When it comes to Bass amplifiers, more power is always better. There’s nothing worse than a bass amp that delivers flimsy tone lacking punch and impact because it is exactly the low end in a performance that creates a sense of weight and authority that makes people move to the rhythm. Bass amps have evolved somewhat over the years and now we have many different designs, some stemming from the past where valves were king, some relying on microchips to keep their power management efficient, and some taking a hybrid approach using new and old technology together. For this reason bass amplifiers have become as tonally varied and interesting as their guitar counterparts and selecting one relies heavily on the taste of the player.
One company that has been producing amplifiers for well over twenty five years to meet the needs of bass players is Hartke. Founded in 1985 by Larry Hartke and Ron Lorman, Harkte was made famous by their development of an aluminium cone speaker that was to typify the Hartke look and sound. The result was a speaker capable of brighter tones with a more pronounced midrange and because of this new technology it was quickly adopted by the likes of Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Darryl Jones, Jack Bruce, Will Lee and Garry Tallent.
Now, in 2011, Hartke boasts a long history and a huge product range incorporating old technology with the new, still manufactured solely for bass players. They offer amplifiers and cabinets of all sizes and flavours for every type of player and in the case of high powered bass amplifiers, they are no exceptions. If it’s power you need, look no further than the Hartke Kilo 1000 watt bass amplifier. More boom? You got it.
Construction
The Kilo is a monster of a thing. It’s heavy. It’s rugged. It will break your foot if you drop it on it. It takes up three rack spaces and you’re going to need a pretty serious rack to keep it at bay. It has two oversized, ultra sturdy handles on the front panel, which is about a centimetre thick and made of solid die cast metal. To say this amplifier is well made is an understatement and I’m pretty sure that if you drop it from a two storey window it will survive. Just don’t kill anybody, okay?
Features
The Hartke Kilo is 1000 watts. Yes, that’s right, 1000 watts of bone crushing bass power. It offers 1000 watts in mono bridged mode at 4 ohms and, surprisingly, can be used in stereo with 500 watts per side all the way down to 2 ohms, a rare feature with bass amps. The amplifier is a hybrid design coupling the solid state power section with a valve preamp, comprising three 12AX7 preamp valves. The front panel has a recessed section for all inputs, buttons, knobs and the graphic EQ and is neatly laid out and very user friendly. On the far left hand side of the front panel, two ¼” jacks are provided – one for input and one for connecting your tuner.
Selecting input sensitivities for active or passive basses is done by the push of a green-backlit button labelled “Active”. Depressing it sets the amp to accept active basses. A valve overdrive channel is provided and this can be toggled by depressing the green-backlit “O.D.” Button.
Next is the compression control and the desired amount is dialled in from the off position at “0” to total smash at “10”. Above the compression knob is a button labelled “Mute” and this is pretty self explanatory. Other usual suspect buttons relating to tone like “Deep” and “Brite” are also provided and these, too, are self explanatory, along with the three-band EQ, comprising “Low”, “Mid” and “High” rotary knobs. One tone shaping knob that isn’t so straight forward is the “Shape” control. To toggle the shape circuit on and off a green-backlit button labelled “Shape” is provided and this is linked to a rotary knob below it. The shape circuit “applies a pre-set equalization curve with a slight lift in the low frequencies, a cut in the mids, or a slight lift in the highs, depending on its setting”. Next, we see buttons labelled “EFX” and “GEQ”. These buttons toggle the effects loop, located at the rear of the amplifier and the 15-band graphic.
The Hartke Kilo is a mother of a bass amp that is immensely full featured and offers huge tonal possibility.
EQ, situated at the far left of the panel. Both can be enabled or disabled by connecting a two-button footswitch to the rear panel jack labelled “EQ+EFX”.
Likewise, a further two-button footswitch can be attached to the jack labelled “MUTE+OVERDRIVE” to toggle those features on and off. Footswitches are not supplied with the amplifier and have to be purchased separately.
Finally we come to the master section which controls master volume, L+R balance in stereo operation, and the level of the direct out, which is located at the rear of the amplifier in balanced XLR format. A handy feature is the ability to choose where in the signal chain you want the direct out signal to be fed from. A rotary selector included under the direct out level knob gives the option of sending signal after the input, compressor, EQ, or EFX circuits.
In Use
In testing the Kilo a cabinet was not supplied so I had to source one. Or two. I came upon two SWR Goliath 4×10’s and connected the amplifier in mono bridged mode, since I figure most bass players will utilize this configuration. Three basses were auditioned including a Music Man Stingray 5-String, a Fender P-Deluxe USA, and an Ibanez ATK.
The Kilo proved to be all it promised and I was surprised at the transparency of its sound. It definitely was loud and pushed a lot of air but what I really liked was how it really let the voice of each of the basses I auditioned come through, even at high levels. I chose each of the basses I did for that reason as they all have a distinctly different tonal quality to them.
The tone circuits were helpful to take me wherever I wanted to go but, as always, a straightforward approach with minimal processing is a good place to start and this is the path I took. On the five string I was really interested to hear how this amp handled the low B. It handled and then it handled some more. There were buckets and buckets of massive low end tone and after dialling in a little compression to keep certain notes from popping up, I had a full, powerful, even tone at all positions on the fret board.
Next I turned my attention to the tone circuits and found the three band EQ to be focused and effective. The shape control also added something interesting but, as always, the tone you’re after is always subjective to the material and it would need to be auditioned on a case-by-case basis. The same goes for the brite and deep settings.
However, it was still comforting to know that the options were there if so needed.
Conclusion
The Hartke Kilo is a mother of a bass amp that is immensely full featured and offers huge tonal possibility. There is no doubt in my mind that anybody interested in a quality, high powered amplifier will be most pleased with their purchase and will have it for a very long time because it is built to last. Go move some air!
Suggested Retail Price: R 13,995.00 incl. VAT
Supplier: Audiosure | Tel. No: 011-790.4600 | Website: http://www.audiosure.co.za/
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