Harley Benton Block-800B Reviews

Harley Benton wonder

I was looking for a light yet powerfull amplifier head to drive both my 300Watt bass cabinets and after some digging I´ve found this great peace of hardware. Light and compact but as all the desirable features the you need for all sorts of gigs. On the front you can find a verry handy tunner out were I plug my batterry charged tuner. It has as also a mute swich, a high/low swich for both passive or active bass guitars and a built in compressor. The tree band EQ isn´t formidable but it does it´s thing and for that I relly on my sansamp. On my particular case I was also looking for 2 speaker conectors because it gives me freadom to use both or just one of my cabinets depending on the venue. This thing is loud and I never tried it past noon on the master knob. The only thing I miss is the lack of numbering on the potenciometers, but then again, for this price I can´t complain much. So far I´m happy with this product and recomend it. Cheers

The push buttons let this down

Really fantastic so far except for one thing - the push buttons are awful. Difficult to tell if they're engaged and very weak. I will probably get my technical friend to replace them with toggle switches if possible.

¡Awesome!

Fast shipping, excellent customer service and of course, great product. Very happy with my purchase.

Very low power

I purchased the block 800B as a backup unit because of reviews and ICE power section, I’m very disappointed it only has 300 watts of output power at a 4 ohm load, I compared it to my Aguilar Tone Hammer 350 and I had to turn the gain and volume to max and it still isn’t as loud, very disappointing.

And to return the item you must first take it to your local customs office have it checked, cleared and stamped, which is over an hours drive for me, then you can mail it back.

I think this particular amp mistakenly has the 300 watt power section installed. And I’m not sure they’re still using the ICE power section for the Block 800B at least they’re not saying that on their description like they do for their 300 watt version.

Great budget amp

Lightweight, very loud and useful features. Suffers slightly from a high noise floor and flimsy knobs which are easily replaceable.

great head

well made great power dependable

Harley Benton! I'm a fan!

This little thing is awesome! It has replaced my back-breaking bass rack and I couldn't be happier! I pair this with my Harley Benton MB-4 Deluxe bass and my Harley Benton California TrueTone pedal for a nice Darkglass tone.

My settings are listed in "O'clock".

Block-800 MK II:

Bass: 3 (O'clock)

Low Mid: 8

High Mid: 10

Treble: 9

Input: 2

Comp: 12-2 (on)

Masters: 8

California TrueTone:

Low: 2

Mid: 10-11

Treble: 11

Level: all of it.

Voice: 7

Drive: 2-3

Lots of amp for little money

As a manufacturer of boutique bass cabinets, and Pro Audio gear, I am very impressed with the sound of this amp, and sound is the bottom line.

The EQ section is accurate, and very easy to use. The compressor adds some growl to the tone. Be careful with this, if you run it too hot, it will start to clip, so turn down the input and this will solve the problem.

I tested this amp with a Music Man sting ray 5, Sire v7, Ric 4003/5 and an Ibanez AFR thru a DrBass DRB 210 and 1243 cabinets, both 4 ohms, with the amp set flat, only adjusting the input, and compressor. It handled the 5's with ease, and gave a very impressive tone with the AFR using the piezo's on the bass. When I backed off the piezo's and let it have it with the Bartolini candy bar p/u, which is very hot, I got a great growl comparable to the drive section on the Darkglass. I then plugged in the Ric with the 210 cab, and a Boss ME50B, added some overdrive and chorus and slammed it with a pick and ripped off a couple of "Roundabout" riffs, and it just smiled and took everything I gave it.

So I decided to take it on a gig with the 1243, (1-12" Beyma and 4-3's) with my Sire V7, and it gave me a great slap tone, and finger funk.

All told, a very versatile, impressive amplifier at an amazing price.

Fantastic cheap little amp!

For the cost this amp cannot be faulted. Plenty of power and volume, more headroom than I think I would ever need. The sound of the amp alone is really quite neutral which I see as a good thing given the choice of pre-amps available now days.

As for the features, the EQ works nicely as you would expect. The compressor is a nice touch that was missing on the smaller Block model. The aux in/headphone out options are great for home practice and of course the DI out is always a useful addition for gig use.

All in all I'm very impressed with this amp, it suits my needs perfectly, seems solid enough and comes in at half the price of what the name brands put out similar products at. Highly recommended.

Great bass amp - loads of power

This is a great bass amp, especially for the money - I paid around £270 and I think the price is even lower now. I believe these amps use the same class D digital power amp as premium bass amps and it shows. Plenty of headroom and brilliant clear sound. Look no further if you want an excellent, powerful bass amp at a very reasonable price!

Not 800 RMS

Although this amplifier is not 800 watts RMS as one may think, it is 400 watt RMS amplifier. It's quiet and a great inexpensive flat response Bass amp, and to boot it has an onboard compressor.

Excellent bass amp

Was going to go for one of the brand 250-watt amps, then came across this, and I'm not disappointed. Four band eq works fine, wound up the compressor and slapped a bit, and that works just grand as well. D.I. out into my Focusrite is quiet and cranking 800-watts at 4-ohm it's everything I hoped for. I was very much in two minds about buying but I'm satisfied I've made the right choice.

800W in a convenient box

This head has the merit to bring a lot of power in a little and not expenive package. The preamp section is not exciting but does the job. I use the head mainly with an external preamp.

Pro:

- low price (a lot of value for the money)

- Fan not audible in home/studio usage

Cons:

- Low quality switches.

- Preamp section.