Daddyg3042

But....I love cold, dead, raw fish.

No, not the same cover. Here's the Tuki's site: Tuki Little hard to see, but really nicely padded covers with tough nylon outer material. I have no interest in Tuki, really..I merely shop there. I have one for my EV SXA360 that provides a lot of protection, and has held up great for 3+ years now. I think they may be able to do an outer pocket as well. They're good communicators too, which is nice when doing online transactions.

@Daddyg3042: What made you change your mind? Remember your posting from Feb 4? I may quote you: "but if you need loud...that's altogether possible. I'm a pretty happy camper. I can't wait to pair these up when the band gets together again. Volume...you want more volume!! I'll show you!" Haven't changed my mind at all, just a matter of lugging one vs. two amps. When I need the big guns, I'm good with my two amps. When it's somewhere in the middle, that's where it gets tricky. I usually grab the SS & hope for the best. If it gets real loud...that's when I get distortion, and should have brought the 2nd amp. So all I'm saying is, we shouldn't discourage people from discussing the issues they're having, with the SS or any other product for that matter, because not all have experienced that same problem. Most times in those discussions, problems are solved, and everyone goes out for a beer(right?)

While you may find it "tiring to read", realize that some of us have not had a stellar experience when playing in loud situations, even after setting gain structure correctly. SS doesn't go "as loud as you want"; Aspen himself gave max volume info here, and when you exceed that...it distorts. When you're in a situation where the SS's volume doesn't keep up, it just isn't loud enough, period. Doesn't mean it's a bad amp, just that it has its limitations. Knowing that before you buy is better then knowing it afterwards. I thought this forum was a place to get as much info as possible on potential gear, so one could make an informed decision. Is this now a fan boy only thread?

FWIW...I just received my Tuki cover for the SSV3. There was a little bit of a mix up initially, where they sent me a vinyl cover vs. the padded Tuki. We got it sorted out. They now have "Center Point Stereo Spacestation V3" in their templates. It fits well, price is reasonable, and Tuki makes a great cover.

Thanks for the respect Hammonddave . Yea, I found out it's not realistic, and doesn't stand up without distorting, as per the reason I wrote what I did. Have an important gig tonight playing with another 5 piece group I mention above, and it WILL be full out rock. I'm not bringing the SS. Regardless of how nice it sounds; if you can't be heard, it's a moot point.

So...just for grins, I hooked up the CD player to the mixer, then into both the SS and my old stand-by Peavey KB/A 100. Ran the main outs into the SS and Aux out to the Peavey. The Peavey has EQ controls of low, mid low, mid high, and high, so I zeroed out everything but the low. Using the Aux out volume, I could bring as much low end in as I wanted. The Peavey was always pretty honky and brittle as a keyboard amp, but has mega low end with the 15" speaker...it can push some air. I also know that it's an amp used by bass player a fair amount. Using SPLnFFT (db & SPL iPad app, supposedly one of the more accurate ones)the CDs peak volume was 116db, with sustained at 98 db. The SS was at 12:00, and I could hear it very well/clearly, and with no distortion. How good was the bass response from the Peavey? A picture and a wood hanging fell off the wall during the process. The aux out on the mixer was only at about 40%; I think I could damage the foundation of the house turning it up higher. The Peavey was on 3. I don't think I should do that very often at home...neighbors and all. The Peavey isn't worth anything to sell at this point, and is in great shape. Re-purposing it as a sub saves some $$, and I think it does the job pretty well. The SS has feet tall enough to sit right on top of the Peavey too. If I can spot a deal on a crossover unit, I may go that route, but it doesn't seem critical at this point. I do want to say that after my last few posts, it may have appeared I was disgruntled, or at the least, less then happy with my purchase of the SS. Not the case; It's a great little amp, puts out huge sound for its size, and has a real fullness that's been discussed by all. It isn't a Marshall stack by any means, but if you need loud...that's altogether possible. I'm a pretty happy camper. I can't wait to pair these up when the band gets together again. Volume...you want more volume!! I'll show you!

I only checked the grill screws because others said they found loose screws. They turned easily and weren't snug. Most took another full turn or more to snug them. With the amount of vibration in an amp...screws loosen. Your thump test might uncover a rattle, but left as they were, I could see needing to replace screws because they backed out and got lost on the stage. I've turned a few screws myself, particle board, plywood, 2x4s, metal, whatever. Believe me, I've stripped enough screws in my half century plus to know better. There are two screws in the grill, that when I turned them to the R, there was no resistance, and continuing to turn, no resistence, they never gripped, never snugged. They weren't "stripped"...they were actually stripped. They did however snug up with the matchstick trick. None of the other screws exhibited this behavior. So while your experience didn't find any screws stripped, mine did, and I have no need or inclination to make this stuff up. All in all, the screw issue isn't one. I'm not thrilled about it, but it's fixed...done. I'm more concerned with the distortion. I completely understand that all speakers are rated, and if you drive them too hard, they'll break up. That's sort of audio 101. My reality is that I play in a rock band and compete with a drummer that hits hard, two guitarists brandishing Fender Twins, and a bass player that puts out a lot of low end. At this point I'm leaning towards the fact that the SS may not be enough on its own, at least in this rock context. I have other powered speakers/ amps, and may need to double up when I play with these guys, or...look towards a subwoofer, as is now being discussed. I also do a duo gig, and another 5 piece not playing full out rock. I think the SS should hold its own with those.

Didn't want to add yet another lengthy gig report, but wanted to add some brief comments on its first use with the gig & rehearsal over the weekend. -Overall it sounded good, but I got some distortion, particularly in my APs & EPs at higher volumes. There's some similarities between what I was hearing, and the files that Mitch Towne posted. I still have to go through my gain staging, cables, etc., to see if I can isolate it. While it seemed pretty distorted to me, no one in the band noticed it. Lead guitarist said he's never heard me as well. We were loud...like really loud, and the SS seemed to keep up on stage (it was sub-out to FOH), but it felt like I was pushing it pretty hard. It's got me a little concerned, especially with the other comments on distortion. After the posts here, I checked my front grill; all the screws were loose, and two of them are stripped. I should be able to snug those stripped ones up and take care of any vibration from the grill. It didn't seem like a rattling I heard, but who know. I'm cautiously optimistic at this point.

Just figured this one out...it's pretty embarrassing: Heard about a song from Joni Mitchell that I wasn't aware of, called Centerpiece. Big JM fan...so off to YouTube to check it out. Hey, I know that song well....but I always heard it as "centipede". Pretty lame, given I have The Hissing of Summer Lawns on vinyl AND 8 track (seriously...just nothing to play the tape on)

Another first impression, FWIW. Finally got it a few hours ago. It's been 16 weeks of waiting, reading reviews, and discerning best practices. It was almost anticlimactic...for like 2 seconds Not even out of the box I was impressed with the first class packaging. Small point, but it looked well protected. Set the level to not even halfway, and the width to noon. Connected the PC3 directly to it (no mixer) and turned it on. Some hum, but not bad. The PC3 is noisy, and I usually use a Behringer HD400 hum destroyer/isolater, so when I put that in line, it was reduced significantly. Also hooked it up to just the mixer, connected to the computer, while playing CD. By itself, with nothing connected, level turned all the way up, it's absolutely silent. Connected to the mixer, it hummed, to the PC3 it hummed, so it seems to be be somewhat sensitive. Pretty used to that, as per the reason for the HD400s. They work well to eliminate any hum, and are very transparent. Playing stereo patches of AP, EP and organ, it sounded good. Much fuller sound then I'm used to. While I can't say I could really hear a L & R channel kind of stereo, the sound certainly isn't the one dimensional sound I'm used to with my amp. I think it's loud, and surprisingly loud for such a small amp. I never had it much beyond 12:00 and didn't need to. Not sure why others are not getting volume from theirs. We all wear earplugs at rehearsal in the main band I'm in, cause we can be caustically loud. I feel pretty confident that this will keep up with no problem. I didn't set up my XK2/Vent, cause I have to do that tonight, but the KB3 sounds sounded pretty good. It seems that, like any amp, the hotter the signal you send to it, the greater the potential for distortion. There were a few moments where it seemed to break up at high volumes, like high enough for a club, but I didn't get any rattling or buzzing. I'm sure it'll take some fiddling with the signal chain to get it dialed in. Do I recall correctly that there isn't a clip light? Not even the "on" light in the back? Tonight and tomorrow are the real test. We're doing 10-close tonight with the electric band where we'll be in fairly close quarters on stage, in a medium sized club. Tomorrow with another 5 piece group for a show on 2/7 in a decent size rehearsal space. It'll be good to hear it in a few different environments. Now that I have it, I'm glad I have another piece of gear I'm waiting for, cause I really don't know how I'd cope having nothing to wait for after all this time ; )

I told myself not to mess with things before this gig...I've waited this long, I can wait another week...but NOOOOO...I couldn't help myself. Turns out not to be a huge task on my PC3. I programmed a variation on the Horowitz Grand, and used it on most of my Setups where AP is used. I also use Fagen Phaser in a lot of Setups, so at least I don't have to go through 20 piano/EP patches to make changes. It appears that panning/stereo occurs mostly in the Program Mode/Output page, where you assign Pan, Pan Mode, & Pan Table per layer. The Pan Mode of MIDI shifts sounds L and R of the Pan assignment, i.e. set pan to 0, and notes above and below middle C get shifted. Rather, I thought the thing to do is set Pan Mode to Auto, then set up a Pan Table to one of the factory piano presets tables, except none of the piano defaults is set up this way; they're all configured to +MIDI, no preset tables are defined, and the Pan settings differ by layer. Making things even more difficult, each layer is defined by keymaps, some of which are designated as R and some as L. Pretty daunting... At this point, neither the AP or EP sounds bad listening through stereo speakers, and there seems to be separation based on what octave/register I'm playing in. I'm wondering if I should just follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim. Maybe I wait for the SS and see what happens.

Had rehearsal last night for a gig this weekend. There's usually a beer or two afterwards, so, I rolled in after midnight. Cell phone went off at 8am and woke me up. First thought was...it's a wrong number. Second thought was, hey, maybe that's SW telling me the SS has shipped. Sure enough....it's on the way. Given Aspen's input on his tracking info, I sort of expected it. Question now is if I'll get it in time to take it to Sat. gig. Sounds like it'll be fine with the Vent, but not so sure about the PC3. Running mono patches for the most part, and way too many to try to convert them all quickly. Anyone using the SS with a PC3? What have you done to stereo-ize?

While I'm usually pretty optimistic, after 3 missed ship dates, I won't believe it till I see it. Just curious, has anyone gotten a call from SW updating them on a ship date, given this last one was missed?

Thanks for the update, Aspen. Hope to hear you chime in soon.

So Aspen....did the schedule above hold? Are they on the way to SW? Not to be a PITA, but, after a 3+ month wait...I'm way beyond anxious to finally get this. Thanks

It's about a day longer from Hong Kong, then from Shanghai. It also appears that the strike is no longer an issue: LA Times

It's an 18 day sail from Shanghai to Long Beach. Aspen said they hit the water on the 12/13...so I'm gonna guess they're in port. Called SW today to order my Behringer XR12, and the rep said the SS V.3s are expected on MLK day, the 19th. So a little over two weeks for customs and shipping to SW, then whatever time it takes to ship it all the way back to this coast, but...we're getting closer!! Now I've got to wait till March for the XR12. Oh, the horror. Almost as excited about that as I've been for the SS. Can't wait to put these two things together.

So, Aspen...has our ship arrived? Did they make it through the dock workers & customs? On the way to Indiana? Dammit..we need a tracking app

I think I'd definitely be overly sensitive (is that nice for pissed? ) if I was paying for something I hadn't received. I took the 24 mo terms and won't be charged till it ships.

So I just spoke with SW and found out firsthand that they're not shipping until end of Jan I asked about returned SS and they said it's damaged. Not sure if they were talking about Anotherscott's one. I also asked about case and they quoted me $39+8=$47 FWIW, I also inquired to SW, and they stated in an email, "I just found out that the original ETA of the week of Christmas had been pushed back to the 3rd / 4th week of January. That date may be wrong as it's just an estimate given to us by creator of this product. " So...they're relying on Aspen for their schedule, and probably padding it somewhat, as I'm sure they have many of us chomping at the bit. In sales, about the worse thing one can do is not deliver upon the expectations one sets, regardless of the circumstances why, even if extenuating. While I appreciate Aspen's explanation, I'm with you, 16251, not happy. What can I do? Not much, except either chill, or cancel my order. Since I have no $$ out of pocket till it ships, I'll just wait & hope for the best, although it does give me some pause when I consider the servicing of this product. With limited quantities and a sole proprietor at the helm...it could be a recipe for ongoing frustration. BTW...what case are they quoting at $47?

I asked SW about an ETA yesterday and heard the news. I ordered 10/27, so it's already been a long wait, and to top it off, this thread is like crack. I keep coming back and it's like pouring salt in a wound. Hearing how great it sounds in this setting and that, making the Vent sound huge, and what a subwoofer will do to the sound, etc. I just don't know how much longer I can take it

That's a really good idea. I still gig regularly with my XK2, and probably will till it dies. I have 3 channels in my current amp, so have never even considered using the XK2s ins. Moving to the SS, since I already have a small mixer, I just thought I'd use that. Rig is an XK2, PC3 and sometimes the Voyager. I'd love not to mess with the mixer when I'm just using the XK and PC3, but I can't get past a problem I see, and that is; if signal chain is PC3 to XK to Vent to SS, there's not a way for the PC3 to bypass the Vent, unless I'd use the bypass switch on the Vent, and that's not going to work for me. Is there another way to do this?

Same here. I'm the guy with the van, so I usually wind up hauling the PA, my gear, and much of the time, our guitarist and his gear too. One more piece at that price, especially for the amount of protection, makes sense for me. FWIW...I inquired into Tuki covers about one. Said nothing they have will fit, so it's a one off custom. They quoted me $69 plus $14.95 for shipping After seeing CPHollis' post, I called SW. He didn't give me a definitive date for shipping mine, just that they were starting to arrive. No doubt they're shipping according to order date. Ordered mine on 10/11.

That's a great idea, and much more protection then just a cover, for only $5 more.