Available Now at Northeast Music Center!
This is where the Subway system really comes together. Pair the tube-driven character and 800-watt capability of the MESA/Boogie WD-800 with both a Subway Ultra-Lite 1x12 and 1x15, and you get a modular professional bass rig that combines the articulation and immediacy of a 12-inch speaker with the depth, warmth, and authority of a 15.
The MESA/Boogie Subway WD-800 combines a two-stage Class A tube preamp using a genuine MESA 12AT7 with a lightweight Class D power section capable of 800 watts at 4 or 2 ohms and 400 watts at 8 ohms.
Both included Subway cabinets are individually 8 ohms. Connected together as a proper parallel load, they present the WD-800 with a 4-ohm total load, allowing the amplifier to deliver its full 800-watt output across the two-cabinet system. Each cabinet is rated at 400 watts RMS, giving the pair a combined 800-watt thermal rating.
Available from Northeast Music Center, this is an especially versatile WD-800 configuration because you don't have to bring the entire stack to every job. Take one cabinet when portability is the priority, or bring both when you want the complete 800-watt system.
• MESA/Boogie Subway WD-800 Bass Amplifier Head
• Subway Ultra-Lite 1x12 Bass Cabinet
• Subway Ultra-Lite 1x15 Bass Cabinet
• 800 watts into the combined 4-ohm cabinet load
• Two-stage Class A tube preamp
• 1 × MESA 12AT7 preamp tube
• Lightweight Class D power section
• Variable 25Hz–125Hz High-Pass Filter
• Fully active 5-band EQ architecture
• Selectable/bypassable 3-band semi-parametric EQ
• Passive Mid control
• Variable Power Amp Damping
• Balanced XLR DI
• Buffered series effects loop
• Headphone output
• Auxiliary input
• USB power outlet
• Two SpeakON amplifier outputs
• 1 × Subway Neodymium 12" speaker
• 1 × Subway Neodymium 15" speaker
• High-frequency horn in both cabinets
• Independent premium horn attenuator on each cabinet
• Tuned front-ported Tri-Porting™ construction
• 8-ohm impedance per cabinet
• 400 watts RMS per cabinet
• 800 watts combined cabinet thermal handling
• Lightweight Italian poplar cabinet construction
• Fitted slipcover included with each cabinet
• WD-800 gig bag with shoulder strap included
• Built in Petaluma, California
The WD-800 occupies a special place in MESA's bass amplifier family.
Its design draws heavily from the character players loved in the earlier WalkAbout while combining that personality with the power, portability, and sophisticated control of the Subway platform.
At the heart of the preamp is a genuine MESA 12AT7 operating in a two-stage Class A tube circuit.
That matters.
The WD-800 wasn't designed simply to be small and powerful. It was created for bassists who wanted some of the warmth, dimensionality, and harmonic complexity associated with tube circuitry while gaining the practical advantages of a lightweight modern amplifier.
Here's what makes this particular package so interesting.
The Subway 1x12 and 1x15 aren't redundant cabinets.
They have different personalities.
The 1x12 is the more compact cabinet, with the responsiveness, articulation, and focus players often associate with a great 12-inch bass speaker.
The 1x15 adds a larger enclosure and 15-inch driver, producing the warmth and authoritative low-frequency character that has made the 1x15 format a bass standard for generations.
MESA specifically designed these cabinets to work together, describing the 1x12 + 1x15 combination as a way to blend the different tonal characteristics of both cabinets into a multi-dimensional system.
That's exactly what we're doing here.
This package also makes excellent electrical sense.
The Subway 1x12 is:
8 Ohms / 400 Watts RMS
The Subway 1x15 is:
8 Ohms / 400 Watts RMS
Running the two 8-ohm cabinets together in parallel creates a:
4-ohm total load.
And at 4 ohms, the WD-800 delivers:
800 Watts.
So this isn't simply a visually impressive two-cabinet stack.
The complete system allows you to take advantage of the WD-800's full rated output.
Here's the other side of the story.
You don't always need 800 watts and two cabinets.
Take just the 1x12 and the WD-800 sees an 8-ohm load, delivering 400 watts.
Take just the 1x15 and it's the same:
400 watts into 8 ohms.
That gives the bassist three practical configurations from one system:
WD-800 + 1x12 — 400 Watts
Compact, articulate, responsive.
WD-800 + 1x15 — 400 Watts
Warm, full, and authoritative.
WD-800 + 1x12 + 1x15 — 800 Watts
The complete rig with both speaker personalities working together.
That's genuine versatility.
At only 32.9 pounds, the 1x12 is MESA's most compact Subway cabinet.
It uses a Subway Neodymium 12-inch speaker, dedicated high-frequency horn, premium horn attenuator, and MESA's tuned front-ported Tri-Porting design.
Power handling is:
400 Watts RMS
at:
8 Ohms.
MESA rates its average sensitivity at 97.5dB/1W/1M and maximum SPL at 124dB/1M.
It's a serious little cabinet.
And when portability matters more than maximum output, this may be the cabinet you grab first.
The 1x15 adds only five pounds.
It weighs:
37.9 pounds.
That's remarkably manageable for a professional 15-inch bass cabinet.
Like the 1x12, it is rated:
400 Watts RMS / 8 Ohms
and includes a Subway Neodymium driver, high-frequency horn with premium attenuator, and MESA's Tri-Porting architecture.
Its sensitivity increases to 98.5dB/1W/1M, with maximum SPL rated at 125dB/1M.
The 1x15 also reaches deeper at the extreme bottom of its published response, with an F10 figure of 38.1Hz, compared with 41.5Hz for the 1x12.
That's exactly the kind of foundation you want from the larger cabinet.
Both cabinets use lightweight MESA Subway Neodymium drivers.
That's a major reason this rig remains so manageable.
The 1x12 weighs:
32.9 lbs.
The 1x15 weighs:
37.9 lbs.
The WD-800 weighs:
7 lbs.
That puts the complete amplifier and two-cabinet system at approximately:
77.8 pounds total.
Not one cabinet.
The entire 800-watt tube-preamp rig.
For comparison with traditional high-powered bass stacks, that's an impressive achievement.
Both cabinets include their own high-frequency horn and premium attenuator.
That gives you additional control when you're using the complete stack.
Want plenty of upper-frequency articulation?
Open the horns up.
Prefer a warmer, more traditional bass response?
Pull them back.
And because each cabinet has its own attenuator, you can balance their high-frequency contribution independently.
That's particularly useful with active basses, slap technique, fresh roundwound strings, pick playing, and effects-heavy rigs.
The WD-800 gives you a continuously variable:
25Hz–125Hz High-Pass Filter.
This is an extremely useful professional tool.
Rather than wasting amplifier and speaker power reproducing unnecessary sub-low-frequency information, the HPF allows you to determine where that extreme bottom end begins rolling away.
That can tighten the rig.
Control boom.
Improve clarity.
And help you adapt the complete 1x12/1x15 stack to different rooms and stages.
The WD-800 also gives you considerably more control than a conventional three-band bass amplifier.
Its architecture includes Bass, Treble, passive Mid, and a selectable/bypassable three-band semi-parametric EQ with sweepable ranges covering:
80Hz–1kHz
150Hz–2.5kHz
300Hz–5kHz.
That's especially valuable with a mixed-speaker system like this one.
You have two different cabinet voices contributing to the final sound, and the WD-800 gives you the tools to shape the complete system precisely.
One of the WD-800's most interesting features is its Variable Damping control.
At lower settings, MESA describes the power section as responding with a looser, more relaxed, blooming feel reminiscent of tube power.
Move toward higher damping and the response becomes tighter and more controlled, with greater punch and tracking accuracy.
The middle setting blends characteristics of both.
This is different from EQ.
You're changing the feel and interaction between amplifier and loudspeaker system.
With a 12 and 15 working together, that's a particularly powerful control to have.
The WD-800, Subway 1x12, and Subway 1x15 are all built in Petaluma, California.
The cabinets use lightweight Italian poplar construction with carefully engineered bracing and porting, while the amplifier uses a lightweight aluminum chassis.
This isn't lightweight equipment designed merely to satisfy a number on a scale.
It's lightweight equipment designed to survive the demands of working musicians while delivering serious MESA performance.
That's an important distinction to us at Northeast Music Center.
That's perhaps the strongest reason to choose this package.
You're essentially buying three different working configurations.
Small gig or rehearsal?
Take the WD-800 and 1x12.
Want the warmth and authority of a 15?
Take the WD-800 and 1x15.
Need the full system?
Stack the 1x12 and 1x15, switch the WD-800 appropriately for the combined load, and unleash the complete 800-watt rig.
At Northeast Music Center, that's the kind of versatility we appreciate in a professional bass system.
You're not carrying more equipment than the job requires.
But when the job requires more, you've already got it.
One tube-preamp WD-800.
One articulate 12.
One authoritative 15.
Three possible configurations.
And up to 800 watts of MESA bass power.
Northeast Music Center is a full line Music retailer located in Northeast Pennsylvania- We are an Authorized Mesa Boogie Dealer and purchase these products direct from MESA HEADQUARTERS IN PETALUMA CALIFORNIA. We do not obtain our MESA AMPLIFIERS or other MESA products from "jobbers" or other dealers. Our MESA AMPLIFIERS AND CABINETS come to you in the factory boxes with factory packing material. We will, upon request, and also randomly, open the box prior to shipping to check that all contents are included and that no damage has been found in shipping from MESA to our Store location. Northeast Music Center does reserve the right to sell these products in our store to daily walk in customers. It is our goal to always have this product in stock and if for any reason we sell out, we will reorder immediately as long as this MESA AMPLIFIER is currently produced for resale by the company. We will order the amplifier in a ample quantity to fill your order. It is our goal to make your experience a good one; We invite you to ask any and all questions about this product. Please do not purchase this item if you can not pay. This is a new Mesa with full 5 Year factory warranty to the Original Owner. 3 Year Warranty on Speakers.
