next few days.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

[bigG]

Hi everyone!

It's Don Mackrill here, the Mack in Mack Amps.

The Gem in the photo is indeed a head - no speaker in there!

A combo version of the Gem will be coming soon. It features a 14" W x 16" H x 8" D open-back cabinet with a 10" Eminence Patriot Ragin Cajun speaker. The sound clips were recorded using the same speaker in the new 1X20 OB open back speaker cab - it's the same size as the combo cab and it will be launched in the next few days.

Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Woah! Very cool! Robert and thefret.net have good friends in high places! Don must be one heck of a good guy, Robert...just like you told me he was!
:bravo:

[Robert]

Don IS a heck of a good guy... why else would I affiliate myself with Mack amps! :)

Don's customer service is incredible, and he really goes out of his way to make sure his customers are satisfied with their Mack products. I speak from first-hand experience, and I am not saying this because I am an endorsed Mack artist. I'm saying this because that is how I've been treated as a customer - with top notch service and professional, courteous attitude.

[amphead]

Small correction!

The new open back cab is a 1x10!

Previously, I indicated it was a 1x 20!

If anyone knows of a 20" guitar speaker I'm interested!!

Don

[Rocket]

If anyone knows of a 20" guitar speaker I'm interested!!
http://www.paulhenrysmith.com/wp-content/uploads/huge_speaker.jpghttp://www.definiware.com/~joel/albums/vegas/huge_speaker.sized.jpg

[amphead]

HAHAHAHA!

The Gem would look like a peanut beside that cab... but I'd love to hear what it would sound like!

We tested the Gem prototype extensively using a Marshall 4x12 loaded with V30s and it sounded awesome!! More drivers, more fun!

Thanks!
Don

[marnold]

Kind cool--looks like an old-school lunchbox! Unfortunately the latest version of the Linux flash player makes the clips sound stuttery and weird. I'll take it on faith that it is 1000 lbs of compressed awesome.

I was also glad to see that Don spelled "amph" properly in his username.

[Robert]

Marnold, I had that Flash audio file problem too. I went to the Adobe site and installed the latest Flash player and it solved the problem for me.

[tunghaichuan]

Cool amp, Don. I like it. :AOK:

I had an 80s Super Champ that used the 6C10, which is three 12AX7 triodes in one bottle. The use of the 6AC10 is particularly cool. I know some of the guys on the AX84.com site tried using the 6C10 but there was too much gain available and their amps squeeled. The lower gain 6AC10 seems like a much better option. :master:

tung

[marnold]

Marnold, I had that Flash audio file problem too. I went to the Adobe site and installed the latest Flash player and it solved the problem for me.
I've already got the latest Linux version. I'm hoping they've got a newer one coming out because I've had other performance-related issues with this one.

[piebaldpython]

Hey Amphead........will your GEM be able to go into ANY Ohm speaker or just certain ones?

[bigG]

Hey Amphead........will your GEM be able to go into ANY Ohm speaker or just certain ones?

If you dig a little deeper into Robert's Mack link, the specs say it will handle 4, 8 or 16 ohms w/o damage to speaker(s) or amp...

[piebaldpython]

Thanks..........How the heck did I miss that?? :D

[amphead]

If you dig a little deeper into Robert's Mack link, the specs say it will handle 4, 8 or 16 ohms w/o damage to speaker(s) or amp...

Although all Mack amps are nominally rated for 8 ohm speaker cabs, 4 or 16 ohm cabs can be used without damage.

There has been a lot written about mismatching amp output and speaker cab impedances. Much of it warns about damage to the amp if a mismatch occurs.

Theoretically, damage can result due to an over-voltage or over-current situation depending on if the speaker cab impedance is higher or lower than the amp's output imedance.

However, running the numbers reveals that low-power amps - say, below 100 watts - should not experience any problems with output impedance mis-matches, assuming that the output transformer is of reasonable quality. The voltage or current change resulting from halving or doubling the speaker impedance vs. the output impedance simply does not push the tubes or output transformer into the danger zone.

Leaving theory behind, we have tested our standard amps in the worst conditions - a dead short across the amp's speaker output and an 'open circuit' meaning we ran the amp with no speaker plugged in.

The measured voltage and current data shows that the amps could run indefinitely without damaging the tubes or transformers.

Therefore, plugging in a 4 or 16 ohm cabs will never result in damage to the amp. The power output of the amp changes a bit and you can actually hear a change in tone, but there will be ZERO damage done to a Mack amp.

The Gem, being a VERY low power amp, is equally impervious to impedance mis-matches.

So, I can confirm that Mack amps do not have any problem at all with plugging in different speaker cabinets. Experiment to your heart's content!

Note that since I have only conducted the above testing on our own amps, I can technically only vouch for them. However, as I mentioned earlier, calculations show that other lower-powered amps with good iron should perform similarly.

Hope that wasn't too long winded and I hope that helps clarify our position on impedance matching!

[bigG]

Thanks, Don! Not being very tech-minded, that was a great explanation. Much appreciated! :beer: