Added an Archon 100 and Stealth Cab to the arsenal but....

stevan5150

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Dec 20, 2013
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Finally added a Archon 100 and Stealth Cab, I love it but.......the issues with noise in Effects loop is pretty annoying and distracting. When my Mark V, Mini Recto, Diezel Einstein and Egnater Tweaker are absolutely Dead quiet with same pedals in effects loop. Its a beautiful setup and its sounds massive, a different feel from my other amps, but I guess i will learn to work around the noise.... blah
The wood grains are also different colors which surprised me lol
and stupid ups put a dent in the cabinet..note bottom right corner!

Here is the pedal board for your info.....not sure whats causing the noise. i actually took out the echo park just to see what that would do and still noisy effects loop.
 
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I think the hissy effects loop may just be the cost of doing business with the Archon. (The loop on mine is so bad, I've stopped using it.) It's a shame, as the amp is otherwise outstanding.
 
I think the hissy effects loop may just be the cost of doing business with the Archon. (The loop on mine is so bad, I've stopped using it.) It's a shame, as the amp is otherwise outstanding.


I agree 100% its a killer amp, but I feel that 1800 for a head with a hissy effects loop is a little uncalled for. I love PRS and I would never bad mouth them, but i just feel this could have been fixed before it was released. I truly hate running effects in the front of my amp, and i live and die by my ISP denoiser, which is useless in the loop lol
 
The only way to truly fix the issue is to use line level effects in the loop. Probably the main reason I no longer own the amp.
 
I thought a member here fixed that effects loop issue with a tube swap to a higher quality one?
I tried all sorts of tubes in that slot, to no avail. (The stock JJs tend to be quiet, anyway, so I doubt that's the problem.)

Yankeebulldog, did you verify that rack effects operate noiselessly in the Archon loop? I'm not averse to buying an old Eventide or Korg delay, but only if it's certain to work.
 
If i am not mistaken, i think its noisy with nothing in the loop also, it just has to be engaged.
 
If i am not mistaken, i think its noisy with nothing in the loop also, it just has to be engaged.
That wasn't the case for me. Engaging the loop added noise even on the clean channel. Without it on, the amp was fairly quiet even with the gain dimed. I used a TC Nova Delay with a line level output. That fixed my issue although it was the only pedal I could use in the loop. My TC G Major didn't fair as well, still had some noise even with it's gain engaged. The only true solution for me was to use a rackmount ISP G system in the loop.
 
That wasn't the case for me. Engaging the loop added noise even on the clean channel. Without it on, the amp was fairly quiet even with the gain dimed. I used a TC Nova Delay with a line level output. That fixed my issue although it was the only pedal I could use in the loop. My TC G Major didn't fair as well, still had some noise even with it's gain engaged. The only true solution for me was to use a rackmount ISP G system in the loop.

YEah thats what i meant.

I wonder if using something like a G Major would be ok in it?
 
YEah thats what i meant.

I wonder if using something like a G Major would be ok in it?


Hey there .how do you find the gain channel compared to say the Deizel mega mode or ch 2 .

One thing i saw mentioned originally on this amp is they wanted a SLO type gain with smoothed highs

The Soldano loop sucks IMO Mike openly admits it ,but the loop tube actually is adding additional gain and compression and its part of The SLO design .it was a mistake I think that became part of the sound .but any amps that use this will have loop issus

Egnater has notorious problems with this as well ,they recommend and EBtech line buffer if pedals are being used .PRS should fix this though
 
Hey there .how do you find the gain channel compared to say the Deizel mega mode or ch 2 .

One thing i saw mentioned originally on this amp is they wanted a SLO type gain with smoothed highs

The Soldano loop sucks IMO Mike openly admits it ,but the loop tube actually is adding additional gain and compression and its part of The SLO design .it was a mistake I think that became part of the sound .but any amps that use this will have loop issus

Egnater has notorious problems with this as well ,they recommend and EBtech line buffer if pedals are being used .PRS should fix this though

The best way to describe the gain channel is a recto with no fizz, this dirty channel is deep, mean and clear. The diezel dirty is to my ears like a modded marshall, very throaty and mid rangy.
 
I am really pissed off with that noisy loop. This is a brutal and awesome sounding amp, without anything in the loop. Inserting pedals/effects in the loop make it too noisy. Too bad! Have sent several mails to PRS, no answer!
 
I am really pissed off with that noisy loop. This is a brutal and awesome sounding amp, without anything in the loop. Inserting pedals/effects in the loop make it too noisy. Too bad! Have sent several mails to PRS, no answer!

I called them last week to kindly inquire about the noise. And he told me that it's normal..... I didn't want to argue with him but it's not normal!
 
I'm not a fan of loops, because they're often finicky.

The problem is that they have to deal with instrument-level effects like pedals, and line-level effects like rackmount effects boxes, and at the same time, they have to interface with the amp's internal voltages post-preamp.

That's a recipe for noise. In fact, Two-Rock, Dumble and others make special rackmount "Dumbleator" interfaces strictly for the purpose of interfacing with the built in loops on those amps and prevent noise.

But I've had noise to varying degrees with loops on Mesas, TRs, Bogners, etc., and I just gave up and stopped using them. I'm fine with pedals in front of the amp. That's how I've rolled from the 60s on, either by necessity or choice.
 
I only use delay and verb in the loop. Everything else out front. With my Strymon Timeline in the loop, there is a little noise present and it is annoying, but far from unusable. I tried a T-Rex whirly verb once and that made terrible noise that was unusable. I've got an old rocktron intellifex rack that work just fine from what I recall. Yankee seems to have experimented most with the loop. I may try an ISP decimator g string and see if that clears things up. I agree it's a real bummer that it seems to be as finicky as it is. PRS usually puts a lot of R&D into things making sure they work well so this really surprised me. With the archon line expanding to the low watters, it will eventually cost them sales and users, which is too bad cause it's a great amp. People don't want to hassle with what will/won't work in a loop. Being a high gain amp, it's really important the loop functions no nonsense, period.

One thing I'm curious about...the custom 50 loop...I don't remember hearing about issues like this, different loop?
 
I've created a new thread to cover everything concerning the loop issue there...This is an issue we have to fight against:)
 
Archon Effects Loop Noise Issue - Let's get this fixed

Alright, we all know the Archon is an awesome amp. Sounds killer, yeah we know. Yeah we have some issues, we are told that are normal...Wait...
A nearly 2000 Euro /1800 Dollar amp should have NO ISSUES whatsoever. Especially this being a PRS amp, a company known for it's flawless guitars and endless perfection..

We have dealt with a constant hum issue, a user here recommended to switch tubes. Well it did the trick.

Alright, then there is the effects loop issue still unanswered. I have owned several Archons (had two send back to the dealer because I thought the hum issue was a bad amp, well it is "normal" according to PRS) and all had this issue. Noise level is okay with nothing in the loop or loop not activated. But with the loop engaged there is this loud hiss noise, that really kills this amp. I used my effect rig with a Mesa Dual Rectifier and a Bogner, nothing...No problems. Using it with the Archon, hisses big time.

Alright, tried everything. Even when I crank my ISP Decimator Pro Rack G to the max, the hiss is gone, but then a hum appears which is only present with the effect loop engaged (so not the constant background hum). I really can't use my Archon with effects, that is a bummer for such a pricey amp.

But what annoys me more is that I have sent several mails to PRS and PRS Europe with no clear answer or solution.
The best one I got was this one:

"In my experience all the PRS FX loops have been a little noisy in the way you describe; I would guess that they design the amp in such a way that the FX loop doesn’t have a detrimental affect on the basic tone of the amp and the trade off is that it ends up noisy. With PRS (amps and guitars) the tone is the number one priority so if anything appears wrong or unusual the chances are that it has been done in pursuit of tone."

WHAAAAAT? The tone is number one priority??? You make an amp noisy because it has been done in pursuit of tone?? What the hell?

Well, this is not over...Alright, we can do this together? Any mods? Any help?

For me it seems like the amp will be heading back to the dealer if this can't be fixed. And sure I will contact PRS about it again and again. Maybe they have done something with the 50w head.
 
Are you talking only pedals or line level rack effects too?

Its a bummer but some hi gain amps that use "tube buffered" loop tend to amplify noise from analog pedals etc.

If it is a tube buffered loop ask PRS to identify the Tube that is connected to the FX it may be shared as a gain stage like the Soldano.

I have a rhodes custom and a baron they are quiet .but both uses solid state FX loops .more pricey but silent.

Dave @ Baron amps flat out told me I can make you an SLO copy BUT if you want to use the loop I need to add an addl on as the current one is actually a shared per amp stage and is noisy ,and difficult with pedals.

If its inherent to the design that a gain stage shares the loop you are pretty much screwed .you can

Try and EBtech line buffer
A rack like intellifex .Digitech GSP 1101 (actually one of the quietest .least signal invasive pieces out .
Pedals out front
 
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I had very high hopes for the Archon when it first came out. I bought my first in Mid June and to send it back because the Lead channel was producing a very loud Static noise. I noticed that it also had a very noticeable Hiss when ever any single or "Gang" of pedals was hooked up in the effects loop. (I did not try a rack effect). I assumed at the time that the noise via the effects loop was associated to the Static in the lead channel. I sent the amp back and my Online dealer sent me a replacement. The 2nd Archon was free of the Static noise from the lead channel, but it had the Hiss via the effects loop. It may actually have been just slightly louder. I video tapped the noise and sent it off to PRS Customer service. Their response was that they hear the noise and feel it is acceptable . Fortunately my online retailer allowed me to send it back for a full refund.

My Online dealer was also disturbed of the issues I was having. It is so counterintuitive to have such a beautifully clean channel only to be marred with a noisy effects loop. I'm not sure why PRS has released this amp with such a noisy effects loop. It is too bad because I really loved the overall tone of this amp.

I'm waiting to get my hands on the Archon 50 to see if they made any improvements to the effects loop, I'm assuming that they may not have and only just changed the Power Tube section.

I share the same frustration as iRrlf, but in my case I just gave up and sent it back. The overall experience made me a little uneasy about the overall stability of the amp. Since this is really their first generation Hi-gain amp, i have to assume that future models will benefit from discoveries made in this intrudctory model. I'm sure as more people end with this amp, that mods will begin to migrate vis these Forums.
 
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