Aguilar AG-700 Super Light 700 Watt Bass Head

I’ve been playing this amp for 2 months and 8 weekend gigs with a cover band, and it’s been working well for me. I had ordered a Tone Hammer 700 at the same time to compare the two, and after trying both, settled on the AG700 and returned the TH700. The AG700 just seemed to cut through in the live mix better, and is easier to find the clarity I sometimes need, and I wasn’t finding that with TH700. Also, didn’t care for the sound of the “drive” on the TH. I can dial in some dirt with the AG700 and it sounds more natural. The AG700 has been easy to use and reliable, and of course you almost forget it’s there when loading in gear. Plenty of power and headroom for any situation. I have not used the DI yet (we use a small PA but I don’t run my amp thru it, and we never get complaints on sound, even at large outdoor gigs), but I’m confident it works as expected. I pair it with a Darkglass DG212N cab and the two work well together. I don’t often use the “Bright” and “Deep” preset buttons but they do the job they’re supposed to do. The pad is nice to have, and though I don’t play active basses, I’ve used it with a G&L that has really hot passive pickups. Bottom line, it is a great amp for gigs. In all honesty, I still prefer the sound of a tube amp like my Ampeg SVT-CL I recently sold, but the Aguilar is hands down more practical for gigs and gets close enough that I can accept the difference in sound for the tradeoff of convenience and low maintenance. If I was successful enough to have a roadie deal with my amps, then I’d say sure, have the roadie load in/load out my 90 lb. tube amp (and carry a backup), but I have to do all the carrying, so a solid state D-class head it is… I gave it 4 stars (I’d give it 4.5 if that were an option). It really is a great amp, but still has that somewhat vanilla solid state/D-class sound that I doubt I’ll be in love with compared to the fullness of tubes, but it still sounds pretty close. Construction and quality control seem to be living up to the reputation that Aguilar has earned, so I expect to get many years of use from it. I didn’t even bother with Ampeg’s D-Class offerings, as there are plenty of reliability complaints out there since the company stopped making amps in the US, and I just can’t be taking the chance. I need an amp that is going to work when it is needed for a paid gig. Reliability was a key factor in trying the Ag700 as well as a friend’s recommendation who’s been using one for a couple years. The only other amp I was going to try was a comparable US-manufactured GK, but only if the AG700 didn’t work out. But after trying the AG700, I was happy and didn’t bother.

Good power. Nice, clean sound - but still has a nice amount of warmth to it. 2.7 ohm capability is nice. EQ is quite serviceable. I think it looks sharp. Bright/deep/mute are are welcome controls, but the tiny little buttons are too....tiny. The biggest issue is that the "whisper fan" is ridiculously loud. So if you intend to use it for home practice and/or studio use --- it's worth considering whether a very audible fan is going to bug you.

Good amp but the not good deep tones compared to amps with tubes.