If you're a bass player, and you don't own anything made by Trace Elliot, it's likely that this is for one of three reasons:
a) You haven't heard it,
b) You haven't got room for it,
c) You can't afford it.

Of these, the third is most likely, and as the prices at the head of the page testify, this amp and speaker combination isn't going to make the marque any more affordable. But what this 'Compact Stack' does do away with is the need for taking up a lot of space to get a hi-fi sound across. This 350-watt powered version of the GP11 preamp, combined with one of these new 1818X cabinets, measures a total of just over 3'6" high, which is a rather more transportable proposition than some of this Essex company's other offerings. The thinking, presumably, has been to get a bi-amped rig as small as possible, so that it an be used in places where size might be a problem.

Trace Elliot is without exception built to last, which is why it's made from ¾" marine ply and covered in Terion and Dr Marten-proof steel grille. Regrettably this creates the awkward side-effect of extreme heaviness; in fact, each one weighs in at around eight and a half stone. Coupled with their sheet physical bulk and the fact that the speakers make them noticeably front-heavy, moving them any distance is most definitely a two-man job. The amplifier could scarcely be described as a feather-weight, either, since that alone tips the scales at three and a half stone. It develops full power into two of these cabs, but since the advantage of compactness is then lost, I elected to carry out most tests with a single cabinet, feeling that this is likely to be a more popular combination. If two cabinets are stacked on top of each other, you can hardly reach the amp...

On the box

The cabinet has two speakers, one 18" and one 10". The second of these is high pass only (above 250Hz), designed to be linked up to the matching channel on the AH 250X. There is also a passive crossover fitted inside the cabinet to protect the 10" from low frequencies should you... sorry, your roadie, connect it up the wrong way round. The chances of that happening are minimised by the use of XLR sockets for the 18" and jacks for high pass on both amp and cab: the signal received by the 18" is in fact full range, but might as well be low pass for all the listener knows.

For optimum low end response, the cabinet is ported with two tubes, each being 3" across by 2" deep, through which white acoustic wadding is just visible. Nothing to do with low end response, but also useful, are four large rubber feet on the base end six plastic 'cups' on the top, to make sure that the units can stack safely. They're also another reminder of the fact that Trace Elliot have designed these slabs to be used in conjunction with their own amplifier.

But even if another make of amplifier is used, connecting these speakers up has a rather strange effect. It suddenly makes you forget what swines they are to move... the payoff for the sturdiness and permanence of the 1818X is not just its likely longevity, but its superb sound quality. There are not many bass speaker enclosures that can be wound up to painful volume levels without rattling, but this is one of them: every window and ornament in the building maybe doing The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, but the cab just sits there as if unaware of the chaos it's causing.

It's not just the clarity of sound that's impressive, but also the sheer 'size' of it. The 18" speaker delivers tremendous depth and authority, and what it lacks in treble, the 10" more than makes up for with a very bright but smooth response. Players specialising in percussive stuff may not want the depth of the 18", and opt instead for a cabinet of 10" speakers; similarly, those who play exclusively fretless may want to enhance the middly character of the sound by putting it through 12" of 15" drivers. But bassists who just require a cabinet to reflect the sound put into it will have a hell of a job to better this one, methinks.

Back on top

The amplifier is just as impressive. Obviously designed to be used in conjunction with an 1818X (or two), it's a slightly downsized version of the top-of-the-range AH500X, missing the separate level controls for each output on the rear panel and the necessary switching to be able to run both channels full range if desired. Instead, the lower (full range), output delivers 250 watts into 4 ohms, and the upper (high pass) one delivers 150 watts into 8 ohms. There's only one set of output sockets on the amp, but there are two sets on the cabs for using two at the same time. The lack of separate output volume controls might seem to be a drawback, but in practice the balance seems correct.

All the other familiar Trace Elliot features are in evidence, like the two-speed fan – very handy for cooling the player as well as the transformers. Each speaker output is protected by a fuse, in addition to the fuse by the mains sockets, and ultra-violet lighting (which may appear to be a bit of a gimmick, but which is extremely useful on a dark stage) can be cancelled if found to be the cause of interference in the studio. Round the front is the GP11 preamp – to get the most signal and the least noise, it's essential to make proper use of the red 'overload' LED; once this is done the amp if commendably quiet even when a fair amount of treble boost is set on the graphic eq.

Theoreticians may argue as to whether graphics or parametrics are really best for eq'ing bass, but there is little doubt that graphics are a lot easier to get on with on first acquaintance. The 11-band system employed by Trace Elliot has the beauty of being as subtle or as blatant as the user wishes it to be, and its only real drawback is that it's not easy to change settings in a hurry. For most users, the advantage of having such a clear visual indication of what's going on is ample compensation for any such inconvenience.

Then, of course, there's the pre-shape switch, wired in before the eq to give you instant Funk with its 13dB cut at 400Hz and 5dB boost at 4kHz. Add to that an eq in/out switch so that you can ascertain easily whether your fiddling with the faders has improved the sound or not, and built-in noise reduction (a gating system which takes the hiss without being too obtrusive in action) and you come up with an amplifier which is not only versatile but also user-friendly. Any kind of bass sound from Reggae (I didn't know these foundations moved) to 'snappers delight' can be produced easily and convincingly.

Even though 350 watts isn't that much by modern bass playing standards, the volume levels are impressive, and the degree of clarity even more so. That overload LED helps to ensure that there's enough headroom for both the bass and playing style being used. All in all, the AH 350X performs as well as as classily as it looks like it ought to – both from a cosmetic point of view (that lighting really is a wonderful pose on stage) and considering how big a hole purchasing it will leave in your wallet.

Conclusion

As a system, the Compact Stack is quite simple excellent – in fact, it's difficult not to be 100% impressed. There are only two areas of concern, which are mainly of a marketing nature: firstly, how much of an advantage the compactness of the system is when it's still a two-man operation to move it, and secondly, whether the fact that these two units are so obviously designed to work in conjunction with each other compromises their individual sales potential. The amplifier in particular has a slight limitation in that you cannot hook a 4 ohm speaker cabinet up to the high pass output: since the cabs of most rival manufacturers are 4 ohm, it means that you have to use them full range, and only one at a time.

However, since Trace Elliot make a range of combos as well as bi-amped systems, anybody who finds either of these points a disadvantage always has the option of other models in the range from which to choose. Certainly, on this showing, the company's reputation for producing top quality amplification seems well founded. My ears have had a treat, but as for my back.

RRP: £675 & £440