Underrated Low Wattage Tube Amps

[cybermgk]

Hey brother! I hope you're well.

How would you rate the quality on these? I sometimes see the Classic 20 MH, but wonder about Peavey quality since they moved operations overseas.

Honestly, some of the components are suspect. I had to send my Valveking in (under warrenty) because of the internal switches failed. Lets just say, they made comprimises on componants, because they jammed a lot of function into a small space. These switches JUST had enough tolerance for what they handled. Ad I think they are a weak spot in the design. I'm talking about internal that route the circuit,dfepending on what switches you press on the face. The 6505 had no issues, other than a slightly high noise floor, but it had less complexity of circuits compared to the VK, so less of those internal switches.

 

[sll]

Hello I am down to about my last 5 or 6 Akai/Roberts audio units and the parts I add to them to make the 5 Watt guitar amp. After delivering almost 50 of these little guys my current plan is to not purchase any additional tape decks or parts when these are gone. Basically because it's getting too expensive to build them and keep my target price point. That means that if any of you, or your friends, think that you might like to get one, that decision probably needs to be made soon. Of course I will still be around and available however to support all of you who have amps, I will not be doing the boutique disappearing act thing. Thanks again for your interest and support I greatly appreciate it.


https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/5-watt-conversion-amp-sll.2332839/


https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/nad-5-watt-sll.2322694/

 

[rjwilson37]

I am very happy with my current low watt home amp setup, then why am I looking for a new low watt home amp. I just feel I need to watch a ton of youtube video's and then go out and sample/test out some new amps.

 

[efstop]

I am very happy with my current low watt home amp setup, then why am I looking for a new low watt home amp. I just feel I need to watch a ton of youtube video's and then go out and sample/test out some new amps.

I have a small herd of small amps. They're fun, and can be (sort of) cheap to collect.

 

[Classicplayer]

I'm still pleased with my Dark Terror. It needs only a reverb or delay pedal to let me know what this amp is all about. It's power is marginal for home use, but I've always played with a light touch, so there are a few ways to make it seem that it's behaving itself.

Classicplayer

 

[mad dog]

Fender recently killed off a favorite of mine the underated Super Champ X2 which ends the many variations of the original model Champ over the decades.

I just picked up a used X2. Has to be the best sounding low watt and very cheap amp ever. I'll use it mostly as a head with a 1x12 cab. With a speaker swap (Emi Legend 105) and some messing around with the FUSE software, this amp sounds ridiculously good.

 

[Torren61]

Three 5W, one 1W and some cabs:

Laney 10W, Egnater 1-20W, Orange 20W (@4 ohms) and a Peavey 5-20W. The rest are 1W to 7W
Ignore the Traynor 200W bass head

Out of all of those, I'd take the Swart.

 

[efstop]

Out of all of those, I'd take the Swart.

I wish I had a Swart. Half the amps in the second pic are just clones of something else

 

[Torren61]

I wish I had a Swart. Half the amps in the second pic are just clones of something else

I have the AST MkII combo. REALLY good build quality. I think it's supposed to be their take on a Tweed Deluxe. Reverb and tremolo.

 

[flamesarewicked]

I tell ya the little Vox Night trains are pretty good for the price they’ve been used… more than enough volume for a bedroom sized room in a house…I had the combo version before.. they also make a small head and cab version of the same wattage I believe

 

[SWeAT hOg]

I tell ya the little Vox Night trains are pretty good for the price they’ve been used… more than enough volume for a bedroom sized room in a house…I had the combo version before.. they also make a small head and cab version of the same wattage I believe

I have the 15H G2. It’s a bitchin bundle of joy. It has a beautiful clean tone that has both warmth and chime. The dirt channel is a little modern sounding. Cranked, it was similar to a Friedman BE-OD pedal. To get a more traditional Rock sound, I just set the amp gain lower and goose it with my Bad Monkey OD.

 

[Big Dik]

I'm pretty sure it's not underrated, but my Epiphone Valve Jr. has Bitmo mods, a Weber Hemp speaker, a Champ transformer, and JJ tubes. It's my home practice amp.

 

[CB91710]

^ To be fair, 'Crate' as a name has a fairly negative type subtext to it......Its the sort of title you'd use to describe a bit of junk that surprisingly happens to function.

It was originally almost a parody. There were a few oak and pine amps, including the Mesa, Rock Petros, and Carvin X100 (still have that one)
Crate came out with a cabinet that looked like a shipping crate.
The wooden cabinet fad passed quickly, but the brand was established.

I don't know how big they got outside of the US.
Their "Blue Voodoo" 50 and 100w heads were their attempt to compete with Marshall, Mesa, and Peavey/EVH.

But those old solid state pieces of crap were pretty cool... in a beaten up '65 Chevy sort of way

 

[efstop]

I had an itch to buy one of these many years ago. Just because it looks cool. I got over it.

 

[bilbarstow]

I had an itch to buy one of these many years ago. Just because it looks cool. I got over it.

I actually HAVE one of those somewhere. It wasn't bad, not really enough gain though. I had used it for an outdoor music playback, but as a guitar amp it was too "flat" sounding. Possibly used with a better cab than I had at the time, it might have sounded better ?

 

[Gridlock]

Last weekend I picked up this virtually new in the box 2012 Marshall C5H. I was running it through a 1x12 with a Greenback and later tried it through the EV12 in my Mesa Mark III.

Sounded as good or better through the EV, so for now I left on top of the Boogie. Plus, it saves space in my music room and a it is a two second task to unplug and replug to use the Mesa.

A pretty good sounding little 5 watt amp that takes OD pedals really well.

 

[rjwilson37]

When I went to purchase my first tube combo amp, I was comparing the Egnater Tweaker, the Marshall Class 5, the Blackstar HT5 and the Blackheart Handsome Devil. All of these were right around the most money I wanted to spend. I thought the Tweaker had the greatest range of tones, the Marshall Class 5 was a little bit muddy with the stock speaker, and the Blackstar HT5 Clean tone was very dry and lifeless. The Blackheart Handsome Devil had the nicest overall tone and it also cost less than all the others, so that was my choice, to save money and have a nice base tone to start off with. I put a Boss ME 70 in front of it and had a lot of fun coming up with anything I needed from Van Halen, Ratt, and Ozzy all the way to Boston, The Cars, Free and Live Lighting Crashes.

 

[MaxBrothman]

Supro Delta Kings.

Look at the price and listen to what sounds like a hand-wired custom amp.

 

[mgenet]

I agree with re: to the Fender Super Champ XD Combo.
It got a lot of flack when it came out and now history
seems to have been kind to the XD.

To help bolster the mids and smooth out the highs I replaced
the stock 'Special' speaker with a 10" Eminence Legend 1058.
Wadda ya know, a new amp. That switch added 4 lbs but what
the hey. Every thing sounds more defined with the new speaker.

Should have thought of this prior but I just bought a Hot Rod Deluxe
Tweed 112 Speaker box. Can most likely compete with a
drummer now. It came with a 12" Celestion G12P-80 (aka Seventy 80).
I haven't done any comparisons yet. Seems more neutral than the
1058. The 12 inch is not broken in yet.

 

[benderb9]

+1 on the Blackheart HD15. I went through the exact same process when I bought mine new as the OP except I got the head. I'd bought 2 Hartke 4x10 cabs A & B used cheap to sit it on and it was good but a bit under-powered for 2 4 x 10's. With one 4 x 10 and it screamed. Sold the Hartke's and had two old Marshall 1931 A & B cabs unused and finally put a Vintage 30 in one and a G12H-70 Creamback in the other. 16 Ohms each wired in parallel with a jumper jack to 8 Ohms. Pretty versatile set-up and the cabs can be swapped around for many different small amps I have. Love that BH15H it's STILL a keeper and a favorite. My other small amps are a Fender Greta, Excelsior, SF Champ, 57 Custom Champ, SF Princeton w/G12H-70 Creamback, Marshall OR5C, Vox AC10 and a VHT Special 6. Me like'm small amps.