MT 15

You might not be able to hear afterwards!;)

You’re supposed to read the part in the manual where it says, “Be careful, this amp is f@cking loud!” :eek:

To be serious again for a moment, it isn’t necessary to actually use all 100 Watts...but larger output transformers do help control and tighten up the bottom end. And the sphincter. ;)
 
You’re supposed to read the part in the manual where it says, “Be careful, this amp is f@cking loud!” :eek:

To be serious again for a moment, it isn’t necessary to actually use all 100 Watts...but larger output transformers do help control and tighten up the bottom end. And the sphincter. ;)
Genuine giggle!

I’d hedge my bets that an MT100 would still be a beast of an amp!

I think the output that the MT15 has would work nicely in this age of lower stage volumes and using PA to damage the audiences hearing and not the artistes!
 
You’re supposed to read the part in the manual where it says, “Be careful, this amp is f@cking loud!” :eek:

To be serious again for a moment, it isn’t necessary to actually use all 100 Watts...but larger output transformers do help control and tighten up the bottom end. And the sphincter. ;)

I bet everyone will still lose their sh!t when it comes out.

That low end feel is really what I'm wanting out of a higher wattage MT amp. As nicely pointed out by Les and DTR a few comments back, a lower wattage amp can still be quite loud, it's just a question of where the prominent frequencies are. Heck, my 5 watt Epiphone into a 2x12 is LOUD, definitely enough to be heard with a hefty drummer, but it's a very midrange forward tone and at that volume, there's not much you can do to change it. In my experience, as a power section reaches its limit, the mids pop out, bass starts to sag more, and the tone becomes more about what the power section wants to give, the preamp goes from "control" to "gentle influence." There's no doubt in my mind that the MT15 is loud, but I want that bottom end wallop when it's cranking, and plenty of it.

Despite all that, in light of the chatter about how loud the MT15 is, and what I've noticed in my Custom 50, the amp team is at the top of their game when it comes to getting the most volume out of their power sections. My Custom 50 is much louder than I expected, if you told me it was 100 watts I wouldn't bat an eye (except I know it clocks in around 47.5 per the hand written rating put on it at the factory). I expected just a little more volume than my SE30, and I got a lot more.
 
All I wanna hear about this weekend is the MT100!!!!!!!!

Probably too soon, but I can dream, right?
Funny thing is, originally I was excited when Mark said it would be 40 watts, two 6L6 because the Archon has proved for me once and for all, that there is no substitute for power. But this little thing seems to have enough of it, despite its power rating. As soon as Bodia gets his, gentle hints will ensue and before long I'll have one.
 
Funny thing is, originally I was excited when Mark said it would be 40 watts, two 6L6 because the Archon has proved for me once and for all, that there is no substitute for power.

As a friend told me many years ago about cars, “Always get the one with the big engine.”

But for certain things, the less powerful amp works out really well. Recording can be one of those things, though not always.

If you listen to the first and second Zep albums on a good set of monitors, you can absolutely hear that 12 Watt Supro banging it out, plain as day — mostly mids, not much bottom; though I think it’s layered with other amp tracks on some songs (hard to know for sure).

Listen to those records back to back against Zep’s 2007 one-off Reunion performance, with Page playing a higher gain amp. I have no idea what amp that was (there were some Marshalls onstage, and some amps I didn’t recognize because there weren’t any closeups) but it definitely mushes out a little bit in comparison to the earlier recordings, and I’m guessing because they were playing live, it was a more powerful amp. Still sounded cool, but I missed “that” tone from the early recordings.

Not that Zep was or is the be-all, end-all of my existence, but it’s a decent enough example of the same player on different amps, at different times, and each performance sounding unique.
 
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My friend has a Mesa cab he is selling. How do you nice folks think a Mesa Rectifier 2x12 horizontal cabinet will go with the MT15? I was going to get the matching 1x12. But I'm thinking this might be a better option.
 
My friend has a Mesa cab he is selling. How do you nice folks think a Mesa Rectifier 2x12 horizontal cabinet will go with the MT15? I was going to get the matching 1x12. But I'm thinking this might be a better option.
You would be able to slay dragons with that setup!!
 
Doug's description of the MT15 power section sounds a lot like what they did with the Blistertone.

I'm just gonna have to try one I guess!
 
My friend has a Mesa cab he is selling. How do you nice folks think a Mesa Rectifier 2x12 horizontal cabinet will go with the MT15? I was going to get the matching 1x12. But I'm thinking this might be a better option.

I hope it sounds awesome because I have a Recto 2x12 sitting here waiting for the MT-15 I ordered back in January! :)
 
Sounds like they set it up for 50W and then dropped B+. Basically did a "sag" or VARIAC hard-wired.

I really want to try one.

Yeah, it sounds like that. But one thing still bothers me... and that is EVERY SINGLE PERSON who hears the thing, saying they don’t believe it’s 15 watts. In this video, Phillip started out of the gate with that and so have many others. If you drop B+ you might bet “some” of the feel of a bigger glass/bigger iron amp, but EVERYONE says it seems like it’s’ 50 watts or so. I’ve never seen another amp that this was done too, that every single reviewer reacted in disbelieve to the lower wattage rating. It’s not just wishful thinking... it doesn’t even MATTER. But I still think they’re sandbagging.

But mark it down. I’ll own one of these soon. Starting out like an Archon, revoice by Tremonti, and the things Doug just said about that the voicing... I’m in!
 
Yeah, it sounds like that. But one thing still bothers me... and that is EVERY SINGLE PERSON who hears the thing, saying they don’t believe it’s 15 watts. In this video, Phillip started out of the gate with that and so have many others. If you drop B+ you might bet “some” of the feel of a bigger glass/bigger iron amp, but EVERYONE says it seems like it’s’ 50 watts or so. I’ve never seen another amp that this was done too, that every single reviewer reacted in disbelieve to the lower wattage rating. It’s not just wishful thinking... it doesn’t even MATTER. But I still think they’re sandbagging.

But mark it down. I’ll own one of these soon. Starting out like an Archon, revoice by Tremonti, and the things Doug just said about that the voicing... I’m in!

This is exactly it. At lower volume, the power amp works exactly like a 50W amp. So with master on 2, it's a 50W amp for all intents and purposes. But turn it up, and the power stage will clip. Cool if that's what you want, but the Archon has extra headroom to hold its tone and dynamics at higher master settings. The mt15 will behave differently than a 50W amp once it's trying to make 30W or more.

No judgement, other than that I want one. I think this will have the thing that my mini recto is missing.
 
ALL true. Even the “subjective” stuff you said, I agree with. So this is what makes the MT15 all the more impressive.

Here’s an example of how all this plays out in the real (amp) world. People have for years raved about how loud Dr. Z amps are for their rated wattage. These amps mostly have small power tubes. Lots of EL84s. But people rave about how loud they are for 18 watts or 36 watts or whatever they’re rated at. Same with Vox amps. My AC30 will blow your ear drums.

Science DOES matter though. Push the mids forward, your amps sounds louder. (I prove this EVERY time I re-EQ the Archon from “Scooped” to “ flatter” because I immediately have to turn it down). So an amp with big bottom end will run out of steam way before an amp with a flat bottom end... and one with rolled off bottom can get crazy loud with a power stage rated to put out “moderate” wattage. If you understand how power amps work, it takes many times more power to put out lower frequencies than even low mids, which explains all the above. Roll off the bottom end and hook up two highly efficient speakers, and a 30 watt AC30 can blow you out of the room, while a 50 watt amp may not be as loud. But try to play something that needs big punchy bottom on that AC30 and it won’t do it.

I read something years ago in an amp building forum that said VOX EQ curve was like an upward slanted line, Fenders (Blackface) was a smiley curve, and Marshall was the inverted smiley curve. Most Dr. Z amps are EQ’d similar to Vox so they have little bass, but again everyone raves about how they “cut in a band.” Yeah, all mids and highs DOES cut. Those chugging power chord amps that have punch and bottom and flap your pants, dont “seem” as loud as the amps with mostly mids and highs. Which can easily get loud with much less power than the amp that has big punchy bottom.

Rambling, so I’ll stop now. But all this is relative to the MT15 which people say has tons of punch and bottom end and volume... none of which go with small tranny, small power supply cap amps.
I’ve got a Dr. Z MAZ 18 and that f&cker is LOUDDD.
 
Yep, I understand all that. What’s throwing me is the constant remarks in other videos where guys DID turn it up (Chappers and the Captain turned it up halfway and Chappers reaction seemed pretty unscripted). Take those remarks and the multiple remarks about how much bass it had even when turned up... which is the magic part that you can’t fake. If you can turn the volume up and people still comment about how big the bottom is... well, there is no substitute for power with both volume AND bottom end.

Hey, I know Doug could make it have big bottom end low on the volume knob, and make it roll off the deep stuff as the master goes up. That’s easy and more than one amp maker does it.

You can have big bottom end at even moderate or kind of loud volumes, or big volume with rolled off bottom end and have both of these without a ton of power. When you have big volume and big bottom end.... you can’t do it without power. Small trannies and low B+ don’t equal LOUD + BIG BOTTOM

So, while I know you can’t believe everything you hear from video reviews, when everyone says the same thing you start to believe it. One guy in nother forum said he played one in a store that was louder than the 50 watt single recto they had AND that it had at least as much bottom end as the recto.

Anyway, we’ve all seen most of the same things. Bodia will have one soon and we’ll get the scoop from someone we know and trust and who happens to have an Archon in the room as well.
 
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I’ve got a Dr. Z MAZ 18 and that f&cker is LOUDDD.

Dr. Z are known for being loud for their power rating and cutting better than that many watts should cut. Both are simply the frequency curve of the amps. More mids and top end, not a lot of bass.
 
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