jellodog
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Yes tiny tube amps you love. [EDIT: thread title was originally "5 watts or lower"]
What is low wattage? Not sure, but let's say at least single digit wattage anyway
TGF currently loves big iron, MESA, Soldano, huge Marshalls and
CHUGS . So I'm expecting tumbleweeds...
But surprise me! Let's celebrate those tiny amps!
Julian Lage yesterday, plugged into a pool table, next to his tiny amp.
I'll go first. Happy NAD to me: Wooly Coats Spanky Jr by 3rd Power.
I have to say, when I saw that this amp came with a high sensitivity WGS ET10 with 100 dB SPL, I didn't expect to enjoy the speaker at low volumes and I was right - there just seemed to be too much mids, volume and brightness for my taste at a modest living room volume, which is not ideal for this speaker.
The ET10 would likely be great after a little break in, and I bet it fills out and sounds better at volume. Would really help with a small bar or coffee shop gig. I trust 3rd Power to make good choices; I just want at least 3 dB less. I'd guess the ET10 was chosen for tight solid bass and to ensure that this 5w amp is surprisingly loud. Other people would love the stock speaker, I'm sure.
I put in a much lower sensitivity Fat Jimmy C1025. I immediately liked the amp a lot more and could raise the volume higher to a sweeter spot. I may try the ET10 again sometime.
I put a Gold Lion 12AX7 into V1 which smoothed out the highs and added harmonic content. There was a MESA STR-12AX7-A in there before; probably chosen for reliability and low noise. The entire amp is very well built and thoughtfully put together; I respect that.
I swapped the stock JJ 6V6S power tube for an Mullard 6V6-GT. Amp sounded sweeter again.
It's pretty much what I was looking for - some of the qualities of the my Princeton Reverb or some sort of Über Champ, but less power and smaller and lighter again.
Yes, that's a lot of effin' about with the amp.
On the other hand, that's the promise of a single-ended cathode-biased amp like this. You can try out different combinations of tubes to get what you're looking for, and tailor the amp to suit your taste and needs. I'm curious to try a big glass power tube: either a 5881 or a KT66, but I am genuinely happy with it as it is.
If I want the sound of a huge rig, well I can have that in my FM9. I like splitting my time between real amps and that modeller right now. Perhaps the real amps will just keep getting smaller until there's nothing left but the FM9!
Maybe I'll pick up a 3w Greer Mini Chief next, and then after that? I dunno. Will probably sell off my analogue hardware at some point, but for now I will enjoy what I've got left.
UPDATE: Tried a 6CA7 + 5AR4 with the Spanky Jr and it sounded great.
thegearforum.com
What is low wattage? Not sure, but let's say at least single digit wattage anyway
TGF currently loves big iron, MESA, Soldano, huge Marshalls and
CHUGS . So I'm expecting tumbleweeds...But surprise me! Let's celebrate those tiny amps!
Julian Lage yesterday, plugged into a pool table, next to his tiny amp.
I'll go first. Happy NAD to me: Wooly Coats Spanky Jr by 3rd Power.
I have to say, when I saw that this amp came with a high sensitivity WGS ET10 with 100 dB SPL, I didn't expect to enjoy the speaker at low volumes and I was right - there just seemed to be too much mids, volume and brightness for my taste at a modest living room volume, which is not ideal for this speaker.
The ET10 would likely be great after a little break in, and I bet it fills out and sounds better at volume. Would really help with a small bar or coffee shop gig. I trust 3rd Power to make good choices; I just want at least 3 dB less. I'd guess the ET10 was chosen for tight solid bass and to ensure that this 5w amp is surprisingly loud. Other people would love the stock speaker, I'm sure.
I put in a much lower sensitivity Fat Jimmy C1025. I immediately liked the amp a lot more and could raise the volume higher to a sweeter spot. I may try the ET10 again sometime.
I put a Gold Lion 12AX7 into V1 which smoothed out the highs and added harmonic content. There was a MESA STR-12AX7-A in there before; probably chosen for reliability and low noise. The entire amp is very well built and thoughtfully put together; I respect that.
I swapped the stock JJ 6V6S power tube for an Mullard 6V6-GT. Amp sounded sweeter again.
It's pretty much what I was looking for - some of the qualities of the my Princeton Reverb or some sort of Über Champ, but less power and smaller and lighter again.
Yes, that's a lot of effin' about with the amp.
On the other hand, that's the promise of a single-ended cathode-biased amp like this. You can try out different combinations of tubes to get what you're looking for, and tailor the amp to suit your taste and needs. I'm curious to try a big glass power tube: either a 5881 or a KT66, but I am genuinely happy with it as it is.
If I want the sound of a huge rig, well I can have that in my FM9. I like splitting my time between real amps and that modeller right now. Perhaps the real amps will just keep getting smaller until there's nothing left but the FM9!
Maybe I'll pick up a 3w Greer Mini Chief next, and then after that? I dunno. Will probably sell off my analogue hardware at some point, but for now I will enjoy what I've got left.
UPDATE: Tried a 6CA7 + 5AR4 with the Spanky Jr and it sounded great.
Let's see the tiny low wattage tube amps you love
I was about to mention joyo mjolnir and zombie but never tried them personally. Someone posted long ago that they are quite shitty, still would like to try I wanted a Mjolnir for awhile, then read a few reviews where they just stopped working and are nearly impossible to get fixed. Been there...
thegearforum.com
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It's true. I did know that.
