| Reviewer | Steven Brence |
| Experience | 20 years |
| Review date | November 22 2001 |
| Manufacturer | Ashdown |
| Model | ABM1000 |
| Price | $999 (sale) |
| Item owned for | 6 months to 1 year |
| Dimensions | 2 rack spaces, 18" deep |
| Weight | ~40 lbs. |
| Power | 500/ch stereo at 4ohms, both channels driven |
| Other | bridgeable at 800 watts, 8 ohms only |
In terms of sound and power, this poweramp is incredible. It drives my acme cabs (notable for being power-hungry) easily. The low tones it produces through them, especially the low-B string on my EUB, are unbelievable, remaining tight and focused, but also warm and huge. The mids and highs are clear and smooth. It has a very quick response and is very quiet, do to having several variable speed fans that are controlled automatically according to the temperature.
It has one 1/4" input and one balanced (XLR) input for each channel. It also has one 1/4" and one Speakon output for each channel and one 1/4" bridged output.
The poweramp is very cool looking, with a silver face, rounded chrome handles, an old-fashioned needle output guage for each channel and pop-out level controls. The on/off buttons for each channel are large metal buttons, fashioned after a retro car starter button. All in all, it has a sort of retro-avantguard look about it, like equipment in an old sci-fi movie.
The build is very sturdy with rack-ears on front and back. It is, however, quite heavy and, although it is only two rack spaces high, it is very deep.
To sum up: If you need lots of good clean power, have a strong back and an eye for style, this poweramp would be a great choice.
| Construction | 98% |
|
| (Very solid, but very heavy.) | ||
| Clarity | 100% |
|
| (The sound can't be beat.) | ||
| Volume | 100% |
|
| (Power to spare, listed at 500 w/ch (4 ohms) but word is that this is very con | ||
| servative.) | ||
| Customer Service | 75% |
|
| (Very thin documentation, but they did answer my emailed questions.) | ||
| Value | 90% |
|
| (Not cheap, but well worth it for its power and sound.) | ||
| Overall | 98% |
|
| (I am very, very happy with it, although it requires some effort to move it ar | ||
| ound.) | ||