Best solid state rack power amp ?

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Two 12ax7 tubes going into two VHT Valvulator 1's, each with a 12ax7 tube ....
20220614_170350.jpg

Going into two Crate Power Blocks = 100% tube feel, sound, reaction and dynamics .
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here, (along with trying most of what has been mentioned in this thread, and I still own an old Mosvalve power amp):

1. NOTHING will be as quiet as a newer class D amp, and:
2. NOTHING will sound as good as a tube power amp.

Product does not exist. This is kind of like comparing your X88 into tube power, next to you, through a good cab, vs listening to that model on a Fractal, into studio monitors. It's just, different.
 
Baba said:
I'm going to go out on a limb here, (along with trying most of what has been mentioned in this thread, and I still own an old Mosvalve power amp):

1. NOTHING will be as quiet as a newer class D amp, and:
2. NOTHING will sound as good as a tube power amp.

Product does not exist. This is kind of like comparing your X88 into tube power, next to you, through a good cab, vs listening to that model on a Fractal, into studio monitors. It's just, different.
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But there is different and different worse. Different is fine the other not so. The old V800 is as good .
 
The Avantone CLA series is very hard to beat for a modern, mid-priced SS power amp. They're Class AB, Mosfet powered and really well built. They were designed by Chris Lord-Alge as a reference monitor power amp for studios, so they're dead quiet (convection cooled) and sound great.
 
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likitlikeyoulikeit said:
www.koch-amps.com

Koch ATR-4502 power amp

The ATR4502 is the first 2 x 45W stereo or 1 x 90W mono 19” rack mount power-amp for guitar on the market that offers real vintage tube tone in combination with only 1U of height and 5.5 kilos of...
www.koch-amps.com
Click to expand...
That Koch unit looks really cool, although probably harder to come by. Looks discontinued and nothing on used sites that I see.
 
Eagle said:
The problem is going to be the difference is subtle and the only way to try any meaningfully is buy them.
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At volumes where you care about fan noise, can you distinguish the subtle differences? Maybe my ears suck or I'm not picky enough, but I really struggle to notice, much less care, about subtle differences at those volumes.
 
The Orange Pedal Baby is another option as it's not Class D. But I owned one for about 6 months and honestly it's just not as good as the Class D power amps.

The Blackstar Amped 1 is excellent too and has some additional curves built in to simulate tube amps.
 
Desertdweller said:
If you want something affordable that sounds amazing, you could always go with a Rocktron Velocity 100 or 300 power amp, I still think those are amazing after all this time.
Click to expand...
While I've never used one, I researched them a lot years ago.

What I read was the they were very colored (not flat)...
 
maggotspawn said:
I really like my Art SLA-1. Running it with a Kartakou Collossus tube preamp.
Sounds great.
Click to expand...
I used to use an SLA-2.

It was pretty great. No fan noise because it's passively cooled.

Downsides:
  • Very deep in the rack - deeper than the Axe Fx II
  • Very heavy - large Toroidal transformer
  • Requires bare wire or banana plugs (or adapters) for speaker connection
If you're not moving it often it's a solid choice... Although I much preferred the GT800FX for gigging.
 
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