I like amps that belong to other people the best.
I completely understand.
Gettin' some strange is always a lot of fun.
I like amps that belong to other people the best.
Tequila!See, I'm not into this. I prefer other people tequila the best,!
I did a bit of driving yesterday and tried out a Mark V and a Mark Five:35. Unfortunately, neither dealer I visited had a Lone Star Special or an Electra Dyne. I really would have liked to try those two. The Marks sounded great, but even armed with the recommended settings from the manuals, now I very much understand why people seem to really like the simpler controls on the PRS amps. I'm really looking forward to trying out the Two Channel Custom on Friday, and I still think I'm very likely to be bringing one home.
In a somewhat tangential question, what are people's feelings on attenuators? An attenuator seems like it might be a fun way to expand the versatility of the amp by allowing me to have plenty of clean headroom when I want that, but also to play with power tube distortion without driving my neighbors insane. Is there a major down side (outside of cost and a bit of power tube wear) that I'm missing?
Thank you for the great responses! I've actually already picked up an Auralex Gramma, which is sitting in my living room waiting for the amp to come home. One more attenuator question: How well do they work with combo amps? It seems like the real question there would be whether the speaker cable is long enough to reach something like a Rivera Rockcrusher that's sitting on top of the amp (assuming it will fit there).
Given your praise of the master volume, I'll definitely give that a shot first. But it is good to know what my options are.
There's ALWAYS another amp to GAS after.That seems entirely workable. Given how much everybody raves about the HXDA (and how great it sounds in the videos), I feel like I really aught to try one. But at a bit more than a grand over the price of a Two Channel Custom, I'm just not sure if I can justify the price this time around. And I don't think I'd really be hurting with the Two Channel Custom. Just leaves me with another amp to GAS after.
That seems entirely workable. Given how much everybody raves about the HXDA (and how great it sounds in the videos), I feel like I really aught to try one. But at a bit more than a grand over the price of a Two Channel Custom, I'm just not sure if I can justify the price this time around. And I don't think I'd really be hurting with the Two Channel Custom. Just leaves me with another amp to GAS after.
I thought the Custom was an incredible value, first of all, and second, the lead channel in some ways reminds me of the HXDA.
It looks like Experience is not, in fact, NAD. Apparently there are no Two Channel Customs to be had. In fact, it's starting to look like the only way I'll lay eyes (or ears) on one in person is if I special order one through a local dealer. I'm not terribly happy about the idea of ordering my first high-end amp without ever hearing one in person, but given the descriptions and what I've been able to find on YouTube, I'm still leaning that direction.
You could always get one from a dealer with a 24 hour approval period. Then the most you'd lose is some shipping cost.