SPOILER ALERT! OK, here are the results! If you haven't watched the video, and made your choice between A or B, STOP READING NOW! As we have mentioned, the basses were played directly into each head, with no processing between them and the amp. The signal was taken directly from the XLR DI out of each amp, and sent direct into our camera. Amp A was the Aguilar, and Amp B was the Bergantino. Every attempt was made to make sure the signal output was balanced, but it does seem that Amp A may have a slightly hotter output than Amp B. Thanks for checking out our video!

how can you accurately compare when one amp is clearly recorded louder then the other? The louder amp will jump out and probably sound better because you can hear it better.

Sound-wise I prefer Amp A for the Active Bass, Amp B for the Passive. Amp A had more presence and heft with the Sadowsky. B had better string and frequency balance and with the Passive Lull. I am going to guess that A is the Aguilar, and B the Berg.

I liked the A with the active sadowsky a TON. B sounded better with the passive Mike lull but honestly that bass sounded poor out of both amps.

A with the active Sadowsky B with the passive Lull

Both are amazing 🤩 I’ll happily take either on

The Forte's DI out was much more flat than I would have expected. Good comparison either way.

I preferred the A head , Aguilar surprisingly.

I would say “A” is the Aguilar TH because of its very immediate response and big bottom. The “B” sounds a little tighter, or focused but lacking the TH low end fundamental. Both tremendous amps either way 👌

Definitely preferred B; it was pushing some 'invisible frequency' in the-low mids; good dynamic balance across strings, and balance between fundamental tone and harmonics. Both sounded great though; nice demo - recording and playing. Thanks :D

Thanks to everyone for participating! We'll give a little more time for a few more people to chime in, then we'll start responding to your comments.

While A was nice, for me B was more transparent with even tone more mids with a rounded bottom.

Thanks for doing the comparison. I wish more of these kind of comparisons were posted on you tube.... very useful. I'm really surprised that you couldn't get a dead silent clean matched signal out of the Bergantino. I own the amp. The DI is absolutely dead silent with no hiss.

definitely amp b for me, I like the way the amp offers more characteristics of the bass, either the active or passive

Amp A but was very suprised it was the Aggie. Have owned both the 500 and the350 and was never able to get that kind of glassy sound from them. On the other hand I never used the DI.I think the Sads pre have a lot of impact here

A was much better for active basses & B was better for the passive.

A for me. So glad I bought the Aguilar TH 500 years back. That said the Berg is superb also. Great shootout thankyou

I’m surprised. I thought they were a lot similar sounding than I’d have thought at first. Having owned the TH500 (but never using the DI), I always thought it was a bit “wooly”. But I wasn’t able to tell it from the Bergantino just by listening. Of course, it could just be Kenery’s playing that makes them both sound good 😉

I prefer amp A with the active bass and amp B with the passive.

I like Amp B for highs. Amp A had really good definition but both are great. Should have used a boutique wood bass to show the differences. Wood shows up sound more

I liked B in every case except the fingerstyle with the active J. Then again using only a DI signal IMO is not the best way to determine the overall best sound of a particular amp.

You should redo this shootout and make sure both amps are set to the same (or as close as possible) volumes. I owned the TH500 and loved it but I now have the Bergantino Forte with a Bergantino HD410 and this is my favorite rig I've ever owned by far.

With the Active bass I like Amp A, With the Passive I like Amp B

I am willing to bet that A outs itself on that fact that it has that mid spike characteristic of that range of amps. B though was more dynamic in the passive bass. I'll put my money on A to cut through the mix. I'll be surprised if I got flipped around on this one.

With the active Sadowsky amp A had more clarity, the one thing I noticed too was did the sadowsky have flat wound strings?. That may play a little part in the tone too. In Passive mode, amp B sounded warmer and had a richer, organic sound.. honestly, both amps would work for me all day.

Amp A for me on pretty much all counts

I don't know what was going on with the mix or recording, but Mike Lull basses sound WAYYYY better than this. RIP Mike, you were one of the greatest human beings I ever knew.

Surprised that they were that similar - both sounded very good. Great playing and groove as well. I could work to this demo and just let it play in the background.

sounds like steel strings on the sadowsky, and why do I hear white noise on amp B? Also, I wish they were played though the cab and Mic'd

Amp A had me at the "get go.."

The Aguilar sounded warmer, similar to a tube amp. To me, it's much preferred over the other amp. But then again, I'm old school.

A. No question.

Both heads sound great to me. It’s like comparing a Ferrari with a Lamborghini, both great cars but have different characteristics about them.

I would prefer amplifier B

On balance. Amp B because the passive guitar sounded better.

IMHO - I thought Amp A was far above Amp B. Just much more depth and color on that. No question. Hey Mark/Rick - if amp A is the Berg Forte am I a winner and I get one for free (lol)?

The A amp had a nice clear slap tone with the Sadowsky. B had the better finger tone with the Lull.

Compared to the amp A, the headroom of the amp B is just gorgeous !

Amp A sounds better by itself, more scooped in the mid range, but, for me Amp B has a tighter low/high mid range, you would cut through a band easier with Amp B. I'd buy both, use Amp A in a trio (bass, drum, guitar) I think it would blend better in that setting and Amp B for everything else (horns etc).

I love A 100% ill get 1 very soon thanks

My guess, A-The Berg, B-The Aggie. The Berg for active, the Aggie, passive. I would gig with either. Nice.

Aguilar-warm and syrupy. Bergantino-clean and sterile.

I liked Head A better. To me had more bottom end.

How about throwing in a few just straight quarter note pulse lines, or something Duck Dunn flavored maybe? Just groove a bit more repetitively, through in some reggae I hate these overplayed sorts of demos. No useful info contained there in for myself and many others who play a bit more laid back. I can’t tell which one I like because of the 5 string wankery

Not in every case, but in general B

Could we please get a demo that dedicates a part to just holding a note for 4 beats on different strings up the neck. I’m dying to hear what the amps sound like instead of a players style. How do these sound during a slow song, blues or just a simple shuffle? You know, how real bass playing at gigs are played. The initial split second attack tone is important, but what does it sound like after that?

I've owned the Aguilar and think I know which that one is. I think......

A for active, B for passive

Both sound good. I bet you can play music with either of them.

Argghh. Can you tell us how you recorded this? It seems that the gain staging between the two amps is off! In the 1st run Amp A was set at a louder volume than Amp B....maybe not for the volume/gain settings on the actual amp, but as we all know that don't mean a hill of beans when the DB output can have huge variances in actual output volume vs what the knobs say. Man brains not working today.... Trying to say that Amp B sounds like at post you had to boost the volume to mach Amp A or something like that, so Amp A might sound better because it was louder to the general pop. Just wondering if all was done properly in recording or where you guys just having some fun? Sorry but I'm a gearslut and do a lot of studio recording too, I don't know it all though but wanted to see if my guess was correct. Don't matter either way as there was nothing out there before! Thanks though guys, I really appreciate it. And I dug both amps, the 1st sounded more typical to what the major Class D's sound like today. The second had more detail, but had a lot of background hiss and the low end was lacking as well. But I couldn't tell if that was from recording technique or the amp itself, which is why I ask. Had a few so maybe I'm way off....hahahaha. I'm actually in the market for one of these as well for my small venue live rig(I've got 3 different rigs right now). It's down to the Darkglass, Aguilar, Mesa, and Bergantino Class D's. Want to get them all in a room together with my studio rig and go to town....:)

I suppose the hiss we hear with the active bass going through Bergantino can be dealt with somehow, if not - you shouldn't compare them at all... Either way - must say I prefer the Aguilar... And the Bergantino to my taste goes far better with the passive bass

A is definitely the Aguilar. The mids kind of sound like you are playing through a fluffy wool pillow. The Forte is definitely more clear, but is missing some of the warmth from upper mid mids. I liked the Forte more with the Lull, but the Aggie more with the Sadowsky.

Amp A sounds better, but it was also louder...

I like A

I preferred Amp A. I’ll be really surprised if it’s the TH500, because I’ve used that amp a number of times and have never really gotten along with it.

Amp A

Hey guys, thanks for clip. not sure if it was mentioned but, are the DI's set to pre or post on both heads?

A for Active...B for passive

Active I liked A-amp, but, passive I prefered B-amp. ...

So I missed which amp was A which was B?

A = TH500 and B = Berg. I preferred amp A.

The Forte D is capable of bone crushing distortion, does the Aguilar have that ability or is it more average in that regard? I would think that side of an amps character should be demonstrated rather than its ultra clear modern sound. Anyone can make a sterile sounding amp.

Amp A for me

WTF...Whats it sound lke just finger style..incredible

the bass amp reference ... DB751... everything else is just imitation and a lower cost/weight..

Please, what’s cab do you use for this démo ?

I prefer amp a

A - Forte, B- T-500

A

I prefer amp A across the board.

I think the Sadowsky active pick ups sounded much better.

I prefer the A

A for me

All the way A

Amp “A” sounded by far better. More punch. Amp “B” too bright for both basses.

Definitely liked A better. More present tone.

A. won it for me......Hands down my tone.

In my honest opinion amp A blew amp B clear out of the water

A more crisp and clean

Bro...Amp A is uh killa...what is that?!

Amp B has richer mids...

amp “A” vs amp “B” “A”guilar vs. “B”ergantino? before even listening my brain thinks it knows which is which, hahaha

The amps weren't level matched, and thus your shootout is fundamentally flawed.

A better way was to let the bassist play two bars of licks on amp A, then immediately switched to amp B and play the exact lick on amp B with the same muscle memory and dexterity. This video was not sufficiently accurate for me. Thanks for trying.

amp a

Holy shit, I have the two Aguilars and I'm selling the db751 to fund a Bamp

Not a fair test IMHO. :-(

Amp A

A

A

A

A