View other reviews for this product:
benoi31 « The all-tube at home »
Published on 11/24/14 at 08:35All-tube amp: 2 lamps preamp 12AX7, 12AU7 power a lamp.
4 controls: gain, bass, treble and volume.
And a switch that allows you to switch from one mode to another:
- Bright: vox typed, clear sound very Chimmy
- Thick more typical English / marshall quickly saturates
The power is between 1.5 and 2 W impedance according to which you connect.
Finally, note the presence of an output line out, supposedly made to play with headphones.
No effects loop, it's a shame because without reverb, it would have been nice to be able to insert one. But good for the price, I guess you can not have it all
UTILIZATION
Very simple, even simplistic configuration!
Do not hesitate to let the very low gain in order to have a clean sound, which is also excellent, whether in bright mode where it will be rather typical fender / vox course or thick where it will be more a clean nice round marshall.
The race of the gain is rather well measured, except in thick mode where it quickly share in molasses messy past 12 hours
As against the volume knob is just <3 <3 to play at home, it's magic! The race is suuuuper well measured, allowing play to very small volumes, while having a really cool sound! For me it is great to play at home, we have a reasonable volume and hyper enough to play in an apartment.
SOUNDS
The sound is really good, we feel the lamps and the breakup we have with some gain is really great for blues, rock.
There are way to get a lot of different sound with 2 positions bright and thick, but be aware moderate level gain because the sound can become messy.
It is easy for a clean sound to the dire straits to rock a little ballsy style ZZ Top.
Anyway this amp does not blush to his level of other much more expensive but useless at home, or using a dynamic loss so huge that we prefer to play on the vox!
The sound is still a bit dry, but with a little reverb (in front of the shot
) we already greatly improves things, and we have a great sound.
It takes pedals very well, and on 2 channels. I have a lot of fun using it as a platform pedal. Ideal for home or even repeat!
Besides, I'm used extensively in rehearsal, transplanted in a sound (do not expect a battery with cover!), As a platform pedal set to clean the thick channel. The sound bright lacked a little depth. As such, I got very convincing sounds really cool and coupled to various pedals delay, boost and overdrive.
To be perfect, it just lacks a setting of mediums.
So now attack the big downside of this amp: the output line out.
It sounds absolutely disgusting. In bright mode, screaming, dry, awful. The thick is a little better, but it's always very garish. The output has no speaker emulation, and it shows! In addition, the output is mini jack format, so unusable in a sound (unless you tweak like me, but then, hello crackling! Better a beast in front SM57)
Final recommendation: attention to speaker! Apparently the speaker is paired with medium because only 10 inches (already we lack a little bass and roundness). Go on a 12inch, the sound is much better. I played on a rotten cab and a mesa thiele, the sound was pretty good in 2 cases. (A little better with the thiele course, but good)
OVERALL OPINION
I use it for ... well oula 4 years!
I've always found it perfect for use at home, in an apartment. I never found other amps in the same price range with such a compelling and dynamic sound than other amps much more powerful lamps.
Yet, I have tried a lot of what is supposed to be the cream at home (at least in the same price range): yamaha THR5, THR10, Blackstar HT1, Vox AC4 (too noisy), fender champion 600 (too noisy), Gretsch 5222 ... I do not denigrate these amps, it's just that every time the vox seemed better for various reasons (master volume, EQ, dynamics etc ...)
On occase it is growing at a ridiculous price, so if you need a little amp for you, go for it!
4 controls: gain, bass, treble and volume.
And a switch that allows you to switch from one mode to another:
- Bright: vox typed, clear sound very Chimmy
- Thick more typical English / marshall quickly saturates
The power is between 1.5 and 2 W impedance according to which you connect.
Finally, note the presence of an output line out, supposedly made to play with headphones.
No effects loop, it's a shame because without reverb, it would have been nice to be able to insert one. But good for the price, I guess you can not have it all
UTILIZATION
Very simple, even simplistic configuration!
Do not hesitate to let the very low gain in order to have a clean sound, which is also excellent, whether in bright mode where it will be rather typical fender / vox course or thick where it will be more a clean nice round marshall.
The race of the gain is rather well measured, except in thick mode where it quickly share in molasses messy past 12 hours
As against the volume knob is just <3 <3 to play at home, it's magic! The race is suuuuper well measured, allowing play to very small volumes, while having a really cool sound! For me it is great to play at home, we have a reasonable volume and hyper enough to play in an apartment.
SOUNDS
The sound is really good, we feel the lamps and the breakup we have with some gain is really great for blues, rock.
There are way to get a lot of different sound with 2 positions bright and thick, but be aware moderate level gain because the sound can become messy.
It is easy for a clean sound to the dire straits to rock a little ballsy style ZZ Top.
Anyway this amp does not blush to his level of other much more expensive but useless at home, or using a dynamic loss so huge that we prefer to play on the vox!
The sound is still a bit dry, but with a little reverb (in front of the shot
) we already greatly improves things, and we have a great sound. It takes pedals very well, and on 2 channels. I have a lot of fun using it as a platform pedal. Ideal for home or even repeat!
Besides, I'm used extensively in rehearsal, transplanted in a sound (do not expect a battery with cover!), As a platform pedal set to clean the thick channel. The sound bright lacked a little depth. As such, I got very convincing sounds really cool and coupled to various pedals delay, boost and overdrive.
To be perfect, it just lacks a setting of mediums.
So now attack the big downside of this amp: the output line out.
It sounds absolutely disgusting. In bright mode, screaming, dry, awful. The thick is a little better, but it's always very garish. The output has no speaker emulation, and it shows! In addition, the output is mini jack format, so unusable in a sound (unless you tweak like me, but then, hello crackling! Better a beast in front SM57)
Final recommendation: attention to speaker! Apparently the speaker is paired with medium because only 10 inches (already we lack a little bass and roundness). Go on a 12inch, the sound is much better. I played on a rotten cab and a mesa thiele, the sound was pretty good in 2 cases. (A little better with the thiele course, but good)
OVERALL OPINION
I use it for ... well oula 4 years!
I've always found it perfect for use at home, in an apartment. I never found other amps in the same price range with such a compelling and dynamic sound than other amps much more powerful lamps.
Yet, I have tried a lot of what is supposed to be the cream at home (at least in the same price range): yamaha THR5, THR10, Blackstar HT1, Vox AC4 (too noisy), fender champion 600 (too noisy), Gretsch 5222 ... I do not denigrate these amps, it's just that every time the vox seemed better for various reasons (master volume, EQ, dynamics etc ...)
On occase it is growing at a ridiculous price, so if you need a little amp for you, go for it!