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Ashdown Superfly Bass Amplifier Head (2x250 Watts)

Ashdown Engineering's extraordinary new Superfly combines a sophisticated programmable bass preamplifier and a powerful 2 x 250 Watts RMS power section in a compact bass amp head that weighs in at just 10 lbs. A product of the innovative Ashdown Labs development programme, the Superfly is gifted with a powerful, authoritative sound with a strong, controlled bottom end and clear, precise highs, all courtesy of an advanced digital power amp section. Learn More...

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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
Nice soft case/shoulder strap for great portability. Comes with rack ears to mount if desired. Well worth money spent

Quality:
Noise problem that you hear about was not an issue. The amp will run warm. I take very good care of my equipment so I do not see this as being a problem

Value:
Cant beat the price

Desirability:
Amp controls, proramming of EQ (parametric and graphic) and did I mention you can also edit the compression values all via downloadable software

Sound:
Great Bass Sound, easy to dial in. This amp is actually warmer than my big rig. Im using this with SWR Goliath Jr 2-10 4 ohm. Nice combination. This is my easy portable setup. The soundman loved the DI signal being sent

Ease of Use:
Easy

Support:
I emailed tech support, got quick response!

Overall:
Meets my needs for sound/portability

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Overall:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10

Feature:
Yeah it's O.K. gig back and all. The Manual is really vague, there is no instructions for the editing software, and although fairly logical to use there are questions on a couple things that I can not find any information on.

Quality:
I would be concerned on the road. It is built well but my concern would be the electronics. There are some strange electical noises, so that is a little hard to trust.

Value:
For the price not bad. It would be a back up for me.

Desirability:
Yeah, sexy

Sound:
It takes a while to dial in a tone, but you can get a decent tone. Too noisy for studio.

Ease of Use:
The response from pushing the buttons and waiting for a reaction are slow at best. The editing software is useless since you dont deal in real time. Getting a tone of any kind is the weakest thing about this unit. On a live gig it's a problem.

Support:
Have not dealt with support.

Overall:
I'm already looking. Getting tones is a bit of work, especially live. It makes sense, but I think it came up a little short in regards to live useage. I'm sure if someone spent the time to set up tones it would be more use, but on a gig when you have to make adjustments for the room and stlye etc... A bit of work, and time consuming. The odd thing is to get the 500 watts you need an 8 ohm cab plugged in each speakon. It would be nice to just use a 4 ohm cab instead of lugging around another cab. Small and portable is the point here is it not?

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10

Feature:
Seems very well constructed. Very lightweight. The added computer access programs are also handy. You can get way more tones than needed

Quality:
Had this one to shut down too. It is very sensitive to input voltage. I have even used voltage conditioners. The tones I am getting are extremely good. Pure Ashdown

Value:
Bought mine on clearance. Stupid low price. Thought about another one.

Desirability:
Pretty cool. But no massive size. When the superlight cabs come out I will use only the superfly and the neo cabs.

Sound:
Pretty easy to use once you find the inputs are digital controls. Excellent compressor, high quality tone. I got it for a back up and began using it all the tme. The lightweight cabs at 4 ohms would be handy too. The only reason I chose a 9 is the operation of both amps at 4 ohms. I have 8 ohm cabs and cant get full power.

Ease of Use:
Once you figure this thing out, how it works, the inputs, eq, compressor are all digital, it becomes a dream to use. At first I had some funky nasty (not good) sounds. Then all at once it clicked on how it operated. Ashdown makes asumptions on their gear that you have had experience.

Support:
When it shut down the Ashdown folks e mailed me very quickly and told me what to do. I had bad power. Was using plug strips.

Overall:
This is good to go for now I am very rough on equip and havent trashed this one yet. This thing is very high quality all around. I simply did not expect it. They were on clearance everywhere. When you start to use it...the controls are quite difficult to understand. Once it hits you, Very simple

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Overall:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
Very interesting feature set. Need to use 4 ohm cabinets - a pair if possible - to get top volume levels.

Quality:
Very nicely made. Some owners report hum or high-pitched whine. Hum is within acceptable levels. I do hear a whine occasionally but it goes away.

Value:
It's worth the money if you get a good unit. A steal at $279.

Sound:
Strong sound, near boutique quality, maybe a little thicker.

Ease of Use:
Simple to use.

Overall:
Very ambitious amp. Hope the matching cabs come in soon. Higher power units due too.

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Overall:
* * * . . . . . . . 3 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Quality:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Ease of Use:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10

Feature:
Nice gig bag included

Quality:
Brand new out of the box...played it for about an hour...smelled that electrical smell...it went dead. next day it worked again...for an hour and went dead again.

Sound:
Decent sounds...several good factory presets.

Ease of Use:
Very easy to use...either factory presets, or storing your own sounds.

Support:
Ashdown was very responsive to my amp problems.

Overall:
I'd pay 200 to 250 for this thing if it was reliable.

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