Amp Review of CTM300 & CTM15
Mark Gooday (founder of Ashdown) and Marc (from Chicago Music Exchange) slap some bass and give one hell of an in-depth review on Ashdown's newest additions to their Valve amp series. Enjoy
SPECIFICATIONS
- Power Output - 300 Watts
- Power Handling - 750 Watts
- Power Requirement - 115-240 Volts
- Speaker Outputs - Speakon/Jack
- Frequency Response - 35Hz - 18Khz
- High Instrument Input - 450MV
- Low Instrument Input - 150MV
- DI Output - Valve Driven Transformer Derived
- Output Impedance - 2 Ohm Minimum
- EQ - Passive EQ Section. Bass, Middle and Treble plus shape push buttons
- Effects Send - Jack
- Effects Return - Jack
- Pre-Amp Tubes - 1 x ECC83, 1 x ECC832, 1 x ECC99, 2 x ECC82
- Output Tubes - 6 x KT88
- H x W x D (mm) - 266 x 590 x 336
- Weight (kg) - 28.2
Classic all-valve tone
With a classic five valve preamp configuration and a fully-loaded power section consisting of 6 x KT88 output tubes to provide the huge grunt, warmth and headroom bassists crave, this is a serious bass amplifier to be called into action when only the best will do.
Flexible tone shaping
From mellow '60s bass tone to growling '70s-style bass, straight through to thick and powerful modern tone, the CTM-300 covers a huge range of sonic ground. Hit the Mellow button to engage smooth, warm, clean tones â or punch it out to dial-in pure valve overdriven growl.
Standard tone controls give you a wide range of uber-musical sounds, while Deep, Mid Shift, and Bright switches let you fine-tune your tone to the situation. The EQ section is a passive tone circuit - meaning if all controls are at zero there will be no sound through the amp. All the controls are highly interactive, giving you the possibility to dial in exactly what tone you want. Donât be scared to dial the pots all the way to get the most from the controls.
Standard tone controls give you a wide range of uber-musical sounds, while Deep, Mid Shift, and Bright switches let you fine-tune your tone to the situation. The EQ section is a passive tone circuit - meaning if all controls are at zero there will be no sound through the amp. All the controls are highly interactive, giving you the possibility to dial in exactly what tone you want. Donât be scared to dial the pots all the way to get the most from the controls.
Tube life preserver
Saving costly and time consuming trips to the Tech and keeping your amp sounding better for longer, the CTM-300 features user adjustable bias for each individual power tube which can be set by engaging the bias mode of the dual function VU meter on the front panel. Each output tube is individually fused and user replaceable without removing the unit from its case (meter also indicates tube or fuse failure).
Tube-driven DI & Effects Loop
To get your tone direct to the desk in the studio or on stage, the CTM-300 features a tube-driven, transformer-derived DI output with an isolated ground to deliver maximum sonic purity and consistent output night after night.
Similarly, the front-mounted effects loop is also tube-driven for maximum tonal preservation.
Similarly, the front-mounted effects loop is also tube-driven for maximum tonal preservation.
CTM WARM UP PROCEDURE
1. Turn on the preheat only to warm up the tubes and allow the bias supply to stabilise (this will take about 2 minutes to heat the KT88 power tubes).
2. Turn on the main HT wait another minute for the tubes to continue warming.
The amp is now ready to play, it's a good idea to start at lower volumes for a short while and ramp up the volume gradually for the first 10 mins.
If pausing (half-time during a set etc) use the MUTE switch to silence the amplifier. This means that the CTM will not require additional time to warm up after playing.
The CTM, once on, should not be disturbed and be left running at full until the session is over.
2. Turn on the main HT wait another minute for the tubes to continue warming.
The amp is now ready to play, it's a good idea to start at lower volumes for a short while and ramp up the volume gradually for the first 10 mins.
If pausing (half-time during a set etc) use the MUTE switch to silence the amplifier. This means that the CTM will not require additional time to warm up after playing.
The CTM, once on, should not be disturbed and be left running at full until the session is over.
CTM POWER DOWN PROCEDURE
Power down is the reverse of the Warm Up Procedure.
1. Switch off the main HT, wait a couple of minutes.
2. Switch off the preheat.
It is a good idea to allow the amp to cool down before moving if time allows.
1. Switch off the main HT, wait a couple of minutes.
2. Switch off the preheat.
It is a good idea to allow the amp to cool down before moving if time allows.
Resources
CTM 300 User Manual