The Quilter Bass Block 800, as the manual states, has serious power in a small package, and that it does and more!

I took the Bass Block 800 on a couple of different gigs, not only could it be loud, and clean, the quality of tone didn’t change at lower volumes, making this an all-around, any size venue size head; maybe add a couple of more for the arenas, but I think that gets my point across.

Not only is it powerful, it is very light. The Bass Block 800 is a class D power amp sporting two inputs, one being for passive and the other being for active basses. It is great for road gigs, where you need to setup early, then go back to the hotel room, and do the show later that night. This head is so light and compact that you can just unplug it from the speakers, take it with you and jam in your hotel room with it using the headphone input (A little more on that later, especially when we get to the cabinet).

The controls are limited to four, and still giving you everything you need. There is the Gain control, which helps control the amount of drive. The Depth control and Contour controls were very interesting, at least to me. These both control the tone and color. As brief as I can be about this, these two controls took care of the tone. It’s nice to not have to fidget with a ton of tone controls, and on some amps I have seen controls like low bass, bass, low mids, high mids, treble, and the list can go on. These two controls combined made it quick and easy, without me doing much with the amp before the gig except making sure it works, to setup at the gig and dial in within a few seconds of the bass tone that I wanted.

The Master control will match the speaker rating, for instance, if you have a cab at 400 watts, there is a setting for that, as well as for 800 watts, and so on. I set the master to match the watts of the cabinet, and used the gain control for volume; it was simple enough and was ready to go quickly. For instance, if you have a 400W  8 ohm speaker, and the Master at 400W, the preamp limiting kicks in at about 200W, but the action is very dynamic, the feeling is still there, and will still get within 2-3dB of the speaker rating. The power markings on the Master apply at 4 ohms. Need to change basses? There is a mute button with an LED that lights up red when engaged. Need to rehearse quietly? There is also a headphone amp.

The back of the Quilter Bass Block 800 head has two 1/4” speaker connections and 1 speakon connection. There is also an XLR line input and line outputs. And no more of the drummer in the band tripping over the power cord and “accidentally” unplugging your amp as the Bass Block has a locking power cord.

The Quliter Bassliner 2x10C Bass Cabinet was sent along with the Quilter Bass Block 800 for the review.

These two combined make a great combo amp. The Bass Block 800 can attach to the back of the Quilter Baseline 2x10C Bass Cabinet. The feet of the Bass Block go into inserts on the back of the Bassliner cabinet and there is a brace that screws in place to lock the Bass Block firmly in place.

The Bass Block is easy to remove and put back in place. Ever get the gigs where the sound guy and band gets everything setup? Well, you can sneak the Bass Block out of the back of the cabinet, and that is when you can take it back with you to your hotel room and rehearse. No one will even be aware.

The Baseline 2x10C is constructed of ultra light, high-grade plywood and the speakers are Eminence Deltalite II 2510 Neodymium speakers with an Eminence BH25-8 horn. Theses cabinets are crisp and clear and one of the best sounding bass cabinets I have come across. Quilter also offers the Bassliner cabinets in different configurations, from a 2×10 sloped cabinet, which would be great paired with the Bsssliner 2x10C, and the same type cabinets but with a 1×12 Eminence speaker and horn.

The Bass Block 800 and the Bassliner 2x10C both come with covers and pockets for carrying cables, etc.

Be sure to check out not only the Quilter Bass Block 800 and the Quliter Bassliner 2x10C Bass Cabinet at MusiciansFriend.com, but all of the fine amps and cabinets from Quilter at a music retailer near you!

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