The Poweramp
- Thread starter James Freeman
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Mongillo19
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Apparently with the stealth they felt that previous red channel didn't have enough gain lolol
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Elric
Roadie
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I would sub a couple 5751's in mine to lower the baseline and increase the usable range but I'm scared to void the warranty. @Orvillain knows what I'm talkin' 'bout.
Boudoir Guitar
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So, months later and I finally had a chance to fire this guy up...
Used in bridged into my 8 ohm weber silver bell 1x12. Swapped back and forth with the Seymour Duncan Powerstage. The biggest differences are right there on the spec sheet:
(1) Seymour Duncan definitely gets louder. The Samson 120 on full blast still had a little more room to go to clipping light was up in the red, so I could've goosed it a bit more from the Helix and I never really got a measure of absolute loudness potential through this cab, but was close enough to call it: not loud enough for most people in a full four or five piece rock n' roll band; loud enough for a jam with a drummer; loud enough for a genuine blues band (not a loud blues-rock power trio unless you're running a pretty efficient 2 or 4x12). Would be fine for jamming with just a drummer, even if he's pretty heavy handed.
(2). The Samson has no fan and so is quieter. Honestly, it felt like it had a LITTLE less noise floor, too.
Tonally: at moderate volumes it's the same as it always is for me with power amps...difference? Sure. Better? Meh. Couldn't really all it. Felt like the Samson has a LITTLE more clarity, but Duncan has a LITTLE more weight/depth. I wouldn't call it more punch because the Samson in some ways feels a tad punchier with its clarity. These differences are super subtle. Wound up loud, the Duncan definitely sounded a little cleaner and a little punchier. Which I'm going to chalk up to just the greater headroom -- at that point the Samson was running full-gas and even if the clip-indicator hadn't gone red, I'm guessing its THD spec. at that level was pretty significant.
Conclusion: The Samson is a keeper for use in my music room. No fan + stereo are both pretty significant benefits. Will keep the Duncan kicking around for "live" use.
James Freeman
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Got my old Behringer A500 ready for things.
It's a heavy Class AB beast, 375W in bridged mode (8Ω 1% THD), plenty of power to rock the bedroom.
It's a heavy Class AB beast, 375W in bridged mode (8Ω 1% THD), plenty of power to rock the bedroom.
jellodog
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paisleywookiee
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All these years into modeling, and there’s still mostly jack shit, and/or people buying PA power amps. Matrix is/was cool, but mostly now defunct. Fryette is awesome, but with a sketchy CS history.
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I'm still waiting on that killer deal on a Quilter Tone Block 202 that is seemingly never going to happen.
paisleywookiee
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It’s completely a mystery why Quilter doesn’t do a 150x2 stereo, 300w bridged power-amp only unit. I guess they don’t see the value in it.
jellodog
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I assume it's because Quilter Labs has always been about Pat's personal mission / passion to make excellent solid state guitar amps only, after he retired from QSC. And it's left up to QSC to make power amps; which they do.
There may even be some sort of non-compete legal agreement that he signed when he retired from QSC and setup Quilter Labs?
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jellodog
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@JiveTurkey Well at least Pat listened to the critics and got rid of the Tri-Q 
eggpl@nt
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OrganicZed
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I’ve tried several options and my preference is to use high powered SS amps made for PA applications. I did a direct A/B comparison of a QSC RMX 2450 and a Fryette PS-2 and I preferred the QSC. That was not how I expected that shootout to turn out, but the solid state amp really did sound better in my opinion. That is not to say that the PS-2 sounded bad or that everyone would share my opinion. For what I want (a faithful recreation of the tone of the Axe-FX models and a natural feel when playing) the SS amp was better. The PS-2 added a lot of extra low end and top end that I couldn't seem to dial out with the presence and depth controls on the PS-2 or the impedance curve and output EQ on the Axe-FX. It did make for really satisfying chugging with the dual rectifier model though. Palm mutes were absolutely huge! The thing is, I was able to match that behavior with the SS amp simply by adding extra low end to the output EQ and increasing the intensity of the low frequency resonant peak of the impedance curve.
I like the PLX series of amps from QSC. They have high efficiency switch mode power supplies feeding class H amplifier topologies. Class H is basically a slightly more complex version of class AB design that improves the efficiency under low output power demand. The gain controls for each channel have detents so it is easy to correctly volume match the left and right channels. I also like the RMX series amps. Those are also class H power amps but they feature toroidal power supplies. The RMX amps are more of a budget offering, so they lack some of the nicer features of the PLX amps like input meters and detents on their gain controls. The toroidal power supply is essentially a huge chunk of iron and copper which makes the RMX amps weigh twice as much (44.5 vs 21 pounds) as the PLX amps. Comparing them I can't tell a difference in sound quality or feel, so I'd suggest the PLX series.
I have not been in a situation where it was a possibility to play with a cab onstage since going the modeling route, so this is strictly for home use. If I were to bring a cab for playing out I'd probably just use my Seymour Duncan Power Stage 700 since it is small and lightweight. To my ears, it does lack some of the low frequency fullness that the QSC power amplifiers have when connected to the same cab, but with a bass player and drummer it would likely be a non issue.
Here's a video I did comparing the Seymour Duncan PS700 to the QSC RMX 2450. One of these days I'll get around to doing a similar video with all of the options I've discussed here.
I like the PLX series of amps from QSC. They have high efficiency switch mode power supplies feeding class H amplifier topologies. Class H is basically a slightly more complex version of class AB design that improves the efficiency under low output power demand. The gain controls for each channel have detents so it is easy to correctly volume match the left and right channels. I also like the RMX series amps. Those are also class H power amps but they feature toroidal power supplies. The RMX amps are more of a budget offering, so they lack some of the nicer features of the PLX amps like input meters and detents on their gain controls. The toroidal power supply is essentially a huge chunk of iron and copper which makes the RMX amps weigh twice as much (44.5 vs 21 pounds) as the PLX amps. Comparing them I can't tell a difference in sound quality or feel, so I'd suggest the PLX series.
I have not been in a situation where it was a possibility to play with a cab onstage since going the modeling route, so this is strictly for home use. If I were to bring a cab for playing out I'd probably just use my Seymour Duncan Power Stage 700 since it is small and lightweight. To my ears, it does lack some of the low frequency fullness that the QSC power amplifiers have when connected to the same cab, but with a bass player and drummer it would likely be a non issue.
Here's a video I did comparing the Seymour Duncan PS700 to the QSC RMX 2450. One of these days I'll get around to doing a similar video with all of the options I've discussed here.
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paisleywookiee
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Maybe. I just think they have the parts to make a great modeler power amp, and are leaving money on the table, for whatever reason it is.
Don’t really want a 2U rack monstrosity, if I can avoid it.
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Both sound good in the vid! Though if we are being honest, at least with FAS stuff; I want transparent and not something that colors the sound. I have a Behringer power amp that looks to be a clone of the QSC in Frodebro's Kemper pic. It's fine but I am with the Wookie on not wanting a 2u SS poweramp.
OrganicZed
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I agree that a 2U 20+ pound amplifier isn't really that attractive of an option for live use. Ideally, I'd want a nice single rack unit solid state power amp that offered 300W into 8 Ohms per side stereo and that weighs less than 10 pounds. The closest thing to that are the Matrix offerings, but they are not in production currently and their customer service appears to be non-existent right now as well. There is clearly a hole in the market.
