Best 5 watt tube amp for 200 or less
- Thread starter horax
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toothace
Zombie Thirteen, DFZ
I'd suggest looking at Orange, Blackstar...maybe even the Yamaha lunchbox...
Tone-y
New Member
I have a 5 (ish) watt tube amp, but it certainly isn't 200 (£ or $) or less. For this low price I'm not sure I'd limit to a tube amp. Maybe a Boss Katana 50? Cheap and will cover most sonic ground. Also can't go wrong with the Yamaha THR10
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
You're gonna be hard pressed to find a "good" tube amp for under $200. Look at Hotone. Not tube, but for $200 you could get two. They're kind of cool, and pretty damn loud through a 2x12 Recto!
http://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/nanolegacy/
Otherwise, I'd toss out a vote for the Yamaha THR amps. I've never touched the Katana, but hear good things about them.
http://www.hotoneaudio.com/products/nanolegacy/
Otherwise, I'd toss out a vote for the Yamaha THR amps. I've never touched the Katana, but hear good things about them.
Tone-y
New Member
Hmm, googling 5 watt valve amp does seem to pull up rather more choice in the low price end than I expected. Though plenty are tiny heads so would need a cab as well.
Wakester
Re Member
Anything in the Joyo Bantamp series looks interesting. Or if you can find one, the Peavey 6505 Piranha is spicey.
If you can find one of the Epiphone Valve Jrs., they’re a great little amp, and usually go for around $100 in excellent shape.
Lots of players use them for a variety of things; there were kits to mod them at one time as well, and of course, with good tubes installed they’re surprisingly nice sounding. They’ve gotten numerous good reviews.
My son has had one since he was a kid, and I’ve hooked it up to my speaker cabs. Sounded surprisingly good!
Lots of players use them for a variety of things; there were kits to mod them at one time as well, and of course, with good tubes installed they’re surprisingly nice sounding. They’ve gotten numerous good reviews.
My son has had one since he was a kid, and I’ve hooked it up to my speaker cabs. Sounded surprisingly good!
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
This is good advice. I had one for a little while. I sold it to a guy I worked with. He and his son turned it into a project and did the mod kit to turn it into a little fire breather.
For the stuff Horax is talking about, even a stock one’s kind of a no-brainer.
Of course, 60% of it’ll be about the speaker and cab. I ran Jamie’s into my 212 when he was touring with his band last year (he was using it as a backup for his Mesa, of all things).
Chicago Blues, to me, is exemplified by an old Fender Deluxe, either Tweed or Blackface. But it’s hard to find one that works for $200 these days.
jfb
Plank Owner
JustRob has a small Bugera that I believe is 5 watts. I really dig it.
Does the PRS MT15 turn down to 5 watts? I don't think the Sweet 16 does.
Does the PRS MT15 turn down to 5 watts? I don't think the Sweet 16 does.
Wakester
Re Member
D
Deleted member 5962
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And several reviews said that even that could get louder than most 15 watt amps.
Saying again, I love the Archon so much that it scares me to think how good this thing could be
RaySachs
New Member
The Bugera V5. Has settings for 5 watts, 1 watt, and IIRC 0.1 watt. Pretty nice little amp but kind of dark sounding, so I’d recommend it more for a single coil guitar than for a humbucker based guitar. I had one for a while. And loved it with the tele I had at the time... Right at $200 new. They also have a $130 hybrid amp (BC-15) With a tube in the preamp and SS power amp - not sure if the power is scalable in that one.
I personally really like the little Blackstar HT-1 and HT-5 series. The HT-1 is only about $250 without reverb, but over $300 with and the HT-5 is considerably more...
-Ray
