Paul Reed Smith Power Amp

[Scott Peterson]

Did somebody say.... Axe-FX?

I run FRFR direct to FOH, so a poweramp won't be on my personal shopping list. However, there are a lot of options out there now at various price points for guys running a more conventional traditional route.

You have the ART SS stuff on the lower end, Matrix, and now the Retro Channel all out (or almost out). They range up to just over $1000 USD or so.

The tube stuff is covered - but Atomic's 50/50 rack mount wasn't mentioned. It's more affordable than the VHT that was.

The key for PRS if they go this route will be price point. Where do they fall? The features/price point balancing point will matter.

IMHO, YMMV.

 

[themike]

Did somebody say.... Axe-FX?

Oh you play an AxeFX, Scott? I had no idea :lol: :lol:

Yeah, when I spoke to doug I mentioned pricing is important. Since they have full blown, hand wired amplifiers for under $1500, I can't help but think a power amp is do-able for price that is competitive to the market. Combine that with weight releif and some minor controls...boom, awesomeness.

The Matrix is the only power amp I haven't tried and would like to. The weight, and single rack space, make it very very appealing.

 

[Em7]

I've tried a few SS poweramps and while they aren't horrible - actually pretty good to be honest, something about the tube amps just flavor it just right for me. It's like the AxeFX2 tone is a perfectly baked cake, and the VHT power amp coloring is just a thin layer of delicious icing. Not overpowering, but noticbly better than just plain cake.

Hmmm, now I want cake.....

Not all solid-state amps are created equal. Have you tried a solid-state amp that employs current feedback? Most solid-state amps use voltage feedback. Voltage feedback decouples speaker reactance from the output stage. Current-feedback makes a solid-state output stage behave much like a tube stage in that it raises output stage impedance and lowers an output stage's damping factor; therefore, making a solid-state power stage speaker frequency response dependent like a tube amp. Most of the solid-state power amps on the market do not employ current feedback (they are class D switch-mode power amps that are designed for maximum efficiency). Marshall's 8004 and 8008 stereo power amps employ current feedback in "Valvestate" mode. Rocktron's Velocity 300 also uses current feedback.

In the end, you are going to have to accept the weight if you have to have a tube power amp. Light weight and stereo tube power amps with clean power ratings much above ten to fifteen watts per channel are mutually exclusive. The power and output transformers are the heaviest components in a tube amp by a large margin, and a stereo tube amp requires two output transformers. Throw in the requirement for the amp to carry a 50+ Watt per channel "clean" RMS rating, and we talking about three hefty transformers.

 

[Boardwlk17]

i have a Mesa Boogie 20/20 power amp and a Boogie 2:90 the 2:90 has some weight to it. the 20/20 sounds great and is 1 rack space and i use it around half way up with a full band running 2-4x12 cabs. i think weight is the biggest issue. i would love to see a 100 watt El-34 or a 6l6 90 or a 100 watt. no bigger than 2 rack spaces