Down-sizing amp to....Vox or Crate?

[zhijie46]

Hey people!
I'm not so experienced with amp brands and I need some advise.
I'm intending to replace my 20W Roland Cube 20X with a 15W amp, cause the volume is pretty... well, overkill.
So I came across some low budget 15W amps like the Vox Pathfinder 15R and the Crate 15.
Heard that Vox is a good brand to go for, but what about the Crate? Any suggestions, thanks!

 

[dodgethis]

Don't bother. The difference is not going to be much because you will still be adjusting the master volume to a value that is comfortable to your ears. This kind of question would be more valid if you are talking about amps with a tube power section, in order to get power tube distortion at the same playing level.

 

[Flowersamurai]

I thought the cube 20x has a power squeezer switch? Im using a cube 30x and i dont find the volume to be overkill plus my bedroom is small. or maybe because of my musician earplugs but the 20x shouldnt be a problem with the power squeezer.

 

[zhijie46]

dodgethis - Yea of course that's true. But I was just comparing which would be a more reliable/better brand!

Flowersamurai - Power Squeezer makes the sound really muffled which I can't really fancy. Anyway my cubes 3 years old, thought I'd just get something fresh!

 

[subversion]

Don't bother. The difference is not going to be much...

+1 to this. players often associate volume performances with the amplifier's wattage.

zhijie: what would your subsequent needs be in addition to volume considerations- do you wish for a tube amp? single channel/ multi-channel? combo/ stack? etc. do tell us more.

 

[Godspeed64]

The volume is overkill simply because you fail to turn it down? If it's a tube amp that needs to be driven to achieve some saturation then I would agree that 20W would be overkill in a home situation, but in this case, you can turn the volume down for your solid state.
There won't be much of a difference in tone by playing with your amp's master volume in this case.

 

[van_halen]

the vox pathfinder 15r is a great amp.. as attested by many musicians..

crate 15 watt? don't bother.

 

[zesn]

eh my 5w crate tube amp not bad leh =D
and its loud.

 

[sharp__edge]

20 watts to 15 watts isn't going to give you any change in volume at all. i guarantee that.

Wattage measures clean headroom, NOT VOLUME.

In solid state amps, you don't even need to bother about the wattage unless you're gigging. Why? Because wattage refers to how much volume the amp can take before it starts giving you solid state breakup (which is extremely undesirable in most cases).

So what does this mean? It means that even if you have a 150-watt Ibanez Toneblaster-X through a full stack set of 8 x 12" speakers, you will still get very soft bedroom levels tweaking the master volume.

Why? Because solid state amps don't need to break-up in order to sound "good". So the amp may be 150 watts, but if you have it at volume 1, it's probably operating at less than 15 watts.



In tube amps, it's a completely different story. But i don't think you're interested in tube amps for now.



Anyway, allow me to get a word in: If you want good tone, be prepared to have it a little loud. Keep the cube 20x. Otherwise, go for software modelling, and use headphones.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

With solid-state and modelling amps... they sound pretty much the same at all volume levels. So might as well lower the volume rather than buy a new amp.

I don't have a Roland Cube so I don't know, but yeah, there are some solid-state amps that are overkill sometimes. I've come across amps that can tear a whole room with the volume at 3. Raising the volume from 1 to 3 did not gradually raise the volume but jump it up by a lot. From very soft to very loud with no middle-ground in between by just raising the volume one notch. If that is the case, then your wanting another amp is perfectly reasonable.

 

[subversion]

you can always down-size to this VOX... he he:

 

[eieio]

hehe that one really down the size.. can do heavy mental!
for me i sometime up sometime down then up then down then up..
from single cube30 down to dual amp combo in mono mode >pathfinder+frontman