Is a 50W tube amp suitable for HDB use?
- Thread starter Xypher
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Get a podx3. Good for recording, practise and if u wanna gig, can play tru the PA. If you just want a decent metal sound for practise use. Any small SS amps would do, just run a good distortion pedal in like the ubermetal or metal muff.
Seriously tho, getting a halfstack when u dun plan to gig is kinda useless unless your some audiophile or amp collecter. Either way, between 6505 and JCM800, id go for the 6505. Or better still, a 2nd hand 5150 cuz they are supposed to have better parts.
Seriously tho, getting a halfstack when u dun plan to gig is kinda useless unless your some audiophile or amp collecter. Either way, between 6505 and JCM800, id go for the 6505. Or better still, a 2nd hand 5150 cuz they are supposed to have better parts.
I have a 5150 combo myself, live in a HDB flat, and its set at volume 1 when i use it. Still, its just enough to get a good tone, since like Mattleesc said, modern, hi-gain amps rely more on the preamp for distortion, rather than the poweramp, like most Marshalls.
So far, no complaints from neighbours or anything. Just make sure your room windows/door's closed.
And like some peeps above already said, the 5150 and jcm800 is 2 VERY different amps. I wouldnt use an attenuator for the 5150, but for the JCM800, to get the powertubes cooking, I'd probably need one, especially at low volumes.
Dont forget an OD pedal of some sort, helps a lot in tightening tube amps. Im using a metalscreamer or tubescreamer for that.
if he can afford it, i don't see anything wrong with doing that. (practicing with a halfstack)
it's a misconception that tube amps sound muchmuchmuchmuchmuchmuchmuch better cranked.
sure they do sound significantly better cranked, but at bedroom volumes, they're not as horrible as some people make them out to be.
overdrive/dist pedals can also be used to help push the amp a little harder at bedroom volumes as well.
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subversion
Moderator
a good tube amp (or any amp type for that matter) would sound good at lower & higher volumes. the only reason cranking up would yield a 'better' tone is because by doing so, one would be slogging the power amp tube which reacts differently at different volume levels.
Indigo_blues
New member
i would choose the jcm800 over the 5150 from a technical point of view. The 5150 is a nightmare to repair.
"it's a misconception that tube amps sound muchmuchmuchmuchmuchmuchmuch better cranked.
sure they do sound significantly better cranked, but at bedroom volumes, they're not as horrible as some people make them out to be."
So is it a misconception or not?
I think it depends on the design of the amp. Some amps, no matter how hard u crank it, it still STAYS clean with almost no break up, like my old bassman 135. My previous vox ac30cc, i didnt like the sound of the cranked with preamp high.
My jcm800 sounds realli crap to me without the master vol gg up past 4, and if i use just preamp to get a dirt sound gg with master vol low, it sound realli bad n frizzy n thin. I guess earlier marshall like the plexi jtm jmp and earli jcm800 was build with the idea in mind that they can crank them with more headroom, so that the guitar heros then could play it in bigger venues, and it wasnt alot of gain in earlier stuff like led zep cream deep purple...etc(Those guys go to jim marshall n request for amps to be build that way, n remember last time the technolgy not like now, they were just at the start of the overdrive/distortion era). Its basically just driving the tubes n speakers to overdrive, like how earphones r abused. For this think of acdc, not much of gain going but it sounds huge.
Then thats where we come to ppl who wanted more gain in their marshall, like evh who wld mod their marshall with extra gain stage. thats how the 5150 came abt i think...
But my newer marshall vintage modern realli surprised me by sounding realli sweet at low low volumes in comparison to the jcm800.
But generally, turn up the master to a level where the tone suddenly comes alive or breathes(the tubes r hot enuf here), no need crank until full lah.
So it depends on the how n wat the amp was designed for, cuz rem ah tubes r just a component, still need to see the circuit design gd or not. n wat u after, preamp gain or power tube saturation
talk too much alr
sure they do sound significantly better cranked, but at bedroom volumes, they're not as horrible as some people make them out to be."
So is it a misconception or not?
I think it depends on the design of the amp. Some amps, no matter how hard u crank it, it still STAYS clean with almost no break up, like my old bassman 135. My previous vox ac30cc, i didnt like the sound of the cranked with preamp high.
My jcm800 sounds realli crap to me without the master vol gg up past 4, and if i use just preamp to get a dirt sound gg with master vol low, it sound realli bad n frizzy n thin. I guess earlier marshall like the plexi jtm jmp and earli jcm800 was build with the idea in mind that they can crank them with more headroom, so that the guitar heros then could play it in bigger venues, and it wasnt alot of gain in earlier stuff like led zep cream deep purple...etc(Those guys go to jim marshall n request for amps to be build that way, n remember last time the technolgy not like now, they were just at the start of the overdrive/distortion era). Its basically just driving the tubes n speakers to overdrive, like how earphones r abused. For this think of acdc, not much of gain going but it sounds huge.
Then thats where we come to ppl who wanted more gain in their marshall, like evh who wld mod their marshall with extra gain stage. thats how the 5150 came abt i think...
But my newer marshall vintage modern realli surprised me by sounding realli sweet at low low volumes in comparison to the jcm800.
But generally, turn up the master to a level where the tone suddenly comes alive or breathes(the tubes r hot enuf here), no need crank until full lah.
So it depends on the how n wat the amp was designed for, cuz rem ah tubes r just a component, still need to see the circuit design gd or not. n wat u after, preamp gain or power tube saturation
talk too much alr
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yeah man i'm using the ac30 i got from you and it sounds very thin when just maxing the preamp gain while leaving the master volume low.
definately sounds better when cranking it up however if we were to go back to the TS question, using a 50w tube amp should be alright, although he won't be tapping it's full potential.
but if he wants a 50w tube amp and he can afford it, i say why not.
definately sounds better when cranking it up however if we were to go back to the TS question, using a 50w tube amp should be alright, although he won't be tapping it's full potential.
but if he wants a 50w tube amp and he can afford it, i say why not.
yeah, the preamp of ac30cc is to be used to almost breakup, then the rest u need to work ur master alr. Like how i showed u yeah... more ballsy n the chime comes out nicely
i guess 50w is also too much for pubs too, since most mic up n u wont get to play the amp loud.
15w n 50w isnt much dif in VOL, its headroom
i guess 50w is also too much for pubs too, since most mic up n u wont get to play the amp loud.
15w n 50w isnt much dif in VOL, its headroom
loldude333
New member
Do bear in mind that tube amps will sound abt maybe 2-3x louder than a similar SS amp. A not-so-bad alternative to a tube amp wld be either a hybrid or a tube-sounding SS amp. For the former, a Vox AD50VT is my first choice for that category. As for the latter, the amp that fits the bill most is the Sound Drive SG-612R(1x12)/SG-100R(2x12). Vox available at CityMusic, Sound Drive at Standard Value. Personally, i wld rather go for either an all SS or all tube. Since an all tube may be(for me in ur situation) 1. a little too loud 2. out of my budget, i wld definitely suggest the Sound Drive. It's as close-sounding to a tube amp as any SS amp can claim to be.
its not louder, just how our ears interpret it and we perceive it to be louder.
Are Tube Amps louder than solid state amps of the same power?
Yes and no. If you put a power meter on the output of a tube amplifier and a solid state amplifier that have been matched for total output power, then the meter will read almost exactly the same power for equivalent drive conditions - so in this sense, the answer is no, they are not louder. However, if you LISTEN to the two amps, you'll find that the tube amp does indeed sound louder to your ears, in opposition to what the meter is telling you. Why?
It's tied up in the sensing instrument - that is, your ear. The way the human ear works is that it is very sensitive to the harmonic content of a sound. A tube amp is less linear (that is, has more distortion) at signal levels below clipping than a solid state amplifier. The distortion will increase slowly, and then more rapidly as the amp starts to clip. In fact, the distortion increases so gradually and is of such a benign nature that the onset of audible distortion has no easily defined threshold. The solid state amplifier on the other hand has no such gradualism. It is almost perfectly non-distorting right up to the point that it clips, and then it clips HARD. It's easy to hear the threshold.
This sudden onset of distortion is also composed of relatively harsh sounding distortion, not like the subtle second and third harmonics of the tube amp. The human ear hears the sudden harsh distortion as clipping and harshness. It interprets the low order distortion of the tube amp as a louder sound, not as distortion. In effect, the tube amp fools the ear into thinking that its early distortion is more loudness. They therefore sound louder or more powerful than the actual measurements show are really there.
The sound drive amp from standard value is really nice. The cleans are wat make me realli impressed, alot of warm n u may be fooled to think it is tube. The overdrive channel is also v nice FOR A SS AMP, its among the better ones i heard altho it still has a boxy sound most ss amps have, thats if u r realli anal like me
Are Tube Amps louder than solid state amps of the same power?
Yes and no. If you put a power meter on the output of a tube amplifier and a solid state amplifier that have been matched for total output power, then the meter will read almost exactly the same power for equivalent drive conditions - so in this sense, the answer is no, they are not louder. However, if you LISTEN to the two amps, you'll find that the tube amp does indeed sound louder to your ears, in opposition to what the meter is telling you. Why?
It's tied up in the sensing instrument - that is, your ear. The way the human ear works is that it is very sensitive to the harmonic content of a sound. A tube amp is less linear (that is, has more distortion) at signal levels below clipping than a solid state amplifier. The distortion will increase slowly, and then more rapidly as the amp starts to clip. In fact, the distortion increases so gradually and is of such a benign nature that the onset of audible distortion has no easily defined threshold. The solid state amplifier on the other hand has no such gradualism. It is almost perfectly non-distorting right up to the point that it clips, and then it clips HARD. It's easy to hear the threshold.
This sudden onset of distortion is also composed of relatively harsh sounding distortion, not like the subtle second and third harmonics of the tube amp. The human ear hears the sudden harsh distortion as clipping and harshness. It interprets the low order distortion of the tube amp as a louder sound, not as distortion. In effect, the tube amp fools the ear into thinking that its early distortion is more loudness. They therefore sound louder or more powerful than the actual measurements show are really there.
The sound drive amp from standard value is really nice. The cleans are wat make me realli impressed, alot of warm n u may be fooled to think it is tube. The overdrive channel is also v nice FOR A SS AMP, its among the better ones i heard altho it still has a boxy sound most ss amps have, thats if u r realli anal like me
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Hydesg
New member
anyway heres a clip of how the jcm 800 sounds
when hotplated with a thd low volumes
http://download.yousendit.com/4472CCCA7D498A37
when hotplated with a thd low volumes
http://download.yousendit.com/4472CCCA7D498A37
ChildrenOfBodom
New member
you know what? just go soundproof your room & you can crank any damn amp! hahaha
ok seriously, i would go for marshalls any day. the new vintagemodern is the f___in bomb!
ok seriously, i would go for marshalls any day. the new vintagemodern is the f___in bomb!
NV used a hotplate b4, but i guess at preamp 8 n master vol at 6, its still v loud with ur hotplate?
i tried it at preamp 6 n master vol 6 b4 on my 2204, n its was alr LOUD!!! im sure ur 2203 is alot worse dude, but v nice yeah.
yup the new vintage modern is really kick ass n loud!!! but i play it with master vol at abt 3 onli, yet it still sounds real nice. The kt66 r realli gd man, n the price is vvv attractive. These new amps by marshall jvm and the 2266/2466 r really dif in that it sound realli gd at low master vol levels. The older ones i tried arent nice at low vol, n r pedal unfriendly
i tried it at preamp 6 n master vol 6 b4 on my 2204, n its was alr LOUD!!! im sure ur 2203 is alot worse dude, but v nice yeah.
yup the new vintage modern is really kick ass n loud!!! but i play it with master vol at abt 3 onli, yet it still sounds real nice. The kt66 r realli gd man, n the price is vvv attractive. These new amps by marshall jvm and the 2266/2466 r really dif in that it sound realli gd at low master vol levels. The older ones i tried arent nice at low vol, n r pedal unfriendly
