Ashdown MAG-C115-300 115 Combo

This amp has the basic features for tone and volume adjusting. I miss however compressing and maybe noise gate. Subbass feature sucks, sorry to say. Has no added value at all. This because it sounds to "unstable". I like the vu-meter, because it helps determining level of distortion when adjusting the effects and pre-amp.

In general, the combo does the job for me very well during live playing and rehearsel. I play in a 3 pc bluesrock band

I use a cort curbow fretless and an ibanez ATK500. Despite the fact that this combo has a 15" speaker, I was surprised how clear and punchy the amp sounds!
For live I do not have to cranck it up more then 50%, so that's okay. Power enough for medium sized clubs/bars.
People sometimes complain about the noisy coolingfan. Complete nonsense, you dont hear this fan when rehearsing or playing live.

I own the amp for 4 months now, gigged with it once, and that went well. No problems yet. Maybe I should answer this question after a year.

Never dealt with them. And I hope I never will.

I think I have a good buy with this amp. It's not too big, it fits in the trunk of a small car, and enough power though for rehearsels and live.
One negative point: its quite heavy. I put casters on it, for easier moving arround.
After all: I think this amp will be a friend for life.
If you are looking for an amp not to big, but with enough power and decent soundquality, get this ashdown.

Normally I wouldn't write a review but I do use Harmony Central before purchasing any equipment and I have read some negative reviews for the Ashdown Mag 300 and I couldn't believe it. I am not affiliated to Ashdown in any way but as a very happy customer I felt I had to defend this awesome piece of equipment.
There is only one feature I really have to comment on here and that's the Sub-harmonic generator on this amp. ALL bass amps should have this as standard. As the bass player in a 3 piece band there was a lot of space to fill during guitar solos and this just thickens the sound. Giving a note an octave below the one your playing ads depth to the sound and it can be "mixed in" according to taste. Sure the amp has all the EQ you would need to achieve any sound and a very handy input level display, it's not too heavy or bulky but the sub-harmonic generator is the thing you will be talking about to all your muso friends.

You can achieve any sound with the Mag 300 and again the Sub-harmonic generator will give you the added bottom end - particularly noticeable when playing higher scales - plenty of punch and no distortion. I have never had to crank it right up, even when playing a large venue where the in-house PA just wasn't up to handling bass.

Having gigged with this amp every weekend for the last 4 years I have had a couple of minor problems. the Exterior is solid and despite being heaved in and out of vans is still in perfect condition. The cooling fan stopped working but as I live 100 miles from the shop I bought it in I emailed ashdown direct explained that I was willing to carry out the repair myself. I got an email back within the hour and a new fan in the post the very next day - no charge and no questions. It turned out not to be the fan but a transistor, emailed Ashdown again and a new transistor was on my doorstep the next morning. Repair done - no problems

This was the most interesting section to read from the other reviews because I have had an un-believable level of after sales service. As explained in the section above, Ashdown replied to my emails almost instantly and the parts I needed delivered the next day. they never asked for proof of purchase or suggested I take it back to the shop I bought it from or enquired about my guarantee. Very friendly and hyper-efficent.

Without a doubt the best bit of kit I have ever owned. I have used Trace Elliots and Peaveys mainly previous to owning an Ashdown. a friend who owns a bass shop recommended them to me when they were the new kids on the block so I knew the next amp I got was going to be an Ashdown. I wasn't dissapointed and bore the backsides off anyone who will listen raving about what superb amps they are. Very reasonably priced too.

This bass amp is pretty good. It sounds really nice. Going across the frontal board; Input: which is the signal strength coming from you're bass. Deep: which increases the lower frequency output. Bright: This is in my opinion pointless with a 15" speaker, which I'm not fond of the speaker, no tweeter!!! It stinks without a tweeter. EQ: it is really versitile. You can get any sound out of it. SUB-Harmonic Genorator: This is just a really subtle octovator. And the The OUTPUT: which is the opposite of input. This increases the signals to the speakers. And my favorite Part is the VU Meter, this tells me whether I'm pushing my amp to hard for the speaker. One thing I should mention. When you play, try to keep the input knob on a lower setting than the output, because it can get muddy. What happens is the amp starts sending signals that are to much for the speaker, which makes the Vu go off the charts. So Try to do that.

It sounds good. I use this with a Fender Jazz Aerodyne Jazz Bass. This has p-bass and j-bass pickups in it. In my opinion. I don't like this amp for active basses. I play stuff like Phish. It takes it nice. It can play alot of different styles. If you have effects pedals use the loop, otherwise it can get noisy.

I can depend on it. It broke on my once, it was from what I can remember 2 transistors blew. It was becasue a power surge in my garage.

I have never dealt with them.

This bass amp is a nice deal. I play my aerodyne jazz through it with a DiGi Tech BP250, and a Electro Harmonix Russian Reissue Bassballs. It sounds good. I am investing in an Ashdown 410t cab, because it will sound better. If this was stolen or lost. I would probably just save my money for somthing with a little more power. I wish this amp had a compressor built into it. The only wierd thing is everything is british on this badboy, like the measurements are weird on the directions.

Love the preset Sub, Deep, and Bright switches--they create noticeable and great sounds. Although, the switches are cheap plastic--I prefer metal.

No a different note, I blew the speaker and when I took it out to replace it I saw that the speaker had a 200 watt rating... WHY would you have a 200 watt speaker in a 300 watt combo? You got me there!

Absolutely no buzz and that is a feat in it self. Plenty loud, plenty deep, and the treble is crisp.

(Owner for 2 months) This is the down fall to this combo. The head seems to be reliable, but I blew the 15" blueline speaker the 3rd week after purchasing the amp. I recommend keeping the volume below 8 if there were numbers on the knobs.

Absolutely horrid. I've sent 4 emails with no response.

Overall I don't regret buying this amp. I'm a little angry the speaker gave out so quickly though.

Ok, I think you know the features. They are some what spartan but very, very versatile. Don't let the lack of a graphic eq or mondo shape controls full you. ANY SOUND YOU WANT IS HERE. Basically instead of one shape control you have two on this amp. One for the mid to lower mids, one for the mid to upper mids. The controls are very responsive.

15" speaker, blah blah blah. You should know it by now.

This little amp totally rocks, it kicks ass, it hauls major booty, etc. etc.

I was blown away by this very compact little amp. The tone shaping capabilities are endless [not nearly as limited as it may appear].

I have had this thing fully cranked, it is loud as hell and does not distort. I have plugged it into an Avatar bass cab with 2 eminence delta LF 500 speakers and a horn. It almost knocked me off my feet. The output is huge, the tone is clean and very punchy.

Another aspect of this that was a pleasant surprise was the low frequency harmonic generator. I have had this feature on other amps but this is the first time I actually found it useful and pleasing to the ear. believe it or not, the speaker actually handles it at very high volumes.

The overall sound is very punchy and very percussive.

How would I know, I have only had it a couple of days?

Who Knows?

I have been playing for nearly 40 years. Much of this time I have been playing professionally. This is among the best amps I have ever owned, regardless of the size, which is a key feature in my mind. It is very portable, heavy as hell but really has the goods.

If this amp were stolen, someone is going to get a serious ass whuppin. Once that is done, I would definately buy another one.

This is a terrific value, I don't care who you are.

Bought new in 2006 for just over ??300, playing various types of music, rock based & in a Concert Band (Bass, guitar, drums brass & woodwind). Enough power for rehearsal & playing live (inside & outside) without an extension cab.
Good 5 band eq, but I used the deep or bright switch most of the time to change the sound. Sub Octave generator but never used it.
DI out also proved usefull in studio when we recorded once.
Good looking illuminated meter on the front - but useful for looks only to me.
Now been replaced by a Mark Bass head & cabs due to weight of the combo (not that heavy but was doing my back in taking up stairs to rehearsal room with the single handle on top), & as the Mark bass rig is just awsome.

Suited the rock style well, especially with the 15" speaker, good deep & full sound. Not as clear & defined as the Mark Bass rig which manages to be both deep & rich as well as clear & defined at the same time, the Ashdown is a little more woolly, but has an excellent sound, especially for the cost.
The eq seemed to work well, especially the preset deep switch, & handled the different room types & playing outside well. However the sub octave generator didn't give a sound which I felt was any use to me so never used it.

Never had a single problem with it, used regularly at volume once/twice a week for almost a year.

Never needed it

Started playing over 20 years ago, but stopped for a LONG time, started again in last couple of years.
Bought a Laney Hardcore Max when I started again but found it lacking when I started with the band, so changed for the Ashdown.
Well pleased with the Ashdown, but hurt my back over the summer & lugging almost 30kg up narrow stairs with one hand was making it worse. Had played through a Mark Bass in London & fancied one anyway so this was the excuse for a change, otherwise I would probably still be playing the Ashdown & would be very happy with it.
Overall an excellent rock amp for the money

I've owned a MAG-C115-300 for around 6 months. So far I'm reasonably impressed. There seems to be plenty scope and range for adjusting the sound through the 5 freq. para-equaliser, plus the additional deep, bright switches and sub-harmonics. I generally play stuff like Stranglers, Jam, Killers with abit of slap thrown in and seems to cope well with this. I haven't tried it out in a large venue so can't as yet coment on it's power but suspect it may need an extension cab to get the best out of it in large venues.

As I mentioned, the sound you can get out of it is quite variable, suiting most styles of bass work. I haven't had to have it full blast yet so can't say how it handles it. It sounds pretty clean as far as I've taken it. I tend to use a Boss overdrive half the time anyway and sounds great to me.

I've not had any problems so far, always worked fine.

Never had to use it.

I've been playing for 20 odd years with a break in the middle some time. I don't tend to be an expert but for the price the MAG C115 works great for me. I would be happy to replace it with the same thing should it be stolen. However if I had a lot more cash I might buy something else, probably another Ashdown, something like a C410T 500 EVO II.

I have played gigs with this amp for about a year now, mostly rock and metal but it has coped thus far. Power is no problem as i can quite easily drown out both guitars and i havent even got an extension cab yet!

I'm not sure about the 307 watts as to me it dont sound incredibly loud, I really like the D.I. which has proved vital as we upgraded our p.a. Not sure about the sub-harmonic thingy, useful for top end but dont really make a difference to the low.

I use 2 active basses and when the input is put up then the low notes seem to be loads louder than the high, but a compressor sorts that out pretty well. However the passive sounds real nice and allows for the input to be cranked up resulting in alot louder response. Dont get much distortion through the speaker, i'll have to wait and see what the cab does.

Overall the amp has a real nice tone and the EQ really helps shape the tone to loads of different styles.

As i say i've been gigging with this for a year now and not one fault, can easily supply to a crowd of 300 and compete with the rest of the band no probs.

No need to contact, (so far).

I use a couple effects through this and they sound fine, not much distortion but i dont require boat loads so its cool. I'd deffo consider re-purchase if it were stolen and i really like the D.I. as it saves buying a seperate one. I used to have a carlsbro bass beaver (possibly the worst name for an amp ever) which was cool for starting out. my bands website is www.intruderrock.com.

I really love this amp and cant wait to buy the extension and experiment further. I recommend this amp to anyone who requires a reliable, nice sounding bass amp on a budget, and its an ashdown so you know its good quality.

Owned this combo from new and has proved to be reliable over the last year or so. Used along with the MAG C115-300 deep cabinet (1 x 15") and a Hi-Z tweeter array. I have run this combination 'flat out' on many occasions with no problems whatsoever. The amp gets hot for sure but has never cut out or even blown itself to bits (yet), excellent. Maybe the internal fan helps a lot?

I'm sure I'm correct in saying this combo, on it's own, will only give around 150W into it's single 8ohm driver, producing 300W into 4ohms. or 307Watts according to Ashdown. I suspect the extra 7watts are hardly worth mentioning! The combo as a stand alone unit could possibly be a little dissapointing but taking into account price and power it actually offers extremely good value.

The internal electronics could be described as cheep! A nice big transformer but very small smoothing capacitors, all on a single PCB.
I suspect upgrading the power supply components (capacitors) could give an improved performance/sound from this amp (not done that yet).

Controls and features are good with the EQ giving a good range of adjustment. Shame DI isn't pre-EQ or switchable. Sub harmonic setting is weird.

Used along with the extra Mag 115 Deep Cab I find this rig really does give some volume and excellent bottom end.

I use the above combination for gigging in pubs and clubs and can really get the place shaking with more than enough power for most occasions.

Good EQ allows adjustment for taste and acoustic variations in almost any environment. I find the lower mid and mid range adjustments particularly good for removing that 'boxiness' that can creep in at some locations. After playing for a long time sometimes I feel the amp is 'running out of steam' but is probably caused by excessive volume and deafness at high levels.

A powerul and very good value unit used along with another cab but unsure as a stand alone unit for serious work.

I bought the above combination because it all fits in the boot of the car, no problem. And doesn't weigh a ton!

Hasn't blown up yet and I have tried (not really). Has done 1.5 hour sets flat out (into 4ohms) and got pretty hot. No problems whatsoever. Must have well designed electronics then? A fan (runs constantly) and a thermostatic cutout are incorporated. The thermal cut-out has never operated.. Perhaps it's broken lol? . .

Never needed to contact Ashdown but I have been told, by others, that their customer support is excellent. A friends Ashdown broke down and as they are pretty local he took it in, the amp was fixed next day, no charge. That's superb.

This offers very good value and robust (apparently) contruction. The carpet covering is very durable.

I suspect I would get more of their gear as it offers a good compromise between price and quality for someone on a budget like me without paying silly money just to get a 'special badge' on my equipment. Do BMW make amps lol?

Regardless of price i recon it's a great little combo.

This is a follow up to my previous review of the MAG300-C115 combo. The original was returned as faulty, and a replacement was soon shipped from the supplier.

The replacement amp sounded punchier, livelier and louder, making me think the original was a bit of a Friday afternoon amp.

It develeoped EXACTLY THE SAME FAULT as the original amp within 6 hours, a loud buzzing sound on turn-on. Absolutely unbelievable.

In email Ashdown claimed they'd sold "truckloads" of these amps with no problems - when I dug deeper, I spoke to a lot of MAG users who's experienced similar problems, and one former shop owner who stopped stocking Ashdown due to a 75% failure and return rate.

When the opportunit arose to questio Mr. Gooday (Ashdown head man) about their reliability, he skillfully sidestepped any questions... OK, in fact he ignored them claiming there was nothing wrong with the design of these amps. Sorry, what rubbish - for three amps, MAG250 and MAG300 to fail within 3 weeks with the SAME FAULT, they have serious problems.

I would never buy another Ashdown product again. The idea of the MAG's being British-made is a joke, they're substantially built in the far east (China?) along with the Electric Blue range, and finally assembled in the UK with what appears to be no quality control or feedback from customer problems at all. Absolutely appalling.

Have since moved to an EBS rig - PROPER bass amplification with no hassle at all.