MF10 from G66/Redsound vs Atomic CLR - UNBIASED REVIEW!

Just purchased the MF.10 Stereo Bundle Premium bundle today from LYON & HEALY -----$2,298.00.
  • MF.10 Active Speaker & Power cable
  • MF.10 Passive Speaker
  • 10’ Connecting Cable
  • Certificate of Authenticity
  • Warranty Registration
w/Free Shipping)
 
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Dave Merrill said:
MF10 is $1,299 there.
Ow.
Is that the price elsewhere in the US?
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I only got the bundle pricing from Emal at Lyon & Healy, which was the same as the bundles at TTD. So, while I can't say with certainty what their single unit pricing would be, I'd assume also the same or at least very similar.

Definitely not cheap.
 
From what I gather in the comments about the MF10 vs the CLR is that its more 'fun' to play through? It leans towards that favorable guitar cab sound or feel we all seem to chase when using FRFR. One of these days I'm sure my 10 yr old CLR's will crap out and will be looking for another FRFR solution. For those with the MF10's do you feel they could be used for general mixing purposes as well? are they too biased towards a guitar cab feel or will they translate flat as well ? I use my CLR's for everything. Edrums, Keys, DAW mixing, general purpose listening ....
 
Dave Merrill said:
MF10 is $1,299 there.
Ow.
Is that the price elsewhere in the US?
Click to expand...
yeah, so about 3 grand with taxes (in Illinois), I am on the lookout for a tax free shop that can get them. I also could contact them directly, Redsound have great customer support and answered my questions, notified me when a model I was interested in became available, but I had already obtained the Friedman ASM12's . The person who notified me and I responded that I had already gone with the Friedmans and he basically said nothing can beat the sound of these, so let me know. Lol, I thought that was cool. Baisically I need to sell these monsters that weigh over 60 lbs. A shipping nightmare right now, I'd have to sell them locally and there is no market in central Illinois.
 
Did anyone ever confirm if the the active MF.10 has a true 2 channel power amp? Is it ACTUALLY louder when paired with a passive cab? Or just perceivably louder with the stereo image? There’s 2 inputs on the back and one is pretty damn loud. Just checking
 
Larry Ball said:
yeah, so about 3 grand with taxes (in Illinois), I am on the lookout for a tax free shop that can get them. I also could contact them directly, Redsound have great customer support and answered my questions, notified me when a model I was interested in became available, but I had already obtained the Friedman ASM12's . The person who notified me and I responded that I had already gone with the Friedmans and he basically said nothing can beat the sound of these, so let me know. Lol, I thought that was cool. Baisically I need to sell these monsters that weigh over 60 lbs. A shipping nightmare right now, I'd have to sell them locally and there is no market in central Illinois.
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FYI the folks at Lyon & Healy suggested to me there would be no tax, and I"m not in one of those states that usually gets to dodge online sales tax. Haven't gone through with purchase yet to confirm.
 
astrolux said:
FYI the folks at Lyon & Healy suggested to me there would be no tax, and I"m not in one of those states that usually gets to dodge online sales tax. Haven't gone through with purchase yet to confirm.
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Their prices include tax and shipping. $1,300 for an active cab, $1,100 for a passive, or $2,300 for the stereo bundle + 10 ft speaker cable
 
thread is old but I‘ll contribute my findings so far as well.

I got the mf10 stereo bundle last tuesday. Inspired by the positive reviews and the present need of a new amp I just had to check them out. I‘m a AXE FX II owner since the beginning of its release, playing it over the Atomic CLR. My genres cover almost everything (Jazz, Funk, up to Metal) so I‘m referring to clean and distortion sounds as well.

But first some thoughts about the contender,
the Atomic CLR.
I freaking love them, unbelievable clarity, punch, headroom for volume and well thought design.
The modes for tilt, pole and backline are making a difference in certain situations.
Having an addional IN with adjustable volume came in handy on many occasions.
No matter what I throw at it (Axe FX, Voicelive Extreme Looper, Mixer), it’s producing a great and reliable sound from low to high volumes.
The cons, well especially being in germany are quite sad though. Lately it started to produce „hissy“ sounds and volume breaks away after 3 minutes of use. Supposedly it’s an issue with the power supply from what I gathered.
Ok, things break, and can be repaired…usually.
But dealing with the Atomic Support is a PITA.
If they reply at all, it takes months…
Unfortunately it seems like there is no way to consult a local technician. (btw if someone has an idea how to fix it, advice is appreciated)
Sending the power unit to the US + no idea how long they need to replace it seems like a painstaking journey.
Support is a very important criteria.

Now the MF10
I was surprised by the cool and handy design.
Having had 2 back surgeries the small weight and size became an important factor over the years.
After setup at home I got disappointed. At low volumes they don’t sound anything special, for those purposes I better use my studio monitors (Genelec 1030)
Also I think that the stereo is gimmicky as I use my AXE mono anyway mostly. Yes, knew that before and should have taken the single cab.

So I went to a rehearsal the day after and that’s where it began to be different.
There it started to give me that amp in a room feel everybody was talking about. I‘ll have to adjust the presets of my AXE though as most sounds (Austin Buddy mainly) got a bit boomy. They sounded great with the CLR right away.
They deliver plenty of volume but even in a non-Metal Blues Rock BandI would feel a bit safer with some more headroom as I had to crank them up to 80/90% (axe at 12 o clock)
So I‘m not sure if the comments around here regarding the volume are reliable. Some Metalheads very likely gonna be dissapointed as they may lack headroom for certain use cases.
They don’t simply replace my CLR, using it with my looper + vocals was rather „meh“

Honestly I‘d prefer to have a working CLR again (covers all situations) in terms of versatility and volume. but considering the circumstances I need something to predominately drive my AXE FX so the MF 10 my be the next best thing. (It does that job very well, and maybe even a tad more fun than the CLR) On the other hand I hate to think about to buy an additional solution for my looper setup.
I‘m torn….

Maybe, if somebody uses it ONLY for a electric guitar modeler amp for rehearsals and gigs (NOT at home) the MF10 is good choice.
I‘m afraid that the elis may turn out the other way round, being great at home and way too quiet for gigs with more than a trio, but that’s only speculation as I have not tested them.
 
noro said:
thread is old but I‘ll contribute my findings so far as well.

I got the mf10 stereo bundle last tuesday. Inspired by the positive reviews and the present need of a new amp I just had to check them out. I‘m a AXE FX II owner since the beginning of its release, playing it over the Atomic CLR. My genres cover almost everything (Jazz, Funk, up to Metal) so I‘m referring to clean and distortion sounds as well.

But first some thoughts about the contender,
the Atomic CLR.
I freaking love them, unbelievable clarity, punch, headroom for volume and well thought design.
The modes for tilt, pole and backline are making a difference in certain situations.
Having an addional IN with adjustable volume came in handy on many occasions.
No matter what I throw at it (Axe FX, Voicelive Extreme Looper, Mixer), it’s producing a great and reliable sound from low to high volumes.
The cons, well especially being in germany are quite sad though. Lately it started to produce „hissy“ sounds and volume breaks away after 3 minutes of use. Supposedly it’s an issue with the power supply from what I gathered.
Ok, things break, and can be repaired…usually.
But dealing with the Atomic Support is a PITA.
If they reply at all, it takes months…
Unfortunately it seems like there is no way to consult a local technician. (btw if someone has an idea how to fix it, advice is appreciated)
Sending the power unit to the US + no idea how long they need to replace it seems like a painstaking journey.
Support is a very important criteria.

Now the MF10
I was surprised by the cool and handy design.
Having had 2 back surgeries the small weight and size became an important factor over the years.
After setup at home I got disappointed. At low volumes they don’t sound anything special, for those purposes I better use my studio monitors (Genelec 1030)
Also I think that the stereo is gimmicky as I use my AXE mono anyway mostly. Yes, knew that before and should have taken the single cab.

So I went to a rehearsal the day after and that’s where it began to be different.
There it started to give me that amp in a room feel everybody was talking about. I‘ll have to adjust the presets of my AXE though as most sounds (Austin Buddy mainly) got a bit boomy. They sounded great with the CLR right away.
They deliver plenty of volume but even in a non-Metal Blues Rock BandI would feel a bit safer with some more headroom as I had to crank them up to 80/90% (axe at 12 o clock)
So I‘m not sure if the comments around here regarding the volume are reliable. Some Metalheads very likely gonna be dissapointed as they may lack headroom for certain use cases.
They don’t simply replace my CLR, using it with my looper + vocals was rather „meh“

Honestly I‘d prefer to have a working CLR again (covers all situations) in terms of versatility and volume. but considering the circumstances I need something to predominately drive my AXE FX so the MF 10 my be the next best thing. (It does that job very well, and maybe even a tad more fun than the CLR) On the other hand I hate to think about to buy an additional solution for my looper setup.
I‘m torn….

Maybe, if somebody uses it ONLY for a electric guitar modeler amp for rehearsals and gigs (NOT at home) the MF10 is good choice.
I‘m afraid that the elis may turn out the other way round, being great at home and way too quiet for gigs with more than a trio, but that’s only speculation as I have not tested them.
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Good post!

For your rehearsal, did you use both speakers? If not, I would definitely give that a shot. I play in a VERY loud rock band and the two speakers together generate more volume than we need by a fair amount. I have the MF10 set up with volume on 8 and Axe-FX probably not even at 12 o'clock and it's deafening. Also, don't be afraid of trying to raise the output levels on your presets, as long as you're not clipping anything.


Sukh
 
ZenRigs Man said:
Good post!

For your rehearsal, did you use both speakers? If not, I would definitely give that a shot. I play in a VERY loud rock band and the two speakers together generate more volume than we need by a fair amount. I have the MF10 set up with volume on 8 and Axe-FX probably not even at 12 o'clock and it's deafening. Also, don't be afraid of trying to raise the output levels on your presets, as long as you're not clipping anything.


Sukh
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Thanks!! I‘m gonna try that, haven’t considered that the extra box may give an edge. Any Issues with phasing when running both in mono. How do u place them, on top of each other?

Any lowcut sweetspot that you recommend? I found that even the austin buddy presets (usually perfectly balanced already) sounded a bit too boomy for my taste. They work well on the CLR, my Genelec and have proven to work great at gigs straight into the FOH.
 
noro said:
Thanks!! I‘m gonna try that, haven’t considered that the extra box may give an edge. Any Issues with phasing when running both in mono. How do u place them, on top of each other?

Any lowcut sweetspot that you recommend? I found that even the austin buddy presets (usually perfectly balanced already) sounded a bit too boomy for my taste. They work well on the CLR, my Genelec and have proven to work great at gigs straight into the FOH.
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No phasing issues to worry about, and I place them a couple of feet apart, but that's up to you. Cuts etc - I leave the preset alone for FOH, but I tweak the EQ, usually global EQ on the output I have the MF10s connected to, to give me the sound I want out of the MF10s, which will vary from venue to venue. I think a lot of folks miss this point - leave the FOH sound to the FOH person, who will make it blend properly with the band, for the venue, and focus your effort on getting your on-stage sound to be the way it inspires you to play.

Global EQ is your friend!
Sukh
 
ZenRigs Man said:
Hey folks!

If you're looking for a killer FRFR solution, I've had hands on time with two of the top contenders. Check out the video for my honest review of the MF10 stereo bundle from G66 against my trusty Atomic CLRs. I hope you find it useful.

And if you want to cheer me up (I need it today - my music room flooded - thankfully no equipment damage, but got some mess to clean up), please subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Thank you!
Sukh

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Do you not think the Friedman ASC-10’s are a top contender? There’s a lot of good reviews
 
The MF10 is just so dark to my ears. The bass response is great, but its like the system simply cant produce certain high frequencies. It gets better when you are running a lot of volume through it, but its still dark.
 
I love my CLRs although I have been tempted to try the Redsounds. I got an email from Atomic a few days ago - looks like they are in production again.
 
Jkist7 said:
The MF10 is just so dark to my ears. The bass response is great, but its like the system simply cant produce certain high frequencies. It gets better when you are running a lot of volume through it, but its still dark.
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Like any FRFR, you need to EQ them to the volume you’re playing at and the room you’re in. Low volume will need more highs in your EQ
 
ZenRigs Man said:
Like any FRFR, you need to EQ them to the volume you’re playing at and the room you’re in. Low volume will need more highs in your EQ
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I understand this, but I am saying even compared to many other options on the market, its just voiced dark, and its like the system just cant produce certain high frequencies. Maybe its in line with its philosophy of feeling more like a guitar cab, but some of those frequencies are frequencies that usually help me cut in my band.
 
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