All user reviews of 4/5 for the Crate PowerBlock

Crate has been more or less synonymous (for good or bad) with solid state guitar amplification for over two decades. It would make sense then, that they know a thing or two about making them sound good. In some cases yes, and in some cases not so much.

The PowerBlock is very much a case of the yes. It's a small unit, with a heat-sink style top, pushing 150 solid-state watts mono or 75 watts per-side stereo, and it also features XLR line out w/ level control and stereo cd inputs. It works with any standard rated guitar cabinet, operating easily on 4 to 16 ohms, and can drive multiple cabinets with no problems.

Oh, and there's even a headphone jack on the front for you bedroom players.

UTILIZATION

The PowerBlock is very simple to operate, and features Gain, Bass, Treble, Mid, and volume controls. It's very well built, and comes with a soft travel case with a side pocket for storing cables, pics, and whatever frilly undergarments fly up onto the stage during the course of a show.

SOUNDS

Many people are surprised by the quality of the tone available in the Crate PowerBlock, and indeed it doesn't respond or sound much like a solid-state amp, thanks to Crate's tube response-replicating technology. It actually sounds very akin to a big, loud Fender Twin Reverb. The touch sensitivity, compression, and soundstage are impressive. The EQ controls are very responsive, since this is still a solid-state amp, and volume and EQ behave more linearly with the power transistors.

OVERALL OPINION

The Crate PowerBlock gets a huge, clean sound, up into a not-unpleasant mild overdrive. It takes pedals very well, and fellow players will be shocked at the tone you're able to evoke from this little monster. At 150 watts peak power, it can keep up with and even overpower the rest of the band in some cases, all in a package that's smaller than a loaf of bread and weighs merely 5lbs. It's small enough to easily fit in the overhead compartment of a plane if you're gigging overseas, plus it operates on 100v-240VAC, so there is no need for a voltage converter.

The PowerBlock is currently discontinued, but rumors abound of a new model emerging in the next year, so be sure to check it out when they do hit stores. The Crate PowerBlock makes a fine backup or travel amp head for those who need great tone, horsepower, and durability in a small format.

Amp transistors, 150 watts mono, 2 times 75 watts stereo, a single channel. Facade in regulation of gain, 3 band EQ, volume and basta.
Headphones (with simulation of hp), XLR line output (level adjustable), effects loop, CD input.
No reverb.

UTILIZATION

Very simple configuration, which amounts to 5 buttons. A single channel, which will saturate a clean sounds (crunch). With the gain saturation gives background to the AC / DC. No big metal donc.Le sound convincing enough. The receiver captures the dynamics.
The manual is clear, against the wiring diagram is wrong.

SOUNDS

The amp can play a lot of styles (jazz, blues, rock), except the metal.
I use a Washburn X40-Pro. 2 doubles and split. The receiver captures the different configurations of microphones.
The amp sounds great in clear as saturates. The distortion sounds somewhat reminiscent of Marshall. Playing with the EQ you get to have a sharp sound as well as sounds plump. For cons, I think he does not hesitate to push the sharp, otherwise it is quite dark.
I do not like the headphone output. The simulation of HP did not convince me. It seems she is also on the line out, and you can not disable it, so it is a negative point.

OVERALL OPINION

I use the amp for four months.
What makes this particular amp is its size and weight for the lower power settings.
Another plus is that it possesses an effects loop, and can be used to by-pass the preamp, and use only the section SONC amplification. It allows to add a preamp EXTREN or multi-effects or amp modeling.
Since I paid the $ 99 device, I would say the quality / price is excellent.
This is an amp that sounds good, which is very convenient, highly portable (it comes with his bag), and very cheap.

I made a short video on youtube for the amp to hear sounds clearly and saturates the amplifier:

This is a 150 watt solid state amplifier that can be run in mono or stereo. It uses the standard 1/4" guitar cable jacks with an auxiliary section with RCA inputs to plug in a CD or MP3 player. There is a headphone output, a balanced line out, and the amplifier has controls for gain, low, mid, high, and output level. There is also an effects loop. The main appeal of the amp is it's very small, very light-weight size.

UTILIZATION

The controls are very simple to use, and it provides a decent sound at full, loud volumes quite easily. I don't think I've ever needed to crack open the manual for this amp.

SOUNDS

The tone out of this amplifier is decent, but relatively flat due to the limited controls. It's basically got the same tone as a small practice amp, only on a much more powerful scale. It is fairly quiet and doesn't produce much hiss. However, if pedals or other pre-amp equipment is placed in front of this amp or as part of its effects loop, the tone vastly improves. At this point, the PowerBlock essentially becomes a cheap power amp.

OVERALL OPINION

The main appeal of this amp is its very compact size and weight. Because of this, it makes an excellent backup amp, which is what I used it for when gigging. Fortunately I never needed to use it live because my main rig never went down. I have used it in practice through a half-stack and a 1x12 combo and it works well, so long as effects equipment is used on the front-end for tone shaping.

I've never had any problems with the amplifier. In all honesty, with the right front-end effects gear, 90% of the audience probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference in tone between using this amplifier or a high-end amplifier like a Mesa Boogie.