Need help choosing a new amp

[cherrysunburst00]

Yep……I’ve gone from having narrowed it down to 2 to 5 now but at least they’re quality amps !!

I'm kinda excited to see what you decide on

 

[Dolebludger]

Well, whatever amps you have decided on, I hope you can put down a deposit and hear them in your own music room. The room acoustics makes a huge difference. I once had a 12’X 20 foot music room. Now, my music room is about 12X12 but it has stained concrete floors and high ceilings. It sounds much better now.

 

[Neffco]

All this amp talk got me gassing. I’ve got one of these coming.

Ill let you know how it goes. I don’t think you want to unleash it in your bedroom though.

 

[frater106]

Thanks for your advice.
I've taken a look at the Orange Rocker 15 on YouTube and this could be the answer. I'll try and get to a bigger retail store when our covid shit settles down enough to get there ( Australia) and have a play / listen before I take the plunge.
I think the Orange seems to tick the boxes of being able to be played at lower noise level due to the switchable wattage but still maintains the tones at those lower levels.
Could be on a winner, thanks !!

I preferred the OR15H to the Rocker 15. You might want to check that out.

 

[frater106]

I would say the 1w or 5w version of the DSL series would do the job well. You can dial up pretty much any level of gain you could need at any volume.. maybe 5 watter if ya need a little extra clean headroom. 5w tube can get more than loud enough for a bedroom/living room situation. 1w could do it but isn’t louder better ?

Loud is more good.-Josh Scott

 

[frater106]

I’m getting an Orange Dark Terror in October. Just waiting on Sweetwater to get some in. It’s a 15/7 watt fire-breather. 3 13AX7As in the pre-amp and a pair of cathode-biased EL84s in the power section. Going to run it through a matching 1 or 2X12 cabinet.

 

[lennoed]

Well I watched and read countless reviews, comparisons, plus forums such as this and ended up with a Blackstar HT 5 Mk ii.
It turned up yesterday and so far it sounds great, especially compared to my old Fender Champion 20.
I went with it because of the 1/2 watt capability, the clean sound is good and the equaliser controls for the overdrive channel are very good, plus it has an alright reverb.
I can still get plenty of volume (too much apparently) with the 5 watt settings so should be more than enough for my needs.
The tone is pretty damn good on the 1/2 watt and I have volume at around 7 so I guess the tubes are getting enough heat in them.
And most of all………….
my Les Paul sounds so fcuken good on it !!!!

I’ll post more thoughts when I’ve had more time to use it and cranked the 5 watt setting for a while, unless I get kicked out or arrested

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice, cheers !!

 

[frater106]

Well I watched and read countless reviews, comparisons, plus forums such as this and ended up with a Blackstar HT 5 Mk ii.
It turned up yesterday and so far it sounds great, especially compared to my old Fender Champion 20.
I went with it because of the 1/2 watt capability, the clean sound is good and the equaliser controls for the overdrive channel, plus it has an alright reverb.
I can still get plenty of volume (too much apparently) with the 5 watt settings so should be more than enough for my needs.
The tone is pretty damn good on the 1/2 watt and I have volume at around 7 so I guess the tubes are getting enough heat in them.
And most of all………….
my Les Paul sounds so fcuken good on it !!!!

I’ll post more thoughts when I’ve had more time to use it and cranked the 5 watt setting for a while, unless I get kicked out or arrested

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice, cheers !!

Congratulations!!

 

[frater106]

I'm getting an Orange Dark Terror as soon as they come into Sweetwater in October. 12AX7A preamp tubes 12AT7 rectifier tube and a pair of Class A cathode-biased EL84 matched power tubes. 15/7 Watts into a matching 60 watt Vintage 30 Orange PPC112 Black cabinet. One channel fire-breather!

 

[cherrysunburst00]

Well I watched and read countless reviews, comparisons, plus forums such as this and ended up with a Blackstar HT 5 Mk ii.
It turned up yesterday and so far it sounds great, especially compared to my old Fender Champion 20.
I went with it because of the 1/2 watt capability, the clean sound is good and the equaliser controls for the overdrive channel are very good, plus it has an alright reverb.
I can still get plenty of volume (too much apparently) with the 5 watt settings so should be more than enough for my needs.
The tone is pretty damn good on the 1/2 watt and I have volume at around 7 so I guess the tubes are getting enough heat in them.
And most of all………….
my Les Paul sounds so fcuken good on it !!!!

I’ll post more thoughts when I’ve had more time to use it and cranked the 5 watt setting for a while, unless I get kicked out or arrested

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice, cheers !!

BAD ASS CONGRATS

 

[sFLplayer]

edited: I see you made a purchase. Congrats.

How loud is it at 1/2 watt mode?

 

[lennoed]

edited: I see you made a purchase. Congrats.

How loud is it at 1/2 watt mode?

Playing the 1/2 watt mode with guitar pickups on 10 and amp on 7 it’s about as loud as I can handle inside my guitar room.
On the 5 watt mode I have to be down at about 5 on guitar and 4 on amp to be around the same level but then I’m not getting as much breakup.
I’ve only had it a couple of days but I’m pretty happy playing on the 1/2 watt mode and the tone of my guitars sound great with it.
Quite impressed so far and think I’ve got all I need.
I’ll connect my Boss Blues Driver pedal next chance I get and give that a run on it too to see how it sounds.

 

[sFLplayer]

That sounds good man, glad you're happy. I'd love to know how loud it is on 1/2 watt with the vol. dial @ 7, but I realize adjective perception will vary. Any chance you have a decibel meter on your phone?

 

[lennoed]

That sounds good man, glad you're happy. I'd love to know how loud it is on 1/2 watt with the vol. dial @ 7, but I realize adjective perception will vary. Any chance you have a decibel meter on your phone?

I’ll try and check it out for you on a few different settings.
I’m interested myself as to how loud the amp is??

 

[lennoed]

I’ll try and check it out for you on a few different settings.
I’m interested myself as to how loud the amp is??

I had a bit of a play with the amp today and used my phone for a few readings.
On 1/2 watt setting, with guitar ( Gibson Les Paul Standard) on 10, amp clean on 7 it read 86db
Amp on OD channel with gain 3 volume 7 it read 82 db.
Gain 4 volume 7 it read 88db
I found it quite comfortable to play with the guitar at about 7-8 and amp 5-6 reading around 75-80db.

When I used the full 5 watt settings with guitar at 10 and amp at 7 clean, it read between 97-105db before I was told to shut the fcuk up !
It pumps it out for 5 watts and I didn't really get on the OD channel to give it a run. Hopefully the missus can go out tomorrow or the next day so I can crank it up.

The tone on the 1/2 watt is pretty bloody good and you can get good breakup if you want it and the clean is as nice as I want so far.
I'm only a hack on guitar but I love the Blackstar amp so far and think it's a great amp for home on the 1/2 watt setting.

Hopefully this helps you or any others that want a low watt tube style amp that sounds good but won't get you kicked out of your house !!

 

[lennoed]

That sounds good man, glad you're happy. I'd love to know how loud it is on 1/2 watt with the vol. dial @ 7, but I realize adjective perception will vary. Any chance you have a decibel meter on your phone?

I had a play around with the Blackstar today and posted the reply to myself sorry ,so have a read above.

 

[sFLplayer]

I had a bit of a play with the amp today and used my phone for a few readings.
On 1/2 watt setting, with guitar ( Gibson Les Paul Standard) on 10, amp clean on 7 it read 86db
Amp on OD channel with gain 3 volume 7 it read 82 db.
Gain 4 volume 7 it read 88db
I found it quite comfortable to play with the guitar at about 7-8 and amp 5-6 reading around 75-80db.

When I used the full 5 watt settings with guitar at 10 and amp at 7 clean, it read between 97-105db before I was told to shut the fcuk up !
It pumps it out for 5 watts and I didn't really get on the OD channel to give it a run. Hopefully the missus can go out tomorrow or the next day so I can crank it up.

The tone on the 1/2 watt is pretty bloody good and you can get good breakup if you want it and the clean is as nice as I want so far.
I'm only a hack on guitar but I love the Blackstar amp so far and think it's a great amp for home on the 1/2 watt setting.

Hopefully this helps you or any others that want a low watt tube style amp that sounds good but won't get you kicked out of your house !!

that was a great review on sound and performance. much appreciated and I'd think it could help others besides me.

If you turn it up a little louder you won't be able to hear her complain. But don't take my advice, I'm divorced.

 

[rjwilson37]

Congrats, that is a great choice for getting an ok Clean, a good crunch and great hard rock/metal tones. Did you end up trying out the Rocker 15, that has a great natural clean, and awesome crunch tones.

 

[lennoed]

Congrats, that is a great choice for getting an ok Clean, a good crunch and great hard rock/metal tones. Did you end up trying out the Rocker 15, that has a great natural clean, and awesome crunch tones.

No I didn’t get to try the Orange as we’re in lockdown so couldn’t get to a store to try anything.
I just had to go on all the reviews and what the salesman’s advice was when I ordered it.
For what I try to play I’m pretty happy so far and the fact of a reverb on the Blackstar and cheaper by $300 was what helped me make my final decision.
Maybe down the track I might get an orange too as I do like it’s tone with a Les Paul ??

 

[rjwilson37]

Someone above is getting the Orange Dark Terror when they come back in stock, that has a totally killer Metal tone. I use to have one and love that Metal tone that it has, there are not many amps that have a better metal tone than that one. It would not do you much good though since you like the Blues/Rock tone and the Dark Terror is pretty dark as well in it's tone.