NAD - Soldano Astro 20

[ejecta]

Hello guys.

I'm new here.. I owned a JCM800 2203 which I loved but could never enjoy it at home... I sold it to fund my Soldano Astro 20... And it was the perfect decision for home use... I joined a band right when I got the Soldano... The Astro 20 sounds absolutely amazing at home with my ENGL 2x12 V30. I took it to the rehearsal studio and used a Mesa 2x12. The other guitar player brought his 70s Plexi 50w and connected to a 4x12 Orange cab. His sound was huge compared to mine and even though at same volume levels you could hear him clearer. I tried to dial in the tone on the Astro but no matter what I did it was underwhelming, thin and definitely not enough even when cranked... The next time we tried a different rehearsal room which has two Marshall AVT 100w heads with 4x12 cabs. The other guitar player did not bring his Plexi and used the 100w Marshall AVT. I was sure the Soldano would scream through a 4x12. The results were exactly the same. Even without the vintage Plexi, the 100w AVT pushed through the mix a lot clearer than the Astro which sadly led me to the decision to stop taking it with me to band rehearsals and enjoy it at home. I am kind of disappointed to be honest because I thought this amp could do everything. But like there is no replacement for displacement in cars probably there's no substitute for Watts.

Would love to hear your take on all this.

IME live… Marshalls are very mid forward so they really cut. Hard to compete with that. Soldano’s and many modern gain and voiced are not near as mid forward so that’s part of it. Try really pushing your mids or get a Marshall type amp.

 

[JiveTurkey]

20 watts is not enough. Especially when everyone else has the big iron and 50-100 watts.

 

[andrewavg]

IME live… Marshalls are very mid forward so they really cut. Hard to compete with that. Soldano’s and many modern gain and voiced are not near as mid forward so that’s part of it. Try really pushing your mids or get a Marshall type amp.

I think you are right. It's what you said plus the fact that there is a big difference in headroom by the Watts. I love the Soldano and the quality tones it produces at home but I think for me that's about it.

 

[ejecta]

I think you are right. It's what you said plus the fact that there is a big difference in headroom by the Watts. I love the Soldano and the quality tones it produces at home but I think for me that's about it.

Yeah you and Jive brought up a good point too as well in the headroom in the lower watts so that’s definitely worth considering. I have amps I like to record with at home but may not always work depending on the band… especially live. I’m sending my Astro back as well for similar findings and the band is going to go all direct ( I was out voted ) so I’ll just use a modeler.

 

[andrewavg]

Yeah you and Jive brought up a good point too as well in the headroom in the lower watts so that’s definitely worth considering. I have amps I like to record with at home but may not always work depending on the band… especially live. I’m sending my Astro back as well for similar findings and the band is going to go all direct ( I was out voted ) so I’ll just use a modeler.

That just sucks man.. At least the band I'm playing with is 100% analog, no laptop BS no click tracks etc. Pure old school and that's what I like... Can you even send the Astro back? I am in Europe and I bought it from a retailer, not directly from Soldano.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

….

It's not like you can't hear the Soldano like it's underpowered or something. What you hear is a mushy mid without low end (even with the depth switch on). It's not missing volume but headroom. I have not tried plugging straight into a mix console.

Ahh, understood. It may be the 6V6 and relatively ‘small iron’ design is showing you its limits. One thing I’d try though is run the master wide open and treat each channel as a non master volume amp. Just in case the master is not truly last thing downstream. If it is acting as some kind of attenuation/ power soak it might be robbing you of some frequencies disproportionately to others resulting in the effect you describe.

A Fryette Power Station would solve it but that’s a lot of weight and additional cost etc

 

[andrewavg]

Ahh, understood. It may be the 6V6 and relatively ‘small iron’ design is showing you its limits. One thing I’d try though is run the master wide open and treat each channel as a non master volume amp. Just in case the master is not truly last thing downstream. If it is acting as some kind of attenuation/ power soak it might be robbing you of some frequencies disproportionately to others resulting in the effect you describe.
A Fryette Power Station would solve it but that’s a lot of weight and additional cost etc

Already did. Tried cranking the two volumes with the master lower and also cranking the master with the two volumes lower. Every change is minor. On both the master and individual volumes, whatever you do after "noon" has very little effect. I think it's just a matter of expectations after all it's just 20w...

 

[laxu]

Already did. Tried cranking the two volumes with the master lower and also cranking the master with the two volumes lower. Every change is minor. On both the master and individual volumes, whatever you do after "noon" has very little effect. I think it's just a matter of expectations after all it's just 20w...

That's pretty expected, you are likely already running the amp at the limit of its headroom both channel and master volume are that high. There's not much more to go there but more distortion.

I still think there's a lot of variables there, like different cabs, their positioning in the room, the discrepancy in gain between a Plexi vs Soldano...

But ultimately big amps are big amps for a reason. They just have more dynamic range, more punch, tighter low end etc.

 

[ejecta]

That just sucks man.. At least the band I'm playing with is 100% analog, no laptop BS no click tracks etc. Pure old school and that's what I like... Can you even send the Astro back? I am in Europe and I bought it from a retailer, not directly from Soldano.

Can I join your band?

Yeah I’m still in the return window from Sweetwater.

 

[drizzla]

After all the hemming and hawing, I found a used Astro 20 and took the plunge.

I received the amp 1 day before a gig. I re-tubed the entire amp - which I always do with used gear - and spent maybe 20 minutes quickly dialing it in and adjusting the settings with the software. Took it to the gig and it was bliss. I used 2 - 8 ohm 2x12 cabs and the amp had no issue with keeping up with the rest of the band. As it turns out, you wind up with 4 channels at the end, or at least 4 different levels of gain. I hadn't yet changed any of the stock IRs and still this amp blew me away.

For total transparency, I have never played a REAL Soldano. I do have the SLO module with my Syn 30 head and I adore how that amp sounds. The Astro does all those same tones and more. I initially did wonder about the output volume level. My Badlander 25 seemed to be quite a bit louder. Still, the overall impression was perfect for me. To me, the Astro sounded extremely similar to my Synergy with the SLO module but it is a bit more refined, for lack of a better way to describe sound.

Since that first gig, I have spent substantially more time with the amp. I loaded 2 IRs that I prefer to use, but I still keep the stock 2x12 EVM IRs in place for the 2 lowest gain modes I use. I also figured out my false volume perception. The stock 3 channels have an independent level control - similar to what some Mesa amps have. All I needed to do was push those volumes up, and I found that scorch and punch I thought I was missing.

Another great plus to the Astro (for me at least) is the ability to use the head without a cab at all. So, if my band plays in venues that require totally or near silent stage volumes, not a problem at all. And, I don't have to use my Captor X, so one less piece of gear on stage.

As technically advanced as this tube amp is, it responds just as any tube amp should. I have experienced some amps feeling and sounding "plastic" after a bit. With the Astro, the feel is there, the tone is there in spades, and the flexibility is amazing.

For the past several years, I have mainly used my Kemper Stage for indoor gigs. Then I play Amp Roulette for outdoor venues. This Astro is challenging that battle plan. I will likely use the Astro explicitly for a while.

The loaded IRs don't effect what is being heard from your 2 - 8 ohm 2x12 cabs, right? Only what is being sent from the XLR/line out?

 

[paisleywookiee]

The loaded IRs don't effect what is being heard from your 2 - 8 ohm 2x12 cabs, right? Only what is being sent from the XLR/line out?

Correct.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I don't mean to make yet another hot take but the Astro 20 should replace every Mesa as the official TGF amp.

 

[paisleywookiee]

I don't mean to make yet another hot take but the Astro 20 should replace every Mesa as the official TGF amp.

Nah. It’s a cool amp, but not better than a Badlander or Mark.

 

[HomespunEffects]

Nah. It’s a cool amp, but not better than a Badlander or Mark.

Hmmmmm. I don't know ... maybe it is.